A-way down South in Dixie

[moldymaltquaffer]

It's been over a decade since I lived down that way, so I've forgotten many of the little eccentricities and phrasings. But I want to play them to the hilt with my character in an upcoming game.
Anybody want to help jog my memory?

Overview:
My intent is that the character will come across as "too dumb to fool", with that being a deliberately false impression. Much like it often is in real life. ;) I lost count of all the times I saw someone hamming up the role of a country bumpkin taking an outsider to the cleaners.

[Furabo]

LOL! As a displaced southerner, I have had occasion to play the idiot now and then! Unfortunately, I've also BEEN an idiot, now and then...!

Lemme see... At least from Southern Mississippi, I'd suggest:

* Remember that "Y'all" is always second-person plural--NEVER singular! It's a contraction for "you all."

* Always be friendly/polite. When you live in the heat and humidity of the South, and are constantly inundated with mosquitoes and such, well, folks get a mite testy. "Southern hospitality" and "good manners" are, IMHO, survival skills!

+ In this regard: There's always time for small-talk. There's always time to see how somebody's doing. There's always time to ask after a friend or relative, or even a beloved pet.

* Family is important, and family take care of each other. We may not always LIKE each other, but we take care of each other.

+ Family can be extended: "Uncle" John is really a family friend. And your dog/cat is often a beloved family member.

* As my Dad says: "Southerners are like the Chinese: We eat rice and we worship our ancestors."

+ As a corollary, we respect our elders.

* Family traditions often include passing down names that, on the face of them, are ridiculous. However, we bear them proudly. A few names to get you started: "Daisy Dee, 'Aunt Sis', Alma, Beck (as a first name)..."

* Some sayings/quips:

"God-willing and the river don't rise...!"

"The devil's beating his wife!" (Refers to rain when the sun is shining

"Bless his/her little heart (or soul)...!" (Often as not said with a hint (or more) of condescension. I've never heard a man say this--always women.)

* Food is important. There are whole libraries dedicated to various kinds of southern cuisine. Don't forget the grits! Nor the cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving!

* We still have Garden Clubs. In my home-town, the town's economy used to be based largely on tourism of antebellum homes, virtually all of which were owned/administered via two Garden Clubs. The town was "run by little old ladies."

* There is a certain sensitivity among many Southerners regarding racism. Many are quick to point out that racism is more pronounced/more prevalent among people of the North... [I'm not about to get into whether or not this is true.]

* If you really want to immerse yourself--pick up some old Jerry Clower tapes/CDs for "Southern Humor."

Hope some of this is useful!

[sir_pudding]

Every soda is a "coke" regardless of whether it is actually Coca-Cola or not.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Every soda is a "coke" regardless of whether it is actually Coca-Cola or not.

Sometimes they're "co-colers". My grandpa use to drive the co-coler truck.

Unless maybe they're "arcees" or "arcee-colers". From "RC" or Royal Crown Cola which is disappearing as even a local brand.

At least in central and northern Florida, a very small town might be an "arcee-coler junction", probably from the sign on the vending machine at the town's only gas station.

Or more properly 'fillin' station". So go down to the fillin' station and get yourself an arcee-coler.

[Nymdok]

Im not a well traveled man, but I can tell you about Texas:

Gravy goes on rice too.

Barbecue is not A style of cooking but a spectrum. If you cant tell the difference between Texas, S Carolina and Kentucky barbecue you merit pity.

In general, open your mind and your pallette. In addition to Beef, Pork, Chicken and Fish you may be called on to eat a vareity of God's creatures great and small. These include but are not limited to Crawfish (Cornish Game Lobsters, yes you can suck the heads...no it wont impress us, some even consider it mandatory.), Gator, Squirrel, Deer, and Wild Hog.

Fitna <verb> - preparing to action. 'Im fitna go to the store.'

Any one that dont respect thier mama and daddy, aint worth knowing.

If you can sit on your porch, see nothing but trees and hear nothing but crickets , you have a much covetted position.

A good woman, a good dog, and a good gun are lifelong quests. If, in your lifetime, you find ONE of these, you are fortunate. If you find two you are truly lucky. If you find all three before you die, you are blessed.

Yes, we do all carry knives in various sizes. What elese would we clean our fingernails with?

The weather is always open for discussion.

Read your bible. You may not be religeous, but it will be referenced frequently.

Roadside produce is worth your consideration. Especially Black Diamond Watermellons.

Large Mason jars double easily as drinking glasses.

Nymdok

[xerxes]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

Im not a well traveled man, but I can tell you about Texas:

Gravy goes on rice too.

Barbecue is not A style of cooking but a spectrum. If you cant tell the difference between Texas, S Carolina and Kentucky barbecue you merit pity.

In general, open your mind and your pallette. In addition to Beef, Pork, Chicken and Fish you may be called on to eat a vareity of God's creatures great and small. These include but are not limited to Crawfish (Cornish Game Lobsters, yes you can suck the heads...no it wont impress us, some even consider it mandatory.), Gator, Squirrel, Deer, and Wild Hog.

Fitna <verb> - preparing to action. 'Im fitna go to the store.'

Any one that dont respect thier mama and daddy, aint worth knowing.

If you can sit on your porch, see nothing but trees and hear nothing but crickets , you have a much covetted position.

A good woman, a good dog, and a good gun are lifelong quests. If, in your lifetime, you find ONE of these, you are fortunate. If you find two you are truly lucky. If you find all three before you die, you are blessed.

Yes, we do all carry knives in various sizes. What elese would we clean our fingernails with?

The weather is always open for discussion.

Read your bible. You may not be religeous, but it will be referenced frequently.

Roadside produce is worth your consideration. Especially Black Diamond Watermellons.

Large Mason jars double easily as drinking glasses.

Nymdok

The OP might not realize that "fitna" is just how "fixin'" is pronounced with a East Texas accent. Here in Georgia we actually pronounce the "x".

[tylrlsaa]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

Im not a well traveled man, but I can tell you about Texas:

Gravy goes on rice too.

Barbecue is not A style of cooking but a spectrum. If you cant tell the difference between Texas, S Carolina and Kentucky barbecue you merit pity.

In general, open your mind and your pallette. In addition to Beef, Pork, Chicken and Fish you may be called on to eat a vareity of God's creatures great and small. These include but are not limited to Crawfish (Cornish Game Lobsters, yes you can suck the heads...no it wont impress us, some even consider it mandatory.), Gator, Squirrel, Deer, and Wild Hog.

Fitna <verb> - preparing to action. 'Im fitna go to the store.'

Any one that dont respect thier mama and daddy, aint worth knowing.

If you can sit on your porch, see nothing but trees and hear nothing but crickets , you have a much covetted position.

A good woman, a good dog, and a good gun are lifelong quests. If, in your lifetime, you find ONE of these, you are fortunate. If you find two you are truly lucky. If you find all three before you die, you are blessed.

Yes, we do all carry knives in various sizes. What elese would we clean our fingernails with?

The weather is always open for discussion.

Read your bible. You may not be religeous, but it will be referenced frequently.

Roadside produce is worth your consideration. Especially Black Diamond Watermellons.

Large Mason jars double easily as drinking glasses.

Nymdok

All that holds true for Alabama and Tennessee, so I think we're good for the rest of the South.

[Captain-Captain]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Unless maybe they're "arcees" or "arcee-colers". From "RC" or Royal Crown Cola which is disappearing as even a local brand.

There are specialty markets around that stock up on obscurfed "Didn't they go out of business?' sodas RC ;probably won't comp;lete disappear for a while. Tennessee's "Double Cola" is still being marketed after all.

http://www.double-cola.com/

And it ws something I could only find in the clubhouse of a golf range my Dad used to drag my brother and me to when we were in late grade school.

[RevBob]

I'll see your Jerry Clower and raise you Ray Stevens, Jeff Foxworthy, Ron White, and Bill Engvall. I'd like to say to forget Larry the Cable Guy, but just like every other region, the South does have its idiots. The Bill Hicks routine about a Waffle House waitress asking, "what're you readin' fer?" does ring a bit too true.

Country music is inescapable down here, and even the rock and roll has that deep-fried flavor: Charlie Daniels, Creedence, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Also inescapable: churches. You can't get anywhere without passing at least a couple; when I still drove to work, I'd pass at last four churches on the eleven-mile one-way trip...not even counting the religious messages on business signs. (And religious means Protestant.)

Health food here is fried in peanut oil instead of lard.

"Bless your heart" means "Wow, you're stupid."

Common courtesy...generally is, actually, with the assumption that you'll share the local values. (You're going to get invited to church, and not in an ironic way.) When you invite someone to town for a visit, it's understood that you'll look after them from the time they arrive until they're over the horizon. Southern hospitality is legendary for a reason.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by RevBob

(Snip)

(You're going to get invited to church, and not in an ironic way.)

(Snip)

This is probably the strangest thing, for people from other areas of the country. A common conversation-starter when people first meet is the question, "So, what church do you go to?"

The concept that somebody wouldn't go to church at all doesn't really occur to them, right away. If you tell them that, they take a minute to adjust, and then some of the condescension peeks out. If you admit to atheism, the condescension gets much stronger.

Hmm. A lot of the counties are "dry," which means it's illegal to sell alcohol there. However, a fair number of the people in those counties do drink, and they'll cautiously feel you out to find out if you do, as well. As for social acceptability, a "beer-drinker" is just fine, so long as they keep it in their own home. Somebody who drinks "hard-likker" is considered a bit of a wild-child, unless it's "just wunce in a whahl." That said, just about everybody in a dry county who does drink likker knows somebody who knows somebody who can get you some moonshine.

As for marijuana, nobody talks about it, but it grows excellently throughout the Old South. Basically, anywhere tobacco grows well, top-quality marijuana grows even better. So, you can get some dam' fine weed, down there, but you do not talk about it. Ever.

In a lot of the rural Appalachian towns, people learned a long time ago that lies get discovered sooner, rather than later. Everybody knows everybody else's business, all the time, anyway. So, brutal honesty is surprisingly prevalent, and sometimes a little tough to deal with. That means, if somebody tells you he's gonna kill you, you need to leave town or buy a gun. Now.

The cops can't be everywhere, all the time, and those country roads are dark and narrow, at night.