Five lessons I learned from my Southern mother

Image: Stockvault

It's a funny thing having a mother (and a huge extended family) from the Southern U.S.  Although I was neither born nor raised in the South, I've inherited many of the mannerisms, and believe it or not, the accent. 

I get asked more than I can recall, if I'm from Atlanta, Texas, or some other area of the South.  Funny thing too is that now my daughter has a bit of a southern drawl.  Who knew?

One thing I appreciated growing up were the colorful analogies and proverbs I would glean from the conversations with my mom and other family.  These little gems made life lessons a lot more interesting, I'll tell you that much. After learning the meaning I never forgot the counsel. 

While I'm not sure if they all originated in the South, here are my standout 5 Southern proverbs:
 
*That's like the pot calling the kettle black.
Said when someone has no right to talk about another person as they are generally in the same situation.

*You'll just be jumping from the frying pan to the skillet.
This means that you will be going from one bad situation to another.


*The emptiest wagon makes the loudest noise.
(One of my favorites) This means that the person doing the loudest talking or bragging often cannot back it up.


*He/She doesn't have a pot to pee in nor a window to throw it out of.
Translation: Dirt poor

*If a dog brings a bone, he's taking one back. 
My mama would tell us this to warn us about talking behind the back of others.  It means that if someone is bringing you juicy gossip about another, it's very likely that they are bringing juicy gossip about you back.