I am feeling culture shock from reading this book. But, in the South, if your boss says that dog wont hunt in a meeting, it probably means your suggestion or idea needs improvement. What better way to sweeten the sour than with a classic Southern libation? Its especially difficult for people that live south of River Road and some of them that live in Woodland Hills. Accents vary by regionand sometimes even city to city. Though youre likely to hear Southernisms such as hold your horses and pretty as a peach nationwide, youll likely only hear the following from a true Southerner. However, if you're from the South, you know that sometimes there's just no other way to get your point across. The earliest example known is this mock rustic speech: Feller-citizens Im not customed to public speakin before sich highfalutin audiences. Feller-citizens Im not customed to public speakin before sich highfalutin audiences. Is this derivation correct? If you use this phrase, you could be declaring any number of things: surprise, dissent, happiness. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. "If the Creek Don't Rise" We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us. on, This page was last edited on 22 January 2022, at 17:42. When you arrive on the banks of the fishing pond on Saturday mornings, you're hoping for a good catchenough big catfish and bream to fry up for the family on Saturday night. Then theres a long gap in the record before it began to appear again in the 1950s. (LogOut/ Copyright Michael Quinion, 1996. This string of double negatives is actually meant as encouragement! Who better to write about the risks of the Creek rising in revolt? It must surely be the creation of a fertile modern mind desiring to put the flesh of evidence on the dry bones of outright invention. The lyrics play on the expression Lord willing and the creek don't rise, which is thought to originate from Alabama. I have even heard the accents and many of the stories from various artists who escaped the confines of this culture and were successful in attaining fame and fortune for themselves. The only requirement is that you declare it loud and proud. It turns out that the phrase was written by Benjamin Hawkins in the late 18th century. Andrew Jackson sent a request for reinforcements before the Battle Of New Orleans. If the Creek rose, Hawkins would have to be present to quell the rebellion. writes one commentator.. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Another publication, Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge Jurisdiction, Volumes 88-89, coins the phrase: if the Lord is willing and the creek dont fire, we will so do. Not one shred of evidence is a clear invitation to fault the writer. Eli is the backbone of the community; all he wants is a better life for the people of Baines Creek evidenced by the succession of teachers he has procured.and been scared off, and his scheming troublemaking spinster of a sister Prudence who "don't like nobody" doesn't help matters any, but when the giant 6' 2" Kate Shaw arrives, wellthat's another story. I've been in a slump of just ok books and was craving one that was special. It is a paraphrase of a popular biblical saying from James 4:15, and while there are scores of citations to the phrase in the sense of the waters rising, in the US and Europe, there is not one shred of evidence of a reference to the Creek nation. According to World Wide Words, when asked if it meant Creek Indians, their expert responded with: Quite certainly not. Sign up for writing inspiration in your email, , Scarlett OHara says: I do declare, Frank Kennedy, if you dont look dashing with that new set of whiskers!, The distinct English dialect of the American South, which has a close relationship with Black English (African American Vernacular English), is fascinatingand plenty lively. HARDY, Ark. "Well I s'wanee" evokes the Southern Suwannee River. Mentioning Benjamin Hawkins is a masterstroke, since he was the General Superintendent for Indian Affairs between 1796 and 1818 and was principal Indian agent to the Creek nation; he became so close to its people that he learned their language, was adopted by them and married a Creek woman. It's almost always accompanied by a good-natured, perhaps slightly exasperated, shake of the head. Older than Methuselah. Somehow, the word went full circle and is now considered a distinctly Southern invention. No matter where you go in Kentucky, the people often have some colorful expressions. And, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, come March of next year, I'll be 225 years old. God willing and the creek don't rise If all goes as it should; if everything goes well. It may take the form of real or mock dialect, in variations like " Lor' willin' an' th' crick don' rise.". While in the south, Hawkins was requested by the President of the U.S. to return to Washington. Southern Slang: If The Creek Don't Rise | What does it mean? | Ask A A handful of rivers and streams will be out of their banks by Friday evening and Saturday morning. Most of the ones on paved roads had bridges or culverts by that time, but not all of them and everyone still clearly knew what that saying meant even if the threat wasnt very real anymore. Therefore if the Lord is willing and the Creek don't rise up and start up another uprising or battle, we will be able complete what ever it is we intend to do. Doh! The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. Where did this contraction, popular in both African American English and Southern American English, come from? origin of phrase - "if the creek don't rise" - Factual Questions This Southern saying, God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise. Unlike the United States Postal Service, whose motto proclaims "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night" will keep them from their routes, sometimes a Southern visit is thwarted by a rising creek or other unexpected bump in the road. The distinct English dialect of the American South, which has a close relationship with Black English (African American Vernacular English), is fascinatingand plenty lively. The resulting warfare and predictable civilian losses in the South reportedly gave rise (using the Southern frontier penchant for willin as opposed to the educated willing) to the phrase which was then likely mistakenly attributed to Hawkins due to his Native American connections. Southerners tell it like it isno matter what it isso think of this as a learning moment. 'Cause everything's fine, God, I wish it were . Dylan LeBlanc - If The Creek Don't Rise Lyrics | Genius Lyrics This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 01:18. "Like all great southern writers, Leah Weiss's magic turns the local into the universal." Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author, on All The Little Hopes. However, this is clearly one of those evolving language cases. Grandma might whisper this one over her hymnal if she sees you cutting up in church on Sunday morning. A friend of mine told me to shoot first and ask questions later. Throughout the years, through these floods, weve had several roads that have washed completely out, so you just dont know whats down there.. And I mean took me there! Instead of "Well, I swear," Southerners have adopted a geographically inspired alternative. Rather, when this phrase is used, we'd like you to mind your manners and stop acting inappropriately. Someone once said that when you visit the South, you need a translator. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. My favorite variant is the phrase Hank Williams Sr. sometimes used to end his shows: "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll see you before long." - MT_Head. 132 Copy quote. You'll also find a longer version of my official bio: It's bold, powerful, dark and hard to believe that this is a debut novel. "If the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise.". This was an extremely enjoyable read! Its not a recent change. However, with the west in flames, both whites and Indians began organizing fighters. If the Creek Don't Rise: Tales From the South Kindle Edition During the early days of the War of 1812, one party of Creek marched north and joined the Indians fighting in Ohio and Michigan, participating in the River Raisin Massacre. The saying "God willing and the Creek don't rise." Came from those traveling west in the OLD DAYS. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. Theres two or three creeks, he said. As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Lord_willing_and_the_creek_don%27t_rise&oldid=70955250. The swear-word equivalent would be something along the lines of No sh*t!I declare may have come from an English oath (the sworn proclamation kind) declaring that no foreign parties have power to subvert the Crown. God willing and the creek don't rise - TheFreeDictionary.com Historically, Southerners in the Appalachian mountains pronounced eternal as tarnal. That pronunciation suggests a clever word-smoosh between tarnal and damnation, so the savvy Appalachians could euphemistically express their anger without wasting an extra breath. Thats a mouthful, but we lumped these all together because they are allsubstitutes for (God) d*mn it. Which means if nothing crazy happens or anything out my control such as a natural disaster. The nabbit, gonnit, gummit, blasted, and burnit match the rhythm of damn it, but they can easily be modified for use as an adjective or adverb: That dagnab idiot didnt look to the dadgum left and, dadburnit, he crossed over in my dadblasted lane and dadburn near hit me. When used as a stand-alone oath, hold out on the first syllable and accentuate the second: DaaadGUMMit! Neither provides any documentation: http://pub122.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm2.showMessage?topicID=191.topic, http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm#LordWillingAndTheCreek. A sister who is afraid of losing her brother and Sadie's grandmother and aunt, all tell their stories adding to Sadie's own. If you've read the book summary, you already know Sadie Blue lives with a devil of a man, but she's not the only one who has lived with a wife beater of a husband. As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. Quick, what do you call a soft drink? So, if during the time of Benjamin Hawkins life, the Creek Indians were experiencing the longest period of peace, why would he fear that they would rise. We admit that we've heard this Southernism more than once. The researchers went on to cite two different publications in the 1800s in which the authors did not capitalize the word creek, leading one to believe they did not mean the people proper. The General replied to Stonewall Jackson that he would send troops "the Good Lord is willing and the Creeks don't rise (in rebellion). Over yonder toward the water tower. If you find only minnows, though, they look even smaller compared to the heavy catch you hoped for. Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. The Lafayette gazette(Louisiana), 3 Nov. 1894. A: "Do you reckon we'll have enough from this harvest to make ends meet?" B: "God willing and the creek don't rise."
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