You know when you really know you’re in a different place? When you turn on a local talk-radio station... and you hear a caller who talks like this.That’s a “John Osterlind Show” clip from early last week... when the news was all about a backwoods Louisiana justice of the peace who wouldn’t marry interracial couples.
Interesting show, actually. A black woman named Jalinda called and lumped Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in with the redneck justice of the peace... because “they’re reversing racism on people!”
Click here and listen to Jalinda for a few minutes. She uses one turn of phrase that’s so tasty, I’m gonna steal it and put it in a “Treme” script. Can you guess which phrase I mean?
Rev. Al's not interested in going down there to River Parishes "'cause that won't earn him no national face or nothin'."
ReplyDeleteThat's my pick for your tasty script nugget, David.
. . . Or did my dialect-impaired ears miss an even juicier tidbit from Jalinda?
^ I think she said "no national stage" there...
ReplyDeleteThanks for playing though, Alan.
I grew in a "river parish" in louisiana and still have family there. I don't mean to sound nasty but when I left there, I believe that my IQ jumped 100 points. Talk about a place stuck in time.
ReplyDelete-Boudreux
There are so many to choose from but I would guess
ReplyDelete1. "Unfortunately I can bet your dollar money" - that's my official guess but
my personal favorite is
2. "They don't even understand the Constitution, if it was a religious thing.... and the Bible clearly tells you no that's different"
But other than that I'm out of guesses, and if you do use it please put it in context, we do have a way of speaking down here that is unique.
As for as Boudreaux, ya know I love ya even though I don't know ya because you are from La, but I have a PhD and there is some intellectual stimulation still in the La., yes some are stuck in time but you will have that EVERYWHERE, no place is immune to stupidity!
1. "Unfortunately I can bet your dollar money" - that's my official guess...
ReplyDeleteYou got it, 9thWardChick! I'm gonna try my best to have somebody say "I'll betcha dollar money..."
Fid Puten! What's wrong with the way they speak?
ReplyDeleteI can find only one example on the whole wide Web of the phrase in question. And it's from somebody in Indiana, who wrote:
ReplyDelete"I would be happy to say I am wrong and wave a flag in his parade if it comes to fruition. But I will bet you dollar money I won't be."
I like that turn of phrase!
It is a tasty phrase indeed, but these days "your dollar money" ain't worth a whole lot, must be from back in the day of the gold standard.
ReplyDeleteMy Vote is either, Dollar Money or Common Money....
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jalinda, Louisiana still have some ugly ways...
Oh man. I need to check in more often. I guessed "dollar money" right off, but was late to the party to begin with.
ReplyDeleteYah, but be careful to not mix New Orleans with the rest of its State. The city and state have always done things away from one another. Part of that comes from New Orleans being occupied by a variety of empires (French, Spanish, Central America, America), giving its a cosmopolitan flair unfound elsewhere. Look, it was one of the few places in the South with its own economic center (Storyville) not to be burned to the ground in the early 20th century.
ReplyDeleteAnd congratulations on the first script done? Is the series set to premiere in 2010 on HBO?
ReplyDelete^ Thanks, OJM. I think "Treme" will premiere on HBO in March. Won't be long now.
ReplyDeleteMarch? Cool, now I have more time to save up for cable - I'm on a budget. Or someone could record it on VHS (budget people) and mail it to me. Times is hard...
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the show!