[at-l] Southern Dialect

[nealb@midlandstech.com (William Neal)]

Well y'all, I ain't never heard of the other two y'alls.  We kinda use y'all
as an all purpose y'all.  Singular, plural, etc.  Now nabs I've heard of.
In fact they're a big part of a lint head lunch: nabs and a coke or (to me)
better, a Moon Pie and RC or coke: We kinda use coke for almost any soft
drink.  Our apologies Mr.. Coke Cola.  But I have even heard people say RC
coke cola.
 
I guess y'all might be wondering what a lint head is.  It's a body who works
in a cotton mill.  Your head so full of lint -- literally and not
figuratively -- that you look like a white haired granddaddy or grandmother
after a day of work.  
 
Also "dope" is sometimes used for drinks.  Comes from working in the hot
dusty cotton mills.  You needed a pick me up and here would come the dope
cart.  In the "old days", there were no break rooms or vending machine.  A
company man or a man with a permit would push a cart around carrying snacks
and soft drinks and BCs.  BC, Stanbacks, Goody's and other headache powders
were the "dope".  And people would dump the powder down the throat or in the
drink and down it.  Some of the "old timers" swear that a drink doctored up
with a powder would carry you through a hot, sweaty day: Temps in a cotton
mill can get 20 to 30 degrees higher than outside.  And a lot of them would
just dump it in the bottle and take a swig every now and again. Somehow the
term dope (for some people) got carried over to mean a drink.  But it's got
to be a heavy caffeine cola if you're going to use it a pick me up..  
 
After having worked for years in a bleachery (which is worse than a cotton
mill) I swear by colas and powders.  They do seem to work some kind of magic
for almost anything that ails you.  I particularly like them at night after
a hard day.   They "relax" me enough -- usually -- for the next day.  And I
have used them for camping.  I wouldn't recommend taking them constantly
through the day like some of the ol' time lint heads did, but they might be
good at night; especially if your back is hurting.  I've made a sweet
instant coffee and drank it cold since carrying canned drinks is a bit silly
when you have to hike back into the woods.
 
Of course the best general cure for pain and what ails you is mountain dew.
And I don't mean the kind that comes in a can.  Take a sip of the good stuff
and you can probably hike the whole trail with a 100# pack.  And if you
ain't never had any, you probably can do the whole trail in one day.  It's
powerful stuff.
 
Y'all have a good time, yuh hear!  
William -Bill- Neal
     The Library Turtle
           -- I maybe slow, but I get there --
     nealb@midlandstech.com <mailto:nealb@midlandstech.com> 
     Midlands Technical College
     Library - Airport - Cataloging
     PO Box 2408
     Columbia, SC, 29202-2408
 


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