Doug’s Freshman year at University of Tennessee, a long, long time ago…., and Professor Spivey, his Economics 101 teacher, is being broadcast to about 100 Frosh via 6 TVs in a large classroom. He was very southern and said that he wanted to teach them Yankees a few things. First, he would ask us Yanks to raise our right hands and keep them up. He then would say to the southerners in the class to take note of who these hand raising folks are because hey, how can Prof Spivey know who has their hands raised since he is teaching the class remotely via TV?

Point taken Professor.

Next, he said that he was gonna say something in his East TN dialect and wanted to see if any northerners could figure out what he said. So, Doug’s leader says “Igots fer terse en ma ker” . He repeats and those who are from the land of snow and real pizza look at each other a bit bewildered until Mr. Spivey slowly enunciates “I got four tires on my car”.

For those of you who lives above the Mason Dixon line and are considering a move to the south in your future, we have compiled a few southern phrases and acronyms that might, just might help you navigate your way in these parts. Now, some are related to real estate and some don’t have a dang thing to do with real estate but, y’all just never know if one day you’ll have need for these translations, will ya?

Fun Southern Sayings

Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other – A common statement professing that it’s a 50/50 call

Give Me Some Sugar – No, not that kind of sugar, but give me some sweetness, aka a hug, kiss, etc.

Oncet – Used in a sentence: Oncet I climbed a tree

Well Bless Your Heart – When said by a southern woman, generally she is referring to you as a dummy

You’re a Hot Mess – Simple translation means that you just aren’t right!

Holler – Nope, the other holler, as in “they live down yonder in the holler”, which is generally a valley or tucked away piece of land down south

He Ain’t Right – While as southern of a statement as you can find, it translates equally into Yankee

Southern Real Estate Sayings

F.R.O.G. – We do not have basements in the south but, we do have FROGs. These are the Finished Rooms Over Garage, otherwise known as Bonus Rooms. (Men often refer to FROGs as their Caves!)

POA – If you move south of the Mason Dixon, it’s a safe bet that the community you live in will have a Property Owners Association – which takes care of amenities, billing, gates, disputes, rules, etc.

ARB – The Architectural Review Board is the group of people that you hand in your home designs to and they hand it back to you and your designer/builder with all kinds of love notes and suggestions at correcting/improving your home

Subdivision – In the south, this is a community that generally has a pool, two tennis courts and small clubhouse. These communities generally attract young/er families and, some retirees

HOA – A Homeowners Association is typically in place when you have condos or townhomes, as this organization oversees the homes themselves (as in shingles, landscaping, painting, etc.)

Plantation – Some Marketing person began this terminology years ago for a community that is chock full of amenities such as golf course/s, pools, tennis courts, fitness center, exercise classes, parties, etc.

Carolina Plantations – Synonymous with the best damn real estate company on the planet that helps people discover all the great Plantations/Communites that we have here in Coastal North Carolina!!

Gated Community – Main focus of a gate is to increase sales. When the developer leaves, usually so do the guards – which are replaced with key fobs (FYI. A 24 hour, 7 Days a week Guard costs the homeowners $100,000 or more per year. Ouch!)

We can only hope that these few sayings above will help you as you transition to the area. If you are still looking for the perfect home and community, allow us at Carolina Plantations to help you out. We can give you all the best details on which community is right for you and your family! We hope to see you soon and we know you’ll be able to catch onto the southern talk in a jiffy.