"The devil is beating his wife": Dialect maps document U.S.'s many linguistic divides

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Here's one I'd like to know if anyone else has ever heard and/or knows the background of:

My dad, a Georgia boy born in 1917 with ancestral roots mostly (way back) in Virginia and the Carolinas, very, very seldom ever cursed/"cussed"/swore.

You know how sometimes people will say "I/I'll swan..." or "I/I'll swannee..." or "I'll be switched!" rather than "I swear..." or "I'll be damned"? Well, my dad, when he was really outdone with something, would say "I'll be swooga-tooga!" (That's just my phonetic spelling -- I have no idea how he would have spelled it!) I don't think it was original with him, sounded like he probably grew up around someone saying that, but I don't know who -- I've never heard it from anyone else.
 
Also, just want to throw in: I've heard "bless your/her/his" heart used the way y'all have been talking about, but I've also heard it used more kindly -- truly expressing empathy/sympathy and compassion. I use it that way myself, and I think I have used it that way a time or two on WS -- now I'm worried someone probably thought I was throwing a subtle insult!
 
Backwoods said:
Also, just want to throw in: I've heard "bless your/her/his" heart used the way y'all have been talking about, but I've also heard it used more kindly -- truly expressing empathy/sympathy and compassion. I use it that way myself, and I think I have used it that way a time or two on WS -- now I'm worried someone probably thought I was throwing a subtle insult!
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:floorlaugh: you poor thing! Bless your heart! I mean that in the most empathic way. ;)
 
I LOVE this thread. I took linguistics 101 and was completely fascinated by it.

Here's some myths and realities @ dialects.

http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/

Dialect Myths and Reality

MYTH: A dialect is something that SOMEONE ELSE speaks.
REALITY: Everyone who speaks a language speaks some dialect of the language; it is not possible to speak a language without speaking a dialect of the language.
*
MYTH: Dialects always have highly noticeable features that set them apart.
REALITY: Some dialects get much more attention than others; the status of a dialect, however, is unrelated to public commentary about its special characteristics.
*
MYTH: Only varieties of a language spoken by socially disfavored groups are dialects.
REALITY: The notion of dialect exists apart from the social status of the language variety; there are socially favored as well as socially disfavored dialects.
*
MYTH: Dialects result from unsuccessful attempts to speak the "correct" form of a language.
REALITY: Dialect speakers acquire their language by adopting the speech features of those around them, not by failing in their attempts to adopt standard language features.
*
MYTH: Dialects have no linguistic patterning in their own right; they are derivations from standard speech.
REALITY: Dialects, like all language systems, are systematic and regular; furthermore, socially disfavored dialects can be described with the same kind of precision as standard language varieties.
*
MYTH: Dialects inherently carry negative connotations.
REALITY: Dialects are not necessarily positively or negatively valued; their social values are derived strictly from the social position of their community of speakers.
 
Justiceforever said:
This article reflects what I always believed, until I started traveling and got strange looks at the way I talked.

http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/midwest/

Who me? I don't have an accent, you do!

"—even Midwesterners think they speak without an accent."

"Imagine my Midwestern embarrassment in learning that I was “missing” a vowel!"
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Hey! I resent the article comment that "Most Americans can readily imitate Southerners...!" Wait. "They" say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well bless their little hearts and never mind then.
 
Dewey2Me1MoThyme said:
BBM: I guess that would depend on who's whipping it. :floorlaugh: Sorry you asked now? :floorlaugh: :floorlaugh: :floorlaugh:
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Yes, and I knew I would be. Someday I'm gonna learn to listen to that little voice in me head (and yes, Dewey, it IS my little voice!)
 
I once had a neighbor who was from Tennessee, one day she sent my younger sister into the house to ask me if I had some black "paints" she could borrow. Since we were both into pottery and ceramics, I put a few jars of black ceramic "paint" in a bag and sent it over to her. A few minutes later she arrived at my house "paints" in tow and said "I ripped my black "paints" and I have to be to work in an hour and you send me "ceramic paints"?

Yeah, I busted a gut (laughed real hard)...she needed to borrow a pair of PANTS as in "slacks" for work. :floorlaugh:
 
I was in Memphis with my SO, listening to a radio station. A caller called in and the host put her on blast! He said, "You're not from around these parts are you?" she said, "No I'm from WI." he said, "I could tell, cuz you E NUN CI ATE your words."

I am VERY aware of my Midwestern accent when I go down south. I had eunciation drilled into me as a child. I only hope that my accent is as charming as I find the southern drawl to be.
 
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