Linda from Boonville, New York, grew up puzzled when her Kentucky grandmother promised to be there directly. In much Southern speech, directly can mean “presently,” “soon,” or “soon enough but not right away,” rather than “immediately.” The Dictionary of American Regional English maps this regional use in places including Kentucky, Arkansas, the Carolinas, Texas, and southeast Missouri, alongside the older sense of “without delay.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of ““I’ll Be Along Directly” in Some US Dialects Means Soon Enough”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello, this is Linda Logan calling you from Boonville, New York.
Hello, Linda. Welcome.
Hi, Linda.
Hi.
What’s going on there in Boonville?
Well, my grandmother, who was born in 1888, used an expression that perplexed me as a child. She used to say when I would ask her if she would come help me, that she would be there directly. And I thought that meant immediately. And I found out it meant I will be there when I get there. She was a very gentle, loving soul. I mean, there was nothing unkind or sarcastic about her, but I didn’t understand the meaning of the word as she used it.
-huh.
And, Linda, did you live in a different place from your grandmother?
I did. She lived in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
-huh.
And as a child, I lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Oh, okay.
So she would come to visit.
No, we’d go down to visit her.
Oh, you’d go down to visit her, and then you’d hear a totally different use of directly.
-huh.
So she would offer you that pie directly.
Right. And you’d be all ready with the fork and the napkin and all that.
That’s right.
-huh.
My grandmother from southeast Missouri, and she’s been gone these two years, but she had the same word, and I think of her when I think of that word, just like you think of your grandmother. She would say, I’ll be along directly.
-huh.
In her speech, though, it meant soon enough but not right away.
-huh.
And that’s where you’re kind of getting some discrepancy there, right?
There’s a couple different meanings.
Right, and I have friends here. This is in upstate rural New York where I live. I have friends here who remember their grandmothers using that word the same way. But what I would like to know is, how did it come to change in meaning from meaning immediately to meaning presently?
The best dictionary to look for this kind of thing, when you know that there’s some kind of regional component to it, of course, is the Dictionary of American Regional English. Did you check that one, Linda?
I don’t have that one. I looked it up in the American Heritage.
Oh, good dictionary, great dictionary, and they have a fairly decent coverage of some of the major dialect and regional forms. But they’ve had a nice map in the Dictionary of American Regional English that shows a lot of little pinpoints right in Kentucky, because this is something that is from the south, generally. You’ll find it in Arkansas and Kentucky and the Carolinas and a spot here and there in Texas and so on and so forth.
My grandmother was from southeast Missouri, which has a lot of the southern components that you would also find in Bowling Green, Kentucky. And as you say, the older meaning, which meant immediately and without delay, is the one that has kind of carried through alongside the newer meaning, which means soon. So there’s a little bit of change there, and it’s enough of a change that when you get these two uses of directly in the same community of speakers, it sows confusion.
But maybe that’s the goal. It’s kind of like telling a child maybe, right? The child hears yes and you hear no.
Yes.
So, Linda, do you use it that way?
Well, no, I don’t use the term. It was in listening to your program a couple of weeks ago. All of a sudden, the word came into my mind. And grandmother died a number of years ago, so I can’t ask her any longer.
Yeah.
What was the name of the dictionary, the American Dictionary of?
It’s the Dictionary of American Regional English, usually abbreviated as DARE. It’s done out of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and they’re preparing their fifth and final volume now.
It is, and I don’t know anyone in the lexicographical fields who would argue with me, one of the top three finest dictionaries in any language.
Oh, wonderful.
It’s really fantastic.
I would agree with that.
And it’s great bedside table reading. I’m not kidding. I love it. I love it.
So you’ll find that kind of thing. Directly is really handy, the way that your grandmother used it, right?
Yes.
Yes.
Later.
Well, as I said, she was very gentle. She was a very genteel and gracious lady. It just left me confused, being a child who was growing up in the north, as to exactly what grandmother meant, and maybe she’d be along a half hour later.
It sounds like a woman of class.
Well, she was. She really was. She was quite elegant, quite lovely, and quite loving, and I miss her.
Oh, Linda. Thank you for sharing all that with us.
Well, you’re welcome.
Yeah, we appreciate your calling, Linda.
Thank you.
Well, thank you.
Best of luck to you, Linda.
Bye-bye.
Okay. Bye-bye.
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