The Old Man is on hurricane watch today. As I write, the clouds are beginning to thicken and its sprinkling rain. We're due several inches of rain tonight and tomorrow courtesy of Hannah. Like Jimmy Buffet sang, "Its time to go inside".
In Bedford, hurricanes were merely curiosities that happened to people in Florida. Without 24/7 news and weather coverage, we didn't know much about them. In thinking back, I remember what the Bedford accent did to the word "hurricane". It was pronounced "hurrikun" with the emphasis on "hurri". You see, the Bedford area was sort of the dividing line between the Appalachian accent found in the mountains of SW Virginia, and the Old English accent of the eastern part of the state. Our accent was much like the Canadian accent of today.
For example, "house" is pronounced "hoose", "out" becomes "oot", and "about" turns up as "aboot".
My mom added her own special styling, calling vegetables "vegi-tibbles" and the word seven came out as "sebm". A typical conversation in our house might go like this:
Mom: "Sonny, run oot to the vegi-tibble gahden and bring in aboot sebm ears of cawn."
Me: "Yes um".
Mom: "And you wipe yo feet befo you come in the hoose."
Me: "Yes um".
Mom: "How 'boot you bring in a couple cuKUMbuhs?"
Me: "Yes um". When I get back, can I have a CoCola?"
Mom: "We-a oot of Cocola, but I got some Sebm-up".
Me: "Yes um"
Many nights in the summer, we had a supper of all vegitibbles and no meat. They were fresh, home grown, and Sonny had followed instructions. Perhaps we were trend-setters and didn't know it.
I spent a couple of years after college as a radio announcer. Needless to say, the Bedford accent had to go, I spent hours practicing my new 'cosmopolitan' sound. So-called proper English became my second language.
Years later, I enjoyed watching Peter Jennings broadcast the news. As a Canadian, he still said "oot" and "aboot", and it was somehow comforting.
Now, after all this time, I often hear the old accent creeping back into my speech. Where once I might have been on guard against that, now it's a source of some degree of pride. It's the real me.
Cooking for Bella
8 years ago
6 comments:
Aw Dad I can hear Granny's voice in my head saying Vegitabbles.. I used to always giggle when she'd say that. I literally sat here, closed my eyes and heard her voice... thank you for bring that back to my mind.
Ya'll stay safe!
Love you
My Grandmother (further up Park St.) always called ginger ale "gin-jale"!
This was great! When I was young and would visit my father in northern Virginia (Quantico area. Everyone would ask my father and grandparents where down south is she from. LMAO! They would say she's not from down south she's always lived in Richmond, Virginia and she will outgrow that accent. lmao..... I don't believe it's still as strong but I'm told by my nothern and west coast buddies that I still have it. I hope Hannah isn't too hard on you!
Sorry for the punctuation errors! I should have had at least half a cup of coffee stimulating my brain before I started replying to this post. lol
Interesting post, Jack. I was a military brat and because of that my accent is a blend of VA,CA,PA and GA -- with several years overseas. It's mostly southern I think, but not a typical southern.
My husband and I used to drive through Bedford occasionally on our weekend excursions when we lived in Richmond. Smith Mountain Lake was a favorite destination.
My "steady" in high school was from Big Stone Gap and he and his Mama and Daddy spoke just like your family members. I loved it. :)
Once again, I love this post. I, like Julie, can close my eyes and picture Grannie saying these things. Totally love that.
And I love you!
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