Southern Sayings

Southern Sayings

As I travel around this great country I find people are confused by the way I speak. Just because they talk funny, with strange inflections that should not affect their ability to understand me. I speak "pure” southern. Idioms exist to confuse others, but not the one using them. You really have to be careful with idiomatic expressions.

Example: I’ll get up with them. Let me translate. Years ago I was showing houses to a couple from Ohio. They fell in love with Topsail Island and signed a contract to purchase a cottage on the oceanfront on South Shore Drive. As we made arrangements to close, those pesky little details took longer than they had initially hoped. I would get a frantic call, "Cathy, can you get the surveyor to hurry it up?” My response would be, "Don’t you worry about it, I’ll get up with him in the morning.” As we progressed toward that magical date I would get other distress calls. "Cathy, the mortgage lender called, they want an appraisal within the next 5 days!” My response, "Don’t worry your heads about it, I’ll get up with him in the morning.” We actually closed on the scheduled day. (A miracle in itself)

They flew down for closing and I picked them up at the Wilmington airport. These brave souls were flying back the very next day. I told them they did not have to come for closing, that I could handle everything for them with the attorneys, but they wanted to come in person.

Closing went smoothly, closed without a hitch. As we returned from the attorney’s office and drove toward their "brand new home”, they kept going on about how I had gone beyond what was expected. I told them I had just done my job. No, No they exclaimed, we know having to "GET UP” with the appraiser and surveyor was certainly not a normal occurrence. They had not meant for me to have to be so "personally” involved with those two gentlemen??? OHHHHHH! When I stopped crying with laughter, I explained that "get up with” only meant I would "call them in the morning”. We all had a good laugh about that one. Then they told me what "bringing the wash” to a party meant.

P.S. I swear this is a true story.

Cathy Medlin

Island Real Estate

Cathy Medlin is a lifelong resident of Topsail Island. Her office is located at 405 Roland Avenue in Surf City. If you don’t understand a southern idiom, just call and ask her. She will explain it.

www.topsailvacation.com 910-328-2323 1-800-622-6886