#my slang edumacation | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thebellwitchblog · 6 years ago

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Hey there, Darlin' Time for some edumacation about The South.

I'm from Memphis, Tennessee so not too far from Fayetteville all-in-all, though I havent spent much time in AR tbh.

Things to know about the south:

Be willing to talk to everyone as if they're your closest neighbors. There is no such thing as a stranger in the south. Show off pictures of your younger relatives, talk about your pets, share funny stories, hell just talk about part of your day or why you're doing whatever you're doing/what you plan to do tonight.

Yes, we do have a lot of slang and everyone has an armory of nicknames for people. Odds are you will never be called by strictly your first name. It will always be a nickname, a pet name (such as dear, darlin, honey, sweet pea, etc), or your first and middle name if it's known. Lara Dawn, Jewell Dawn, Corro Ray, and Angeline Kat are just a few examples in my family alone of people referred to by their first and middle names.

Bless your heart is not typically a good thing! Though if you do something exceptionally kind to someone it can show appreciation. However it more often means "oh you sweet idiot how on earth have you survived this long? Bless you" the more sweet words that are tossed in "Oh bless your sweet little heart, darlin" the more of an idiot you just looked.

Yes, it is insanely hot. But the heat isn't what gets you, particularly in the area you'll be. It's the humidity. The humidity levels are typically so high in the summer that there isnt anywhere for the sweat to evaporate so you can't cool off naturally. Which just makes you sweat more. Drink Gatorade or something similar that has a lot of electrolytes in addition to water, avoid going out in the heat of the day, and for the love of god do not wear more clothes than you have to or spend any large length of time outside of air conditioning. Heat stroke and heat exhaustion are common and will sneak up on you. Learn the signs and how to treat both because they are extremely different but to those that dont know easily mistaken for each other.

There is a lot of poverty here. This started back with Reconstruction and has persisted ever since. You will see homeless people, food banks, and really bad areas no matter where you go. It's sad, extremely so, but people make it by for the most part.

But perhaps because of the poverty, there's often a large sense of community. If you're ever in a rough spot you might be surprised just how many people come forward willing to help a bit- and you may not even realize you're on their radar. You might let it slip in the company break room that you're gonna be low on food the rest of the month and the one coworker you've shared pleasantries with but barely remember her name shows up the next day with "just a little bag of things she won't probably eat before they go bad"

Now, as far as the stereotypes go.

There are some rednecks around that are racist misogynistic asshats and terrible people that make you want to blow up something, but they're actually the minority. A fairly loud spoken minority, but a minority nonetheless. And in cities they're even less common.

The vast majority, however, are fairly welcoming people. Some may make some comments that sound racist or questionable at best, and that's not a good thing, but once you talk to them you realize that most of the ones that make those comments dont actually believe them, they're just repeating the rhetoric they've been fed. My father, for instance, has a lot of faults and sounds like he'd be a racist, but he's repeating the rhetoric he was fed. Once you ask him about things and get him to actually give his opinion, he reveals that he doesn't actually believe those things and is working on not sounding like a racist. It just takes time. Really, I noticed more blatant racism when I was up north than I ever have in the entirely of my life in the south. Down here it's more people not realizing something is racist due to ignorance (ignorance perpetuated by the government, mind you, to keep the south in poverty)

Which is another difference between the south and the north. Things down here go a lot slower. People don't like fast and speedy, they tend to prefer the leisurely pace that let's you enjoy life as you live it. That bleeds over into other things like reforms are slow to start and people don't take to change very well, but generally they are making the moves towards it, just at their own pace.

Also, churches. There will be a church on every street corner at least. Religion is pretty big here. Part of that stems from the poverty- those who spend their mortal lives in poverty look to the afterlife for a better chance. So yes, you will hear a lot of people talk about god and christ and all that. If it makes you uncomfortable, try to think of it as well wishes rather than religious. It's their way of sympathizing and hoping for the best for you. They have good intentions, I promise. Usually.

A lot of the south and the culture is misunderstandings perpetuated by the media. And a lot of the problems stem from the government. The south is by and large kept ignorant through poor education systems to keep it in poverty, and then by being vilified by the rest of the country for the ignorance and poverty it breeds a very 'us vs them' attitude between the south and the north. Which just makes matters worse.

I could go on for days about the reasons for the south being in the state it is and the whole conspiracies surrounding everything, but this post is already a lot longer than I intended

In all truth of the matter, the south isnt nearly as bad as people expect it to be. The weather will be your biggest problem and you'll quickly grow used to the quirks of the people down here. Most of them are nice and even the ones that seem mean at first will probably open up once they've had a chance to evaluate you and realize you're not as bad as they expected (again due to the us vs them mentality)

Ps: expect a lot of pies and cobblers as welcoming gifts if you work with any middle aged to older ladies. We stress bake around here and they make the best ice breakers.

Alright friends and followers from the South, I need your commentary. I’m in the interview process for a two year fellowship in Fayetteville, AR, and as a girl from Northern CA, all I know about the South is second hand. So, anyone from there, or who specifically has experience with Fayetteville, if you wouldn’t mind telling me a bit about it, I would be most appreciative. Any tips, tricks, what-to-expects, warnings, recommendations on where to go and what to do, or anything else you might want to share would help me out!

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