It may take the form of real or mock dialect, in variations like " Lor' willin' an' th' crick don' rise.". Actually this is not proven. While there, we happened upon a museum dedicated to the Underground Railroad. Come visit me at LeahWeiss.com where you can subscribe to my CREEKRISE author news. And I mean took me there! (LogOut/ If the creek rises, travel will be impossible and Ill never get to Grannys. purchase. If we relied on written sources it would be hard to believe in such continued use. Look up Lord willing and the creek don't rise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Throughout the years, through these floods, weve had several roads that have washed completely out, so you just dont know whats down there.. When a fellers fixin to do something, theyre about to do it. It is a breathtaking and gritty portrayal of hillbilly life from the year 1970 which is set in the Appalachian Mountains. Who better to write about the risks of the Creek rising in revolt? The expression make groceries is a translation of the French faire son march (to do ones market shopping). In fact, virtually all the examples that Ive found in books and newspaper archives down to the present day are in lower-case. A strikingly sincere portrait of a town and its buried secrets from an outstanding new voice in southern fiction. Some newspaper clippings are harder to determine which meaning they meant. We do our best to keep our promises, but sometimes unforeseen circumstances come up. Donate via PayPal. Over yonder toward the water tower. It is a physical and mental state a few degrees past weary and just this side of dog-tired. Neither provides any documentation: http://pub122.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm2.showMessage?topicID=191.topic, http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm#LordWillingAndTheCreek. Positive thinking, Southern style. No, we don't mean you need to go fix your hair. During the course of his 21 years in these positions he would oversee the longest period of peace with theCreek, only to watch his lifetime of work destroyed by a faction of this Indian Nation known as the Red Sticks during the War of 1812. Stop right there! This Southern saying, God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise. 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. All rights reserved. Gumption is spirit, courage, spunk, boldness, and initiative. I first heard of the notion of creek meaning Creek on a camping trip a couple of years ago at Barkcamp State Park in the area of Wheeling, WV. "If God so wills, and as long as intense rain does not wash away bridges or parts of dirt roads, or cover roads too deeply for safely following them." Thats a mouthful, but we lumped these all together because they are allsubstitutes for (God) d*mn it. I was surprised as all get out. The lyrics play on the expression Lord willing and the creek don't rise, which is thought to originate from Alabama. It can be deployed sincerely, but if you're hearing "bless your heart" in the South, it probably has an edge to it. is a common way to use this next Southern cussemism. It traces to the 1700s and is based on darnation, the mild form of damnation. She captures the whole Appalachian scene - the vocabulary, the falling down houses, the likker, the poverty. I was reading a post on one of the West Virginia pages that I follow in which a person referenced God willing and the creeks dont rise. in reference to rain and floods. Depending on where you are, youre likely to hear words combined together (gonna for going to) and different vowel sounds than youre used to, including mah for my and git for get.Git has been in use since the 16th century all over the country, but is particularly common in the South, where it appears in everything from classic literature (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird) to personal correspondence (I want you to write me as soon as you git this letter, from a letter dating back to the Civil War). It mentions . Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. "If the creek don't rise" is a slang phrase predominantly used in the Southeastern United States and can translate to "if all goes well." It's a more conditional action statement than the famous phrase "come hell or high water." I was going to ask him why, but I had to shoot him. Now, she admits to saying this to her children. Kicked in the gut and sucker punched with one of the best books I have ever read. If you hear this one, you should probably pause a moment. If you use this phrase, you could be declaring any number of things: surprise, dissent, happiness. Wheres my blasted phone?. Doh! Although he admits when the rain starts to fall, it makes him a little nervous. Faire can mean both do and make. This phrase entered the Southern vernacular via Louisiana and is in regular use in the New Orleans area. The distinct English dialect of the American South, which has a close relationship with Black English (African American Vernacular English), is fascinatingand plenty lively. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled, origin of phrase - "if the creek don't rise". Let me love you again, give me one more try. This is a high compliment in the South, since Southern states are known for their peaches. Cows aren't known for their speed, and they are usually out and about, wandering until feeding time. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. the creek don't rise. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. It seems this saying is a favorite expression of country singers. 1851. The exact tranlation might be, 'If God is willing, and there isn't a flood that would prevent us from meeting again next week'. He was a politician and Indian agent. This United Statesrelated article is a stub. The grit and darkness don't just belong to Sadie, though. Back when I was in the fourth grade we had an English teacher who dumped a box of books out one day and told us to read them and do book reports. False folk etymology. In his response, he was said to write, God willing and the Creek dont rise. Because he capitalized the word Creek it is deduced that he was referring to the Creek Indian tribe and not a body of water. Youre still going to the grocery store. the creek don't rise " is an American slang expression implying strong intentions subject to complete frustration by uncommon but not unforeseeable events. And yes, I have heard the music of this culture and watched the dancing. Change). Often said as Lord willing and the creek dont rise, this expression means, with a little bit of luck and no unexpected problems, things should work out. If the Creek Don't Rise is a collection of hard-used characters, tangled relationships, family angst, and fortitude. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. Grahams American Monthly Magazine, Jun. Your email address will not be published. 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. I see said the blind man to his deaf wife. Oh, how I loved this story - I simply didnt want it to end! Yes, I had heard of the Appalachians and how the culture spreads along those mountains over more than a dozen States. [2] In the Reed song and Cash cover the verses vary the rhyme, so the opening line commences: If the good Lord's willing and the creek stays down I'll be in your arms time the moon come around. That book was a 1908 publication and leans toward the thought of Creek Indian, even if not capitalized, because of the word fire (as in shooting guns). And I have used this page's title often-feeling quite sure I knew exactly what it meant. 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. I will be at church on Sunday. It's almost always accompanied by a good-natured, perhaps slightly exasperated, shake of the head. An odd few (6% of Americans) do use soft drink, according to the Pop vs. The expression ". document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Something needed to fill in the gap: Yall is one solution associated with the South, with all generally serving to clarify more than one you is being addressed. The New Madrid earthquake (reputedly the largest in recorded history in North America) created the division between traditionalist Creek (Red Sticks) and those more willing to seek accommodation with the majority of the tribe. This string of double negatives is actually meant as encouragement! The written record dates the saying from about the middle of the nineteenth century. According to World Wide Words, when asked if it meant Creek Indians, their expert responded with: " Quite certainly not. Over yonder past the cotton field. 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. Im told it was a sign-off tag line of the 1930s US radio broadcaster Bradley Kincaid. But we declareif your only knowledge of Southern sayings comes fromGone With the Wind, youre missing out on a lot of Southern expressions. Maybe not all dogs were made for hunting some prefer the warmth of a fireplace and the comfort of your lap. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Feller-citizens Im not customed to public speakin before sich highfalutin audiences. Settle in, because whatever we're talking about is going to take all day. Be it Gods will, or, we go to war, my plans will go according to one of those two choices. From another source Some historians attribute Benjamin Hawkins as having been the first person to ever say these words and he did so in a letter to the President of the United States. This phrase can be intensified by the addition of the word "way," as in "way over yonder.". Here are a couple of examples of this claim. Take a look at some of our favorite Southern sayings that we just couldn't live without. Lyndon Johnsons wife Lady Bird was fond of the phrase, and she wasnt one to cast aspersions on native Americans. Grandma might whisper this one over her hymnal if she sees you cutting up in church on Sunday morning. Because this is a progressive verb (youll make progress with it for sure), remember You were fixin to patch the hole in the wall. Never say you fixed to do it! You gonna let him break your spirit, too? Can't Never Could. It was a big old chunk of a book, so only a couple of the kids including myself read it.

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if the creek don't rise saying