The South
See also: Southern American English- alligator pear - avocado
- banquette (southern Louisiana) - sidewalk, foot-path
- billfold (widespread, but infrequent Northeast, Pacific Northwest) - a man's wallet
- cap (also Midlands) - sir (prob. from "captain")
- chill bumps (also Midlands) - goose bumps
- chunk - toss or throw an object
- coke - any brand of soft drink
- commode (also Midlands) - bathroom; restroom; particularly the toilet itself
- crocus sack (Atlantic), croker sack (Gulf) - burlap bag
- cut on/off - to turn on/off
- directly - in a minute; soon; momentarily
- dirty rice (esp. Louisiana) - Cajun rice dish consisting of rice, spices, and meat
- fais-dodo (southern Louisiana) - a party
- fix - to get ready, to be on the verge of doing; (widespread but esp. South) to prepare food
- house shoes - bedroom slippers
- lagniappe (Gulf, esp. Louisiana) - a little bit of something extra
- locker (esp. Louisiana) - closet
- make (age) (Gulf, esp. Louisiana) - have a birthday; "He's making 16 tomorrow."
- neutral ground (Louisiana, Mississippi) - median strip
- po' boy (scattered, but esp. South) - a long sandwich, typically made with fried oysters, clams, or shrimp
- put up - put away, put back in its place
- yankee - northerner; also damn yankee, damned yankee
- yonder (esp. rural) - over there, or a long distance away; also over yonder
Read more about this topic: Regional Vocabularies Of American English
Famous quotes containing the word south:
“Mormon colonization south of this point in early times was characterized as “going over the Rim,” and in colloquial usage the same phrase came to connote violent death.”
—State of Utah, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear—the city of London and the South Seas.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)