A search for the word rise does not produce this phrase, so it appears that the body of water theory was correct after all. 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. If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise, Good Lord's Willin and The Creek Don't Rise, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_creek_don%27t_rise&oldid=1136534691, This page was last edited on 30 January 2023, at 20:39. It was bad as all get out. Talk:Lord willing and the creek don't rise - Wiktionary Historically, Southerners in the Appalachian mountains pronounced eternal as tarnal. That pronunciation suggests a clever word-smoosh between tarnal and damnation, so the savvy Appalachians could euphemistically express their anger without wasting an extra breath. 'If The Creek Don't Rise' Traces Webs Of Hurt And Help : NPR He wrote it in response to a request from the President to return to our Nations Capital and the reference is not to a creek, but The Creek Indian Nation. My officers and fire department, we went along the river houses and notified everybody and recommended evacuation, said Hardy Police Chief Scott Rose. This phrase enjoyed national exposure in 1988 after Texas Governor Ann Richards remarked: When we pay billions for planes that wont fly, billions for tanks that wont fire, and billions for systems that wont workthat old dog wont hunt.. 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. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. The word you use for a fizzy, carbonated drink reveals a lot more about you than you know. Is It Called Presidents Day Or Washingtons Birthday? It's raining cats and dogs. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. If so, you know that being madder than a wet hen is very mad indeed. Poor little doggy. DeSantis ends Disney's free reign over Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. Other words sites
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 young woman goes missing and has the town both fearful and wondering. God willing and the creek don't rise - TheFreeDictionary.com When you've met the girl of your dreams, chances are she is "pretty as a peach." It seems this saying is a favorite expression of country singers. A Quite certainly not. Depending on where you are, youre likely to hear words combined together (gonna for going to) and different vowel sounds than youre used to, including mah for my and git for get.Git has been in use since the 16th century all over the country, but is particularly common in the South, where it appears in everything from classic literature (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird) to personal correspondence (I want you to write me as soon as you git this letter, from a letter dating back to the Civil War). What's The Difference Between Y'all And Ya'll? If The Creek Don't Rise 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 Dylan LeBlanc - If The Creek Don't Rise Lyrics | Genius Lyrics "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." If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss | Goodreads Whether you're talking about volume or value, a hill of beans isn't worth much. Donate via PayPal. Over yonder toward the water tower. It completely nailed the "mountain living" that I remembered my grandmother talking about. The resulting warfare and predictable civilian losses in the South reportedly gave rise (using the Southern frontier penchant for willin as opposed to the educated willing) to the phrase which was then likely mistakenly attributed to Hawkins due to his Native American connections. the creek don't rise. Then theres a long gap in the record before it began to appear again in the 1950s. And yes, I have heard the music of this culture and watched the dancing. The expression ". 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. It can be deployed sincerely, but if you're hearing "bless your heart" in the South, it probably has an edge to it. 132 Copy quote. 'Creek don't rise' is a phrase with possibly more than one meaning Lord Willing and the creek don't rise - English for Students I agree that the Indian origin sounds unlikely. What is the origin of the phrase the good Lord willing and the creek dont rise? 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. A multipurpose Southernism. You may still hear it if you stop into a country store. Marty Stuart places the words "If the Good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll see you in the mornin'." Copyright Michael Quinion, 1996. Well, that might just push you over the edge, and as you lean back youre bound to say, Im as full as a tick. Itd be plumb crazy not to express yourself (and your full belly) with this fun, old Southern idiom. The underscore of that sentiment would be that he married his common-law wife on his deathbed and she was of the Creek Indians. Over yonder past the cotton field. For instance if someone invites you to church on Sunday, you would respond "I'll be there with bells on God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise.". 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! It's almost always accompanied by a good-natured, perhaps slightly exasperated, shake of the head. Lyndon Johnsons wife Lady Bird was fond of the phrase, and she wasnt one to cast aspersions on native Americans. If the Creek Don't Rise Quotes by Leah Weiss - Goodreads It turns out that the phrase was written by Benjamin Hawkins in the late 18th century. Settle in, because whatever we're talking about is going to take all day. Oh, if the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise. However, this is clearly one of those evolving language cases. Grandma might whisper this one over her hymnal if she sees you cutting up in church on Sunday morning. Devil's beating his wife (when it would be sunny and raining). (Im terrible about reading usernames as I scan threads, and I completely missed who had contributed that comment.). In the 1900s, the word evolved, taking on a Southern spin as well as new meanings such as "courage" and "get-up-and-go.". 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. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. I ate that up with a spoon and did my best to read them all. "Like all great southern writers, Leah Weiss's magic turns the local into the universal." Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author, on All The Little Hopes. Lord willing and the creek don't rise - Wiktionary As I was in a museum, I felt confident in repeating the knowledge to others as fact. Share. [2] In the Reed song and Cash cover the verses vary the rhyme, so the opening line commences: If the good Lord's willing and the creek stays down I'll be in your arms time the moon come around. When I was growing up, this was something we said all of the time. To understand Hawkins, I read a little further into his history. This article about the English language is a stub. They were both corrected by a good soul who told them that Creek, for the purposes of this phrases origin, meant Creek Indian. (LogOut/ The researchers went on to cite two different publications in the 1800s in which the authors did not capitalize the word creek, leading one to believe they did not mean the people proper. You Cant Use These English Words In The UK, Understanding Black History: 10 Terms That Illuminate The Black Experience In The US. You'll most often hear it coming out of Mama's mouth when the kids are running amok. Unarguable Southern criticism. However, the first President to move to Washington was John Adams on 1 November 1800. It's a more conditional statement of intent than come hell or high water. The lyrics play on the expression Lord willing and the creek don't rise, which is thought to originate from Alabama. This phrase isn't about physical appearance. Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. Weiss has a unique voice. Translated, this means: "We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us." I doubt it will ever be possible to prove the source of some of these old sayings,but they sure are alot of funThis post set me a thinkin bout some things we grew up saying that we took from our eldersfor example when one is astonished you say Oh my Stars! Or when you havent seen someone in awhile you say I aint seen Hide nor Hair of em since..and there was plenty of times I was toldquit rootin around an causin such a ruckass!usually refering to me being in Granmas gardenand one can never forget the simpleSkeedaddle! Now the devil may knowWhere those sayings come from. It's true, we do have a mouthful of sayings that only Southerners understand. "If The Good Lord's Willing and The Creek Don't Rise" is a 1955 American country song by Jerry Reed which was particularly popularized by the 1958 recording of Johnny Cash and has been covered by multiple artists.[1]. 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. If youre not using this phrase what are you waiting for? It is sometimes thought that the word "Creek" instead refers to the Creek Indians, but this is unlikely. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. This was a Traveling Sister Read with Brenda, Sarah, Jennifer and Porshajo. If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise - Wikipedia If the creek rises, travel will be impossible and Ill never get to Grannys. Have you ever seen a wet hen? There is a lot of controversy about this fairly common folk saying. Nor is grammar an argument in favor the the subject being plural. Weiss has spun me upside down in this backward county in the Appalachian mountains and made a southerner out of me. When you're fixin' to do something, it's going to happen, but you also may decide to take your sweet time. This string of double negatives is actually meant as encouragement! 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!. 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. Apparently Carter had a great many pills, because the phrase found its way into the Southern vocabulary. I'm a sucker for the well turned phrase and I was highlighting sentences here, one after another. Instead of "Well, I swear," Southerners have adopted a geographically inspired alternative. Your email address will not be published. "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. I'm fixin' to tell you that this phrase is as Southern as sweet tea. A: "Do you reckon we'll have enough from this harvest to make ends meet?" B: "God willing and the creek don't rise." Because he capitalized Creek its asserted that he was referring to the Creek Indian tribe and not a body of water. Some say it originated with the Scottish-Irish term ye aw. Well, at least we thought we did.but maybe not. Whatscatawampus? Grahams American Monthly Magazine, Jun. 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. 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!. If you've just had a big Southern lunch, complete with cornbread, collard greens, and pecan pie, you're definitely full as a tick. There is no reason to suppose the Indian variant is true. Affixes dictionary. 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. This one may be self-explanatory, but we can imagine it originating back in the days of stagecoaches, when horse-and-buggy pairs filled the streets. The expression make groceries is a translation of the French faire son march (to do ones market shopping). If you find only minnows, though, they look even smaller compared to the heavy catch you hoped for. 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. Ireckon is the way many Southerners get to surmising about something or other. She captures the whole Appalachian scene - the vocabulary, the falling down houses, the likker, the poverty. This book reminds me of that. If you hear this one, it's best to slow down. Ain't got no dog in that race. It can also be the opening to striking a bargain, sharing a strongly held opinion, or offering a piece of advice you may or may not want to hear. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise - phrase meaning and origin Used in a sentence - If the creek don't rise and God's willing, you should be able to see this video. Note that the Creek Nation(s) did not rise at all. It is a physical and mental state a few degrees past weary and just this side of dog-tired. Just wait till you see what Granny Gladys does..with a bit of help from Mother Nature..hehehe. Firsts, Mines, Asks. Youd be in a real fix then. "The Good Lord willing and the 'creek' don't rise" is just one of them. And that is the highest praise from me. All the ones I know from growin up : r/ShitSouthernersSay Or, depending on where you live, it could be Sewanee, the small college town in Tennessee. God willing and the creek don't rise - World Wide Words She's seventeen, pregnant and two weeks into her marriage to Roy Tupkin, after enduring brutal beatings, Sadie knows she has made a mistake. 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. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. What Grandma says when you pull in the driveway, pop out of the car, and come running. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. All rights reserved. Given that many small farm streams were crossed without bridges, which worked find most of the time, a swollen stream would cause problems. The exact tranlation might be, 'If God is willing, and there isn't a flood that would prevent us from meeting again next week'. Note that the Creek Nation(s) did not "rise" at all. But we declareif your only knowledge of Southern sayings comes fromGone With the Wind, youre missing out on a lot of Southern expressions. The Lafayette gazette(Louisiana), 3 Nov. 1894. Eventually, you became a singular pronoun, and we lost the plural pronouns. Theres probably a connection between eternal damnation and tarnation. Here are a couple of examples of this claim. The grit and darkness don't just belong to Sadie, though. Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review. 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. 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. It's often said in a reassuring way, to calm people down and encourage them to keep on trying. It can be summarised as "if all goes well". and the word HOPE. My favorite variant is the phrase Hank Williams Sr. sometimes used to end his shows: "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll see you before long." - MT_Head. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 30 Phrases Only Southerners Use Since we'd never dare hang up the phone while Mama's chatting away, this may be the only way to end your conversation in a timely manner. You will have spotted that neither of these capitalises creek, which suggests they didnt have the Creek people in mind. 133 Copy quote. The distinct English dialect of the American South, which has a close relationship with Black English (African American Vernacular English), is fascinatingand plenty lively. The saying has been attributed to Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson among others, on the usual principle that attaching a famous name to a story validates it. We've had a lot of delays, but Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we should have the house finished before winter. Look up Lord willing and the creek don't rise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. A friend of mine told me to shoot first and ask questions later. Creek don't rise - phrase meaning and origin - Phrasefinder It was a big old chunk of a book, so only a couple of the kids including myself read it. IF THE CREEK DON'T RISE - Leah Weiss Which means if nothing crazy happens or anything out my control such as a natural disaster. The most interesting often hail from our older generations, such as the WWII era and those raised by them. 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. All rights reserved. And I mean took me there! It happens often during a Southern summer, when the heat rises and the temperatures shoot past 100. According to http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Benjamin_Hawkins: Generally recognized as the Creek Indian agent, Benjamin Hawkins also held the title of General Superintendent of all tribes south of the Ohio River. Its worth looking into because of the way in which it has been elaborated in the version you quote. 24 of 30. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. Accents vary by regionand sometimes even city to city. There is no typical Southern accent. The General replied to Stonewall Jackson that he would send troops "the Good Lord is willing and the Creeks don't rise (in rebellion). Someone kicked in with we say cricks. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. While this phrase may sound made up, it's simply our multisyllabic manner of saying something is askew. While in the south, Hawkins was requested by the President of the U.S. to return to Washington. As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. from The New York Times: And, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, come March of next year, I'll be 70 years old. The creek don't rise - Wikipedia He told us about a young man who had been in the museum some weeks previous. This phrase can be intensified by the addition of the word "way," as in "way over yonder.". 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! from The New York Times: If there is a good state of the world in 2021 the Lord willing and the creek don't rise everyone and all Blue Dogs in office needs to recognize . If the Creek Don't Rise. Paperback, 305 pages. Signed in November, 1785, A Treaty With the Cherokee (the technical name of the Treaty of Hopewell) created the first rift between theCherokee Nationand the Chickamauga Cherokee that would not end until the Chickamauga went West following the Revolt of the Young Chiefs.