It gets pretty hot down here in the summertime which causes everything to slow down including speech. We talk slowly and consequently we have to find a way to shorten our speech or it would take forever to carry on a conversation. This is done mostly by eliminating any pesky (bothersome) consonants that happen to find their way into words. There are alot of unoffical contractions in Southern English. We also make use of words where no defination would be found in dictionaries.
Carryin' me ta can be used for "taking me to" as in, "My brother is carryin' me ta breakfast this mornin'." You can also use carried for the past tense (took) as in, "I just carried the kids ta Wal-Mart yesterday."
If someone invites you ta go frog giggin', they are inviting you to partake in the southern Arkansas sport which involves spearing bull frogs with a gig (or metal spear) to later fry and enjoy their tasty legs.
If someone offers you a Coke, it could mean any flavor of carbonated beverage, whereas a col'drank encompasses all carbonated beverages as well as iced tea, lemonade, fruit juice etc. In Arkansas, the word oil is pronounced ol' and obviously said in one syllable. Practice this one by rhyming the word oil with coal (instead of coil like you would do up north). If someone asks you, "How's your momanem?" do not be alarmed. They probably just haven't seen you in awhile and are asking about the well being of your family (or your kin). Translation: "How is your mom and them?"
As a general rule, you can usually substitute ta for to, ya for you, and when practicing your Arkansas-isms never pronounce the g sound at the end of any word endin' with ing. Always use the proper form-- in'.
Now for a few of those different words.
a'ight (aw' ite)-- all right--affirmative, okay, a term of agreement.
Crick--Creek
O-K-den--Okay then
Thar--there.
IGNERT -- adjective. Not smart
RETARD -- Verb. To stop working.
FARN -- adjective. Not local. (as in he's a farn'er)
BOB WAR-- noun. A sharp, twisted cable. (bob war fence)
,,,,,,,,,,,19 more days!
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