if the creek don't rise saying

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.". 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!. 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. Someone reminded me not to be reminded of you. Therefore if the Lord is willing and the Creek don't rise up and start up another uprising or battle, we will be able complete what ever it is we intend to do. Its worth looking into because of the way in which it has been elaborated in the version you quote. While in the south, Hawkins was requested by the President of the U.S. to return to Washington. 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. The Creek were a tribe of Native Americans (indians) who would ambush people who were traveling West. Here are a couple of examples of this claim. Donate via PayPal. 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. In his response, he was said to write, "God willing and the Creek don't rise." 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. The Lafayette gazette(Louisiana), 3 Nov. 1894. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. There's two or three creeks," he said. Positive thinking, Southern style. What Grandma says when you pull in the driveway, pop out of the car, and come running. Given that many small farm streams were crossed without bridges, which worked find most of the time, a swollen stream would cause problems. You'll most often hear it coming out of Mama's mouth when the kids are running amok. Dont worry, if youre helping a friend make groceries, youre not expected to create food from scratch. The lyrics play on the expression Lord willing and the creek don't rise, which is thought to originate from Alabama. Something needed to fill in the gap: Yall is one solution associated with the South, with all generally serving to clarify more than one you is being addressed. To understand Hawkins, I read a little further into his history. Translated, this means: "We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us." Let me love you again, give me one more try. 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. The nabbit, gonnit, gummit, blasted, and burnit match the rhythm of damn it, but they can easily be modified for use as an adjective or adverb: That dagnab idiot didnt look to the dadgum left and, dadburnit, he crossed over in my dadblasted lane and dadburn near hit me. When used as a stand-alone oath, hold out on the first syllable and accentuate the second: DaaadGUMMit! The doin hasnt been done yet. Required fields are marked *. Firsts, Mines, Asks. The clipping below from 1892 is a reference to flooding waterways not allowing the postmaster to get to his office. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. All rights reserved. "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]. So the saying came about like we'll be there.God willing and the Creek (indians) don't rise..to stop us. 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. Many thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the ARC in return for an unbiased review. Did you know the saying God willing and the Creek dont rise was in reference to the Creek Indians and not a body of water? IF THE CREEK DON'T RISE is character driven and one fine gritty and entertaining debut with one fine satisfying ending! If you use this phrase, you could be declaring any number of things: surprise, dissent, happiness. He was a politician and Indian agent. "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. "If the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise.". Or, depending on where you live, it could be Sewanee, the small college town in Tennessee. "Like all great southern. I was surprised as all get out. Jan 29, 2014 at 19:34 . 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. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Unarguable Southern criticism. Andrew Jackson sent a request for reinforcements before the Battle Of New Orleans. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. 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. and the word HOPE. Theres no better zinger than a bless your heart delivered in a condescending tone of voice that implies, as the Southern Decoder puts it, youre dumb, homely, or otherwise impaired, but you cant help it.Go ahead and practice it in the mirror a few times. Ain't got no dog in that race. Turn around, and please dont drive through it. The proper phrase is Lord willing and the Creek don't rise. This means that if everything continues to plan, things will be okay. Theres two or three creeks, he said. 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 . A: "Do you reckon we'll have enough from this harvest to make ends meet?" Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled, origin of phrase - "if the creek don't rise". 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 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.. Yelling out this humorous backronym for sh*tmight just tame the anger a bit. 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. "The Good Lord willing and the 'creek' don't rise" is just one of them. I absolutely loved the southern voice of these characters throughout this book. This is a high compliment in the South, since Southern states are known for their peaches. I see some folks walk easy and carry peace on their shoulders, but I been chained to a iron life." Leah Weiss, If the Creek Don't Rise 3 likes Like When you've met the girl of your dreams, chances are she is "pretty as a peach." The most interesting often hail from our older generations, such as the WWII era and those raised by them. Quick, what do you call a soft drink? 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. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. When I was growing up, this was something we said all of the time. In alternating first person narratives from a cast of characters that will be hard to forget, Leah Weiss took me to the mountain community called Baines Creek in the Appalachian Mountains in NC. It turns out that the phrase was written by Benjamin Hawkins in the late 18th century. For instance, I might promise to show up for Christmas at Grandmas if the good Lords willing and the creek dont rise. "You've heard that old saying, 'I'll be there if the creek don't rise?' Well, they've all risen, and a lot of people are staying home because of. 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. "If the creek don't rise" is a slang phrase predominantly used in the Southeastern United States and can translate to "if all goes well." It's a more conditional action statement than the famous phrase "come hell or high water." I'm fixin' to tell you that this phrase is as Southern as sweet tea. An exclamationof surprise, anger, happiness, really any emotionthat is appropriate in nearly every Southern scenario. He would tell the audience that we would meet again, "If the good Lord's willin', and the creek don't rise". In the 1900s, the word evolved, taking on a Southern spin as well as new meanings such as "courage" and "get-up-and-go.". 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. This string of double negatives is actually meant as encouragement! That argues for a more mundane origin: the old-time difficulties of travelling on dirt roads that forded rivers and streams; a sudden storm could cause water levels to rise without warning and render the route impassable. Can't Never Could. 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). Page created 25 Feb. 2012, Problems viewing this page? You may still hear it if you stop into a country store. And, when the doins been done, the feller done did it. 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. I ate that up with a spoon and did my best to read them all. You will have spotted that neither of these capitalises creek, which suggests they didnt have the Creek people in mind. Every researcher who has investigated the expression has dismissed an Indian connection as untrue. We admit that we've heard this Southernism more than once. Grahams American Monthly Magazine, Jun. When you're exhausted in an I'm-so-beat-I-can't-go-on kind of way, you're definitely worn slap out. in Williams' mouth in his tribute album Hillbilly Heaven. Then theres a long gap in the record before it began to appear again in the 1950s. 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. Often said as Lord willing and the creek dont rise, this expression means, with a little bit of luck and no unexpected problems, things should work out. Whatscatawampus? 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. 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. Over yonder toward the water tower. "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. There, we listened to amazing stories told by Dr. John Mattox. In his experience, it doesnt take much for local creeks and streams to cause trouble. But did he really say the words quoted or was a phrase morphed to include him as the author? I reckon "I reckon" can replace any number of phrases, such as: I guess, I suppose, I think, and I imagine. 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. This Southern saying, God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise. Over yonder down the road. 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 While this phrase may sound made up, it's simply our multisyllabic manner of saying something is askew. Weiss has a unique voice. Some say farmers used to dunk their hens when they got broody. The expression make groceries is a translation of the French faire son march (to do ones market shopping). Accents vary by regionand sometimes even city to city. Somehow, the word went full circle and is now considered a distinctly Southern invention. If youre not using this phrase what are you waiting for? Your first citation is much stronger than your second. All rights reserved. You Cant Use These English Words In The UK, Understanding Black History: 10 Terms That Illuminate The Black Experience In The US. A rising creek could spell trouble, as it can lead to flooding and other issues. Maya Rodale is a best-selling romance author. 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. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. Someone once said that when you visit the South, you need a translator. A strikingly sincere portrait of a town and its buried secrets from an outstanding new voice in southern fiction. According to World Wide Words, when asked if it meant Creek Indians, their expert responded with: Quite certainly not. Funny Phrases ben stanczyk 10/25/01 Someone kicked in with we say cricks. 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. This phrase can be intensified by the addition of the word "way," as in "way over yonder.". If the creek dont rise was a whimsical way of saying that the speaker would carry out some task provided that no figurative obstacle were put in his path. Its not a recent change. Pot callin the kettle black. 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. The English language is forever changing. "Druthers" roughly translates to "I would rather," meaning, "If had things my way" The phrase is celebrated in song in the hilarious, Southern-inspired Broadway musical Li'l Abner, in which the title character sings "If I had my druthers, I'd druther have my druthers than anything else I know." When you're in the South, "over yonder" is a distant directionany direction. Used in a sentence - If the creek don't rise and God's willing, you should be able to see this video. I was just hoping for something more concrete about the real origin. If you think you can't, you won't be able to accomplish something, but if you think you can, you'll succeed. Grandma might whisper this one over her hymnal if she sees you cutting up in church on Sunday morning. 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. Its a more conditional statement of intent than come hell or high 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! 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. By date order (spelling and titling may vary): Not to be confused with the Ray LaMontagne album, If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise, Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine All Music Guide to Country 0879307609 2003 Page 629 Jerry Reed "Here I Am collects his complete recordings for Capitol (30 songs), most of which were originals. Hang onto both and 'tough it out'. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. A friend of mine told me to shoot first and ask questions later. The second contributor on the AOL site is simply repeating things without any understanding. Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we'll have that new barn finished in time for the harvest. She's seventeen, pregnant and two weeks into her marriage to Roy Tupkin, after enduring brutal beatings, Sadie knows she has made a mistake. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. If you find only minnows, though, they look even smaller compared to the heavy catch you hoped for. A Quite certainly not. In his response, he was said to write, God willing and the Creek dont rise. Because he capitalized the word Creek it is deduced that he was referring to the Creek Indian tribe and not a body of water. [1][2], Classic versions of its use tend to be along the lines of "The good Lord willing, and the creek doesn't rise"i.e. 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. Feller-citizens Im not customed to public speakin before sich highfalutin audiences. Is It Called Presidents Day Or Washingtons Birthday? Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review. Im not going to wrestle with historians and their Creek uprising story. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. (LogOut/ Weiss has spun me upside down in this backward county in the Appalachian mountains and made a southerner out of me. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. 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. Whether you're talking about volume or value, a hill of beans isn't worth much. You gonna let him break your spirit, too? (Or maybe the Piggly Wiggly, a Southern market chain that originated in Memphis, Tennessee). (LogOut/ 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. purchase. Who better to write about the risks of the Creek rising in revolt? It has been noted that the phrase should be correctly written as God willing and the Creek dont rise. Only 15 days into her marriage to Roy Tupkin and Sadie Blue is already . Southerners tell it like it isno matter what it isso think of this as a learning moment. You might say cocola. In response to a request that he return to Washington D.C., he wrote, "God willing and the Creek don't rise." And yes, they roll their eyes, too. Oh, how I loved this story - I simply didnt want it to end! 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! HARDY, Ark. (Recall, also, that the Creek who did go to war against the whites were a smaller group within the Creek nation and that the larger group remained neutral or actively assisted the whites in the warat which point they were betrayed by having the U.S. sieze all their land.). All of my life there have been local mountain sayings that I've heard and of course repeated, complete with a North Carolina southern drawl as literal fact. 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. Anecdotal evidence from people who have got in touch with me down the years suggests that it has been in regular use throughout the lifetimes of some elderly folk in parts of the US, either in the form you give or as the good Lord willing and the creek dont rise. Any of you word experts have solid information? Note that the Creek Nation(s) did not rise at all. It's often said in a reassuring way, to calm people down and encourage them to keep on trying. Don't worry, though, everyone hears this every now and again. This is our creative way of saying that you shouldn't crow like a rooster about your wealth and belonging today, because it could all disappear tomorrow. It was set in the Ozark mountains featuring what some people called a witch. But, what we do know is English once used you and ye strictly to address a group of people. I've been in a slump of just ok books and was craving one that was special. 1851. 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. Older than Methuselah. The distinct English dialect of the American South, which has a close relationship with Black English (African American Vernacular English), is fascinatingand plenty lively. Maybe not all dogs were made for hunting some prefer the warmth of a fireplace and the comfort of your lap. "You've heard that old saying, 'I'll be there if the creek don't rise?' Well, they've all risen, and a lot of people are staying home because of that." 04 Mar 2023 03:30:05 Look up Lord willing and the creek don't rise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. If we relied on written sources it would be hard to believe in such continued use. Wheres my blasted phone?. This 19th-century phrase was once used to refer to some fierce, imaginary beast, until we went off course and adopted the current meaning of "awry.". Two years after the signing of the treaty, Benjamin Hawkins died at the site known as Old Agency. Youd be in a real fix then. 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. Kicked in the gut and sucker punched with one of the best books I have ever read. 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. 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. "If the Creek Don't Rise" We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us. Get help and learn more about the design. This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 01:18. Copyright 2023 KAIT. Instead of "Well, I swear," Southerners have adopted a geographically inspired alternative. 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. Now, she admits to saying this to her children. And yes, I have heard the music of this culture and watched the dancing. They were both corrected by a good soul who told them that Creek, for the purposes of this phrases origin, meant Creek Indian. It was so enjoyable and fun reading and discussing the book with them. Marty Stuart places the words "If the Good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll see you in the mornin'." Change). However, this is clearly one of those evolving language cases. If you've just had a big Southern lunch, complete with cornbread, collard greens, and pecan pie, you're definitely full as a tick. What is the origin of the phrase the good Lord willing and the creek dont rise? No Bigger Than a Minnow in a Fishing Pond, A Rooster One Day and A Feather Duster the Next, If You Know These Sayings, You Definitely Grew Up in the South, Only Real Southerners Know the Meaning of "Putting On the Dog", Things Only Southern Moms Say To Their Daughters, Things Only Southerners Say When It Snows. It mentions . Its a one-size-fits-all reply that can both express sympathy and insult someone, depending on the delivery. (LogOut/ Nor is grammar an argument in favor the the subject being plural. And, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, come March of next year, I'll be 225 years old. A: "Do you reckon we'll have enough from this harvest to make ends meet?" B: "God willing and the creek don't rise." Its especially difficult for people that live south of River Road and some of them that live in Woodland Hills. What's The Difference Between Y'all And Ya'll? If you think you can't, you won't be able to accomplish something, but if you think you can, you'll succeed. 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. According to World Wide Words, when asked if it meant Creek Indians, their expert responded with: " Quite certainly not. And I mean took me there! Settle in, because whatever we're talking about is going to take all day. When you're fixin' to do something, it's going to happen, but you also may decide to take your sweet time. It is 1970, and we follow the story of a young Appalachian girl, Sadie Blue age 17, pregnant and newly married to an evil young man who is abusive. Be it Gods will, or, we go to war, my plans will go according to one of those two choices. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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