if the creek don't rise saying

A very young, newly married pregnant woman, she vows her no good moonshining husband has beaten her for the last time. The exact tranlation might be, 'If God is willing, and there isn't a flood that would prevent us from meeting again next week'. There is a lot of controversy about this fairly common folk saying. If you hear this one, it's best to slow down. It is a physical and mental state a few degrees past weary and just this side of dog-tired. Take a look at some of our favorite Southern sayings that we just couldn't live without. 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. 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. 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? Youd be in a real fix then. Wow! A handful of rivers and streams will be out of their banks by Friday evening and Saturday morning. Neither provides any documentation: http://pub122.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm2.showMessage?topicID=191.topic, http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm#LordWillingAndTheCreek. 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. Someone reminded me not to be reminded of you. You will have spotted that neither of these capitalises creek, which suggests they didnt have the Creek people in mind. He was a politician and Indian agent. In his reply, he was said to have written, God willing and the Creek dont rise. Gumption is spirit, courage, spunk, boldness, and initiative. Do You Know These Sizzlin Southern Sayings. As I was in a museum, I felt confident in repeating the knowledge to others as fact. You dont know whats underneath that water, Rose said. This Southern saying, God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise. I am feeling culture shock from reading this book. We've had a lot of delays, but Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we should have the house finished before winter. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. origin of phrase - "if the creek don't rise" - Factual Questions 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. The Problem with Saying, "Lord Willing and the Creek Don't Rise" As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. 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. Its a more conditional statement of intent than come hell or high water. 24 of 30. The doin hasnt been done yet. Soda web site devoted to this age-old debate. 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. 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. While in the south, Hawkins was requested by the President of the U.S. to return to Washington. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. 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. I always took it as a reference to the level of water in a creek. 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. 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. 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. Page created 25 Feb. 2012, Problems viewing this page? Positive thinking, Southern style. Oh, if the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise. Any of you word experts have solid information? Eli is the backbone of the community; all he wants is a better life for the people of Baines Creek evidenced by the succession of teachers he has procured.and been scared off, and his scheming troublemaking spinster of a sister Prudence who "don't like nobody" doesn't help matters any, but when the giant 6' 2" Kate Shaw arrives, wellthat's another story. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. I see said the blind man to his deaf wife. Only 15 days into her marriage to Roy Tupkin and Sadie Blue is already . However, the first President to move to Washington was John Adams on 1 November 1800. If the Creek Don't Rise Quotes by Leah Weiss - Goodreads From the start there's been a film of dingy on my days.. Statements of the form "God/Lord willing and (some other condition being met)" are ancient extensions of simple acceptance of God's will in phrases like God willing and Lord willing. Feller-citizens Im not customed to public speakin before sich highfalutin audiences. QFrom Bob Scala: An item that has been floating around the internet claims that the expression God willing and the creek dont rise referred to the Creek Indians, not a body of water. (the good) Lord willing and the creek don't rise - TheFreeDictionary.com 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. "Creek" originated as a reference to creeks flooding and preventing travel, but is sometimes re-interpreted as a reference to the Creek tribe. 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. What Grandma says when you pull in the driveway, pop out of the car, and come running. The states involved sent Hawkins,Andrew Pickens(South Carolina), Joseph Martin (Georgia) andLachlan McIntosh(Continental representative, Georgia) to negotiate a treaty to end the fighting. This phrase isn't about physical appearance. [2] In the Reed song and Cash cover the verses vary the rhyme, so the opening line commences: If the good Lord's willing and the creek stays down I'll be in your arms time the moon come around. 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. Anything to the degree of "all get out" is something to talk about. Cookies and privacy It's often said in a reassuring way, to calm people down and encourage them to keep on trying. "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. Ain't got no dog in that race. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. The story of Benjamin Hawkins relationship with the Creek,Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians goes back to 1786, when America was working on solidifying its hold on the new nation. "If the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise.". PS A belated congratulations on your appointment as moderator, Tom. Let me love you again, give me one more try. 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. Step into the Deep South and experience the lives and hardships, hopes and dreams, of folk who have nothing except gritand sometimes loveas their currency. 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. Cows aren't known for their speed, and they are usually out and about, wandering until feeding time. And really, wouldn't we all druther have our druthers? In the Deep South? Paperback, 305 pages. Firsts, Mines, Asks. The word you use for a fizzy, carbonated drink reveals a lot more about you than you know. So the saying came about like we'll be there.God willing and the Creek (indians) don't rise..to stop us. Lately, though, I have learned to wince quickly and let it go. Instead of "Well, I swear," Southerners have adopted a geographically inspired alternative. But today Ive stumbled across the claim that it refers to an uprising by the Creek (or Cree) Indians. I will continue to look for references to this phrase origin and would welcome discussion to prove (one way or the other) what the original author intended to mean. 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! Not one shred of evidence is a clear invitation to fault the writer. The expression "the creek don't rise" is an American slang expression implying strong intentions subject to complete frustration by uncommon but not unforeseeable events. Runnin around like a chicken with it's head . It's a vivid phrase, and it's an accurate one too. It is a quintessential Southern phrase, said by friends and family on porches and in rocking chairs all across the South. Is this derivation correct? If you use this phrase, you could be declaring any number of things: surprise, dissent, happiness. A multipurpose Southernism. 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. This is a high compliment in the South, since Southern states are known for their peaches. While there, we happened upon a museum dedicated to the Underground Railroad. If you just heard your mama come home and you haven't finished your chores, she will definitely be "madder than a wet hen." The expression ". 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. 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!! If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise - Wikipedia the creek don't rise " is an American slang expression implying strong intentions subject to complete frustration by uncommon but not unforeseeable events. Its especially difficult for people that live south of River Road and some of them that live in Woodland Hills. Or, depending on where you live, it could be Sewanee, the small college town in Tennessee. This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 01:18. 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. If The Creek Don't Rise Pot callin the kettle black. The saying "God willing and the Creek don't rise." Came from those traveling west in the OLD DAYS. And I mean took me there! But, in the South, if your boss says that dog wont hunt in a meeting, it probably means your suggestion or idea needs improvement. Often said as "Lord willing and the creek don't rise," this expression means, with a little bit of luck and no unexpected problems, things should work out. Southern Slang: If The Creek Don't Rise | What does it mean? | Ask A 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. Phrase [ edit] Lord willing and the creek don't rise ( idiomatic, US, informal) Barring unforeseen circumstances. It can be summarised as if all goes well. From the present day of the story in 1970 to flashbacks of the past and dreams, these various points of view give us a vivid picture of this place and the people who live there. If the Creek Don't Rise. Then theres a long gap in the record before it began to appear again in the 1950s. A Quite certainly not. By extension, maybe the Southern US expression was the way for an affronted or shocked listener to say none of that crazy untoward talk or behavior shall have power over me.. When the road looks rough ahead, remember the 'Man upstairs'. Come visit me at LeahWeiss.com where you can subscribe to my CREEKRISE author news. 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. During the course of his 21 years in these positions he would oversee the longest period of peace with theCreek, only to watch his lifetime of work destroyed by a faction of this Indian Nation known as the Red Sticks during the War of 1812. (I would not be surprised to discover that the last contributor on your first link is none other than our own samclem.). Take a look here Michael: http://www.genealogynation.com/creek/. Devil's beating his wife (when it would be sunny and raining). (KAIT) - Its been a busy 24 hours for first responders in Sharp County. To cover your bases you might say, "I'll see you then if the creek don't rise." HARDY, Ark. If the Creek Dont Rise by Leah Weiss is a 2017 Sourcebooks Landmark publication. We admit that we've heard this Southernism more than once. John Wayne. Grandma might whisper this one over her hymnal if she sees you cutting up in church on Sunday morning. Southerners tell it like it isno matter what it isso think of this as a learning moment. The English language is forever changing. Older than Methuselah. A search for the word rise does not produce this phrase, so it appears that the body of water theory was correct after all. If you hear this one, you should probably pause a moment. 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. And, when the doins been done, the feller done did it. Wheres my blasted phone?. If you think you can't, you won't be able to accomplish something, but if you think you can, you'll succeed. Someone kicked in with we say cricks. 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. It was a big old chunk of a book, so only a couple of the kids including myself read it. "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." 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. 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.. "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. This United Statesrelated article is a stub. Im not going to wrestle with historians and their Creek uprising story. It mentions Benjamin Hawkins of the late 18th century, who was asked by the US president to go back to Washington. Dylan LeBlanc - If The Creek Don't Rise Lyrics | Genius Lyrics Maya Rodale is a best-selling romance author. And of course, there's nothing prettier than a warm summer day picking peaches in the sunshine. Eventually, you became a singular pronoun, and we lost the plural pronouns. I was surprised as all get out. Synonyms [ edit] (barring unforeseen circumstances): God willing, Lord willing Translations [ edit] show phrase References [ edit] 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. You gonna let him break your spirit, too? False folk etymology. Sentences With "Lord willing and the creek don't rise" | Random This is a point of emphasis and exclamation that often ends without any additional telling at all. I'm fixin' to tell you that this phrase is as Southern as sweet tea. If The Creek Don't Rise is a unique novel whose structure feels light and breezy and veers drastically from the standard formula found in fiction. Georgia-born blogger Jennifer Collins says she always rolled her eyes when her mom said this to her. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Maybe not all dogs were made for hunting some prefer the warmth of a fireplace and the comfort of your lap. You gonna do nothing?". 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. Rather, when this phrase is used, we'd like you to mind your manners and stop acting inappropriately. She captures the whole Appalachian scene - the vocabulary, the falling down houses, the likker, the poverty. The expression make groceries is a translation of the French faire son march (to do ones market shopping). IF THE CREEK DON'T RISE is character driven and one fine gritty and entertaining debut with one fine satisfying ending! TOP 25 QUOTES BY JOHN WAYNE (of 133) | A-Z Quotes It is sometimes thought that the word "Creek" instead refers to the Creek Indians, but this is unlikely. Get help and learn more about the design. Curiously, this word might have roots in offbeat British humor from the 1840s. Which means if nothing crazy happens or anything out my control such as a natural disaster. The request was to a general that had troops near Horseshoe Bend Alabama, protecting settlers against a Creek Indian uprising. 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. 30 Phrases Only Southerners Use 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. 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. When you're in the South, "over yonder" is a distant directionany direction. Where did this contraction, popular in both African American English and Southern American English, come from? Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we'll have that new barn finished in time for the harvest. Chief Rose is asking drivers to be cautious while out and about. It may take the form of real or mock dialect, in variations like " Lor' willin' an' th' crick don' rise.". You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. It's true, we do have a mouthful of sayings that only Southerners understand. (Im terrible about reading usernames as I scan threads, and I completely missed who had contributed that comment.). No bigger than a minnow in a fishing pond is as tiny as can be. 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. If you've just had a big Southern lunch, complete with cornbread, collard greens, and pecan pie, you're definitely full as a tick. 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. What Do Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, And Lent Mean? A true Southern tradition. (Or maybe the Piggly Wiggly, a Southern market chain that originated in Memphis, Tennessee). But we declareif your only knowledge of Southern sayings comes fromGone With the Wind, youre missing out on a lot of Southern expressions. 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).. It mentions . And yes, they roll their eyes, too. Jan 29, 2014 at 19:34 . 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. 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. Werefixin to tell you more Southernisms, and now were doing just that. 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. Now, she admits to saying this to her children. It turns out that the phrase was written by Benjamin Hawkins in the late 18th century. Nor is grammar an argument in favor the the subject being plural. If the creek rises, travel will be impossible and Ill never get to Grannys. What's The Difference Between Y'all And Ya'll? I grew up with that saying and Ive said it more times than I can count. (LogOut/ 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. Hang onto both and 'tough it out'. The saying has been attributed to Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson among others, on the usual principle that attaching a famous name to a story validates it. You'll most often hear it coming out of Mama's mouth when the kids are running amok. Given that many small farm streams were crossed without bridges, which worked find most of the time, a swollen stream would cause problems. If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss (Author), Tom Stechschulte (Narrator), Kate Forbes (Narrator). (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.). But in following verses the rhyme changes through "creeks don't rise", "creek stay low", back to "creeks don't rise". Other words sites Signed in November, 1785, A Treaty With the Cherokee (the technical name of the Treaty of Hopewell) created the first rift between theCherokee Nationand the Chickamauga Cherokee that would not end until the Chickamauga went West following the Revolt of the Young Chiefs. Weiss has a unique voice. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. 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.". Change). "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. !, Reckon has ancestry tracing all the way back to the 1000s (and maybe older still), and originally means to count, calculate.. Donate via PayPal. 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. Over yonder down the road. 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. 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. While in the south, Hawkins was requested by the President of the U.S. to return to Washington. Youre still going to the grocery store. The resulting warfare and predictable civilian losses in the South reportedly gave rise (using the Southern frontier penchant for willin as opposed to the educated willing) to the phrase which was then likely mistakenly attributed to Hawkins due to his Native American connections. It's raining cats and dogs. Here are a couple of examples of this claim. However, if you're from the South, you know that sometimes there's just no other way to get your point across. 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. However, this is clearly one of those evolving language cases. "The Good Lord willing and the 'creek' don't rise" is just one of them. In fact, virtually all the examples that Ive found in books and newspaper archives down to the present day are in lower-case. Grahams American Monthly Magazine, Jun. To understand Hawkins, I read a little further into his history. When a fellers fixin to do something, theyre about to do it. (LogOut/ A: "Do you reckon we'll have enough from this harvest to make ends meet?" It was so enjoyable and fun reading and discussing the book with them. 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. 132 Copy quote. An odd few (6% of Americans) do use soft drink, according to the Pop vs. "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]. It happens often during a Southern summer, when the heat rises and the temperatures shoot past 100. Youll thank us later! 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. Depending on where you are, youre likely to hear words combined together (gonna for going to) and different vowel sounds than youre used to, including mah for my and git for get.Git has been in use since the 16th century all over the country, but is particularly common in the South, where it appears in everything from classic literature (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird) to personal correspondence (I want you to write me as soon as you git this letter, from a letter dating back to the Civil War). It completely nailed the "mountain living" that I remembered my grandmother talking about. Lord Willing and the creek don't rise - English for Students 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.

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