Issue 120: Southernisms, Substackers, & More
Featuring Ella Ramsay
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Southernisms
Our family just got back from a trip to Nick’s home state of Minnesota — and it served as a great reminder for me that I do still have a Southern accent. Apparently, the way I drag out my son’s name as “Saaawwwyer” is a dead giveaway. You can take the girl out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the girl.
Both my sister and I ended up marrying non-Southerners, which has been a great way for us to realize that some of the sayings we’ve picked up from our family are not, in fact, universal. The blank stare I get from my husband when I say the Walmart was “covered up” is enough to let me know that we are facing a serious language barrier in our marriage (I jest, I jest).
Thank you to Emily Aldmon, Laurel Fowler, and my sister Abbey Mohrmann for helping me come up with this list.
Emily’s submission was too good not to share: “My family has always said ‘It’s a horse a piece,’ meaning it doesn’t make a difference either way. Also, my mom loves to say ‘Somebody must have peed in her cornflakes this morning’ when someone is in a bad mood!”
Without further ado, here are some of my favorite Southernisms to help your translate your conversations with Southerners.
“Bless your heart”
This one is almost too obvious to include — but I had to. There is a common misconception that anytime a Southerner says “bless your heart,” it’s an insult, but this could not be further from the truth. It’s all about tone, people. “Bless your heart” can be a genuine reaction to someone sharing bad news, but it can also be said with a forced smile to someone who’s getting on your last nerve.
“Covered up”
“Covered up” is just another way to say “dang, that place was crowded.” Costco on a Saturday is the definition of “covered up.” A gas station before a big storm is “covered up.”
“Hollow leg”
My grandmother always said that my sister and I had “hollow legs” when we were going through growth spurts — a “hollow leg” to store all the extra food we were eating, that is! Apparently, having a “hollow leg” can also refer to someone’s ability to drink copious amounts of alcohol, but I prefer the more wholesome connotation.
“Fixin’ to”
“Fixin’ to” and just plain fixing are two very different things. If you’re “fixin’ to” do something, that means that you’re planning to do something and often implies that you are in the preparatory stages of doing that thing. If you would like a treatise on the intricacies of the phrase “fixin’ to,” please read this entry from the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project.
“A whole ‘nother”
“A whole ‘nother” is something I catch myself saying all the time despite my claiming to have good grammar. Why would you say “I had to grab an additional carton of milk at the store” when you could say “I had to grab a whole ‘nother carton of milk at the store?”
Calling someone a “pill”
If someone says you’re “a pill” or “acting like a pill,” don’t say thank you. It’s not a compliment. I’m not quite sure how this phrase originated, but I think it has to do with pills being unpleasant and hard to swallow. So, with that said, don’t be a pill! Calling someone “a pill” is not to be confused with calling someone “a nut,” which connotes someone with difficult but endearing and/or eccentric behavior.
“Tight as a tick”
According to Google, “tight as a tick” is slang for drunk, but my family uses it to describe my toddler’s belly after she eats an entire jar of applesauce in one sitting (okay, she hasn’t eaten an entire jar, but she’s gotten close!).
“Cuttin’ up”
To say someone is “cuttin’ up” or is a “cut-up” is to say they’re engaging in disruptive behavior. A class clown is usually “cuttin’ up” for laughs. I would say that my mother, a former middle school teacher, has a degree in managing “cut-ups.”
“A blue million”
Why say a lot, a ton, a plethora, or any of those other boring old phrases when you could use the phrase “a blue million?” If you’re surprised by the sheer number of something, declaring that there were a “blue million” of them is the way to go. If you’re still wondering how big a “blue million” is, listen to this song by bluegrass band Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers.
Interview with Ella Ramsay
Today’s interview is my fellow Substacker
! She explores topics like womanhood and motherhood in her blog Pensamientos Al Dente. Make sure to subscribe!What does your life look like right now?
I am back from maternity leave for my second baby girl (born July 10). Life right now looks like a lot of long stroller walks, audiobooks, thrift shopping, writing, cooking, baking, and spending time with my family and friends. My husband and I are currently on a mission to deck out the backyard with toddler toys as we prep to host a weekly nanny-share when I head back to work. We just set up a playhouse and swingset, and it's been so fun watching our older daughter play. I work remotely for a think tank as an events coordinator and research assistant. I usually go into the office about once a week and am looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of doing work I enjoy while figuring out what that looks like with two kids.
What inspired you to start your Pensamientos Al Dente?
I've always enjoyed writing and have been intending to write more as a personal exercise and hobby. Originally, I was ambivalent about doing anything public, but liked the format of Substack, so I decided to give it a shot with Pensamientos Al Dente. Once I got over my initial self-consciousness, I began to share it with friends and family. While I adore family life, I miss living with a group of girls who shared my interests and were down to externally process all of my thoughts with me. My husband is a great sport about my midnight ramblings, but my Substack has allowed me the opportunity to externally process a lot of the ideas that I would usually be talking about with college friends or roommates when I was in a different stage of life. The general idea is to write casually about anything and everything I find interesting and would bring up in conversation with friends. I've addressed themes of politics, parenting, identity, and books I've read. My first post captures my initial ambivalence, some things I've written about or plan to write about, and explains the name.
What's the biggest lesson you've learned in your 20s?
Oh, this is a hard one. I (like many of us who end up in DC) used to place a little too much weight on what I did and who I knew. I let too much of my self-worth hinge on how impressive or intelligent I could seem to someone who I met at a happy hour or party. In my early 20s, I had decided I had no interest in dating, I wanted to focus on my career goal of being a foreign service officer — no time for kids or marriage in my 20s! I am now 26, married, with two kids, and nowhere near being an FSO. We make plans, God laughs. And God's plan has been so incredibly beautiful and fulfilling. My 20s have been a time to let go of the need to impress others for the sake of my ego and to find joy in my friends, family, and daily life. I've learned to plan less and trust more, because the best things in life (like my wonderful husband and beautiful daughters) are things you can't plan for.
What's the best book you've read in the last year?
Nonfiction: Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation and The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. I read these back to back and found them to be fascinating, well-researched, and well-written. My only regret was not reading The Coddling of the American Mind sooner!
Fiction: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. This book is historical fiction and follows several generations of Korean women through the 20th century. It beautifully captures aspects of womanhood, patriotism, culture, and the way things have changed in the past 100 years, for better or for worse.
What's your favorite "mom hack" to save time or money?
To save money: thrifting! I seriously never buy kids' clothes new (unless it's extremely cute). You can find so much at thrift stores or on Facebook Marketplace. I usually search on Facebook for someone who has similar taste to me and is selling clothes in bulk for the upcoming season in my daughters' sizes.
To save time: put a regular diaper over the swim diaper for the drive to the pool. Swim diapers don't hold pee (IYKYK) and this hack means you can get them all dressed to swim at home and just rip the normal diaper off before they jump in the pool — no car accidents or locker room diaper change required.
The Haps
Ma’am, This Is an &Pizza
One of DC’s former mayors has a name that is very similar to an obscure fruit. You would not think that this would be the impetus for controversy, but you would be wrong. DC-born chain &Pizza has apologized after promoting a dessert called Marionberry Knots, with the advertising featuring piles of powdered sugar that looked like… something else. &Pizza’s apology comes after protesters gathered at their U Street location to protest what they saw as disrespect of late DC Mayor Marion Barry, who spent time in federal prison due to his drug use. Read more in Axios.
Here are a few links to what I’m reading and writing this week:
My Dear Hemlock Reimagines The Screwtape Letters For The Modern Woman (The Federalist): My latest book review — all C.S. Lewis fans will want to check this one out!
Beyond “tradwife,” part one (Roy House in Budapest):
breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly of the so-called trad movement.In '24, America Can Elect the 'Women's President' (Newsmax): Is a woman president necessarily better for women? Noelle Huizenga answers this question in her latest column.
Usha Vance's expansive reading list gives a glimpse of a private figure in the campaign (NBC News): Forget Oprah’s Book Club and Reese Witherspoon’s picks. I want Usha Vance’s book list.
Here are a few more links to DC-specific stories:
Local Spots Featured on “Love Is Blind DC” Are Seeing a Boost (Washingtonian): Warning, there are spoilers in this article! Let me know your thoughts on Love is Blind DC by replying to this email.
Will D.C.’s Oldest Liquor Store Become a Pot Shop? (The American Conservative): Does Georgetown really need another cannabis dispensary?
investigates.
Bulletin Board
Looking for a spring semester internship? AMERICAN MOMENT is accepting applications for The Fellowship for American Statecraft until November 15. American Moment pays fellows $3000 per month for 12 weeks and places them at an internship either on Capitol Hill or in the public policy nonprofit sphere in DC. Click here to learn more.
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