The Complete How to Speak Southern

by Steve Mitchell

The laugh sensation that swept the nation, How to Speak Southern and More How to Speak Southern , is now collected in one complete-and completely hilarious-volume. Embraced by Southerners everywhere and dedicated to all Yankees in the hope that it will teach them to talk right, this uproarious book decodes "Suthun" wit and wisdom for "Nawthun" upstarts everywhere. From "aig" (a breakfast food that may be fried, scrambled, boiled, or poached) to "zackly"...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553804782
• ISBN13: 9780553804782
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

It is so valuable and so many useful terms in it that I'm sure I will be revisiting it--often.

I admit to being a Yankee . . . but wanting to know more about what this term meant, I turned to Steve Mitchell's hilarious HOW TO SPEAK SOUTHERN and came across this definition: * Anyone who is not from Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and possibly Oklahoma and West-by-God Virginia. A Yankee may become an honorary Southerner, but a Southerner cannot become a Yankee, assuming any Southerner wanted to. "Momma, can Yankee go to heaven?" "Don't ask foolish questions, son Of course not." That compelled me to read the whole book, which can probably be finished within an hour . . . however, that's only for the first reading . . . it is so valuable and so many useful terms in it that I'm sure I will be revisiting it--often. For example, there's this other term that I often mangle with my pronunciation: * Yawl: A useful Southern work that is consistently misused by Northerners when they try to mimic a Southern accent, which they do with appalling regularity. Yawl is always plural because it means you-all, or all of you. It is never-repeat, never-used in reference to only one person. At least not by Southerners. "Where yawl goin." And lastly, I got a kick out of reading more about: * Thang: A word Yankees consistently mispronounce as "Theeng." "Have you seen Sue Ann's new boyfriend? Honey, he just the cutest thang." Greatly adding to my enjoyment of HOW TO SPEAK SOUTHERN were the accompanying cartoons by SCRAWLS (Sam C. Rawls) . . . several of them were funny by themselves; i.e., without any accompanying text.

A humorous look at ourselves

The Complete How to Speak Southern is a humorous look at the idiom and speech of those who were born and raised in the South. It should give those born North of the Mason-Dixon line some clear insights into what they are confused about when they visit or move.

Funny

Sent this to a friend in Scotland. She loved it and is proud to announce she can now talk southern with a Scottish accent. Great gift for all yanks !!

Linguists alert

A fun and funny book to give to someone either moving to the South US or someone who loves a southerner but doesn't know how to communicate.