Quote:
Originally Posted by AlphaFrog
I've never heard that phrase until I moved her to Metrolina. To me, I "stay" at a hotel, or when I was little I "stayed" over at a friend's house for the night. To me, it implies a short term arrangement. Whenever anyone asks me here where I "stay", I reply that I LIVE in Indian Trail, where do you live?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Optimist Prime
I think people originaly meant "stay" as in "not really home" because sometimes places don't feel like home.
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It's actually just the opposite.
Yes, I actually took an American dialects class way back in college -- one of the most fun and interesting classes I ever took -- and since then I've read and listened to a lot of Walt Wolfram, who's an expert on Southern dialect.
"Stay," historically at least, is primarily an African-American usage, although it is found in other groups as well. It simply means "live" and indicates permanence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WCUgirl
The only odd phrase you all have mentioned that I am familiar with is "cut off the lights." I didn't hear that until I came to NC for school.
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Because one is "cutting" the flow of electricity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carnation
Another thing they say here that I'd never heard--getting "shut" of someone is getting rid of them.
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Maybe it's a regional accent thing -- I've always heard it getting "shed" of someone (like shedding fur or skin).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glitter650
I say purse;pocket book really confuses me because I think of the check book sized wallet or writslet when someone says that, and most of my purses wouldn't come close to fitting in my pocket.
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A purse is nicer (and often smaller) than a pocket book. A women carries a pocket book when running errands; she carries a purse to church or a party.
Quote:
Originally Posted by epchick
I've always heard that there is a difference between "y'all" and "ya'll." That southerners say "y'all" and everyone else says "ya'll"
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There is, as Alpha Frog has pointed out. One has the approstrophe in the correct place, denoting a contraction of "you all," and the other has the apostrophe in a place that makes no sense.
That's all, y'all.
