if the creek don't rise saying

Eventually, you became a singular pronoun, and we lost the plural pronouns. I'm fixin' to tell you that this phrase is as Southern as sweet tea. And, when the doins been done, the feller done did it. Here are a couple of examples of this claim. In the 1900s, the word evolved, taking on a Southern spin as well as new meanings such as "courage" and "get-up-and-go.". In his response, he was said to write, "God willing and the Creek don't rise." When the U.S. demanded that the murderers be handed over for punishment, the Creek executed them themselves (for the Ohio murders, not for the River Raisin battle and aftermath). 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. And of course, there's nothing prettier than a warm summer day picking peaches in the sunshine. Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we'll have that new barn finished in time for the harvest. Used in a sentence - If the creek don't rise and God's willing, you should be able to see this video. 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. In the South, a hill of beans is its own measuring stick. 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. Those who live on Valley Drive along the Spring River in Hardy awoke around 3 Friday morning to first responders urging them to leave their homes due to rising water. 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. Copyright Michael Quinion, 1996. Im a longtime admirer of your calm demeanor and encyclopedic knowledge. Back when I was in the fourth grade we had an English teacher who dumped a box of books out one day and told us to read them and do book reports. 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. I agree that the Indian origin sounds unlikely. 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!! At the same time there is some evidence that the creation of Fort Deposit (Fort Deposite) in Georgia was a cause of concern in that munitions and arms were stockpiled. 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. But I know of just four instances from that century. Stop right there! If so, you know that being madder than a wet hen is very mad indeed. Be it Gods will, or, we go to war, my plans will go according to one of those two choices. "He broke bout every piece of sweet in you. Translated, this means: "We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us." Over yonder down the road. If the Creek Dont Rise by Leah Weiss is a 2017 Sourcebooks Landmark publication. 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. Thats a mouthful, but we lumped these all together because they are allsubstitutes for (God) d*mn it. 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. All rights reserved. I was reading a post on one of the West Virginia pages that I follow in which a person referenced God willing and the creeks dont rise. in reference to rain and floods. Settle in, because whatever we're talking about is going to take all day. 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. Well, I found it. Baines Creek is a small remote mountain settlement in North Carolina where many can't read, education is unheard of and catastrophic poverty is the norm. 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 . It must surely be the creation of a fertile modern mind desiring to put the flesh of evidence on the dry bones of outright invention. It mentions Benjamin Hawkins of the late 18th century, who was asked by the US president to go back to Washington. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. 15. Theres two or three creeks, he said. Im told it was a sign-off tag line of the 1930s US radio broadcaster Bradley Kincaid. 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. Well, at least we thought we did.but maybe not. 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. Jan 29, 2014 at 19:34 . The dialect is obscure and living conditions primitive with a feel more like the 1870's than the 1970's..so backward..so uncivilized..the men so brutal and lawless, and for Sadie Blue, life seems grave. 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. This Southern saying, God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise. It seems this saying is a favorite expression of country singers. Cows aren't known for their speed, and they are usually out and about, wandering until feeding time. Take a look at some of our favorite Southern sayings that we just couldn't live without. 1851. The expression ". Catawampus(or, cattywampus) may have been popularized by Brits who delighted in parodying Southern vernacular. Georgia-born blogger Jennifer Collins says she always rolled her eyes when her mom said this to her. Come visit me at LeahWeiss.com where you can subscribe to my CREEKRISE author news. However, this is clearly one of those evolving language cases. And yes, they roll their eyes, too. This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 01:18. Some say farmers used to dunk their hens when they got broody. What Grandma says when you pull in the driveway, pop out of the car, and come running. 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. 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. Baines Creek, high up in the Appalachian mountain, a poor place filled with impoverished people, a place where moonshine is king. It has been noted that the phrase should be correctly written as God willing and the Creek dont rise. These skies can darken at a moment's notice, and summer afternoons often see winds churning and heavy rain clouds blowing in to cool that Southern summer heat. Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. "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." It is a quintessential Southern phrase, said by friends and family on porches and in rocking chairs all across the South. Have you ever seen a wet hen? It can be summarised as "if all goes well". "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. The General replied to Stonewall Jackson that he would send troops "the Good Lord is willing and the Creeks don't rise (in rebellion). If the creek rises, travel will be impossible and Ill never get to Grannys. 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. Lyndon Johnsons wife Lady Bird was fond of the phrase, and she wasnt one to cast aspersions on native Americans. A: "Do you reckon we'll have enough from this harvest to make ends meet?" B: "God willing and the creek don't rise." 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.. Just wait till you see what Granny Gladys does..with a bit of help from Mother Nature..hehehe. Look up Lord willing and the creek don't rise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. If you think you can't, you won't be able to accomplish something, but if you think you can, you'll succeed. Your first citation is much stronger than your second. 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. 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. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. You gonna do nothing?". I've been in a slump of just ok books and was craving one that was special. 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. 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. Hang onto both and 'tough it out'. Its worth looking into because of the way in which it has been elaborated in the version you quote.. Speaking ofI declare, this now old-fashioned phrase acts as flustered response to an insult or an unbelievable story about someone who sadly made it into the rumor mill. Cookies and privacy It can be deployed sincerely, but if you're hearing "bless your heart" in the South, it probably has an edge to it. If we relied on written sources it would be hard to believe in such continued use. Now, she admits to saying this to her children. Given that many small farm streams were crossed without bridges, which worked find most of the time, a swollen stream would cause problems. 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. Most of the ones on paved roads had bridges or culverts by that time, but not all of them and everyone still clearly knew what that saying meant even if the threat wasnt very real anymore. Any of you word experts have solid information? Though youre likely to hear Southernisms such as. Some newspaper clippings are harder to determine which meaning they meant. You'll also find a longer version of my official bio: It's bold, powerful, dark and hard to believe that this is a debut novel. Threats not only from abroad, but internally as well, forced the fledgling nation to negotiate treaties with the tribes on the western frontier. January 2021: Hat tip to Maria whonotes that the collection of Benjamin Hawkinss letters has now been digitized and can be read at this link. And I have used this page's title often-feeling quite sure I knew exactly what it meant. While in the south, Hawkins was requested by the President of the U.S. to return to Washington. You'll most often hear it coming out of Mama's mouth when the kids are running amok. 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. 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. World Wide Words is copyright Michael Quinion, 1996. Is It Called Presidents Day Or Washingtons Birthday? Im not going to wrestle with historians and their Creek uprising story. The only requirement is that you declare it loud and proud. As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. The second contributor on the AOL site is simply repeating things without any understanding. Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. Johnny Cash had a hit with the song If The Good Lords Willing, and Hank Williams Jr. titled his song If the Good Lords Willin (And The Creeks Dont Rise).. When you're fixin' to do something, it's going to happen, but you also may decide to take your sweet time. And this is one appearance in a newspaper: 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. 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 doin hasnt been done yet. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Benjamin_Hawkins, Follow Thoughts and Ponderances on WordPress.com. The saying "God willing and the Creek don't rise." Came from those traveling west in the OLD DAYS. Which means if nothing crazy happens or anything out my control such as a natural disaster. It was a big old chunk of a book, so only a couple of the kids including myself read it. But did he really say the words quoted or was a phrase morphed to include him as the author? 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. The approximately 20,000 Creek Indians that still exist reside in Oklahoma. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Here is an article that casts rather a lot of doubt on your assertion: 'God willing and the creek don't rise' M Quinion_World Wide Words: Q From Bob Scala: An item that has been floating around the internet claims that the expression 'God willing and the creek don't rise' referred to the Creek Indians, not a body of water. 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! 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). If you've just had a big Southern lunch, complete with cornbread, collard greens, and pecan pie, you're definitely full as a tick. At the time Hawkins was Congressman, he joined other well known Southeastern American leaders in negotiating a major treaty with the Creek and Cherokee at the South Carolina city of Hopewell. Throughout the years, through these floods, weve had several roads that have washed completely out, so you just dont know whats down there.. 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!. In a letter to the Commander in Chief, Hawkins stated that he would return to the nations capital, God willing and the Creek dont rise., 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 and the reference is not to a creek, but The Creek Indian Nation. IF THE CREEK DON'T RISE is character driven and one fine gritty and entertaining debut with one fine satisfying ending! 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 I first heard of the notion of creek meaning Creek on a camping trip a couple of years ago at Barkcamp State Park in the area of Wheeling, WV. And yes, I have heard the music of this culture and watched the dancing. Grahams American Monthly Magazine, Jun. My officers and fire department, we went along the river houses and notified everybody and recommended evacuation, said Hardy Police Chief Scott Rose. We've had a lot of delays, but God willing and the creek don't rise, we should have the house finished before winter. Following that treaty John Siever formed the state of Franklin from land previously claimed by North Carolina but never ceded by the Indian tribes. When I was growing up, this was something we said all of the time. I was going to ask him why, but I had to shoot him. I reckon "I reckon" can replace any number of phrases, such as: I guess, I suppose, I think, and I imagine. 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. "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. Turn around, and please dont drive through it. It's a more conditional statement of intent than come hell or high water. https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Lord_willing_and_the_creek_don%27t_rise&oldid=70955250. The New Madrid earthquake (reputedly the largest in recorded history in North America) created the division between traditionalist Creek (Red Sticks) and those more willing to seek accommodation with the majority of the tribe. Lately, though, I have learned to wince quickly and let it go. 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. Well, whether its Creek or creek, it would still have much of the same effectyou wont be going where you thought you would or could. What in tarnation? Copyright 2023 KAIT. Many thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the ARC in return for an unbiased review. Paperback, 305 pages. As was the case with Dr Mattox, the remark is routinely attributed to first being said by Benjamin Hawkins. Two years after the signing of the treaty, Benjamin Hawkins died at the site known as Old Agency. We admit that we've heard this Southernism more than once. 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. 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. I am usually among those who bristle at change in usage. 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. John Wayne. It's true, we do have a mouthful of sayings that only Southerners understand. You may still hear it if you stop into a country store. You dont know whats underneath that water, Rose said. 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). Synonyms [ edit] (barring unforeseen circumstances): God willing, Lord willing Translations [ edit] show phrase References [ edit] The lyrics play on the expression Lord willing and the creek don't rise, which is thought to originate from Alabama.

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