12 Things Tennesseans Say That Confuse Everyone From Out of State

If a Tennessean asks you to set a photo on the fireboard, look above the fireplace.

Out-of-staters hear words like that and need a minute.

Here’s what Tennesseans say that confuses everyone from out of state.

1. Fixin’ To

A sentence like “I’m fixin’ to go to the store” can sound like a repair job to someone hearing it for the first time.

In Tennessee and across the South, “fixin’ to” tells you someone is about to do something.

Linguists Guy Bailey and Jan Tillery list it among the grammar features of Southern speech.

They gloss “I’m fixin to eat breakfast” as meaning the speaker intends to eat in the next little while.

2. Might Could

“Might could” puts two helping verbs side by side.

Linguists call that a double modal, and it’s sometimes compared to “might be able to.”

Michigan Public’s language show adds that double modals are sometimes used out of politeness.

So “I might could drive you to the airport” can read as a polite offer.

Many out-of-staters hear it and wonder whether they missed a word.

A University of Pennsylvania linguistics working paper surveyed respondents in Northeast Tennessee about double modals like “I might could go.”

Age was the strongest predictor of who accepted double modals, with the youngest respondents the most accepting, followed by the oldest.

3. Buggy

In Tennessee and much of the South, the “buggy” you push through the grocery store is a shopping cart.

The TV station WATE’s list of Tennessee words says Tennesseans tend to say “buggy” instead of “shopping cart.”

A dictionary defines a buggy as a light one-horse carriage.

The public radio show A Way with Words says dialect surveys find the cart sense particularly widespread in the South, East Texas included.

The segment’s title sets the South’s “buggy” against a Massachusetts “shopping wagon.”

4. Coke

Across much of the South, including Tennessee, “coke” can stand for any soft drink.

Food historian Tom Hanchett opens an essay on the habit with a question about which kind of coke you want, whether orange, grape or Dr. Pepper.

He places the “coke” zone from Texas to north Florida and up into western Virginia and Kentucky.

The TV station WJHL’s list of local slang says Tennesseans tend to use the term for all soft drinks, no matter the brand.

5. Bless Your Heart

“Bless your heart” sounds like a blessing, and sometimes it is.

Atlanta magazine’s guide to Southern phrases says it’s usually translated as a polite-sounding insult.

In rural communities, it can also express genuine sympathy, such as at funerals.

WATE’s list of Tennessee words calls it a common phrase in the Volunteer State with multiple meanings.

6. Fireboard

If someone asks you to set a photo on the fireboard, look above the fireplace.

“Fireboard” is a word for a mantelpiece.

The Tennessee Encyclopedia’s entry on Tennessee speech lists it among traditional terms that the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States finds more widespread in the east of the state.

Merriam-Webster labels the mantelpiece sense “Midland.”

The word’s other sense is a decorated screen that closes a fireplace when it isn’t in use.

7. Hallway

A dictionary will tell you a "hallway" is an entrance hall or a corridor.

In Tennessee, though, it can mean a passage between two buildings.

The encyclopedia's speech entry gives it as an example of the few terms the Dictionary of American Regional English labels as confined to Tennessee.

It adds that such terms are far from widely known or used.

8. Poke

If someone hands you a poke, you're holding a paper bag, not a jab.

The speech entry says the atlas finds it more widespread in the east of the state, though it has been recorded in West Tennessee too.

A dictionary labels the bag sense "chiefly Southern US and Midland US."

9. Airish

You can trace airish, a word for chilly, back to around 1642, the first known use a dictionary gives.

The atlas lists it among the terms more widespread in East Tennessee.

10. Directly

In Southern Appalachian speech, "directly" usually means "in a little while," not right now.

Many out-of-staters hear "directly" and expect it right away.

It can also mean immediately, or serve as a way to put off a request, depending on context.

So "I'll call you directly" could mean a call in a few minutes, a call later, or one right away.

The University of South Carolina's glossary cites a 1956 recording from Cosby, Tennessee, that renders the word as "dreckly."

11. Bayou

Say "bayou" in West Tennessee, and you may not be talking about Louisiana.

The state encyclopedia's speech entry notes that West Tennessee has some vocabulary not shared with the rest of the state, such as "bayou" for backwater.

A dictionary defines a bayou as a creek, minor river or usually marshy or sluggish body of water.

The word itself was borrowed from Louisiana French, the dictionary says.

12. Meat-and-Three

If you ask for a "meat-and-three," you're ordering a plate, not solving a math problem.

The Nashville Scene describes customers picking one meat and two or three sides, or more.