"This book is a love letter to the South. Eight essays talkin' Southern 'bout life, 'bout beauty and style, 'bout parenting, 'bout chewin' the fat--plus more Southern phrases than you can shake a stick at. If you're not from the South, bless your heart, pay attention. Southerners speak their own unique version of the English language, and you'll come to understand its nuances and interpretations within these pages. It's a linguistic art. And it's gooder than grits, y'all"--

This tongue-in-cheek dictionary of Southern words and phrases offers a hilarious spoof of the Southern accent. This book is dedicated to all Yankees* in the hope that it will teach them how to talk right. *Yankee: Anyone who is not from Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and possibly Oklahoma and West-by-God-Virginia. A Yankee may become an honorary Southerner, but a Southerner cannot become a Yankee, assuming any Southerner wanted to.

The creator of YouTube’s Southern Women Channel shares humorous, lighthearted essays on Southern life. Talk Southern To Me is a love letter to the South, y’all. Essays ’bout charm, beauty and style, chewin’ the fat, love, parenting, and more―full of yes ma’ams and no sirs, casseroles and cheese balls, taffeta and pom-poms…plus more Southern phrases than you can shake a stick at. If you’re not from the South—bless your heart—pay attention cause there’s a ton of wisdom to be found in these heartfelt, humorous ways. Southerners speak their own unique version of the English language, and you’ll come to understand it in these pages. It’s a linguistic art. And it’s gooder than grits, y’all. “I really love…Talk Southern to Me. I know you’ll love it too. It’s fun, informative, and oh-so-Southern.”—Dolly Parton “[Julia Fowler’s] humor and intelligence shine through everything she does, including the pages of this most entertaining book.”—Patricia Altschul, author of The Art of Southern Charm “A hilarious, wise, and winning explanation of the heart and soul of the South written by one of its most beloved—and loveable—daughters.”—Celia Rivenbark, columnist and New York Times–bestselling author of You Don’t Sweat Much for a Fat Girl “Lord have mercy on my soul, did Julia Fowler hit the nail on the head with her hysterical new book. My Mama suddenly came back to life, shaking her finger in my face and reminding me of all that is Southern.”—Del Shores, writer and director of Sordid Lives

The bestselling author of Suck Your Stomach In & Put Some Color On! returns with more helpful how-to's and keen observations from Dixie. Guided by principles from the ancient Belle Doctrine, the host of radio and television's All Things Southern offers down-home advice on everything from health and fitness-managing thy caloric calculations without going Straight Running Crazy and surviving the Raging Inferno Syndrome (aka hot flashes)-to the Southern art of handling your man (Bubba Whispering). Whether giving business tips or debunking the Big Boned Theory, making political observations or celebrating the inevitable resurgence of big hair, Shellie is an adviser women can relate to and laugh with regardless of their age or which side of the Mason-Dixon they call home.

Often considered merely a repository of archaic or even Elizabethan English, the language of southern Appalachia represents a distinctive American dialect that is both conservative and innovative. This dictionary marks the first comprehensive, historical record of the traditional speech of this region. Focusing on the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee and western North Carolina, it features more than six thousand names, usages, meanings, and folk expressions that are found in the region, exemplified by more than fifteen thousand documented quotations.

After rising from poverty to earn two Ivy League degrees, an Appalachian lawyer pays tribute to the strong “hill women” who raised and inspired her, and whose values have the potential to rejuvenate a struggling region. “Destined to be compared to Hillbilly Elegy and Educated.”—BookPage (starred review) “A gritty, warm love letter to Appalachian communities and the resourceful women who lead them.”—Slate Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County, Kentucky, is one of the poorest places in the country. Buildings are crumbling as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women find creative ways to subsist in the hills. Through the women who raised her, Cassie Chambers traces her path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Chambers’s Granny was a child bride who rose before dawn every morning to raise seven children. Granny’s daughter, Ruth—the hardest-working tobacco farmer in the county—stayed on the family farm, while Wilma—the sixth child—became the first in the family to graduate from high school. Married at nineteen and pregnant with Cassie a few months later, Wilma beat the odds to finish college. She raised her daughter to think she could move mountains, like the ones that kept her safe but also isolated from the larger world. Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Ruth in the hills of Owsley County. With her “hill women” values guiding her, she went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved home to help rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services. Appalachian women face issues from domestic violence to the opioid crisis, but they are also keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them. With nuance and heart, Chambers breaks down the myth of the hillbilly and illuminates a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future.