Copyright Michael Quinion, 1996. I was just hoping for something more concrete about the real origin. Get help and learn more about the design. The General replied to Stonewall Jackson that he would send troops "the Good Lord is willing and the Creeks don't rise (in rebellion). Translated, this means: "We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us." !, Reckon has ancestry tracing all the way back to the 1000s (and maybe older still), and originally means to count, calculate.. Share. You might say cocola. The Creek were a tribe of Native Americans (indians) who would ambush people who were traveling West. Instead of "Well, I swear," Southerners have adopted a geographically inspired alternative. You Cant Use These English Words In The UK, Understanding Black History: 10 Terms That Illuminate The Black Experience In The US. Do You Know These Sizzlin Southern Sayings. During the early days of the War of 1812, one party of Creek marched north and joined the Indians fighting in Ohio and Michigan, participating in the River Raisin Massacre. This string of double negatives is actually meant as encouragement! Youre still going to the grocery store. With a colorful cast of characters and a flair for the Southern Gothic, If the Creek Don't Rise is a debut novel bursting with heart, honesty, and homegrown grit. "If the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise.". Many thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the ARC in return for an unbiased review. The written record dates the saying from about the middle of the nineteenth century. "If the creek don't rise" is a slang phrase predominantly used in the Southeastern United States and can translate to "if all goes well." It's a more conditional action statement than the famous phrase "come hell or high water." Not one shred of evidence is a clear invitation to fault the writer. Marty Stuart places the words "If the Good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll see you in the mornin'." [1][2], Classic versions of its use tend to be along the lines of "The good Lord willing, and the creek doesn't rise"i.e. In other words, Ill make it to Grandmas if the indians dont go on the warpath. Apparently Carter had a great many pills, because the phrase found its way into the Southern vocabulary. Because this is a progressive verb (youll make progress with it for sure), remember You were fixin to patch the hole in the wall. Never say you fixed to do it! Poor little doggy. I've never forgotten it and it's drove me nuts because I would love a copy of it. Hawkins, college-educated and a well-written man would never have made a grammatical error, so the capitalization of Creek is the only way the phrase could make sense. Change). In alternating first person narratives from a cast of characters that will be hard to forget, Leah Weiss took me to the mountain community called Baines Creek in the Appalachian Mountains in NC. The only requirement is that you declare it loud and proud. I reckon "I reckon" can replace any number of phrases, such as: I guess, I suppose, I think, and I imagine. Whether you're talking about volume or value, a hill of beans isn't worth much. If the good Lord's willin and the creek don't rise. This is a point of emphasis and exclamation that often ends without any additional telling at all. If we relied on written sources it would be hard to believe in such continued use. Turn around, and please dont drive through it. Settle in, because whatever we're talking about is going to take all day. All rights reserved. After eating a big, delicious Southern dinner Granny just made, you have to finish up with a slice of sweet potato pie, right? Ireckon is the way many Southerners get to surmising about something or other. The "creek don't rise" phrase is now sometimes credited to this time of unrest and displacement. DeSantis's year-long quest to strip Disney of its self-rule came after the entertainment giant, and Florida's . Yet here I stand before you a speckled hermit, wrapt in the risen-sun counterpane of my popilarity, an intendin, Providence permittin, and the creek dont rise, to go it blind!. There is no reason to suppose the Indian variant is true. It seems this saying is a favorite expression of country singers. Cookies and privacy Donate via PayPal. A strikingly sincere portrait of a town and its buried secrets from an outstanding new voice in southern fiction. However, the first President to move to Washington was John Adams on 1 November 1800. Im told it was a sign-off tag line of the 1930s US radio broadcaster Bradley Kincaid. But, in the South, if your boss says that dog wont hunt in a meeting, it probably means your suggestion or idea needs improvement. This is our creative way of saying that you shouldn't crow like a rooster about your wealth and belonging today, because it could all disappear tomorrow. A handful of rivers and streams will be out of their banks by Friday evening and Saturday morning. On his deathbed he married the Creek woman who had been his common-law wife. 1851. It seems this saying is a favorite expression of country singers. Thats a mouthful, but we lumped these all together because they are allsubstitutes for (God) d*mn it. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. It presumably evokes occasional and unpredictably extreme rainfall in Appalachia, that has historically isolated one rural neighborhood or another temporarily inaccessible on several or many occasions. It was so enjoyable and fun reading and discussing the book with them. If you find only minnows, though, they look even smaller compared to the heavy catch you hoped for. It's a vivid phrase, and it's an accurate one too. The states involved sent Hawkins,Andrew Pickens(South Carolina), Joseph Martin (Georgia) andLachlan McIntosh(Continental representative, Georgia) to negotiate a treaty to end the fighting. Positive thinking, Southern style. Eli is the backbone of the community; all he wants is a better life for the people of Baines Creek evidenced by the succession of teachers he has procured.and been scared off, and his scheming troublemaking spinster of a sister Prudence who "don't like nobody" doesn't help matters any, but when the giant 6' 2" Kate Shaw arrives, wellthat's another story. There, we listened to amazing stories told by Dr. John Mattox. Im not going to wrestle with historians and their Creek uprising story. The 1800s and 1900s were much simpler times, as people didn't have the luxuries afforded in modern times. When you're in the South, "over yonder" is a distant directionany direction. Here are a couple of examples of this claim. Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. The first big battles in the Creek War were, indeed, attacks on white settlements, but it was not a matter of an uprising that threatened settlers, rather it was an outbreak of war between two armed groups in which whites and Indians sought each other out. Neither provides any documentation: http://pub122.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm2.showMessage?topicID=191.topic, http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm#LordWillingAndTheCreek. And I mean took me there! From the beginning, the first narrative of Sadie Blue, which broke my heart from the first page, it feels like it will be her story. purchase. I was going to ask him why, but I had to shoot him. "If the Creek Don't Rise" We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us. Dont worry, if youre helping a friend make groceries, youre not expected to create food from scratch. And Lord have mercy, wait till you meet Birdie with her gamy birds-nest hairdo and top notch fine feathered companion Samuel.and all his buddies. Take a look here Michael: http://www.genealogynation.com/creek/. The grit and darkness don't just belong to Sadie, though. Anything to the degree of "all get out" is something to talk about. A Quite certainly not. It's raining cats and dogs. In the South, a hill of beans is its own measuring stick. Its a more conditional statement of intent than come hell or high water. It's often said in a reassuring way, to calm people down and encourage them to keep on trying. Often said as "Lord willing and the creek don't rise," this expression means, with a little bit of luck and no unexpected problems, things should work out. Your email address will not be published. What in tarnation? Well, I found it. (Yes, it is terrible grammar, but that is how it is said. It was set in the Ozark mountains featuring what some people called a witch. But despite its gentle execution, this story delivers some of the heaviest of punches and invites the reader to step outside of the book for a spell We are an American people, born under the flag of independence and if the Lord is willing and the creeks dont rise, the American people who made this country will come pretty near controlling it. I'm a sucker for the well turned phrase and I was highlighting sentences here, one after another. There is no typical Southern accent. I reckon she skipped town on account of her mama being madder than a wet hen. Alongside fixin to, this is a quintessential term to strike a match under your vocab and hear it holler Yeehaw!! Charles Wilson said the flood waters are something he has to live with to enjoy residing on the river. It's true, we do have a mouthful of sayings that only Southerners understand. PS A belated congratulations on your appointment as moderator, Tom. It is a modern error to presume that "the creek don't rise" is a grammatical error, so the fact that a speaker in the past was college educated would not be an argument against his having used the phrase. Andrew Jackson sent a request for reinforcements before the Battle Of New Orleans. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The earliest example known is this mock rustic speech: Feller-citizens Im not customed to public speakin before sich highfalutin audiences. All rights reserved.This page URL: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-god1.htmLast modified: 25 February 2012. As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. It is a breathtaking and gritty portrayal of hillbilly life from the year 1970 which is set in the Appalachian Mountains. If you're trying to be nice, but you just can't quite let it go, "bless your heart" is a go-to. The Lafayette gazette(Louisiana), 3 Nov. 1894. My officers and fire department, we went along the river houses and notified everybody and recommended evacuation, said Hardy Police Chief Scott Rose. What is the origin of the phrase the good Lord willing and the creek dont rise? From another source Some historians attribute Benjamin Hawkins as having been the first person to ever say these words and he did so in a letter to the President of the United States. For instance, I might promise to show up for Christmas at Grandmas if the good Lords willing and the creek dont rise. We do our best to keep our promises, but sometimes unforeseen circumstances come up. The Creek so-called civil war of 1812 involving the Red Stick faction, and their combat North and South, appears to have been an impetus for that forts creation. If the Creek Dont Rise by Leah Weiss is a 2017 Sourcebooks Landmark publication. Theres nothing more Southern than a lively Hey, yall! And dont you dare think of spelling it yallSouthern Living has decreed this contraction of you all is spelled one way, and one way only. Catawampus(or, cattywampus) may have been popularized by Brits who delighted in parodying Southern vernacular. We like to read this as one of the greatest Southern encouragements, but, like most of these phrases, you can use it however you'd like. "Druthers" roughly translates to "I would rather," meaning, "If had things my way" The phrase is celebrated in song in the hilarious, Southern-inspired Broadway musical Li'l Abner, in which the title character sings "If I had my druthers, I'd druther have my druthers than anything else I know." Firsts, Mines, Asks. The English language is forever changing. Following that treaty John Siever formed the state of Franklin from land previously claimed by North Carolina but never ceded by the Indian tribes. Used in a sentence - If the creek don't rise and God's willing, you should be able to see this video. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. The swear-word equivalent would be something along the lines of No sh*t!I declare may have come from an English oath (the sworn proclamation kind) declaring that no foreign parties have power to subvert the Crown. A friend of mine told me to shoot first and ask questions later. Then theres a long gap in the record before it began to appear again in the 1950s. Over yonder past the cotton field. Southerners tell it like it isno matter what it isso think of this as a learning moment. When you're fixin' to do something, it's going to happen, but you also may decide to take your sweet time. If the Creek Don't Rise is a collection of hard-used characters, tangled relationships, family angst, and fortitude. Yes, I had heard of the Appalachians and how the culture spreads along those mountains over more than a dozen States. Theres no better zinger than a bless your heart delivered in a condescending tone of voice that implies, as the Southern Decoder puts it, youre dumb, homely, or otherwise impaired, but you cant help it.Go ahead and practice it in the mirror a few times. Maya Rodale is a best-selling romance author. Paperback, 305 pages. Faire can mean both do and make. This phrase entered the Southern vernacular via Louisiana and is in regular use in the New Orleans area. A different style for the story telling in this as we hear from many of the people in this town and Sadie Blues own story is woven through the fabric of theirs. Hawkins served under George Washington as General Superintendent for Indian Affairs (17961818) and had responsibility for the Native American tribes south of the Ohio River, and was principal Indian agent to the Creek Indians. Im a longtime admirer of your calm demeanor and encyclopedic knowledge. Page created 25 Feb. 2012, Problems viewing this page? In response to a request that he return to Washington D.C., he wrote, "God willing and the Creek don't rise." "You've heard that old saying, 'I'll be there if the creek don't rise?' Well, they've all risen, and a lot of people are staying home because of that." 04 Mar 2023 03:30:05 The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. When you arrive on the banks of the fishing pond on Saturday mornings, you're hoping for a good catchenough big catfish and bream to fry up for the family on Saturday night. If so, you know that being madder than a wet hen is very mad indeed. He was a politician and Indian agent. Oh, how I loved this story - I simply didnt want it to end! And that is the highest praise from me. "He broke bout every piece of sweet in you. If you use this phrase, you could be declaring any number of things: surprise, dissent, happiness. It was a big old chunk of a book, so only a couple of the kids including myself read it. Mentioning Benjamin Hawkins is a masterstroke, since he was the General Superintendent for Indian Affairs between 1796 and 1818 and was principal Indian agent to the Creek nation; he became so close to its people that he learned their language, was adopted by them and married a Creek woman. That book was a 1908 publication and leans toward the thought of Creek Indian, even if not capitalized, because of the word fire (as in shooting guns). No Bigger Than a Minnow in a Fishing Pond, A Rooster One Day and A Feather Duster the Next, If You Know These Sayings, You Definitely Grew Up in the South, Only Real Southerners Know the Meaning of "Putting On the Dog", Things Only Southern Moms Say To Their Daughters, Things Only Southerners Say When It Snows. We've had a lot of delays, but God willing and the creek don't rise, we should have the house finished before winter. Phrase [ edit] Lord willing and the creek don't rise ( idiomatic, US, informal) Barring unforeseen circumstances. Siever, known as Nolichucky Jack to his friends, was as brutal to the Cherokee and Creek as they were to him, but Siever knew to frame his attacks as responses to incursion or wrongs. Wheres my blasted phone?. It is a paraphrase of a popular biblical saying from James 4:15, and while there are scores of citations to the phrase in the sense of the waters rising, in the US and Europe, there is not one shred of evidence of a reference to the Creek nation. "The Good Lord willing and the 'creek' don't rise" is just one of them. (Recall, also, that the Creek who did go to war against the whites were a smaller group within the Creek nation and that the larger group remained neutral or actively assisted the whites in the warat which point they were betrayed by having the U.S. sieze all their land.). In the 1900s, the word evolved, taking on a Southern spin as well as new meanings such as "courage" and "get-up-and-go.". She's not looking for sweets; she wants a hug and a kiss. Yelling out this humorous backronym for sh*tmight just tame the anger a bit. Baines Creek, high up in the Appalachian mountain, a poor place filled with impoverished people, a place where moonshine is king. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. A sister who is afraid of losing her brother and Sadie's grandmother and aunt, all tell their stories adding to Sadie's own. With a colorful cast of characters and a flair for the Southern Gothic, If the Creek Don't Rise is a debut novel bursting with heart, honesty, and homegrown grit. If you just heard your mama come home and you haven't finished your chores, she will definitely be "madder than a wet hen." Did you know the saying God willing and the Creek dont rise was in reference to the Creek Indians and not a body of water? Historians and etymologists may cringe, but the modern usage of Lord willin and the creek (or crick) dont rise is about the stream, not the Creek tribe. If you refer to itno matter the brand or flavoras Coke, chances are you grew up in the South. A search for the word rise does not produce this phrase, so it appears that the body of water theory was correct after all. The History And Traditions That Make Hanukkah Light Up, Examples Of Ableist Language You May Not Realize Youre Using, Winter 2023 New Words: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, Fall In Love With 14 Captivating Valentines Day Words, Rizz And 7 Other Slang Trends That Explain The Internet In 2023, Win With Qi And This List Of Our Best Scrabble Words, We Had ChatGPT Coin Nonsense PhrasesAnd Then We Defined Them, Surprise! The Cree and the Creek lived over a thousand miles apart, (the Cree are from Canada), so we now have people contributing folk etymologies that are nonsense on their face. That argues for a more mundane origin: the old-time difficulties of travelling on dirt roads that forded rivers and streams; a sudden storm could cause water levels to rise without warning and render the route impassable. But if the supposed letter was ever written, it doesnt now exist in any archive that any researcher has so far found (his letters have been published, if anybody would like to check). This book reminds me of that. This was an extremely enjoyable read! An odd few (6% of Americans) do use soft drink, according to the Pop vs. With a colorful cast of characters and a flair for the Southern Gothic, If the Creek Don't Rise is a debut novel bursting with heart, honesty, and homegrown grit. If you've ever been caught in a summer storm, you know that you can feel, smell, and see a storm blowin' up across the wide Southern skies. As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. Note that the Creek Nation(s) did not rise at all. If you think you can't, you won't be able to accomplish something, but if you think you can, you'll succeed. From the start there's been a film of dingy on my days.. In his response, he was said to write, God willing and the Creek dont rise. Because he capitalized the word Creek it is deduced that he was referring to the Creek Indian tribe and not a body of water. I'm fixin' to tell you that this phrase is as Southern as sweet tea. Other words sites Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. I have even heard the accents and many of the stories from various artists who escaped the confines of this culture and were successful in attaining fame and fortune for themselves. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. is a common way to use this next Southern cussemism. It traces to the 1700s and is based on darnation, the mild form of damnation. And even if it did, the initial capital letter would mean nothing, as at the time it was still common practice to capitalise all nouns. Affixes dictionary. Just wait till you see what Granny Gladys does..with a bit of help from Mother Nature..hehehe. "Lord willing and the creek don't rise" is a sort of backwoods phrase that has the same meaning, but is more folksy and less devoted. If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss (Author), Tom Stechschulte (Narrator), Kate Forbes (Narrator). But today Ive stumbled across the claim that it refers to an uprising by the Creek (or Cree) Indians. Its not a recent change. Unlike the United States Postal Service, whose motto proclaims "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night" will keep them from their routes, sometimes a Southern visit is thwarted by a rising creek or other unexpected bump in the road. You'll most often hear it coming out of Mama's mouth when the kids are running amok. Some newspaper clippings are harder to determine which meaning they meant. 133 Copy quote. Two years after the signing of the treaty, Benjamin Hawkins died at the site known as Old Agency. And, when the doins been done, the feller done did it. In fact, virtually all the examples that Ive found in books and newspaper archives down to the present day are in lower-case. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. He would tell the audience that we would meet again, "If the good Lord's willin', and the creek don't rise". Come visit me at LeahWeiss.com where you can subscribe to my CREEKRISE author news. I see said the blind man to his deaf wife. What's The Difference Between Y'all And Ya'll? 25 Southern Grandparents' Sayings That Deserve a Comeback, Forgotten Etiquette Every Child Should Learn, Kimberly Schlapman and Her Family's Tea Cakes, Lauren Alaina Talks 'American Idol', Southern Manners, and Her Grandmother's Famous Recipe, 30 Quotes That Remind Us Why Southern Manners Are So Important. So, if during the time of Benjamin Hawkins life, the Creek Indians were experiencing the longest period of peace, why would he fear that they would rise. It is a quintessential Southern phrase, said by friends and family on porches and in rocking chairs all across the South. It may take the form of real or mock dialect, in variations like " Lor' willin' an' th' crick don' rise.". John Wayne. You will have spotted that neither of these capitalises creek, which suggests they didnt have the Creek people in mind. The expression make groceries is a translation of the French faire son march (to do ones market shopping). Thats exactly who I was hoping would reply to my question. "If God so wills, and as long as intense rain does not wash away bridges or parts of dirt roads, or cover roads too deeply for safely following them." and the word HOPE. A multipurpose Southernism. The nabbit, gonnit, gummit, blasted, and burnit match the rhythm of damn it, but they can easily be modified for use as an adjective or adverb: That dagnab idiot didnt look to the dadgum left and, dadburnit, he crossed over in my dadblasted lane and dadburn near hit me. When used as a stand-alone oath, hold out on the first syllable and accentuate the second: DaaadGUMMit! The expression is incorrectly attributed on modern social media[citation needed] to an Indian agent, Benjamin Hawkins, in the late 18th century in a rumored letter not found in any archive to the U.S. President. HARDY, Ark. The second contributor on the AOL site is simply repeating things without any understanding. "We plan to be there," we might say, and then add on a quick, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise." It's another way of saying, "I am dead serious about keeping my word on this, short of a hurricane or earthquake." In other words, I'm doggedly committed to this unless the devil stops me.
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