One of the funny things about living in the south is that, even though I've lived here most of my life, there are still some times that people say things I can't understand. The reason I bring this up is because there's a particular saying that I've heard all my life and it never made sense to me. Finally, after all these years, I've realized that the southern accent disguised what was actually being said. (People who have never lived in the south have probably never heard this expression anyway.) Here it is as I always heard it: "working you like a barred mule." Barred mule? What's that supposed to mean? A mule who passed the bar exam?** This saying has mystified me for years...until now. It's actually "working you like a borrowed mule," which makes so much more sense. I know what someone means if they say, "can I barra that?" but I never made the connection.
When I realize things like this, as I do from time to time, it makes me love the south even more. The fact that I can go into a store in Bawcomville (read: readneck capital of La) and need a translator to communicate with people who live 15 miles away from me is just amusing. I can understand someone from NY much better than I can understand a cajun from south Louisiana. That cracks me up.
That generic accent that so much of the US has takes some of the comic effect out of life.***
**So many lawyer jokes in my head, so little time to type them.
***I realize I had a generic TV accent for 5 or 6 years. What can I say? I pick up accents easily.
Posted by christin at May 29, 2003 01:56 PM | TrackBack