I am a big believer in that you need to adapt to your culture and "When in Rome, Do as the Romans do." For example, when I lived in Germany, I spoke German. By the time I left I was pretty fluent. Wish I could still say I was, but you forget if you don't use it...anyways, point being, in the South they commonly say "sir" and "m'aam" and I am learning how to adapt. Sadie is taught at school that she is to say "Yes, m'aam" to her teachers. I completely respect this. However, they have taught her to call ME "m'aam" as well, and this I am not a fan of! Haha! She now knows that she is to call me, "Yes, Mommy." :) One day I was picking her up from school and her teacher said something like "you say yes m'aam to your mommy." Sadie got upset and said, "I don't say yes m'aam to mommy, I say yes mommy!!!" I explained to her teacher that we don't do that in our house but that it is fine at school.
I thought I would share a short funny video of Sadie trying to get a rise out of me by calling me m'aam. Enjoy!
Some other funny Texas terms that I posted about is hearing people talk about the "light bill." I call it an electricity bill, as it is all encompasing, but being the perfectionist that I am, have to fight the urge to correct them and say, "don't you mean the electric bill?"
Sometimes people here have such thick accents that I often times cannot understand them. Friends in Arizona and California say that they can hear a little accent in me, which surprises me because most people here instantly know that I am not from the area from my lack of accent. It's interesting how that works.
Anyways, January flew by-how can that be?! I have a busy month ahead with lots of newborn shoots and a bridal show at the end of the month. Time is just flyin'!
Your posts, in regards to this, always crack me up! It is also somewhat offensive, up here in MN, to use ma'am. A big change for the girls who used it through out their days in school in TX. Now with that being said, I love the little differences that set each state apart. Up here the locals say things like - that restaurant is "spendy" (expensive) and of course the typical northern saying for soda is "pop" . The Northern / Midwestern accent is fairly thick on those that have lived here and very easy to pick up on. Like you in TX, people notice quickly that I have some sort of accent that sets me apart from the locals and the girls still have a slight southern draw to their words which always raises questions around their peers.
ReplyDeleteMiss you girly and TX!