Speaking in code
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008Southern English is chock-full-o-enjoyable euphemisms designed to protect delicate ears from abrasive truths.
Package store = liquor store
Nice to see you = I wanted to say nice to meet you, but we may have already met
That’s interesting = I hate it
Bless his heart = What a loser
With the help of a Castleberry Hill resident, the AJC invented a great new Southernism last weekend:
But down the block, Erica Pines sits in her condo and stews. She frets that her neighborhood, known for its hip lofts and trendy art galleries, is turning into Party Central.
“We’re becoming the new Buckhead,” she said. “It’s awful. It’s just awful.”
Pines, 36, president of the Castleberry Hill Neighborhood Association, runs through a litany of problems: Noise blares at all hours of the night; cruisers have taken over the streets; crime is up; discarded fliers and other debris litter the sidewalks.
The new Buckhead = Well to do, predominantly white neighborhood whose residents are upset because young black people hang out there at night.
