Linda again
Wacky Wednesday: The Weird and Wonderful Things You Could Hear And Eat in Southwest Georgia
When I went away to college (all the way to the University of Georgia in Athens), people thought I talked funny. Turns out, it was the lexicon I brought with me from deep South Georgia. Hey, people talk funny here! And they eat some weird stuff here. I have not eaten everything on this list. My dad ran a meat market and it’s a wonder I eat anything.
So what unusual phrases might you encounter if you visited Albany, Thomasville or Valdosta?
1) Fixin’ to: meaning, “I’m about to…”
2) “He’s his daddy’s eyeball.” Means the same as “apple of his eye.”
3) “Y’all come go home with us.” Courtesy invitation extended as you’re leaving a gathering. You don’t really expect them to come go with you…but you have to ask.
4) “What do you know good?” The old-fashioned sowega (that’s Southwest Georgia, y’all!) saying for “What’s up?”
And what weird foods might you encounter?
1) Chittlins. Oh. My. God. The smell of them cooking and the knowledge of what they are is enough to put me a mile away.
2) Souse. All the parts of the pig that don’t become pork chops and rump roasts, squeezed into a loaf. Ick.
3) RC cola and a Moon Pie. Okay, I’m eaten this. Moon Pies are kinda gross, but everyone should try this once.
4) Fried pickles. I know it sounds awful, but the vinegar is somehow sucked out of them during the frying process. They’re pretty good. As are . . .
5) Fried green tomatoes. And fried squash. Yum.
6) Pot liquor. Another Oh. My. God. for me. When my grandmother would cook rutabagas, this is the cooking juice left over. She’d drink it. I’m sure it’s full of vitamins and things, but . . . ugh.
7) Peanuts & a bottle Coke. Sounds ordinary? Nope. You pour the peanuts into the Coke (must be the green glass bottled type!). There’s something about this salty-sweet-carbonated goodness that’s addictive.
So . . . what odd sayings or foods would I encounter if I ventured into your area of the country? Remember, comment this week while I hijack Kate’s blog and you could win free books!
The best I can come up with here in Wisconsin has to do with a) cheese, and b) beer. Together. You take cheese curds (the cheese before it's aged) and deep-fry them in beer batter. Voila. Wisconsin cuisine. Also good with cheese soup and onion fries on burgers. Gah. No wonder everyone's so damn fat up here. Hibernation + the daily intake of an entire third world country's daily caloric intake = big asses.
ReplyDeletehummm me and twinkies makes my bum expand lol and pepsi lol
ReplyDeleteohhh i am expanding just thinking of them lol
Linda, we have a very large buffalo farm in Michigan. We can get ground buffalo, steaks, or other cuts of it. It is very near to Traverse City (the Cherry Capital) and we can get our ground buffalo with cherries ground up in it too. It is really great.
ReplyDeleteA lot of my family fix potato salad with a twist. Because of a german Great grandmother and her german hot potato salad with bacon, we add cooked, broken up bacon (and a bit its drippings sometimes) to the potato salad with it's other ingredients. It always disappears fast at any pot lucks, etc.
I have a son-in-law that loves chittlin's. He fixed a platter of it along with it's smell for me a while ago. I did try them ONCE.
Somehow I always seem to be busy when he fixes them now. LOLOL
Thanks so much for all the southern definitions Linda. They were great.
sandie
My husband was in New York a few years back and brought me back a fondly remebered can of Yoo Hoo. It was beyond disgusting, like drinking chocolate flavored dirty water. Another illusion shot to hell.
ReplyDeleteMy nephew loves moon pies. lol. Bless your heart. lol That's one of the sayings around here. I'll have to try the fried pickles. My nieces love pickles. Wonder if they will like them fried. lol
ReplyDeleteThere's so much weird stuff here it's hard to know where to start. How about the fat with little chunks of bacon mixed in that you spread on your bread as an appetizer. Surprisingly tasty, but you can feel your arteries hardening. Or spezi--mixed Coke and Fanta. Ick. My kids like it, though.
ReplyDeleteYous come 'round Philly, and you're gonna hear some stuff, ya know? Like, didjeet?
ReplyDeleteAnyways, if yous think that shredded, fried steak on a good, hard EyeTalian roll wit sum whiz, ongyins, and peppers sounds like good eatin', then come on over here.
If you don't, fuggehdabboudit. Yous don't know what's good for you. Just kiddin, just kiddin. I'm just messin wit you. Yous still seem like good people. Go get a TastyKake on the house, tell em Tony B sent you.