Heritage Notes – Gomin’, Warsh, and Subtitles
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Today I’m proud to bring you Mama’s third installment of Heritage Hints and Notes. I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. We’d love to hear from you in the comments below and be sure to check out her other Heritage posts by clicking here. Gratefully, Christy
I come from a long line of proud, hard-working country people, and despite what you might see on television from time to time or hear about ever now and then, we country people are definitely not stupid or ignorant. My ancestors may have talked differently from others but they were soft spoken gentle people.
A while back, I happened upon a documentary on Appalachian people. I try not to call Christy when these are on because more often than not they subtitle folks as they talk and nothing gets her riled faster than seeing Southerners subtitled…
This particular documentary really stood out to me, though, because I recognized a lot of phrases used by my grandparents, phrases that I’m often corrected on nowadays because folks simply don’t understand them. As it turns out, the words make perfect sense (and always have), it’s just that they were somewhat foreig – what things were called in England and Scotland years earlier and passed down generation by generation.
A prime example is a phrase I’ve heard all of my life. My grandmother (Lela) always complained that we kids were “A messin’ and a gomin’ ”. I always wondered what “goming” was. A man on the documentary explained that goming was making a real mess or being messy. Brings to mind how we were always in the kitchen fixing us a snack and leaving a mess behind-“goming”.
My grandmother “toted stuff in a paper poke”. Translated that means carrying things in a paper sack. Times were hard and my grandmother carefully folded her used paper pokes to be reused whenever she got any. They were reused until they were soft and floppy. Unknowingly she was practicing saving the earth. Country folk recycled long before it was popular. Every now and then I toss a plastic throwaway container in the trash and I can’t help but pause to think of how my grandmother would have loved and cherished something as simple as a plastic container.
Country people rose with the dawn, worked the fields all day, raised all their own food, and preserved it to feed their families through the winter. They made every piece of clothing their family had and even recycled outgrown clothing into clothes for younger children or quilts to provide warmth on long winter nights. Nothing was wasted. Every scrap, thread, and piece of string was valued and saved.
I am often corrected for saying “warsh” instead of wash. Christy tells me that her kids have told her she is supposed to pronounce her father’s title “Da-dee” instead of “Deh-dee”. We aren’t supposed to say ain’t, pokes, “coo-pun” instead of q-pon and the likes. Often, I am torn between using what I know as proper grammar and holding on to the speech and values of my beloved ancestors. It feels as if I am turning my back on them if I change my ways. On the other hand, if I don’t I am perceived as backwards or uneducated. Many a Southerner (or folks from any region with a specific dialect for that matter) struggle with these same feelings.
From my ancestors, I have learned values, how to work hard, and integrity that no school could ever teach. Just like Northerners speak differently, so do I and I will continue to do so. I am proud to be from great loving hardworking stock. I can never turn my back on my heritage but I will try to tone down the “ain’t” at school assemblies for my grandkids as long as they’ll sit and listen to my stories of the people they come from – I figure that is a fair trade off. It is my hope to pass on the integrity with which my ancestors lived every day. I may sound more like them than future generations will, but I only hope I can be half the person that they were.
When asking my Mother what should I do in a sticky situation, she would answer…
“In your heart of hearts you already know the answer. You just have to listen to your heart.”
~Advice from Dawn Tierney’s mother that Dawn submitted on our Give a Penny Page.
Dear All,
I had to agree with the above posts, and a lot of the sayings are still used around here to this day. There are a lot of similarities between the Southern States and the North of England – more specifically Lancashire and Yorkshire – it must be the shared history of cotton. With the Southern states producing it and the Northern counties working it.
Christy – -please tell your Mama that the English aristocracy and the British Royal family say “warsh” as well, so she is in good company.
My mama’s family is from Siler City North Carolina!! I once worked as a Customer Service Supervisor for a rubber manufacturing comapany here in Florida. My customers would hear my accent and ask me where I was from. When I would tell them it was the North Carolina accent they always would want me to say window!! Well I would give them window instead of wender and they would just say “oh”. One day I was talking to our CEO and I got real excited and just started rattling off. When I saw the shocked look on his face I stopped myself and took a deep breath then told him “I am so sorry, the southern girl just jumped out of me”. Then I went back to talking to him in the professional manner he was used to!!!
Since we have been having such a mild winter in middle Tennessee I mentioned to my British friend that the ‘buttercups’ were coming up in my yard. She gave me a confused look and I had to correct myself and say the ‘daffodils’ are blooming. Am I the only proud Southern girl (grew up in Northeast Mississippi) who calls daffodils buttercups?
No, I call them buttercups too! From NW Alabama & proud to be a southern gal. Grandparents were from S TN & good Christian folk, so proud of their homemade quilts, crocheted things & pitcher/bowl! One had a well, loveddrawing the ice cold delicious water,just had to be careful. Had a peeler that came by weekly, traveling store, so cool to me, got to buy candy & so neat! Also had an outhouse:) but used the “slop jar”at night, loved her feather bed too & what great cooks! Miss them SO much .
I am from Marshall County in Northeast Alabama.. Several years ago, some friends and I went to Jamaica. On our tours there, two girls from California followed us around to listen to our Southern speak.. They loved it!!!. also when my boys (now 32 and fixin to be 30) were in Boy Scouts they received a patch for being able to speak Southern Drawl..
My family has been in the Limestone/Lauderdale County area of Alabama for at least 150 years. Most do them are of Scotch-Irish descent. I loved hearing my parents talk and tell stories of their families. You are creating a real family heritage for your children and grandchildren with your stories. Keep it up, we love hearing your stories.
I love being Southern! I love the accent and the dialects. It just makes us a very unique culture. It’s apart of us, and nothing to be ashamed of. I am from the FL panhandle area and people that aren’t from the South say I have an accent as well. it doesn’t seem that I have an accent but I guess to others, I do. Lol I even use some dialect that they use in Louisiana, even though I didn’t grow up there. Even when I am trying to sound proper and say words correctly, my accent seems to come out more, I do hear it in that case.
There was always a big fight between me and my 1st husband. I would say “coo-pun” and he would correct me with “q-pon”. He is my ex now and I still say “coo-pun”. Guess I win, since my current hubby finds it cute and funny. 🙂
I agree, you win Anne!