DO YA'ALL HEAR SOUTHERNISMS?

By Olivene Godfrey

A number of years ago I listened to a group of people discus Southern colloquialisms -- words and phrases that are used in ordinary conversation but aren't a formal part of the language.
Actually, every part of our nation uses colloquialisms that can't be understood in another region. But, back to the conversation about Southernisms. I thought I knew all the words and phrases that are considered Southernisms by people from other regions.

Still, from these people, who were from other regions, I discovered that some phrases I've used all my life, without being aware they weren't universally accepted, are considered Southernisms. After listening to the many phrases considered Southernisms, that, as I said didn't know they were Southernisms.
I wondered how I had managed to communicate with my transplanted Yankee friends. I realized then that I must have had them often in a state of confusion.

While the South is still colorful and unique in many ways the shakeup in population that occurred during and after World War !! brought about changes in occupation, diet, and speech that are still in the process of assimilation. The change in speech may seem startling to older Southerners. And among our youngsters speech is changing. The homogenized version of the English language of television performers has obviously influenced the speech patterns of today's youth.

But, there are still Southernisms around. Now to our ears we don't have a dialect. It's the outlander who sounds funny to us. Like many older Southerners I'm usually guilty of pronouncing some words as though they had lost final consonant-- fishing',
dancin'. amd fixin' - you know, I'm fixin to do that. A Yankee Connecticut pointed out to me, I guess I do end sentences with a questioning lilt, even when I'm not asking a question.

Early American colonists carried their English of 17th century to the South and many so called Southernisms are survivals of that period. The South kept many of these native English forms while the language gradually disappeared elsewhere.

Tote (carry) so commonly used in the South, may have come down from the Latin verb "tollit" meaning, "he carries". While the older person may successfully adopt a homogenized dialect, in moments of exultation, despair, passion, pain, love, or rage, the "proper speech" usually gives away to the basic.

I hope we never completely lose our regional speech differences.
And, I don't think I could change my accent now if I wanted to.

IGNORANCE BLISS? IT IS DEBATIBLE....

By Olivene Godfrey

Around the first of a new year I find myself becoming philosophical. I take inventory of the past year and think of goals for the new year. I have been told that I think too much about life and that I try to analyze my own and other persons behavior, that I should try to accept what I don't understand and forget about it.

I do attempt to curb my curiosity. But, sooner or later, a thought or question pops into my mind and I start wondering, despite myself, "Why?"... and all the other thoughts I have been suppressing start tumbling out. Like, is it better to be ignorant of life's problems? Is ignorance bliss? Are person who don't even know they are ignorant happier and more content than more knowledgeable persons?

I've participated in some interesting discussions regarding that subject. And once you start thinking about it you get into a number of areas. For stance, some people equate the word, "ignorant", with low intelligence. But the dictionary defines ignorant as "unlearned, uninformed, and unaware, lacking in knowledge or information on a particular subject.

I have known highly intelligent persons, some on the genius level, who were ignorant regarding some subjects. I've never known a human being, and I doubt one exists, who does know everything. I've known a few who seemed to think they know everything about everything. But such an attitude reveals ignorance.

So, when I ask, "Is ignorance bliss?", I'm not speaking of those who are not capable of seeking or absorbing knowledge. I'm thinking of persons with average or above intelligence who for some reason--indifference, laziness, fear or whatever-- seem to prefer not to seek knowledge. And, I am also thinking of those who are unlearned because of their environment. These people are born with average or higher intelligence but they lack opportunities to find the answers to their questions and many times the spark of curiosity dies.

Some people think that the ignorant are happier because they don't know about the problems that worry the aware person.
Perhaps they are more carefree. But, while I have often thought my curiosity is a curse I don't think I would want to be unaware of the world's problems. And I wouldn't want to be the kind of person who never wonders, "why".

We all have a need to be more tolerant and understanding of our fellowmen. And to try to understand what makes a person do certain things, what makes him tick, helps us to be more tolerant of his actions.

INTERVIEWS STIMULATING....

By Olivene Godfrey

A new writer once wrote that she had found the pattern of an interview taking an unexpected turn. She suddenly realized she was being interviewed -- that the roles of the reporter and the subject had been switched. I smiled when I read about the reporter's interview in which she found herself answering more questions than she was asking.

This has happened to me, too, and such subjects are usually individuals who have an intense curiosity about almost everything and everybody. They make interesting reading as subjects of articles even though they keep you on your toes. Such interviews are stimulating and fun. But, you have to use ingenuity and self-control to obtain information about your subject before the interview is over.

The need for self-control is that talking about oneself can be heady stuff, especially for the writer. But, I guess that when you are in a profession where your success depends largely upon public recognition and acceptance (writers, actors, politicians, etc...) you have to be pretty much of a ham anyway.

Many people who aren't in such professions find it difficult to understand why anyone would deliberately seek personal publicity. Shy introverts usually find such publicity embarrassing. Such people could never become politicians as they'd be too modest to say, they were better for the job.

Now, there is a difference between conceit and self-confidence. There may be a thin line between them but a difference does exist. Conceit is an exaggerated estimate of one's ability and importance. On the other hand, self-confidence means to have confidence in one's ability, one's judgment and so forth.

You may have noticed that often the person who has let a bit of success go to his head tends to rest on his laurels. He forgets there is standing room only at the top, with no room to sit down. And one can't rest very often on the way up the mountain to success. There's always am eager beaver right behind you, just waiting to take your place.

Surely every new writer gets a special thrill when they see their work in print for the first time. They can't help but savor every word printed under that shiny byline and that's how I felt when I started writing many years ago.

I still enjoy seeing by-lines but I read my work now for self-criticism. Also, while I couldn't quote verbatim anything I've ever written, I can spot at once a changed word, or any form of editing, in the published piece. And when I spot changes
I have to find out "why". I confess that I usually agree with the reasons for changes in my copy. I try not to remember why so it won't happen again.

But, there is danger in too much self-criticism. The critic that lives in all of us will question at once the seed of an idea. So, it's best to play around with an idea before rejecting it as stale or dull.

LENDING CASH AND GOOD LOOKS....

By Olivene Godfrey

Most of us learn sooner or later that it's best not to discuss politics and religion with good friends whose views differ from ours.

And, it's also a good idea not to loan a friend money. Psychological studies show what most of us have learned at some time in our lives that, though the friend may be grateful for the loan, the obligation that goes hand in hand with being in another person's debt tends to make most people feel uncomfortable.

And our feelings are markedly increased if there is difficulty in repaying the money. The borrower-lender relationship does more to put a strain on friendships than to strengthen them.
When an acquaintance wants to borrow money from you it's a good idea to ask him if he has tried a bank or other loan agencies that are equipped to serve borrowers. If he hasn't. suggest that he try them. If he has and was turned down, remember he is a worse risk for you than for them.

GOOD LOOKS....

If you're good-looking, does that mean you are also good, kind, honest and sincere? Most people laugh when asked that. Yet, over the years I have read or heard T.V. reports that while people may say that, "beauty is only skin deep", their actions often don't match what they do or really feel.

Studies have shown that most people are susceptible to good looks. Experiments conducted on people's reactions to good looks showed a discovery, time and time again, that there's a strong tendency to think of good-looking people as being good.

In a series of experiments where people were shown photographs of attractive, average and below-average men and women (in appearance), in all cases people forgot about beauty being skin deep and decided that the good looks probably meant good personality and good character.