Us Southerners have our own vocabulary. Most of the terms and phrases we use can’t be found in a dictionary. And the spelling/thesaurus on my word processor tries in vain to set me straight. Having been born and raised here, I find our way of talking completely normal and acceptable. For you folks new to the area, just be patient; it will all make sense after awhile. I want to list a few favorite examples and try to interpret them.

Directly (pronounced “drectly”)

“I’ll get to it directly.” Pronounced “drectly,” it does not imply soon. It means after while, maybe never.

Fixing

“I’m fixing to go shopping,” meaning you’re getting ready to go, gathering up the shopping list, purse, car keys, etc.

Fanning around

“You’ve been sick; you don’t need to be up fanning around.” You’re “fanning” when you run outside bare foot to get the paper, and it’s 38 degrees.

Milling around

“Get back in that bed! What are you doing up milling around?” Milling around means the power’s off, the floor is icy cold and a kid gets up and wanders through the house aimlessly.

Dabble

“She dabbled around out there, and now she’s sick” It means a kid played in a swollen, muddy ditch with a stick in March. She didn’t wade or immerse herself but dabbled long enough to bring on an asthma attack. Dabble always has to do with water in some form.

Summers

“Have you seen Dave?” “Oh, he’s around here summers.” Summers means an unknown location that’s not far away.

I swan

This term is used when you’ve been told something incredulous that bears reflecting upon. You always shake your head back and forth and simply say, “I swan.” I guess it means “you don’t mean it” or “I’m shocked.”

Hush your mouth

“Guess what! I won $10,000 on a scratch off!”

“Hush your mouth!!”

It’s always used for exciting news alerts.

Cold eye

A calamity that happens when you eat too much homemade ice cream and get the “cold eye.” The pain is localized over one eye.

Big eye

Just a synonym for insomnia.

Piddling

“I haven’t got a thing done; just been piddling,” meaning you have out of town guests coming on Saturday, and today is Thursday. Instead of cleaning house, you “piddle” around looking at an old picture album and then reorganizing recipe cards.

Meandering

“That guy is just meandering through the store,” meaning someone is wandering up and down aisles without purpose and highly suspicious looking.

Wormy

“That child is looking wormy” describes any child who is pale, thin or otherwise sickly looking.

Raring

“I wanted the blue shirt ironed, not the white one! You don’t listen!” “Raring” on someone means excessive bursts of anger or complaining on an innocent victim, most often a spouse. This usually happens on Sunday morning getting ready for church.

My list could go on and on, but I’ve managed to cover some of my favorite ones. Right now, I’m fixing to start supper. With all the caffeine consumed while typing this, I just hope I don’t get the big eye tonight.

Kaye Steadman lives in Chickamauga. She is a storyteller and author of the book, "My Name's Not Verly”. She can be reached at kayesteadman@aol.com or follow her on FaceBook.