Synonyms [ edit] (barring unforeseen circumstances): God willing, Lord willing Translations [ edit] show phrase References [ edit] 1851. 'Cause everything's fine, God, I wish it were . We didnt. 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 most interesting often hail from our older generations, such as the WWII era and those raised by them. IF THE CREEK DON'T RISE is character driven and one fine gritty and entertaining debut with one fine satisfying ending! The 1800s and 1900s were much simpler times, as people didn't have the luxuries afforded in modern times. 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. This United Statesrelated article is a stub. 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).. Tensions between settlers and both tribes had been rising following the Treaty of Augusta and the land cessions of 1782-1783. Look up Lord willing and the creek don't rise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 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. When the road looks rough ahead, remember the 'Man upstairs'. It was set in the Ozark mountains featuring what some people called a witch. Translated, it means, "He sure does think a lot of himself." It is a physical and mental state a few degrees past weary and just this side of dog-tired. 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. What is the origin of the phrase the good Lord willing and the creek dont rise? Ireckon is the way many Southerners get to surmising about something or other. 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. "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." "All get out" finds its way into Southern phrases constantly, and it intensifies any statement. You might say cocola. It completely nailed the "mountain living" that I remembered my grandmother talking about. As was the case with Dr Mattox, the remark is routinely attributed to first being said by Benjamin Hawkins. If you think you can't, you won't be able to accomplish something, but if you think you can, you'll succeed. 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. Who better to write about the risks of the Creek rising in revolt? 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. The first big battles in the Creek War were, indeed, attacks on white settlements, but it was not a matter of an uprising that threatened settlers, rather it was an outbreak of war between two armed groups in which whites and Indians sought each other out. You dont know whats underneath that water, Rose said. Werefixin to tell you more Southernisms, and now were doing just that. What in tarnation? 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. 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! John Wayne. There's two or three creeks," he said. Some newspaper clippings are harder to determine which meaning they meant. Affixes dictionary. I'm a sucker for the well turned phrase and I was highlighting sentences here, one after another. Weiss has a unique voice. A young woman goes missing and has the town both fearful and wondering. Just wait till you see what Granny Gladys does..with a bit of help from Mother Nature..hehehe. Settle in, because whatever we're talking about is going to take all day. and the word HOPE. However, the first President to move to Washington was John Adams on 1 November 1800. Charles Wilson said the flood waters are something he has to live with to enjoy residing on the river. A very young, newly married pregnant woman, she vows her no good moonshining husband has beaten her for the last time. [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. Youre still going to the grocery store. Youll thank us later! 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!. 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!. 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. I reckon "I reckon" can replace any number of phrases, such as: I guess, I suppose, I think, and I imagine. Farmers know that if you do something 'til the cows come home, it's going to take all day. According to World Wide Words, when asked if it meant Creek Indians, their expert responded with: Quite certainly not. 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. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. Its not a recent change. "If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise" was later covered by Johnny Cash during his tenure at Sun, and a few of the other tracks here ", If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise, "If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise", Learn how and when to remove this template message, "World Wide Words: God willing and the creek don't rise", "William Clark Green: 'Ringling Road' Album Review", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=If_the_Good_Lord%27s_Willing_and_the_Creek_Don%27t_Rise&oldid=1067282742, "If The Lord's Willing And The Creeks Don't Rise", song by, "If The Good Lord's Willing And The Creek Don't Rise", Lattie Moore, Jerry Reed 1961, "If The Good Lord's Willing", Ray Godfrey, arranged Jerry Reed, Tollie Records 1964, "(Be The Good Lord Willing) The Creek Don't Rise", Jivin' Gene, arranged Smith, Hall-Way Records 1964, "God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise", with the lyric "God willin' an the creek don't rise, I'll be home again before this time next year." Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Phrase [ edit] Lord willing and the creek don't rise ( idiomatic, US, informal) Barring unforeseen circumstances. Her grandmother Gladys tells us of her awful past ridden with the drunkenness and senseless abuse. the creek don't rise. on, This page was last edited on 22 January 2022, at 17:42. This book reminds me of that. According to World Wide Words, when asked if it meant Creek Indians, their expert responded with: " Quite certainly not. Get help and learn more about the design. 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. Note that the Creek Nation(s) did not rise at all. Ain't got no dog in that race. Its especially difficult for people that live south of River Road and some of them that live in Woodland Hills. Take a look here Michael: http://www.genealogynation.com/creek/. Turn around, and please dont drive through it. Catawampus(or, cattywampus) may have been popularized by Brits who delighted in parodying Southern vernacular. Anything to the degree of "all get out" is something to talk about. And that is the highest praise from me. 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.". Given that many small farm streams were crossed without bridges, which worked find most of the time, a swollen stream would cause problems. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. The word you use for a fizzy, carbonated drink reveals a lot more about you than you know. Lyndon Johnsons wife Lady Bird was fond of the phrase, and she wasnt one to cast aspersions on native Americans. Page created 25 Feb. 2012, Problems viewing this page? 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. DeSantis's year-long quest to strip Disney of its self-rule came after the entertainment giant, and Florida's . Be it Gods will, or, we go to war, my plans will go according to one of those two choices. Its worth looking into because of the way in which it has been elaborated in the version you quote.. You'll most often hear it coming out of Mama's mouth when the kids are running amok. Im a longtime admirer of your calm demeanor and encyclopedic knowledge. The proper phrase is Lord willing and the Creek don't rise. Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review. 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. You gonna do nothing?". Take a load off the ole dogs, sit on your front porch, and let your know neighbors know about that sugar honey iced teayou had to deal with today. Other words sites 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. "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 You will have spotted that neither of these capitalises creek, which suggests they didnt have the Creek people in mind. PS A belated congratulations on your appointment as moderator, Tom. Some say farmers used to dunk their hens when they got broody. Nor is grammar an argument in favor the the subject being plural. And even if it did, the initial capital letter would mean nothing, as at the time it was still common practice to capitalise all nouns. To cover your bases you might say, "I'll see you then if the creek don't rise." Pot callin the kettle black. 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. After eating a big, delicious Southern dinner Granny just made, you have to finish up with a slice of sweet potato pie, right? 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. Im not going to wrestle with historians and their Creek uprising story. !, Reckon has ancestry tracing all the way back to the 1000s (and maybe older still), and originally means to count, calculate.. Dont worry, if youre helping a friend make groceries, youre not expected to create food from scratch. If you use this phrase, you could be declaring any number of things: surprise, dissent, happiness. Actually this is not proven. Maybe not all dogs were made for hunting some prefer the warmth of a fireplace and the comfort of your lap. When you've met the girl of your dreams, chances are she is "pretty as a peach." 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. Apparently Carter had a great many pills, because the phrase found its way into the Southern vocabulary. 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. 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. Its worth looking into because of the way in which it has been elaborated in the version you quote. "The Good Lord willing and the 'creek' don't rise" is just one of them. If you hear this one, you should probably pause a moment. Firsts, Mines, Asks. "Creek" originated as a reference to creeks flooding and preventing travel, but is sometimes re-interpreted as a reference to the Creek tribe. I was just hoping for something more concrete about the real origin. The "creek don't rise" phrase is now sometimes credited to this time of unrest and displacement. This was the phrase that he always used, at the end of each performance. Anytime it rains as hard as it did last night, it always brings back fears of having to face something like we did in 1984, he said. She captures the whole Appalachian scene - the vocabulary, the falling down houses, the likker, the poverty. 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. This is a high compliment in the South, since Southern states are known for their peaches. The request was to a general that had troops near Horseshoe Bend Alabama, protecting settlers against a Creek Indian uprising. If you refer to itno matter the brand or flavoras Coke, chances are you grew up in the South. The Creek were a tribe of Native Americans (indians) who would ambush people who were traveling West. In the Deep South? Two years after the signing of the treaty, Benjamin Hawkins died at the site known as Old Agency. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. For instance, I might promise to show up for Christmas at Grandmas if the good Lords willing and the creek dont rise. Translated, this means: "We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us." No, we don't mean you need to go fix your hair. Positive thinking, Southern style. 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. I see said the blind man to his deaf wife. This phrase isn't about physical appearance. I've been in a slump of just ok books and was craving one that was special. The expression ". [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. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Georgia-born blogger Jennifer Collins says she always rolled her eyes when her mom said this to her. I've never forgotten it and it's drove me nuts because I would love a copy of it. 133 Copy quote. As I was in a museum, I felt confident in repeating the knowledge to others as fact. (LogOut/ And, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, come March of next year, I'll be 225 years old. 132 Copy quote. Change). (Im terrible about reading usernames as I scan threads, and I completely missed who had contributed that comment.). 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. And of course, there's nothing prettier than a warm summer day picking peaches in the sunshine. World Wide Words is copyright Michael Quinion, 1996. 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. However, this is clearly one of those evolving language cases. (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.). Marty Stuart places the words "If the Good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll see you in the mornin'." 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. You Cant Use These English Words In The UK, Understanding Black History: 10 Terms That Illuminate The Black Experience In The US. We've had a lot of delays, but Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we should have the house finished before winter. The clipping below from 1892 is a reference to flooding waterways not allowing the postmaster to get to his office. 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. If the Creek Dont Rise by Leah Weiss is a 2017 Sourcebooks Landmark publication. 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 . Marty Stuart places the words "If the Good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll see you in the mornin'." Now, she admits to saying this to her children. "He broke bout every piece of sweet in you. Take a look at some of our favorite Southern sayings that we just couldn't live without. There is no reason to suppose the Indian variant is true. 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. purchase. Used in a sentence - If the creek don't rise and God's willing, you should be able to see this video. "If the Creek Don't Rise" We'll be there unless something out of our control stops us. Georgia-born blogger Jennifer Collins says she always rolled her eyes when her mom said this to her.