I never thought that I would deal with language barriers when I moved south. After all, we are still in the same country (although the Confederate Reenactors still pine over what could have been. But that is a topic for another day). English is still the official language. However, not only is there a different accent, but you never know in a given conversation when a seemingly straightforward English word means one thing to a Southerner and quite another thing to one from Up North.
Take the word toboggan. Up North we all know that one slides down a hill in the middle of winter on a toboggan. Imagine my confusion when after a Sunday Service there was an announcement that someone had left a red toboggan the week before. Why would you bring a red toboggan to church? There wasn't even any snow!!! I ran it by my true blue southern friend, Robin, and found out that toboggan is actually a hat. Where did that come from?
Another word is buggy. Buggy is a little old fashioned, and is a shortened version of baby buggy. We most often use the word stroller now. But down south this is a very common word. In fact, my first time into a store down here, I was asked if I needed a buggy. A what?! I was taken aback by this old fashioned word. A buggy. I was quick to detect that this might be another one of the language barriers to overcome. Obviously I didn't need a buggy. My four children were with me, but my youngest one was 3 and very able to walk. After my blank look, the southerner took pity on me and used the universal language of hand gestures. And there where she was pointing was a row of ready-to-use shopping carts. Oh. I can't actually bring myself to
say buggy, but I now know what it is.
My southern language skills are broadening, and I can now usually understand someone even through the strong accent. Yet, there was one time, last year, where my confidence in my progress was shaken to the core.
I was scheduled to meet with a representative from the State of North Carolina to go through my homeschooling records. I was a little intimidated and wanted to make a good impression, so I took time to find just the right outfit to portray a smart, able-to-homeschool-my-children kind of woman. I made it to my appointment three minutes early and shook hands with a beautiful, black woman in a classy business suit. We smiled and introduced ourselves and then she asked me...well, that is where my confidence was shaken. I had no idea what she asked. She spoke in English with a fairly strong accent, but I just couldn't get it. I politely said, "I'm sorry?" and she repeated the question. And it still made no sense whatsoever. Maybe the question was too full of "straightforward" English words spoken in too strong an accent. I don't know. This was not the impression I wanted to make. I finally had to fully humiliate myself and and say that I had no idea what she was asking. She looked at me strange and put the question in other words: "Why did you decide to homeschool?" Huh. That was it? Even now, knowing the root of the question, I have no idea what her original question was. This fully demonstrates the language barriers that one can face when moving across state lines, especially from Up North to the South.
