Southern “thing” in Arctic Environment

Living up north can sometimes be a trying experience in so many ways.  There are the cultural differences in food with this town being a melting pot of various countries and cultures.  There are many Far Eastern influences as well as the thirteen Alaska Native Tribes.  There is such a variety of foods as well as languages found within the state.

Originally being from the South it has sometimes been fun playing with everyone when asked where I am from.  I still have my southern accent which I am sure will never go away nor would I really want it too.  I have fun with the locals when getting gas or paying for a meal when they ask me where I’m from.  (Not sure if that is correct English or not but don’t really care)  I tell them I am from South Anchorage and the look on everyone’s face is almost priceless.  I usually get a response something along the lines of “Really?”  I will eventually tell them where I grew up and will then give them a little extra Southern slang with a couple of y’all’s thrown in which brings with it a few laughs.

Y'all is a Southern thing that most people living outside the South don't understand or appreciate.  It is in the nuances of the words and their meanings which make it fun for those from a Southern upbringing. 

I have long been involved in y'allism’s all my life and I find it a charming word that is pure Southern.  It is often misunderstood so I thought it would be nice to discuss “y'all” with you at some length. 

The biggest mistake people from outside the South make in the y'all area is they don't think we say y'all at all.  They think we say "you all." 

As a Southerner arriving up North I knew I would surely be mocked the first time people heard my ‘twang’ and the Southern accent.  I was and then the game began trying to make everyone wonder if I was crazy or just putting them on. 

Alaskans and natives would giggle and in their best spoof accent ask, "So where are you all from?"  Whereby I would answer saying, "I all is from South Anchorage.”  After a few looks and laughs I would then add “that originally I grew up in Atlanta."  Recently I was at a gas station paying and I overheard one of the cashiers talking to someone else and when I paid for my fuel I asked the question, “Where y’all from . . . hotlanta?”  And the guy laughed and said, “Tucker, an’ ju?”  I responded “Chamblee” and found out we went to competing high school where the principals of both schools were brothers.  Small world we live in and while talking for a few minutes found out we knew some of the same people even though we have been away for many years now.  We both left for similar reasons . . . heat/humidity and too many people and the traffic which comes with it.  He arrived in Alaska in 1985 while I left Atlanta in 1995 and thousands of miles from our ‘roots’ we found common ground.  It was funny.

 

For some unknown reason, Alaskans and most Northerners I have encountered think Southerners use ‘you all’ in the singular sense.  How many movies have I seen where a Northerner is trying to do a Southern accent, failing miserably, saying “you all”, while addressing one other person. 

Southerners rarely use "you all" in any situation but we never . . . ever . . . ever . . . use it when addressing just one person.  If you were at my house and mama offered you a cup of coffee she would say, "Would you like a cup of coffee?" 

If you, your cousin and your brother-in-law come over then I'd say, "Would y'all like a cup of coffee?"  It’s the right thing to do and mama would make sure you had biscuits and gravy to go with it. 

Y'all is a comfortable thing, like most things Southern with a genteelness that your daddy taught you as a young boy.  I’ve been away a long time now but those flashbacks to those long ago times make the long dark Alaskan nights a little easier to get through.

Ice