Howdy,
Growing up in West Virginia I learned to speak good old “hillbilly” language. If we were going to prepare something or get it ready for use we were “fixin”. Or, we were fixin to go to the store. We went “huntin”, “fishin” and “swimmin”. If it was dark and we needed to find something, we used a “fashlight”. We went to church to “warship” God. We knew what we meant but others looked at us in dismay. I have had a lot of fun with my “upbringin in them thar hills”. I am not a “hillbilly” anymore. I am a “hillwiliam”– “cause I got a collage educatin”.
There are 17 major dialectical speech patterns in the USA and it is sometimes humorous to get an understanding of what people mean by their expressions that are a unique fixture of their area. Texans have an expression that I heard about 45 years ago and did not understand it until this week. When they say, “that dog will hunt” it means that it is possible. The reverse is clearly spoken among Texans too. If “that dog won’t hunt” means it is impossible. Expressions like “yall”, “you guys”, “youins” and ”weins” are not uncommon in referring to a small group of people. The one that took me awhile to understand from the southwest was “where do you stay”? I found out they were just asking me where I lived. This expression took on a good meaning for me from the Greek (living in and around the Greek community of Tarpon Springs) word “meno” which means to stay in a given place, state or relationship. See, I love Tarpon Springs, the “Venice of the South”. I want to stay here until I go to my real home–Heaven!
Jesus used this word in John chapter 15 when he said “abide in me”. The concept of staying in Him is very powerful and the evidence of our abiding in Him is that we will bear fruit. This carries over to all areas of our life. It is with this in mind that I ask you, “where do you stay?”
Larry, Resident Article Expert
Tags: 45 Years, Collage, Dismay, Expression, Expressions, Greek Community, Heaven, Hillbilly, Jesus, maxprosystem, Mindset, Relationship, Small Group, Southwest, Speech Patterns, State of Mind, Swimmin, Tarpon, Tarpon Springs, Texans, Venice, Weins, West Virginia, Yall
