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; "Southern Talk: A Disappearing Language")
The range and diversity of a culture’s language comes alive in Ray Cunningham’s Southern Talk. Anyone interested in the unique words and phrases of the South will be sure to enjoy this collection. As American English becomes a more homogenous language, Cunningham strives to preserve the words and sounds of his youth.
Ray collected words and phrases in a small notebook which he carried in his shirt pocket. That collection slowly grew into a manuscript, which was originally self-published as Old Timey Southern Talk. This book has been brought back into print and expanded to include even more idioms and pronunciations. According to Ray, "Many of the words and expressions listed here may have been used across the country, but their pronunciations make them Southern; others are so uniquely tied to their locale as to need translation only a few states away. Certain expressions nearly defy definition."
The cornucopia of words and phrases comes form one man’s love of his regional language. Traveling extensively across the South, Mr. Cunningham has collected a treasure trove of "old timey talk." The charm and humor of this dialect is preserved and honored in this volume.
"Bouquets to Ray Cunningham for recognizing the need to preserve a portion of our Southern heritage, and for attempting to capture it in writing. Cunningham saw a small bit of Southern culture slipping away, and he’s done an admirable job trying to preserve it before it disappears entirely." — Amy Beddingfield in the Hendersonville Times-News
; "Ray Cunningham")
In Ray’s younger years, he heard and spoke nothing but "old timey southern talk." His desire to save his native dialect led Ray to travel extensively in the South, cataloging the terms and phrases of his youth.
Now retired, Ray lives in Ocala, Florida. His other books include Simpler Times, and the recently published If You Don’t Know It’s Bad, It Isn’t.
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