Don't Be Ugly...Just a Southern Thing?

[Giraffe]

The most d@mning thing I ever heard my grandma say (from Georgia) was "That boy was just sorry." You couldn't get worse than that in her book. I felt so ashamed for the person - if my grandma thought he was sorry then there was almost no way he could be redeemed. Bless his heart...

[Miss Marple]

The most d@mning thing I ever heard my grandma say (from Georgia) was "That boy was just sorry." You couldn't get worse than that in her book. I felt so ashamed for the person - if my grandma thought he was sorry then there was almost no way he could be redeemed. Bless his heart...

 

LOL! My dad uses that expression all.the.time. Did you know golf clubs can be "sorry" as can people, cars, food, excuses, you name it!

[teamturner]

I'm in TX and I say it but I don't remember hearing it growing up. I also lived in FL and NC so I may have picked it up there. It just seems to fit the overall unkind attitude that children may exhibit towards one another and needs correcting.

[mrbmom77]

I've been in Texas all my life and we say "Don't be ugly".

But Momma never threatened me with baldness. It was "I'll knock you into next week!" or "slap you nekkid" or "knock the fire outta you!"

And, yes, "sorry" was one of the worst insults we knew.

:D

[The Girls' Mom]

I grew up in TN, and I'm now living in TX....my grandmother used "Don't be ugly" all the time. I also heard "I'm gonna jerk a knot in your tail"and "Snatch you bald headed".

 

My favorite ever is my MIL saying someone's messy hair "looks like a stump full o' grand-daddies"

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Well, I guess I'm going to open myself up to scathing criticism . . . but, well, we say "yankee-fied." As in, if someone is being less than hospitable or has over-done make-up, or for some reason, stands with her arm or arms crooked with the hand dangling (instead of at her sides), she's yankified. I'm sure it's bad that we say this.

 

On the other hand we also exchange favors for Yankee Dimes. Those are kisses on the cheek. Mom, will you bring my pencil when you come back? Sure, for a yankee dime. Or, Daddy, I'll give you a yankee dime for that last bite of ice cream. I don't know, is it bad that we say that?

 

And yes, we say "don't be ugly."

 

We're from Tennessee but live in Oklahoma.

 

Oh my, the other month my daughter and I were in Subway and she got a a kid's meal. The girl at the counter gave my daughter a cup and told her she could get a soda. Well, in addition to the regular fountain drinks, there were little tabs for water and soda. There's my girl getting a soda.:lol: It's all coke to us. What kind of coke do you want? Oh, Rootbeer is fine.

 

And now my daughter knows she despises soda!:tongue_smilie:

[amydavis]

I was born and raised in NC. We say "you're being ugly" or "that's ugly." I never thought of it being a regional thing until a friend (from Michigan) said that her ex-husband thought I was commenting on my child's looks when he heard me say "that's ugly." I was :confused:

 

Oh, and I have heard my parents' generation say "he's just plain sorry," but I haven't caught myself using that one yet!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I've heard "he's a sorry example of a man" or something like that. That is quite to the point and not something I would want to say.

[secular_mom]

Yes, that's an expression in AL too- "Well that's one sorry SOB".

[jubulibee]

Well, I guess I'm going to open myself up to scathing criticism . . . but, well, we say "yankee-fied." As in, if someone is being less than hospitable or has over-done make-up, or for some reason, stands with her arm or arms crooked with the hand dangling (instead of at her sides), she's yankified. I'm sure it's bad that we say this.

 

On the other hand we also exchange favors for Yankee Dimes. Those are kisses on the cheek. Mom, will you bring my pencil when you come back? Sure, for a yankee dime. Or, Daddy, I'll give you a yankee dime for that last bite of ice cream. I don't know, is it bad that we say that?

 

And yes, we say "don't be ugly."

 

We're from Tennessee but live in Oklahoma.

 

Oh my, the other month my daughter and I were in Subway and she got a a kid's meal. The girl at the counter gave my daughter a cup and told her she could get a soda. Well, in addition to the regular fountain drinks, there were little tabs for water and soda. There's my girl getting a soda.:lol: It's all coke to us. What kind of coke do you want? Oh, Rootbeer is fine.

 

And now my daughter knows she despises soda!:tongue_smilie:

 

Absolutely! We live in Coke country, so everything is a coke.

 

"Bless her heart," as was said earlier, can unvilify any bad thing said about someone. BUT, "bless your heart," is an endearing statement to someone who has done something sweet or kind, or in the same sense as, "poor thing."

 

Regarding "ugliness" - we say it all the time in GA. But I have changed it up a bit to something like, "That was ugly." I always try to focus on the behavior and not the person.

[staceyobu]

Funny... I had no idea it was regional.

 

I say "Don't be ugly", "You're acting ugly", "You're being ugly", "That was ugly". Thought everybody said those things!

[GraciebytheBay]

Not commonly used in Western New York, but it sure was when we lived in Oklahoma!

[mrbmom77]

Oh, yes, the Coke thing..

What do you want to drink?

I'll take a coke

What kind?

Dr Pepper

 

:)

 

My Yankee ex thought that was the craziest thing!

 

He also tried to convince me he wasn't really a Yankee b/c he was born in a hospital just south of the Mason-Dixon Line. I told him we have a saying for that down here - "If the cat had kittens in the oven, you wouldn't call them biscuits!" Me - smiling sweetly and laying on the drawl. Him - :001_huh::glare:

 

All in fun, of course...

[1bassoon]

This thread is cracking. me. up.

 

I didn't realize it, but now that we live in AL, I'm always saying (and in fact, just said this morning), "Don't be ugly! Be sweet!"

 

And today, as my dd17 is running ballet camp, I hear her saying, "No, darlin', stand over here. . . . . . "

 

 

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! We've been CONVERTED!!!!!

:willy_nilly:

 

(I'm gonna go get a Coke ;))

[ThatCyndiGirl]

Yes, we say, "Quit Being Ugly to each other!"

 

My little ones, when telling on each other say, "She's making me obnoxious!" No ownership, mind you. If his little sister wasn't being so ugly to him then he wouldn't be obnoxious! :lol:

[KJsMom]

This thread is cracking. me. up.

 

I didn't realize it, but now that we live in AL, I'm always saying (and in fact, just said this morning), "Don't be ugly! Be sweet!"

 

And today, as my dd17 is running ballet camp, I hear her saying, "No, darlin', stand over here. . . . . . "

 

 

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! We've been CONVERTED!!!!!

:willy_nilly:

 

(I'm gonna go get a Coke ;))

Me too! I have laughed a couple of times while reading the posts and my dh looks at me like I've lost my mind. I personally liked the "I'm gonna slap you nekkid". My dad's granny said things like that all the time and I remember he did whatever she told him to do and did it in a hurry, didn't matter that he was a grown man. :lol:

[mcconnellboys]

LOL! My now departed MIL, from Arkansas, used to say about someone who was putting on airs, "She ain't got a pot to p*ss in or a window to throw it out of....."

[Krista in LA]

I've lived in the midwest and in PA, and I never heard the phrase until we moved to Louisiana. We say don't act ugly rather than don't be ugly. Of course I never heard people to tell their kids to be sweet until we moved here either. So to me, it's definitely a southern thing.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

oh, yeah . . . Bless your heart. I hear it most often and use it exclusively to impart a sense of empathy, sometimes solidarity, pitty. I sometimes hear it said in the devilification sense but it's more like . . . Mrs. Lind in Anne of Green Gables. That Anne Shirley has the manners of a street urchin, bless her heart. If she had lived in the south, that's how she'd have said it. In fact, not that I say it out loud like that, I hear that pretty often.

 

also bless her pointed little head.

 

and when we'll do it as soon as we can get to it, we'll do it directly. But it really sounds like d'rekly.

[woolybear]

New England here and have never heard that one.:)

[KarenNC]

Born and raised in NC.

 

Yes, we say, "Quit being ugly." Also: "I'm in an ill mood." "Be sweet." "Gimme some sugar" (give me a kiss). "Bless her heart" (which is always condescending), etc. All soft drinks were "coke" (including the suicide---a mix of everything from the fountain--and the witchdoctor----a suicide with an added slice of dill pickle). Hamburgers and hotdogs came "all the way"---mustard, chili, slaw and onion (sometimes ketchup, and sometimes cheese on the hamburger), never lettuce, tomato and mayo.

 

My dad's favorite phrase was, "I'm gonna tan your hide and tack it to the wall to dry if you don't straighten up!";)

 

Another meaning for "sorry"--it's something you don't want your poundcake to be (the kind of dense, not quite cooked properly streak in the middle when a cake "falls"). My grandmother described milk that was on the verge of going bad as "blink." (not "on the blink," that's for tvs, just "That milk's blink.") When it thundered, she would make us sit down quietly, saying, "Hush, now. Little David's talking." I have *no* idea where that came from. Because of her, I also still find myself, whenever I spill salt or pour too much out into my hand when cooking, throwing a bit of it over my left shoulder.

[KarenNC]

and when we'll do it as soon as we can get to it, we'll do it directly. But it really sounds like d'rekly.

 

That goes along with "I'm fixing to...." do whatever, go wherever, etc.

[3littlekeets]

Oh, and "you git what you git and you don't fuss a fit"

 

AND,

 

Here we "tee tee" we don't "pee pee"

[fairfarmhand]

What about this one...you not only mash potatoes, you mash buttons too!

[fairfarmhand]

And here is a fun link on the idea that any carbonated beverage can be a Coke. This is a chart that tracks the soda names by the area.

 

(Pop vs. soda vs Coke)

 

http://popvssoda.com:2998/countystats/total-county.html

[melissel]

Another yes to "Act like you've had some home training" - - any reference to home training means you are this close to living in "a world full of sorry."

 

My other main one is, "Act like you're some body."

 

I don't go whole hog with these things. For example, the children are allowed to get above their raisin' (and encouraged to do so, if at all possible).

 

"She's dumber than a bag of hammers, bless her heart...."

 

But Momma never threatened me with baldness. It was "I'll knock you into next week!" or "slap you nekkid" or "knock the fire outta you!"

And, yes, "sorry" was one of the worst insults we knew.

:D

 

Oh, this thread has me rolling! :lol: And DH wonders why I want to move to the South. I can't tell you how this NJ-born and raised girl wishes she could say "y'all" and "dang!" and "bless her heart" in everyday conversation without looking like a wackadoo (though "dumber than a box of rocks" and "fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down" are common enough).

 

I will also say that this thread explains our new across-the-street neighbor's behavior a little bit. I've never in my life heard the expression until she said it to her two-year-old one day when she was snuffling over having to give DD4's bike back to her. I was horrified (she said a few other choice things as well :glare:), but this puts it in a bit more context.

[Kirch]

I confused her when I kept saying my then preschooler was "ill today". She thought he was *sick* for over week until she finally made mention of his "sickness". I explained that "ill" also means "fussy" down south (at least in TN and MS:)

 

That one threw me for a while when we moved to NC. I've lived in the South a lot, and that's the only place I've ever heard it. I haven't lived in TN or MS, though!

 

I say "Don't be ugly" or "That was ugly" all the time. Much too often, actually. :glare: That's a different post, though! I do try to rephrase it a bit ("Don't act ugly" or "That was mean and ugly") if I'm around people that I think might not understand what we're talking about.

[jubulibee]

oh, yeah . . . Bless your heart. I hear it most often and use it exclusively to impart a sense of empathy, sometimes solidarity, pitty. I sometimes hear it said in the devilification sense but it's more like . . . Mrs. Lind in Anne of Green Gables. That Anne Shirley has the manners of a street urchin, bless her heart. If she had lived in the south, that's how she'd have said it. In fact, not that I say it out loud like that, I hear that pretty often.

 

also bless her pointed little head.

 

and when we'll do it as soon as we can get to it, we'll do it directly. But it really sounds like d'rekly.

 

 

My daddy would say to me when I did something right, "bless your pea pickin' little heart!"

[stephanier.1765]

Just recently I was having a conversation with my son's baseball coach and I guess he realized that he was in the wrong because he suddenly snapped at me. I just looked at him and said, "I'm not being ugly." Meaning you don't need to talk to me like that because I'm not talking to you like that. And the conversation did get back on track. Whew....it's tough being a southerner. LOL

[justamouse]

Oh, this thread has me rolling! :lol: And DH wonders why I want to move to the South. I can't tell you how this NJ-born and raised girl wishes she could say "y'all" and "dang!" and "bless her heart" in everyday conversation without looking like a wackadoo (though "dumber than a box of rocks" and "fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down" are common enough).

 

 

 

I'm from Jersey and I use that stuff all the time. Whackadoo's OK.