Regional Expressions
PROGRAM: IN A WORD
EPISODE: REGIONAL EXPRESSIONS
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Mary Beth Schaefer with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
When you want a carbonated beverage, do you ask for soda or pop? Or do you just call it a Coke—even if what you really want is a Dr. Pepper? How you refer to your soft drink probably depends on where you grew up. The soda/pop/Coke variance is often cited as an example of a regionalism, a language variant that arises in a particular region or community. These variations add depth and color to our language. But they can also cause confusion.
The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), now available online, is a great resource for understanding both the meanings and origins of these expressions. You might think that regionalisms are dying off thanks to our media-saturated culture, but the editors of DARE say that’s not the case.
While some words and phrases have been supplanted by national trends, other new regionalisms continue to crop up. And DARE allows us to understand and record those differences.
The dictionary is understandably popular with linguists and historians, but it’s also used by people from other walks of life, including doctors, who sometimes consult it to understand how their patients describe their symptoms.
Recognizing difference in regional expressions can be important for writers and speakers, as well.
If you’re lecturing on transportation issues, for instance, you probably want to know if your audience members would call a particular type of intersection a “traffic circle” or a “rotary.” And if you’re writing a scene in which a character orders a sandwich, it helps to know whether she would ask for “a sub,” “a hero,” “a hoagie,” or “a grinder.”
How we talk, after all, is an important indicator of who we are. Regional expressions often reflect the interests and values of those who use them. In the south, for instance, where folks pride themselves on being polite, you may hear the phrase “bless his heart” tacked on to the end of a less-than-flattering comment: “That boy’s a sandwich short of a picnic—bless his heart." That phrase softens the blow, allowing the speaker to seem genteel even while being brutally honest.
Sometimes these regional expressions address an inadequacy in the language itself. English, unlike many other languages, currently has no plural form of the second person. The pronoun “you” can be singular or plural, which sometimes leads to confusion. So, enterprising English-speakers have created alternatives. In many parts of the country, you can hear speakers using the plural “you guys” or “youse” or even “youse guys.” In the south, of course, we have “y’all.” Some resourceful Southerners take things even further, suggesting that “you” is singular, whereas “y’all” means two people and “all y’all” means three or more.
So, when is it appropriate to use these regional expressions? You should omit them in formal writing, such as a grant proposal or anything that needs to be very straightforward, such as a lab report. And you may want to limit them in writing or speaking to an international audience, who may find them confusing.
But regionalisms are usually acceptable for most informal writing such as blogs or personal emails.
What’s more, they can add some verve and personality to your writing or presentation.
So go ahead and embrace those regional distinctions. After all, there’s no reason all y’all need to sound alike.
This has been "In a Word," a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Mary Beth Schaefer, helping you make every word count.
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
EPISODE: REGIONAL EXPRESSIONS
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Mary Beth Schaefer with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
When you want a carbonated beverage, do you ask for soda or pop? Or do you just call it a Coke—even if what you really want is a Dr. Pepper? How you refer to your soft drink probably depends on where you grew up. The soda/pop/Coke variance is often cited as an example of a regionalism, a language variant that arises in a particular region or community. These variations add depth and color to our language. But they can also cause confusion.
The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), now available online, is a great resource for understanding both the meanings and origins of these expressions. You might think that regionalisms are dying off thanks to our media-saturated culture, but the editors of DARE say that’s not the case.
While some words and phrases have been supplanted by national trends, other new regionalisms continue to crop up. And DARE allows us to understand and record those differences.
The dictionary is understandably popular with linguists and historians, but it’s also used by people from other walks of life, including doctors, who sometimes consult it to understand how their patients describe their symptoms.
Recognizing difference in regional expressions can be important for writers and speakers, as well.
If you’re lecturing on transportation issues, for instance, you probably want to know if your audience members would call a particular type of intersection a “traffic circle” or a “rotary.” And if you’re writing a scene in which a character orders a sandwich, it helps to know whether she would ask for “a sub,” “a hero,” “a hoagie,” or “a grinder.”
How we talk, after all, is an important indicator of who we are. Regional expressions often reflect the interests and values of those who use them. In the south, for instance, where folks pride themselves on being polite, you may hear the phrase “bless his heart” tacked on to the end of a less-than-flattering comment: “That boy’s a sandwich short of a picnic—bless his heart." That phrase softens the blow, allowing the speaker to seem genteel even while being brutally honest.
Sometimes these regional expressions address an inadequacy in the language itself. English, unlike many other languages, currently has no plural form of the second person. The pronoun “you” can be singular or plural, which sometimes leads to confusion. So, enterprising English-speakers have created alternatives. In many parts of the country, you can hear speakers using the plural “you guys” or “youse” or even “youse guys.” In the south, of course, we have “y’all.” Some resourceful Southerners take things even further, suggesting that “you” is singular, whereas “y’all” means two people and “all y’all” means three or more.
So, when is it appropriate to use these regional expressions? You should omit them in formal writing, such as a grant proposal or anything that needs to be very straightforward, such as a lab report. And you may want to limit them in writing or speaking to an international audience, who may find them confusing.
But regionalisms are usually acceptable for most informal writing such as blogs or personal emails.
What’s more, they can add some verve and personality to your writing or presentation.
So go ahead and embrace those regional distinctions. After all, there’s no reason all y’all need to sound alike.
This has been "In a Word," a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Mary Beth Schaefer, helping you make every word count.
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]