|
Down here in Alabama we do not refer to soft drinks as "soda" or "pop". Soda is used when baking a cake, and I still don't know what "pop" is. Soft drinks, whether you are referring to Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Coke, Diet Coke, RC, or whatever are referred to as "coke". Would you like a coke? Sure. I'll have a Diet Pepsi. Or, I'm thirsty. Would you get me a coke out of the fridge? You might be handed a Pepsi, but it is still a coke.
When you are getting ready to go to Walmart, or organizing the ingredients to prepare a meal, or taking the car to get an oil change, you are "fixin' to" do all of these things. I'm fixin' to eat dinner. I'm fixin to go to bed. I'm fixin' to go shopping. Or just, I'm fixin' to, when someone asks you to do something. This, I think, is one of the oddest of the regional phrases used in the South. But, it is used more often than any other. I was raised in the South, and I don't use much southern slang except fixin' to. I can't explain it. It is so comfortable and applies to so many different situations. And I am aware of how strange it sounds to those from other parts of the country.
I lived in the heart of the midwest for several years, and it took a while for me to become accustomed to hearing "yet", "you bet", "you guys" and "stop back".
__________________
Quiet, mild-mannered souls might just turn out to be roaring lions of two-fisted cool.
|