Sunday, August 8, 2010
Alternatively titled "Today is NOT Monday!"
Shift work has a way of messing with a person's sense of time. I've been working a strange concoction of different shifts in the ED (Emergency Department: new term for the Emergency Room... since it's not just one room...), and they don't really let you get on much of a schedule. I had some lectures Friday morning, then worked Friday night in the Peds ED from 6pm to 2:30am, then yesterday (Saturday, right?) from 5pm to 1am, then today from 9am to 5pm. I think because I came home Sunday morning, I figured the next time I'd be back was Monday morning... lies. So all day I wondered why we kept getting DFO's from church, and why there wasn't much traffic by the mall.
Now, for those of you who are not from the South... and even those of you who are, but have never thought to abbreviate your colloquialisms, you may be wondering what DFO means. Ahhh, the education you are about to receive.
So those of you who go to church (and it's okay if you don't... you've just missed out on lots... hymns, Jesus, DFO's...), you've all seen a DFO. You're sitting there in the pew, listening to the preacher preach his or her sermon. You're enthralled, focused, and attentive. And then, out of the corner of your eye, you see someone get out of their seat, and slowly walk to another pew, next to an old person. An old person who has slumped over in their seat. Or, after the service, you are all standing around chatting about Sunday dinner menus, and someone passes out.
I don't know exactly what makes Sunday morning and church such a passing-out friendly location. But it seems to happen on a weekly basis. DFO'ing is not exclusive to church though... it can happens in moments of extreme emotion (maybe finding a super-awesome sale at the mall), or during physical exertion (planting beans in the garden), or really just about any other time life is really excellent, really bad, really hard, or maybe even just different.
So, what DOES DFO mean? Welll, clearly is means "done fell out"! As in, "wellll, we were just sitting there eating corn bread and meemaw stood up to get some more pinto beans and she just don fell out!" In general, people who DFO turn out fine. Of course there are exception (like there are to all rules), but if it didn't turn out okay, I wouldn't joke about it.
It was just one small step in my learning of the southern language that has taken place in the last three years.
Your Yankee in the south,
Shift work has a way of messing with a person's sense of time. I've been working a strange concoction of different shifts in the ED (Emergency Department: new term for the Emergency Room... since it's not just one room...), and they don't really let you get on much of a schedule. I had some lectures Friday morning, then worked Friday night in the Peds ED from 6pm to 2:30am, then yesterday (Saturday, right?) from 5pm to 1am, then today from 9am to 5pm. I think because I came home Sunday morning, I figured the next time I'd be back was Monday morning... lies. So all day I wondered why we kept getting DFO's from church, and why there wasn't much traffic by the mall.
Now, for those of you who are not from the South... and even those of you who are, but have never thought to abbreviate your colloquialisms, you may be wondering what DFO means. Ahhh, the education you are about to receive.
So those of you who go to church (and it's okay if you don't... you've just missed out on lots... hymns, Jesus, DFO's...), you've all seen a DFO. You're sitting there in the pew, listening to the preacher preach his or her sermon. You're enthralled, focused, and attentive. And then, out of the corner of your eye, you see someone get out of their seat, and slowly walk to another pew, next to an old person. An old person who has slumped over in their seat. Or, after the service, you are all standing around chatting about Sunday dinner menus, and someone passes out.
I don't know exactly what makes Sunday morning and church such a passing-out friendly location. But it seems to happen on a weekly basis. DFO'ing is not exclusive to church though... it can happens in moments of extreme emotion (maybe finding a super-awesome sale at the mall), or during physical exertion (planting beans in the garden), or really just about any other time life is really excellent, really bad, really hard, or maybe even just different.
So, what DOES DFO mean? Welll, clearly is means "done fell out"! As in, "wellll, we were just sitting there eating corn bread and meemaw stood up to get some more pinto beans and she just don fell out!" In general, people who DFO turn out fine. Of course there are exception (like there are to all rules), but if it didn't turn out okay, I wouldn't joke about it.
But let me tell you, the first time I heard someone say they'd "dun fell out", I gave them a very blank stare for a very long time. And then I blinked. And asked them to repeat themselves... about three times.
In the next installment of southern colloquialisms, I will talk about Goody's Powder.
Your Yankee in the south,Kari
PS. Tonight, Betsy and I made raspberry cream pie, complements of The Pioneer Woman. I will maybe write about it another day. Today, I will just say it was delicious. Here's a picture. Be jealous.
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