Redneck Pronunciation Causes Confusion

I have written a series of articles on the origin and meaning of commonly used phrases. You can view these articles by visiting my Content Producer page. This series of articles started me thinking about phrases and words used in my family as I was growing up. Until I was an adult and saw it in print, I thought a chest of drawers was a chester drawers. Jeff Foxworthy's redneck dictionary lists many words and phrases used this way. I have come to terms with the fact that I'm a redneck. I'm a redneck and I'm proud!

Another example of something I misunderstood due to the language use of my family is roasting ears. Speaking of roasting ears of corn, everyone in my family calls them roastneers. Imagine how I felt to discover this after twenty or twenty five years.

My grandmother has never said the word woman correctly as long as I can remember. She always puts an "r" in the word and pronounces it womern. She had a sister named Nina. I was shocked to find out that this was her name after hearing her called Ninee all my life.

This strange language usage is not only used in my family. My husband's grandmother used many strange words as well. She had a sister in law whose name was Alma; I did not know this until I read her obituary after she passed. Everyone had always called her Ammer. Now, I know this should have struck me as odd, but quite honestly it never did.

My favorite word used by my husband's grandmother was the word "nuss." She used this word to describe someone or an animal wanting to be petted on or loved on. She had a pug named Buttons, when Buttons would rub up against her, she would say she was nussing her.

I was happy to find that I am not alone in misunderstanding and misusing words. I was discussing with my family the topic of this article during the Labor Day holiday and when I mentioned the chester drawers, my sister-in-law said she had no idea it was supposed to be chest of drawers. I say let's do away with that altogether and just call it a dresser! Whether you have similar experiences or you speak absolutely perfectly, you have to admit, the word dresser is much less confusing!