Southern slang ?

[Tom @ Snake River]

Okay you guys in NC, what is the proper southern slang expression for a small african american child ? ? ?
I want to see if what was passed down in my family is correct.

[Lifer]

The now VERY "politically incorrect" term is "picaninny."

[Tom @ Snake River]

My family came from NC and it is interesting the expressions that have passed down through the generations.
We have used the term "wee chillin" wee being from the Scotch-Irish for small and I have no idea where chillin comes from.
I call it "tar-heel baby syndrome"

[Lifer]

"Chillin" is the word "children" with a couple of letters left out. If you lose the "d" and the "r", it comes out "chil'en" (pronounced "chillen"). In some parts of Appalachia, the "l" and "d" are dropped and the word becomes "chirren." In both instances, it's due to laziness or a speech impediment on the part of some long-ago speaker and the term is passed on from generation to generation until it becomes a recognized part of the local dialect.

(Ah, the things you learn as an English major in college!)

[m-37Bruce]

I listen to it all day long, both chiren & chi'lin, another dialect of ebonics ?

[Lifer]

More likely due to lack of education, I think. Both terms cross the color line and are used primarily by people of little or no education.

[Tom @ Snake River]

"Little or no education" "Hell" that fits my family to a tee !
That in a nut shell explains my problem.
I knew you guys could help.
My family came both off the Tennessee and North Carolina sides of the mountains.
Kin visited last week, the one guy spends all his time working for a large construction firm out of Knoxsville, working on the large casino at Cherokee.

[N1VSM]

More likely due to lack of education, I think. Both terms cross the color line and are used primarily by people of little or no education.

Well perhaps, but I think it is more determined by where you grow up, and what you are used to hearing. I know a few folks who come from affluent families who themselves make six figures who speak using colloquialisms often associated with poverty. Whether you decide to try to lose your accent is up to you.

I was raised in the Boston area (pronounced BAH-stn). Hey, if you get me on a roll, I can "pahk my cah in Havahd yahd" with the best. If you're lucky, you might hear me toss out all kinds of great terms, like "wicked pissa," (for those in the know, yes I did leave out an adjective) or even perhaps use the "f" word as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, interjection or preposition - multiple times in the same sentence. That said, I'm often asked where I grew up, because I have a very "neutral" accent - one that can't be tied to any particular region or social strata.

Oh, well. Back to working on my M ...

[Lifer]

Point well made! I'm one of those lucky people who can communicate at almost any level. I've addressed formal gatherings at our embassies in London, Ankara, and Seoul on the topic of American Scouting abroad in language that the audience was accustomed to, and I've been known to sit around a campfire with a bunch of "hicks" who think that grammar is "kinfolk."

Being well-travelled at Uncle Sam's expense, I've come into contact with every known regional dialect of our language and exposed to the linguistic peculiarities of each. Some of them are very colorful, indeed, and I have "adopted" some of them for my own use.

Even though I was raised in Illinois for the most part, my own speech patterns and accent are primarily those of tidewater Virginia where most of my family came from.

I never make fun of someone* because his or her accent isn't what I'm used to hearing every day. To me, these variations are "seasonings" in the English "stew." As long as we can understand each other, there's no problem.

* I will, however, tease you to death about spelling and grammar errors now and then.

[N1VSM]

I like Lifer's idea of assimilating parts of dialects that you like. One that I think fill a massive gap in the English Language is the plural form of you, as given to us by the South: "y'all". I'm not as fond of the Rhode Island version of "youse guys" (No offense meant to Rick C.)

[anthony manzella]

Mamy Slamin Monkey baby ! and a host of others !

[Lifer]

You call me that, an' I'll "show ya where the bear shit in the woods!"

[anthony manzella]

YOU BY chance would be part of the equation LMAO,

[anthony manzella]

GO BEARS ! vs LIONS