Filed under: Travel
Thirteen cultural things I was not aware of before moving to the south.
1. “Pin” and “pen” are pronounced the same way. Leaving me in search of a safety pin when all someone wanted was a writing utensil.
2. Mac and Cheese is a vegetable.
3. Hush puppies.
4. Collard greens.
5. The American civil war is actually called The War of Northern Aggression.
6. Any argument I was engaged in could be resolved by mentioning I was from Maine. “Ahhh, well, yer just a yank anyway.”
7. My religious affiliations are public information. It’s not if you go to church, it’s where do you go to church. And, in many circles, “I am not a Christian” is not an acceptable answer.
8. On the flip side of that, I also learned that there are some very enjoyable churches in Nashville, as well as the largest Hindu temple in the US, and ten different Buddhist groups. The bible belt is more diverse than it appears.
9. What Bless your heart really means.
10. That playing music just for the love of it is really okay.
11. That a great southern accent can not only be extremely sexy, but can wield sarcasm in a way that puts even the gutsiest New Yorker to shame.
12. That my drinking habits will be heavily governed in any state where I feel driven to drink by the surroundings.
13. That as much as I enjoyed my time living in Nashville and working in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and North Carolina, I will always be a northern girl at heart.
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Ruby Ramblings 
And here I thought the Civil War was just called, “The War.” No need to say which. I mean, isn’t it obvious?
Comment by aliceaudrey April 23, 2009 @ 2:50 pmWhat does ‘bless your heart’ mean!? And what the heck do you do with Collard Greens? We were in an organic coop where we got these regularly. I was like – what? the? heck?
Comment by On a limb with Claudia April 23, 2009 @ 3:34 pmMan, you made me hungry!
Comment by fullbodytransplant April 23, 2009 @ 3:37 pmWhat a fun list. I enjoyed reading it.
Comment by Barbara April 23, 2009 @ 3:43 pmYIKES! Thanks for the warning 🙂
Comment by Harriet April 23, 2009 @ 4:04 pmAh, being from Massachusetts & living in Virginia for the past dozen years I can identify with many of these!
Comment by becky68 April 23, 2009 @ 4:26 pmThank you for stopping by my blog earlier.
The South fascinates me. The accent slays me. The weather calls to me like a siren song. I’m Canadian. 😉
Comment by Deena April 23, 2009 @ 5:32 pmGreat list! I’ve spent very little time in the south so far, but have heard some stories that make me bristle. LOL’d at the idea of mac&cheese=vegetable!
Comment by Jen/Stuff Jen Says April 23, 2009 @ 5:37 pmBless your heart, it must have been difficult for a yank living in Nashville. lol
You think Nashville is bad, I live in hickville about 70 miles from there – we make Nashville look like Big City Sophistication! lol
Comment by Kim April 23, 2009 @ 7:16 pmWhat a fun post! I’m here in Texas where pen and pin are said the same way as well. And bless your heart!
Comment by Forgetfulone April 24, 2009 @ 4:40 amGet it right- it’s “bless your little heart shugg ahhh.” and it has a wide range of meanings from thank you, to you poor thing. It all depends on when it is said to a response to something someone else said. Sometimes it is better not to know what it means. Southern women always talk sideways.
Comment by Daily Panic April 24, 2009 @ 3:24 pmThe southern accent was made for sarcasm. Bless your heart can be delivered ever so sweetly with quite the opposite meaning! I love the South. It is my roots and I miss it horribly sometimes. But I don’t miss kudzu or livermush.
Comment by Molly April 26, 2009 @ 8:20 pmI’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in a southern state..although Oklahoma felt a little southern at times.
Comment by bybee April 27, 2009 @ 4:12 amI do a lot of survey work, so I’ve spent a lot of time in more rural areas, especially in Kentucky. Central City, KY is not my favorite place, although if I hadn’t gone there I never would have been able to actually live John Prine’s song Paradise.
Comment by therubycanary April 27, 2009 @ 1:41 pmVery fun list Yankee gal 🙂
Comment by Jennygirl April 27, 2009 @ 2:15 pmBeing a yank myself, but surrounded by many southerners my whole life I definitely got your list lol. You may have also learned that when someone says “wheel” before their sentences they are not talking about the tires on a car lol.
Thanks for stopping by The Joyful Dieter!
Comment by The Joyful Dieter May 1, 2009 @ 3:12 pmFun list! Loved #6! lol.
Comment by auntiequary May 1, 2009 @ 11:55 pm