My English Is Going South

13 Responses to “My English Is Going South”

1. nk Says:
   February 19th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

   Just hold on to the indicative as tight as you can and resist all attempts to subborn your imperative.

2. caltechgirl Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 2:07 am

   One of the sweet, sweet pleasures of being a yankee living in the south is an occasional lapse of grammar….

3. heldmyw Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

   ‘At whole southeren speechin’ thing is the debbil hisseff, idnit?

4. Ron Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

   You have to stop yourself from being pleonastic to the point of being catachrestic. That’s the worst!

   [Readers will be happy to know that the dictionary doesn't have a definition for pleonastic per se, but does define pleonasm as "[a]n instance of pleonasm,” and defines catachrestic as “constituting or characterized by or given to catachresis.” -X]

5. Sigivald Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 3:32 pm

   Tell ya what, ol’ dang ol’ now.

6. Dana Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 8:04 pm

   Damned Yankees come to th’ Confederacy an’ think they is all-knowin’ and s’perior. But we knows how to deal with ‘em.

7. nk Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 10:24 pm

   “Pleonistic” is Greek for “superfluous” possibly “redundant” in the sense of “built in redundancy” but can even be “greedy” or “avaricious”. “Catachrestic” can range from “conspicuous consumption” to “desolution”. Roots: “Pleon” — beyond;
   “Kata” — bad; “Chresis” — use.

8. nk Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 10:25 pm

   Don’t be redundant to the point of misuse?

9. nk Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 10:33 pm

   P.S. In this context. In another context, “Don’t be a pig” i.e. “Don’t consume everything so that there’s nothing left for anyone else”.

10. tgirsch Says:
    February 28th, 2008 at 12:07 am

    Ugh. I feel your pain.

    I used to could speak proper English, but now I can’t.

11. Xrlq Says:
    February 28th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    Du’unt sound like you can speak proper Southern, either, else yada said “cain’t.”

12. tgirsch Says:
    March 3rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm

    Valid point. I stand corrected. I’m a man without a country, I suppose.

    Have you started saying “I’ma” yet? (meaning: “I’m going to…”) e.g., “I’ma mosey on over to the tabacka shop.”

13. Xrlq Says:
    March 3rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm

    Nah, but then again, three years in the Bay Area didn’t get me to say “hella,” so maybe I’m impervious to such things.

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