By DAN LANGFORD

Outside on our farm the other night, my thirteen-year-old son saw tiny yellow lights flashing intermittently around the field, and exclaimed, “Look, Dad!  Fireflies!”  I was so ashamed of myself I wanted to dress in sackcloth and sit in a heap of ashes.  What kind of job have I done as a  proud Southern father, if my own son knows no better than to call those flitting beacons of the night sky “fireflies?”  Not a very good one, I must confess.

I don’t know what kind of term “fireflies” is, but where I come from, it’s as alien as Sanskrit.  “Lightning bugs” is what the fascinating creatures are.  I know my son has heard the correct term – we live in the countryside and lightning bugs are a staple of the warm night skies.  We’ve observed them together many times, and I have never, ever, called them “fireflies.”  Why, then, did he default to the generic when he could’ve used the magical and lyrical term “lightning bugs?”  I don’t know the answer, but I think it is a shame.

By DAN LANGFORD

What a funny word this is!  It lends itself to so many misuses.  Yankees say things like “Enough, already!” – a usage which grates unbelievably on Southern ears and sensibilities.    In fairness, though, Southerners have their own misuse of the word — or actually a substitute for it — the word “done.”  One wouldn’t normally hear this misuse in higher circles of the South (except perhaps as emphasis of a matter), but it’s altogether common throughout our land.

My late grandmother came home from the schoolhouse one day in the fifties and asked her cook, Mamie, where my grandaddy was.  Mamie’s brow creased with worry as she answered, “Oh, Miss Kathryn, he’s done been t’da bank an’ done borrowed th’money t’buy s’mo land.”  We still call the portion of the farm he purchased that day “Dunborrow.”

More recently, my children’s school principal moved to another state to become a headmaster.  On his last work day in Georgia, I heard one of his fellow staff members tell him he just couldn’t leave — that they couldn’t do without him.  He looked a little hangdog and said he had to, because “they’ve done found my replacement.”  He obviously knew better, but as I’ve said before, it’s perfectly permissable to misuse English for emphasis so long as it’s apparent to everyone that one knows better.

I believe I’ve done said enough on this topic, so until next time…