I'm Southernizing. I don't think that is a real word, since it has a red squiggly line under it while I type, but if 'winterizing' can be a word, then so can Southernizing. So here's why.
After telling my older kids several times to pick up their toys and come inside for dinner, I said "Pick up your toys right now and don't make me say it again!"
Wait...what's wrong with that you ask? Weeeeelllll.....I didn't say "again" like I've said it for the last 30 years of my life. I said it more like "ah-gay-n". Three syllables and all.
Sadly, my friend Brenda heard me and stopped to stare at me. I was hoping she hadn't heard me but when she said "oh nuh uh. You did not just say that did you???" I knew I had been found out.
So the cat is out of the bag. Occasionally my tongue feels the need to Southernize words. And as long as I don't start saying colloquialisms in every conversation, then I'll be as happy as a tick on a fat dog.
