I'm not from here, but my husband is, and so I knew what you were "fixin' to" say for each and every one of those before you said it! (btw, it more often has only 2 syllables: "fid-na"!) When he taught me to drive a stick (standard transmission), and I cranked the car, he would holler, "Mash the clutch!" Growing up (way north of here) we would be "about to" or "getting ready to" do something, "bring" Grandma to the beauty parlor, "start" the car, "push" or "press" the button (or the clutch), and, at the grocery store, you'd fill your "cart" (I even sometimes heard it called a "wagon") with cans or bottles of "soda." One you didn't mention: Once, I was volunteering at a mental health facility. A new patient was describing a particularly harrowing experience (or maybe one that was shocking in a comical way, can't recall which) and wanted to express that it nearly (figuratively) killed him, so he said "I like to have died" (it came out sounding "ah lahkta daahd".) The lovely and very intelligent Cuban psychiatrist became alarmed and was all set to order suicide precautions... until I translated for her. ;D Great channel!
To answer your questions, if I needed to transport someone to the store , I would "turn off the lights", start the car- but it should 'crank over' easily. Once I arrive to pick up the person, I would "press " their doorbell, get them settled in the car then drive them to the store and back. Once I'd dropped them back off at their home, I would then "get back to my rat-killin'".( not literally- just a phrase to mean any task that you find necessary but not fun.) Love your videos!
@brendablake584, I agree with everything you said. That is how I would word it. Except the rat killing. I have never heard that before, but like it and might start using it lol.
When I was studying linguistics in college in the 80's there was an article written by a linguist, "When fixed is fixin' to." Very on point for how this is used in the South.
I was born in NC and at age 6 moved to upstate SC. In 2nd grade these fellow southerner 2nd graders called me a yankee because I was from North Carolina. Very traumatic. we still say, many of your phrases like usta could, mighta been, coulda went, etc. Southern talk is Southern talk. Love you. I might coulda been your friend some day,
There is 100% some areas of the South that no one should have to be raised in. It's barely an exaggeration when they talk about the mosques carrying ya off, seriously 🙃🤣
I grew up with "What kind of coke do you want?" meaning soft drink. Apparently other places it's also called soda, or pop. Just like I would call a small rivulet of water a crick but apparently other places they call it a brook or creek, or maybe stream. Now where I grew up a crick was smaller than the stream.
Growing up in the South, we had a splendid two-syllable word to represent the phrase, "I am going to." It's "ahm'o." As in, "Ahm'o go downtown. Yawngo?"
Southern mama (Tallahassee,Florida) and a Northern father (Long Island, NY) -- I'd say preparing to do something, turn off or turn on the light, turn on the car, push the button, I'd ask someone to take me to the store, we call them sodas, and shopping carts. However, I know and understand how my Mama's family and my father's family say these things also. 🙂
In my area of Australia we’re getting ready to go out or getting ready for dinner. This is all encompassing and could mean anything from I’m about to get in the shower to I’ve got my shoes on and I am walking out the door. “Probably should” get a shower means I’m thinking of starting to “get ready” but haven’t actually got off my arse yet 😊 We switch on the light, start the car, push the button, drop someone at the shop and drink soft drink or soda. We also use a shopping trolley or grab a basket if we’re only getting a few things.
I was changing planes at an airport once, not in the South, it was maybe Denver. My flight late and the next one was already boarding and I was in a huge rush to buy food and get on my plane before they closed the doors. The woman in front of me was chit chatting in her Southern drawl with the checkout person about nothing, just taking her sweet time, it was insane. I yelled "What are you doing??!!" She said "I'm fixin to pay for my food", I said "just do it already because I'm about to miss my flight!". She would have been there 20 minutes chit chatting and holding up the line, as if it was a hair salon, not an airport. She looked at me like I was the crazy one.
Transplanted Canadian here. Used to live in TX. Love your videos! Fixin’ = thinking about or planning to, cut light= turn on light, start car, carry to store = drive or take to store, coke = pop or soft drink, buggy is cart.
This made me smile. I am an Army brat. Growing up, I lived in many places, including Europe. My mother is from Arkansas so I understand all of the southern phrases. I once worked with a nurse from Minnesota. It was the first time I I had heard that particular dialect. She would say "go with"; as in "I'm going to go to lunch. Do you want to go with?" And throat was pronounced throw-it. It took me a while to get that one.
OK, here goes... 1) going to - fixing implies that something is broken, 2) turn on, 3) start the car, 4) press or push a button, 5) take me to the market, 6) soda 7) shopping cart. Note: I grew up in southern Indiana but spent summers in south of France and/or Martha's Vineyard so I'm sure that affected my language development.
My husband, born in Atlanta, uses all of those phrases. I was born in Virginia and use about half of them; we push buttons, take someone to the store, but we cut the lights on and off. Etc. Now, when my husband wants a Coke, he asks for a Co-cola. That means he wants an actual Coke and nothing else. If he was willing to drink a Pepsi, he'd ask for a Coke. He asked for a Co-cola once in Lincoln, Nebraska. I had to translate.
I’m from Central Virginia and we say mash or press, to take someone to the store is carry them. My Aunt’s family is from Tidewater and she said carry as well. My X-husband is from NoVa and they say “press” and “take”. I think it’s wonderful how even in the same state, people speak differently. Virginia has so many accents too, though I’ve heard in the larger cities and towns, the accents are fading as more “from away’s” move in. Be well🙂
You said the magic words with the best Southern take… “I feel like _____.” Southerners say this when we have an opinion on something. Master’s Level: pronounce it like Landon does… Ah fill like ____. ❤
Colloquialisms are so much fun. I live in western Canada, and am an avid consumer of all kinds of media. Because we have so many cultures collected in our workplaces, I find myself adopting a variety of figures of speech that I did not grow up with, including some of the ones you mention. “Fixing to” is one of them. We don’t generally piddle around though - we fiddle around (although if time was being wasted, then you were definitely piddling around).
"fixin' to"= going to; "cut the light" = I've heard 'close the light'; 'shut the light'; 'turn off the light';"crank the car" = start the car; "press the button"; "take me to the store" or alternately "give me a ride"; "Coke" I guess it depends on the brand of soft drink - we're pretty specific here in NE Illinois so we'd just say "I'd like a Green River" or a Coke, or a Fanta, or whatever ;"shopping cart" is what my mom and dad called what you collected your groceries in the store.
@@theresarez - we spent summers in the south and it always felt more like home to me. I am Now retired and living outside Hot Springs, Arkansas…. Piney woods!
I had an online friend from Louisiana when I was in high school, and one time he used the phrase 'fixin' and I was confused as hell. I had literally never heard that before up in the north. We just say "going to" or "getting ready to".
Mid-Atlantic Region - We use Fixin' if you are rural and 'getting ready to' if we are urban. We push, press, or hit buttons, switch on lights, and start the car. If the car won't start then we say it won't 'crank'. We say 'piddlin' as in leisurely doing something or we use 'piddle' for children and animals piddling on the rug. We use a grocery 'cart'. The term 'carry me to the store' was used by the generation born in the 1920's and is fading out. Now we 'drive you' or 'take you' or 'give you a ride'. Soft drinks are Soda or Pop.
I wonder if this is transferred from the English? For example, my FIL who was raised in Hilo, whose mom cleaned houses for the white plantation owners, called a chest of drawers a chiffonier. My southern grandmother called it a chifferobe. She was English descent.
Mom was from Arkansas, Dad from Texas. Depending on what set Of grandparents we went to see determined what you said while you were there to get your point across. Arkansas: buggy, Coke, and “let me grab my purse”. Texas: buggy, pop and “tag along”
I am a Sixth generation Texan. We never said “pop,” and we thought if it as a Northern expression. We always said “coke” no matter the brand or Flavor.
I lived in Madison County, AL for a spell. Here are a few phrases/words I remember. "Come on over and shake and howdy for a bit." I never heard just "coke," it was "co-cola." Then there was Sun Drop. "All you can eat shrimp and grits" at the local Big Boy was a real dining out experience. "It's real close outside today" referring to the high humidity. "They laid corpse today" referring to visiting hours at a funeral home. "How's your mamma and daddy been?"
Closest thing I can think of for 'I'm fixin' to' is 'I'm about to,' but it doesn't quite carry all the potentiality of 'fixin' to.' We use 'mash the button,' but 'hit the button,' is a little more common, I think. I grew up in Kentucky, but with Southern parents.
Nice! I love a good contraction. I've started hearing and seeing "finna" for "fixing to", but that's mostly from the young'uns (speaking of contractions). And that's not just from Southerners, either, so I think that one must be catching on nationwide.
I am from Charleston SC and I grew up and still to this day say everyone of those phrases. My most memorable phrase growing up was "you're fixin to get a switchin".
So I live in South Wales in the UK and I start the car and go to the supermarket where I get my shopping trolley, sometimes my friend will ask me for a lift to the store also. We turn lights on and off and we push or press buttons. If I am getting ready to do something I'm going to do supper, it's always going to do or just going to. Soft drinks get called by whatever it is coke fanta etc
I grew up talking like you. Unfortunately, I married a Yankee… and he has polluted our children’s language. I’m surprised they can even understand me! 🤣
1. I'm getting ready to.. I'm going to get ready now, or make dinner now. My mom was from the south and I literally never use the word fixing in that manner. 2. Switch the light on, switch it off, turn it on, turn it off. If you're in a big place with a lot of lights that one switch controls them all, or if its headlights, you might say cut the lights. 3. We would say start the car. Or start the engine. Or turn the engine. When the windows or manual? We would take crank the windows up or down. But not the engine. 4. Press, push, or hit the button. We mash potatoes, not buttons. 5. We would say, can I get a ride from you to the store. If you were already going and I want to go to I would say, can I catch a ride with you. Or, can I tag along? If you're going and someone comes with you, you say I'm taking them with me. If you're asking someone to carry you, be prepared to get picked up. Literally. 6. Soda or a drink, unless you're asking for something specific, then you call it by name. 7. Shopping cart or just cart. My mom used to call into basket. Get a shopping basket. Sometimes I say that. I love how you judge coming didn't say you're not one to judge. So Southern!
Landon, did I hear you say elks for else? I’m from Alabama and folks in Boston heard me say elks. I never thought about it till then. Love your keen ear
Southeast Louisiana born and raised here. Fixin’ to = finna = fidna Buttons can be pushed AND pressed It was always a shopping cart where I grew up! 🤷🏼♂️
I’m fixin to give you my list. I crank my car to pickup my Mom and carry her to the store. She uses a buggy to carry her goods. I used to could piddle around when she shopped but now have to watch her. And when we get back home I always cut the light on for her. I don’t think about it when I say these things…..they are just how it is. And now I am fixin to make me some tea.
Pacific Northwest here, near Seattle: Fixin' to: About to, going to. Cut lights: Turn the light on or off, or flip the switch (which means toggle it to its other setting, whichever setting that is). But if I needed to do some electrical work on the switch, I'd want to avoid death by electrocution, so I'd *cut* the power to that room by tripping the circut breaker, or in an old house still on fuses, by pulling (actually unscrewing) the appropriate fuse. But turning it back on is not cutting it back on; cutting is always opening the electrical circuit so no current can pass through, just as if I'd cut a wire with scissors. Crank the car: Start the car. "Crank" works if you're troubleshooting a problem, and turning the key or pressing the button doesn't necessarily make the motor start running as usual. Mash the button: Push the button. Less formally, hit the button. More formally, as in technical writing, press the button. Programmer to programmer, sometimes actuate the button, as this can include software commands to effect the same result. "Mash" sounds violent, like you intend to crush the button, causing damage to it. Carry me to (destination): Give me a ride to. "Carry me to" would sound really weird around here, like you meant literally pick them up with your arms and carry them. Coke: Soda or maybe pop, maybe soda-pop if speaking to a young child. Coke is the specific product line named Coca-Cola. If you asked me what kind of coke I wanted, and I wanted a Coca-Cola, would I have to say Coca-Cola? If I answered "Coke" would that be confusing? Buggy: Cart, or when out of context, shopping cart. "Buggy" would bring strange looks around here. I might realize what you meant if we were standing right next to them, but out of context I'd have no idea what you meant.
I had a friend from the South who would say "well, he (or she) can stuff it," if she didn't approve. I love that phrase. Do you have anything to say about where it came from, how it's used? By the way, I love your channel.
I grew up southern but hubs was in the military and we spent a lot of time out west. That and while in college I lost all my southern sayings. I feel like I failed my kids not raising them southern …even though they grew up in CO.
Born & raised in North Alabama but I never hear "Coke" used for anything other than Coca-Cola. We say soft drink to refer to the category. Love your videos!
I love on the lower Eastern Shore of MD and we talk a lot like you though on the western shore (Baltimore etc) they don’t. Would love for you to hear a Smith Islander or Tangier (VA) islander talk - they have them row backs to old English. As speech pathologist it has fascinated me. I actually served Smith Island students when I worked in Somerset County MD - I went over on the mail boat twice a month. Unfortunately their schools have closed (not enough younger kids on the island so they all go by school boat to Crisfield, MD)
One of my all time faves that my veeery Southern friend said was “colder than a witches titty in a brass bra.” We were both middle school English teachers when she laid that one on me. You are a scream and thank you for sharing your talent. Bringing back so many fun memories. ❤
I don't know all the historical migration patterns, but there must be some strong connections between upstate SC and Laurel, MS. Most of our dialect is Appalachian roots, as opposed to the lower coastal region of our lovely state. You talk just like us and vice versa. And I love that!!
I turn a light on, but cut it off. Otherwise I say all the things just like you, Landon. I do have a cousin that interchanges "fixin' to" with "'bout to." Her daddy was a Cajun and he always said Bout to if he was preparing to do something. I have been known to say, "I'm 'bout to lose my mind," but mostly, I'm fixin to do things.
I'm from osuthern Illinois and lived in Rhode Island for aound 20 years. Now I live in Atlanta. New England phrases--- shopping buggy is a carriage. play ground is a tot lot. Getting ready for something, or just in the morning is wither getting ready or pulling together/putting together. If you are going somewhere and it's a quick trip it's run to-- I need to run to the store. Taking a bath is called taking a tub.
Lived literally half my life in TX, and in SC. We'd say 'turn the light off' but we aren't turning anything. Can you give me a ride to the store? I'm fixin' to go buy some cokes. What kind of comes do you want? We have A&W, 7Up, and orange soda.
Fixin - I'm going to...(had to give this one up when I moved out of TX) Cut the light -turn the light on Car start - could be start or crank 'er up Mash button -not sure on this Takin to the store - yes, or carry, Soft drink. Used to be coke but now it's soda Shopping cart usually. But still call it a buggy too. 😢
I was born and raised in North Alabama and I say all of these phrases. When my husband( an army brat who had lived every but the south until he was in high school) and I started dating he would ask me if I wanted a drink from the convenience store, I would reply that I would like a coke please and then request the flavor that I wanted that day. After several episodes of confusion, he learned that he should ask me what kind of coke I wanted. We’ve been married twenty four years now and he still will ask me what kind of coke I want when he goes in a store!
From New Jersey: I’m fixin’ to = I’m gonna. Cut the light = turn the light off. Crank up the car = crank it up (not just the car, but some other machinery with an engine or play music louder on radio, etc. ) Mash button = Press button. Carry me to the store = take me or run me to the store. Coke = unless it’s really a Coke, it’s soda. Buggy = shopping cart. BUT, we would say piddling or futoosin’ around.😂
A long time Yankee here. I've found that "fixin' to" is an incredibly useful phrase. I didn't use it in my youth but I've pick up on its virtues. It's not at all common hereabouts so it can come across as ironic, but what do I care? I'm fixin' to continue using it. Also, I think there are different shades of meaning between "going to," "about to" and "fixin' to." To my ear "fixin' to" sounds more like an active preparation process. Perhaps this is an issue that could be addressed.
ahh lovely, north west England callin, i'm familiar with crank the car, but not sure it's used now its all-electric, we say shopping trolly to your buggy
About to… Turn the light on… Start the car… Push the button… Would you take me to… Soda… Buggy… Haha! So funny! And I’ve been in Atlanta my whole life but my parents are from West Virginia and Mobile, AL.
fixing to 👍 - I've heard cut the light off but usually always turn the light on - crank the car 👍 otherwise start - push the button - carry or take - Soft drinks were usually always called by its name not as a general coke - buggy 👍 ... that's awesome
I am an Ohio Yankee who lived in North Carolina for several years, and now live in Florida. So even though I would say these things like a Yankee, I do speak southern. I do know that there are those that think RobuhtELee was the Finest Man to Ever Draw Breath. fixin to = going to cut the light on = turn the light on (I think you're right about circuits and possibly there might have been knobs at some point. This also makes me think of eyes on a stove instead of burners) crank the car = start the car mash a button = press a button, push the button carry you = take you, drive you, you need a ride? Coke = pop (I am a Coke Snob so it's always Coke as far as I'm concerned). buggy = shopping cart or basket We totally gave up trying to understand any fast food drive thru person in the south and we just say what we want to order. But we don't say Bojangle's chicken, we say Boh -han -glaze. No idea where that came from, I think it was high school kids.
Fixin - getting ready to, or about to. Cut the light - turn it on. Coke - soft drink, have to specify what kind. Mash - no, I push a button. Carry to the store - take me, or bring me. And just because - I’m 66, and spent the first 12 years of my life moving up and down the Gulf Coast. Born in Texas, we move to Virginia, (yes, I know that’s not on the Gulf); then back to Texas, then Georgia, then Alabama, then my parents settled in Louisiana. I married a Cajun and trust me! I have a Southern accent, and say so funny things.❤
Grew up in the West ……but lived in the South for 25 years now so some of these feel right to me Going to is now fixin to Turn the light on/off, I still don’t cut on and off Push button, I don’t mash Take to the Pig not carry Always been a coke I now use buggy. This one took me a while But I find the differences endearing and my family notices our “accent” and different sayings 😊
I am fixin’ to, will always be fixin’ to, and can’t give up fixin’ to, no matter how many years have passed since spending my formative years growing up in Dallas, TX! It’s in my blood and will always be a part of my vernacular! However, I turn on and turn off the lights. I push the doorbell but press random buttons... like in an elevator (weird, I know). I start the car and I take someone or drive someone to the store/doctors/ etc. Coke is everything -including Dr. Pepper... “Do you wanna go get a coke?” Then order the specific type of “coke” you wish to drink. And lastly for me, a grocery cart is a cart and a buggy is a baby buggy, also known as a stroller to push around your little ones and hold purses, diaper bags and other miscellaneous items.
I grew up in southern CA in the 1970s and 80s, but my parents were from central Wisconsin and western NY state. I now live in central TX, and my word choices are a mixture of all these places, but I'll throw in my 2 cents: "Fixin to" I would say "aiming ta" with the same nuanced definition. I'd also "snap on the light," "start the car" or "crank it," "punch a button," "give a lift" to the store, soft drinks are "sodas," and shopping carts are "baskets." I also find local dialects fascinating. I don't think we hear them so much anymore, but I could be wrong.
I'm from Illinois but now live in Texas. I would say "press" or "push" the button. I could say "cut the lights" to turn them off, but not to turn them on. A buggy is a shopping cart. Fixin to would be gettin ready to. Coke is Coke, but I usually call them sodas.
We say shoot out the lights, I'm from the home town of Hal ketchem the country singer that sang small town Saturday night, the famous line in the song "we're gonna howl at the moon, shoot out the lights, it's a small town Saturday night", we also pick someone up to drop them off to the store, or take them to the store, coke is a brand/flavor and DOES NOT mean Pepsi! We call them sodas or sodee pops, we do say fixin' to make dinner and fiddlin' around because piddlin' means pee up north 😂 and we say fartin' around when there's work that needs to be gettin' after and you're dilly dallying and not working, also we say don't doddle which means the same as dilly dally
My Dad, being from MS, for some reason didn't like when we'd say fixin. He'd always sat, well, what are you fixing? 😂 I say carry or tote. My hubby is from FL and I don't know if tote is a FL term or what. I just know his Mamma said it, therefore her kids do too. I think the word crank for starting a car came from the beginning of automobiles, when they literally had to turn the crank in order to start the motor. I call soft drinks, soda. Lord, don't get started on that debate with a Northerner! It's pop to them. 😂 I say cart or buggy. Also a thing said here in the South is, paying the car note or house note for paying the car or house payment.
The old folks in east Tennessee would call a soft drink a dope, poke a button, for really strange person they'd say qwaar and for a snack, one would have a RC Cola and a moon pie.
Fixing to = going to or about to Cut the light = turn the light on or switch the light on Crank = start the car or turn the engine on (once upon a time cars had cranks to start them) Mash the button = push or press the button Carry = Lift “can you give me a lift please?” Or Take me Coke = soft drink or the specific brand and type Buggy = trolley
Fixing to = "Getting ready to" as in "go to the store, etc. Some people in Chicago might use "fixing to" if their ancestry came from the deep South, but they run all the words together, so not all of the letters are audible. Cut the light on/off = TURN the light OFF, but to "cut something ON" (to me) is a wrong descriptor. You can't "cut " something ON, as it has to already BE on to CUT something. Crank the car = Start the car, but I can see where that "might could" make sense as many years ago, cars had to be cranked to start them. Mash the button = Push the button (but I understand what you mean because my father was from Alabama and also said "mash" instead of push. (He talked funny.) Carry me to = Take me to, as in going to the store. If you're being taken to the store, it is assumed that there is a mode of transportation already chosen, and you will go along whatever that mode is. Soft drink= anything carbonated, except for sweet tea, which is not carbonated. A Coke in Chicago is only a Coke, which I wouldn't drink because I'm PEPSI person. We're probably a little more descriptive here because if we WANTED a Coke (why would you?) why take a chance on getting a Pepsi? If it's anything other than those two flavors in Chicago, you've got to ask for it by name. Buggy = Shopping cart. Buggies are what you put babies in, or a stroller. My friend Jesse, from Biloxi, MS. calls me out for not finishing sentences. When I ask him, "Do you want to go with?" he always says, "With what?" The answer is always "With ME." which breaks him up in laughter. He says you can't end a sentence with "WITH". What??!!
I'm getting ready to ... Turn the light on / turn the light off - although if you need to turn the light or lights off fast, you might say 'cut the lights' Start the car. Push the button, buzzer - in a few specfic circumstances you might use press, 'press enter', in an elevator "would you press 5 please?" Can you give me a ride to ... or can you take me or drop me off at ... Always requested by name Coke, Sprite, 7-Up, Dr. Pepper - no generic terms. Southerners asking for a 'coke' then expecting to tell you what kind of 'coke' they want is doesn't register - the server will leave and bring you a Coke or tell you they don't serve Coke. IN other parts of the country a person would ask for a 'pop' or a 'soda' in which case you would ask them, "What kind would you like possibly preceded by "We have ...."). Both come from 'soda pop' which may still survive in some places. You use a shopping cart while you shop - occasionally, if someone is from or has lived in the UK they will use a trolley.
I KNEW 'mash' would be on this list! 😂
And "carry" 😅
So good!
I'm not from here, but my husband is, and so I knew what you were "fixin' to" say for each and every one of those before you said it! (btw, it more often has only 2 syllables: "fid-na"!)
When he taught me to drive a stick (standard transmission), and I cranked the car, he would holler, "Mash the clutch!"
Growing up (way north of here) we would be "about to" or "getting ready to" do something, "bring" Grandma to the beauty parlor, "start" the car, "push" or "press" the button (or the clutch), and, at the grocery store, you'd fill your "cart" (I even sometimes heard it called a "wagon") with cans or bottles of "soda."
One you didn't mention: Once, I was volunteering at a mental health facility. A new patient was describing a particularly harrowing experience (or maybe one that was shocking in a comical way, can't recall which) and wanted to express that it nearly (figuratively) killed him, so he said "I like to have died" (it came out sounding "ah lahkta daahd".) The lovely and very intelligent Cuban psychiatrist became alarmed and was all set to order suicide precautions... until I translated for her. ;D Great channel!
Tennessee grandparents, but raised in arkansas. We say, "FIXIN' TO, but we ALSO say "FIXIN' TO GET READY TO"
To answer your questions, if I needed to transport someone to the store , I would "turn off the lights", start the car- but it should 'crank over' easily. Once I arrive to pick up the person, I would "press " their doorbell, get them settled in the car then drive them to the store and back. Once I'd dropped them back off at their home, I would then "get back to my rat-killin'".( not literally- just a phrase to mean any task that you find necessary but not fun.) Love your videos!
@brendablake584, I agree with everything you said. That is how I would word it. Except the rat killing. I have never heard that before, but like it and might start using it lol.
I would say the same, including the rat killing.
When I was studying linguistics in college in the 80's there was an article written by a linguist, "When fixed is fixin' to." Very on point for how this is used in the South.
I was born in NC and at age 6 moved to upstate SC. In 2nd grade these fellow southerner 2nd graders called me a yankee because I was from North Carolina. Very traumatic. we still say, many of your phrases like usta could, mighta been, coulda went, etc.
Southern talk is Southern talk. Love you. I might coulda been your friend some day,
"Was it any count?"😊
The more I listen to Professor Landon, the more I know I was born in the wrong place.
There is 100% some areas of the South that no one should have to be raised in. It's barely an exaggeration when they talk about the mosques carrying ya off, seriously 🙃🤣
Lol
I grew up with "What kind of coke do you want?" meaning soft drink. Apparently other places it's also called soda, or pop. Just like I would call a small rivulet of water a crick but apparently other places they call it a brook or creek, or maybe stream. Now where I grew up a crick was smaller than the stream.
Fixing to, cut lights on and off. Crank mash carry or give me a ride.. coke, buggy…..you took the words right out of my mouth!
Growing up in the South, we had a splendid two-syllable word to represent the phrase, "I am going to." It's "ahm'o." As in, "Ahm'o go downtown. Yawngo?"
Agree with all of the above and add “tote” to the list! 😂
Southern mama (Tallahassee,Florida) and a Northern father (Long Island, NY) -- I'd say preparing to do something, turn off or turn on the light, turn on the car, push the button, I'd ask someone to take me to the store, we call them sodas, and shopping carts. However, I know and understand how my Mama's family and my father's family say these things also. 🙂
In my area of Australia we’re getting ready to go out or getting ready for dinner. This is all encompassing and could mean anything from I’m about to get in the shower to I’ve got my shoes on and I am walking out the door.
“Probably should” get a shower means I’m thinking of starting to “get ready” but haven’t actually got off my arse yet 😊
We switch on the light, start the car, push the button, drop someone at the shop and drink soft drink or soda. We also use a shopping trolley or grab a basket if we’re only getting a few things.
Now you're cooking with Crisco! Speaking my everyday language. I could give you unending Southern phrases 🤣
I was changing planes at an airport once, not in the South, it was maybe Denver. My flight late and the next one was already boarding and I was in a huge rush to buy food and get on my plane before they closed the doors. The woman in front of me was chit chatting in her Southern drawl with the checkout person about nothing, just taking her sweet time, it was insane. I yelled "What are you doing??!!" She said "I'm fixin to pay for my food", I said "just do it already because I'm about to miss my flight!". She would have been there 20 minutes chit chatting and holding up the line, as if it was a hair salon, not an airport. She looked at me like I was the crazy one.
Transplanted Canadian here. Used to live in TX. Love your videos! Fixin’ = thinking about or planning to, cut light= turn on light, start car, carry to store = drive or take to store, coke = pop or soft drink, buggy is cart.
This made me smile. I am an Army brat. Growing up, I lived in many places, including Europe. My mother is from Arkansas so I understand all of the southern phrases. I once worked with a nurse from Minnesota. It was the first time I I had heard that particular dialect. She would say "go with"; as in "I'm going to go to lunch. Do you want to go with?" And throat was pronounced throw-it. It took me a while to get that one.
OK, here goes... 1) going to - fixing implies that something is broken, 2) turn on, 3) start the car, 4) press or push a button,
5) take me to the market, 6) soda 7) shopping cart. Note: I grew up in southern Indiana but spent summers in south of France and/or Martha's Vineyard so I'm sure that affected my language development.
All the same for me! Born in Costa Rica, then to California.
My husband, born in Atlanta, uses all of those phrases. I was born in Virginia and use about half of them; we push buttons, take someone to the store, but we cut the lights on and off. Etc.
Now, when my husband wants a Coke, he asks for a Co-cola. That means he wants an actual Coke and nothing else. If he was willing to drink a Pepsi, he'd ask for a Coke. He asked for a Co-cola once in Lincoln, Nebraska. I had to translate.
I’m from Central Virginia and we say mash or press, to take someone to the store is carry them. My Aunt’s family is from Tidewater and she said carry as well. My X-husband is from NoVa and they say “press” and “take”. I think it’s wonderful how even in the same state, people speak differently. Virginia has so many accents too, though I’ve heard in the larger cities and towns, the accents are fading as more “from away’s” move in. Be well🙂
You said the magic words with the best Southern take… “I feel like _____.” Southerners say this when we have an opinion on something. Master’s Level: pronounce it like Landon does… Ah fill like ____. ❤
Colloquialisms are so much fun. I live in western Canada, and am an avid consumer of all kinds of media. Because we have so many cultures collected in our workplaces, I find myself adopting a variety of figures of speech that I did not grow up with, including some of the ones you mention. “Fixing to” is one of them. We don’t generally piddle around though - we fiddle around (although if time was being wasted, then you were definitely piddling around).
Come to think of it my Dad used to say “pidlin’ round’.
"fixin' to"= going to; "cut the light" = I've heard 'close the light'; 'shut the light'; 'turn off the light';"crank the car" = start the car; "press the button"; "take me to the store" or alternately "give me a ride"; "Coke" I guess it depends on the brand of soft drink - we're pretty specific here in NE Illinois so we'd just say "I'd like a Green River" or a Coke, or a Fanta, or whatever ;"shopping cart" is what my mom and dad called what you collected your groceries in the store.
I was born and raised in Chicago and I use ALL those terms because both my parents were from the south. I especially love mashing buttons.
Did you ever visit as a child and think, "My, this is where I'm supposed to be.....?"
@@theresarez - we spent summers in the south and it always felt more like home to me. I am
Now retired and living outside Hot Springs, Arkansas…. Piney woods!
I had an online friend from Louisiana when I was in high school, and one time he used the phrase 'fixin' and I was confused as hell. I had literally never heard that before up in the north. We just say "going to" or "getting ready to".
In Maryland, lots of folks say "ink pen" rather than "pen". In Massachusetts folks call the water fountain the bubbler, a rubber band is an elastic.
Mid-Atlantic Region - We use Fixin' if you are rural and 'getting ready to' if we are urban. We push, press, or hit buttons, switch on lights, and start the car. If the car won't start then we say it won't 'crank'. We say 'piddlin' as in leisurely doing something or we use 'piddle' for children and animals piddling on the rug. We use a grocery 'cart'. The term 'carry me to the store' was used by the generation born in the 1920's and is fading out. Now we 'drive you' or 'take you' or 'give you a ride'. Soft drinks are Soda or Pop.
I wonder if this is transferred from the English? For example, my FIL who was raised in Hilo, whose mom cleaned houses for the white plantation owners, called a chest of drawers a chiffonier. My southern grandmother called it a chifferobe. She was English descent.
My ex sister in law used to make fun of me for saying Hey.... she would say "hay" is for horses lol... Love the videos!
When I was in high school and someone like your ex SIL said “hay is for horses”, the answer was always “and cows like you”. 😆
Mom was from Arkansas, Dad from Texas. Depending on what set
Of grandparents we went to see determined what you said while you were there to get your point across. Arkansas: buggy, Coke, and “let me grab my purse”.
Texas: buggy, pop and “tag along”
I am a Sixth generation Texan. We never said “pop,” and we thought if it as a Northern expression. We always said “coke” no matter the brand or
Flavor.
The term “aight” needs to be discussed: as in
Ya aight? Let’s go to town, aight. Aight!
Anytime I hear "aight," in my head I'm hearing Stringer Bell say it.
I lived in Madison County, AL for a spell. Here are a few phrases/words I remember.
"Come on over and shake and howdy for a bit."
I never heard just "coke," it was "co-cola." Then there was Sun Drop.
"All you can eat shrimp and grits" at the local Big Boy was a real dining out experience.
"It's real close outside today" referring to the high humidity.
"They laid corpse today" referring to visiting hours at a funeral home.
"How's your mamma and daddy been?"
I was born and raised in Rockmart, Ga and we said all of those things.
Closest thing I can think of for 'I'm fixin' to' is 'I'm about to,' but it doesn't quite carry all the potentiality of 'fixin' to.' We use 'mash the button,' but 'hit the button,' is a little more common, I think.
I grew up in Kentucky, but with Southern parents.
Y'all'd've = You all would have
Example: Why're y'all houndin' me about it? Y'all'd've done it the same way!
Nice! I love a good contraction. I've started hearing and seeing "finna" for "fixing to", but that's mostly from the young'uns (speaking of contractions). And that's not just from Southerners, either, so I think that one must be catching on nationwide.
I am from Charleston SC and I grew up and still to this day say everyone of those phrases. My most memorable phrase growing up was "you're fixin to get a switchin".
So I live in South Wales in the UK and I start the car and go to the supermarket where I get my shopping trolley, sometimes my friend will ask me for a lift to the store also.
We turn lights on and off and we push or press buttons. If I am getting ready to do something I'm going to do supper, it's always going to do or just going to.
Soft drinks get called by whatever it is coke fanta etc
Okie here, and I always refer to a shopping cart as a buggy - and I always will.
Being from Texas, we have to note the difference between yall, y'all, and yall'all
Fellow Texan. This is true.
I grew up talking like you. Unfortunately, I married a Yankee… and he has polluted our children’s language. I’m surprised they can even understand me! 🤣
1. I'm getting ready to.. I'm going to get ready now, or make dinner now. My mom was from the south and I literally never use the word fixing in that manner.
2. Switch the light on, switch it off, turn it on, turn it off. If you're in a big place with a lot of lights that one switch controls them all, or if its headlights, you might say cut the lights.
3. We would say start the car. Or start the engine. Or turn the engine. When the windows or manual? We would take crank the windows up or down. But not the engine.
4. Press, push, or hit the button. We mash potatoes, not buttons.
5. We would say, can I get a ride from you to the store. If you were already going and I want to go to I would say, can I catch a ride with you. Or, can I tag along? If you're going and someone comes with you, you say I'm taking them with me. If you're asking someone to carry you, be prepared to get picked up. Literally.
6. Soda or a drink, unless you're asking for something specific, then you call it by name.
7. Shopping cart or just cart. My mom used to call into basket. Get a shopping basket. Sometimes I say that.
I love how you judge coming didn't say you're not one to judge. So Southern!
Landon, did I hear you say elks for else? I’m from Alabama and folks in Boston heard me say elks. I never thought about it till then. Love your keen ear
Southeast Louisiana born and raised here.
Fixin’ to = finna = fidna
Buttons can be pushed AND pressed
It was always a shopping cart where I grew up! 🤷🏼♂️
Hi Mr Bryant! you used to be our art teacher at LMSA, just making this note to know that we miss you!
I’m fixin to give you my list. I crank my car to pickup my Mom and carry her to the store. She uses a buggy to carry her goods. I used to could piddle around when she shopped but now have to watch her. And when we get back home I always cut the light on for her.
I don’t think about it when I say these things…..they are just how it is. And now I am fixin to make me some tea.
Pacific Northwest here, near Seattle:
Fixin' to:
About to, going to.
Cut lights:
Turn the light on or off, or flip the switch (which means toggle it to its other setting, whichever setting that is).
But if I needed to do some electrical work on the switch, I'd want to avoid death by electrocution, so I'd *cut* the power to that room by tripping the circut breaker, or in an old house still on fuses, by pulling (actually unscrewing) the appropriate fuse. But turning it back on is not cutting it back on; cutting is always opening the electrical circuit so no current can pass through, just as if I'd cut a wire with scissors.
Crank the car:
Start the car. "Crank" works if you're troubleshooting a problem, and turning the key or pressing the button doesn't necessarily make the motor start running as usual.
Mash the button:
Push the button. Less formally, hit the button. More formally, as in technical writing, press the button. Programmer to programmer, sometimes actuate the button, as this can include software commands to effect the same result. "Mash" sounds violent, like you intend to crush the button, causing damage to it.
Carry me to (destination):
Give me a ride to. "Carry me to" would sound really weird around here, like you meant literally pick them up with your arms and carry them.
Coke:
Soda or maybe pop, maybe soda-pop if speaking to a young child. Coke is the specific product line named Coca-Cola. If you asked me what kind of coke I wanted, and I wanted a Coca-Cola, would I have to say Coca-Cola? If I answered "Coke" would that be confusing?
Buggy:
Cart, or when out of context, shopping cart. "Buggy" would bring strange looks around here. I might realize what you meant if we were standing right next to them, but out of context I'd have no idea what you meant.
I had a friend from the South who would say "well, he (or she) can stuff it," if she didn't approve. I love that phrase. Do you have anything to say about where it came from, how it's used? By the way, I love your channel.
I grew up southern but hubs was in the military and we spent a lot of time out west. That and while in college I lost all my southern sayings.
I feel like I failed my kids not raising them southern …even though they grew up in CO.
Born & raised in North Alabama but I never hear "Coke" used for anything other than Coca-Cola. We say soft drink to refer to the category. Love your videos!
Carry-- I'd never heard until I moved to GA. Did not grow up saying that in NC.
I love on the lower Eastern Shore of MD and we talk a lot like you though on the western shore (Baltimore etc) they don’t. Would love for you to hear a Smith Islander or Tangier (VA) islander talk - they have them row backs to old English. As speech pathologist it has fascinated me. I actually served Smith Island students when I worked in Somerset County MD - I went over on the mail boat twice a month. Unfortunately their schools have closed (not enough younger kids on the island so they all go by school boat to Crisfield, MD)
One of my all time faves that my veeery Southern friend said was “colder than a witches titty in a brass bra.” We were both middle school English teachers when she laid that one on me. You are a scream and thank you for sharing your talent. Bringing back so many fun memories. ❤
I don't know all the historical migration patterns, but there must be some strong connections between upstate SC and Laurel, MS. Most of our dialect is Appalachian roots, as opposed to the lower coastal region of our lovely state. You talk just like us and vice versa. And I love that!!
I turn a light on, but cut it off. Otherwise I say all the things just like you, Landon. I do have a cousin that interchanges "fixin' to" with "'bout to." Her daddy was a Cajun and he always said Bout to if he was preparing to do something.
I have been known to say, "I'm 'bout to lose my mind," but mostly, I'm fixin to do things.
Yes! Turn a light on, but cut it off.
I'm from osuthern Illinois and lived in Rhode Island for aound 20 years. Now I live in Atlanta. New England phrases--- shopping buggy is a carriage. play ground is a tot lot. Getting ready for something, or just in the morning is wither getting ready or pulling together/putting together. If you are going somewhere and it's a quick trip it's run to-- I need to run to the store. Taking a bath is called taking a tub.
Lived literally half my life in TX, and in SC. We'd say 'turn the light off' but we aren't turning anything. Can you give me a ride to the store? I'm fixin' to go buy some cokes. What kind of comes do you want? We have A&W, 7Up, and orange soda.
Fixin - I'm going to...(had to give this one up when I moved out of TX)
Cut the light -turn the light on
Car start - could be start or crank 'er up
Mash button -not sure on this
Takin to the store - yes, or carry,
Soft drink. Used to be coke but now it's soda
Shopping cart usually. But still call it a buggy too. 😢
I was born and raised in North Alabama and I say all of these phrases. When my husband( an army brat who had lived every but the south until he was in high school) and I started dating he would ask me if I wanted a drink from the convenience store, I would reply that I would like a coke please and then request the flavor that I wanted that day. After several episodes of confusion, he learned that he should ask me what kind of coke I wanted. We’ve been married twenty four years now and he still will ask me what kind of coke I want when he goes in a store!
From New Jersey: I’m fixin’ to = I’m gonna. Cut the light = turn the light off. Crank up the car = crank it up (not just the car, but some other machinery with an engine or play music louder on radio, etc. ) Mash button = Press button. Carry me to the store = take me or run me to the store. Coke = unless it’s really a Coke, it’s soda. Buggy = shopping cart. BUT, we would say piddling or futoosin’ around.😂
A long time Yankee here. I've found that "fixin' to" is an incredibly useful phrase. I didn't use it in my youth but I've pick up on its virtues. It's not at all common hereabouts so it can come across as ironic, but what do I care? I'm fixin' to continue using it.
Also, I think there are different shades of meaning between "going to," "about to" and "fixin' to." To my ear "fixin' to" sounds more like an active preparation process. Perhaps this is an issue that could be addressed.
ahh lovely, north west England callin, i'm familiar with crank the car, but not sure it's used now its all-electric, we say shopping trolly to your buggy
My dad would carry people to the store but he would tote a bag.
Thank you for making these videos so I can constantly remind myself of how happy I am to have moved away from the south! An instant pick-me-upper!
yes to all mashing, fixin to, carry me 😂
Shopping cart. Pop. Start the car. Turn on/off the light. Going to…make dinner, clean the house, take the dog for a walk. Chicago person here.
About to…
Turn the light on…
Start the car…
Push the button…
Would you take me to…
Soda…
Buggy…
Haha! So funny! And I’ve been in Atlanta my whole life but my parents are from West Virginia and Mobile, AL.
fixing to 👍 - I've heard cut the light off but usually always turn the light on - crank the car 👍 otherwise start - push the button - carry or take - Soft drinks were usually always called by its name not as a general coke - buggy 👍 ... that's awesome
I am an Ohio Yankee who lived in North Carolina for several years, and now live in Florida. So even though I would say these things like a Yankee, I do speak southern. I do know that there are those that think RobuhtELee was the Finest Man to Ever Draw Breath.
fixin to = going to
cut the light on = turn the light on (I think you're right about circuits and possibly there might have been knobs at some point. This also makes me think of eyes on a stove instead of burners)
crank the car = start the car
mash a button = press a button, push the button
carry you = take you, drive you, you need a ride?
Coke = pop (I am a Coke Snob so it's always Coke as far as I'm concerned).
buggy = shopping cart or basket
We totally gave up trying to understand any fast food drive thru person in the south and we just say what we want to order. But we don't say Bojangle's chicken, we say Boh -han -glaze. No idea where that came from, I think it was high school kids.
Love this
Fixin - getting ready to, or about to. Cut the light - turn it on. Coke - soft drink, have to specify what kind. Mash - no, I push a button. Carry to the store - take me, or bring me.
And just because - I’m 66, and spent the first 12 years of my life moving up and down the Gulf Coast. Born in Texas, we move to Virginia, (yes, I know that’s not on the Gulf); then back to Texas, then Georgia, then Alabama, then my parents settled in Louisiana. I married a Cajun and trust me! I have a Southern accent, and say so funny things.❤
I agree with all if those ❤
Cars used to be cranked! With a literal crank on the outside you had to turn. My granddaddy had a tractor we cranked!
Grew up in the West ……but lived in the South for 25 years now so some of these feel right to me
Going to is now fixin to
Turn the light on/off, I still don’t cut on and off
Push button, I don’t mash
Take to the Pig not carry
Always been a coke
I now use buggy. This one took me a while
But I find the differences endearing and my family notices our “accent” and different sayings
😊
I am fixin’ to, will always be fixin’ to, and can’t give up fixin’ to, no matter how many years have passed since spending my formative years growing up in Dallas, TX! It’s in my blood and will always be a part of my vernacular! However, I turn on and turn off the lights. I push the doorbell but press random buttons... like in an elevator (weird, I know). I start the car and I take someone or drive someone to the store/doctors/ etc. Coke is everything -including Dr. Pepper... “Do you wanna go get a coke?” Then order the specific type of “coke” you wish to drink. And lastly for me, a grocery cart is a cart and a buggy is a baby buggy, also known as a stroller to push around your little ones and hold purses, diaper bags and other miscellaneous items.
I push a button, I turn on a light, but there is no replacement for fixin’ to.
I’m from the MS Gulf Coast and we say fixin’ to, push the bottom, usually take instead of carry, soft drink rather than Coke, and buggy.
I grew up in southern CA in the 1970s and 80s, but my parents were from central Wisconsin and western NY state. I now live in central TX, and my word choices are a mixture of all these places, but I'll throw in my 2 cents: "Fixin to" I would say "aiming ta" with the same nuanced definition. I'd also "snap on the light," "start the car" or "crank it," "punch a button," "give a lift" to the store, soft drinks are "sodas," and shopping carts are "baskets." I also find local dialects fascinating. I don't think we hear them so much anymore, but I could be wrong.
I'm from Illinois but now live in Texas. I would say "press" or "push" the button. I could say "cut the lights" to turn them off, but not to turn them on. A buggy is a shopping cart. Fixin to would be gettin ready to. Coke is Coke, but I usually call them sodas.
"Put" the light on here in the Midwest. Although my southern dad would say "cut".
Getting ready to, turn on light, start the car, push button, take me to the store, pop, cart
Pulling up to the A&P. Hey, mama, are you getting down with me? Or are you staying in the car?
Fixin' to is perfectly clear.
1. I'm gonna
2. Turn the light on/ off
3. Turn the car on. Push the button. Turn the key.
4. Give me a lift.
5. Fizzy drink.
6. Trolley
- I'm Irish 😊
Laurel native here! Its a buggy!+
We say shoot out the lights, I'm from the home town of Hal ketchem the country singer that sang small town Saturday night, the famous line in the song "we're gonna howl at the moon, shoot out the lights, it's a small town Saturday night", we also pick someone up to drop them off to the store, or take them to the store, coke is a brand/flavor and DOES NOT mean Pepsi! We call them sodas or sodee pops, we do say fixin' to make dinner and fiddlin' around because piddlin' means pee up north 😂 and we say fartin' around when there's work that needs to be gettin' after and you're dilly dallying and not working, also we say don't doddle which means the same as dilly dally
If I am listen' to some music like ABB, Marshall Tucker or ZZ to, and want it louder, I crank it up. I might be fixin to do that now.
Some ya'll've never been down south.. Poke Salad....😂😂❤ Shreveport Louisiana
raised by southern parents in Ohio, I grew up with all of your sayings
My Dad, being from MS, for some reason didn't like when we'd say fixin. He'd always sat, well, what are you fixing? 😂 I say carry or tote. My hubby is from FL and I don't know if tote is a FL term or what. I just know his Mamma said it, therefore her kids do too. I think the word crank for starting a car came from the beginning of automobiles, when they literally had to turn the crank in order to start the motor. I call soft drinks, soda. Lord, don't get started on that debate with a Northerner! It's pop to them. 😂 I say cart or buggy. Also a thing said here in the South is, paying the car note or house note for paying the car or house payment.
The old folks in east Tennessee would call a soft drink a dope, poke a button, for really strange person they'd say qwaar and for a snack, one would have a RC Cola and a moon pie.
I would say all of these just like you 😂
Fixing to = going to or about to
Cut the light = turn the light on or switch the light on
Crank = start the car or turn the engine on (once upon a time cars had cranks to start them)
Mash the button = push or press the button
Carry = Lift “can you give me a lift please?” Or Take me
Coke = soft drink or the specific brand and type
Buggy = trolley
Buggy and cutting the light are the two Southern expressions that have surprised me the most
Fixing to = "Getting ready to" as in "go to the store, etc. Some people in Chicago might use "fixing to" if their ancestry came from the deep South, but they run all the words together, so not all of the letters are audible.
Cut the light on/off = TURN the light OFF, but to "cut something ON" (to me) is a wrong descriptor. You can't "cut " something ON, as it has to already BE on to CUT something.
Crank the car = Start the car, but I can see where that "might could" make sense as many years ago, cars had to be cranked to start them.
Mash the button = Push the button (but I understand what you mean because my father was from Alabama and also said "mash" instead of push. (He talked funny.)
Carry me to = Take me to, as in going to the store. If you're being taken to the store, it is assumed that there is a mode of transportation already chosen, and you will go along whatever that mode is.
Soft drink= anything carbonated, except for sweet tea, which is not carbonated. A Coke in Chicago is only a Coke, which I wouldn't drink because I'm PEPSI person. We're probably a little more descriptive here because if we WANTED a Coke (why would you?) why take a chance on getting a Pepsi? If it's anything other than those two flavors in Chicago, you've got to ask for it by name.
Buggy = Shopping cart. Buggies are what you put babies in, or a stroller.
My friend Jesse, from Biloxi, MS. calls me out for not finishing sentences. When I ask him, "Do you want to go with?" he always says, "With what?" The answer is always "With ME." which breaks him up in laughter. He says you can't end a sentence with "WITH". What??!!
North Carolina….all the same, but I do say soda more often than just Coke. 😊
"I'm fixin" could be "I'mbout to"
In NYC, they shut the light because Con Edison is rich enough.
In eastern PA it's soda; in western PA it's pop.
My language is really mixed up -mom from Arkansas, Dad from Wisconsin, grew up in Nebraska and Kansas. Most of my adult life has been in Arkansas .
Instead of carry, I say tote (Alabama?). As in "Will you tote me to the Publix?" "Will you tote me home after the movie?" All else is same.
I'm fixin to...= I'm about to (+verb)..., or I'm thinkin' about (+gerrund/"ing"verb), I'm rallying or rallying myself to (+verb in the ininitive)
Oh, I don't say counter tops. They are counters 🤣🤣🤣
I'm getting ready to ...
Turn the light on / turn the light off - although if you need to turn the light or lights off fast, you might say 'cut the lights'
Start the car.
Push the button, buzzer - in a few specfic circumstances you might use press, 'press enter', in an elevator "would you press 5 please?"
Can you give me a ride to ... or can you take me or drop me off at ...
Always requested by name Coke, Sprite, 7-Up, Dr. Pepper - no generic terms. Southerners asking for a 'coke' then expecting to tell you what kind of 'coke' they want is doesn't register - the server will leave and bring you a Coke or tell you they don't serve Coke. IN other parts of the country a person would ask for a 'pop' or a 'soda' in which case you would ask them, "What kind would you like possibly preceded by "We have ...."). Both come from 'soda pop' which may still survive in some places.
You use a shopping cart while you shop - occasionally, if someone is from or has lived in the UK they will use a trolley.