Hardly seems telling does it, just a standard Southern (well, ok that makes it a teller of regionality) expression.
But when a performer uses it to signify the end of every single poem in a 45minute set, it begins to signify a range of other things. "I'm not sure if you know I've finished so I'll tell you"; "I'd really like you to applaud now, because I don't know if what I've just done was worth listening to"; "oh god, I'm not getting any feedback here, are they enjoying it"; "An ending needs a downbeat, this is my downbeat"...
Of course it's as much the paralinguistic elements, the performers' cut off tone, their dropped stance or turning away, as the words themselves that carry the meaning. But by its very sparsity, and constant repitition, it allows us to focus on these other elements which are so indicative of lack of confidence in performance.
I don't use "thanks y'all" as it's too American. But I do catch myself finishing stories looking at the floor and saying softly, "thankyou (all one word, deliberately)". Bad habit, needs breaking.
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Is it really? And if so, what is the habit to break, the "thank you" or the soft uncertain way of saying it? Your thank you is not an stroke request to me. I find it very discomforting to be unsure of whether I am hearing the actual end of the story, or a dramatic pause. I don't mind a little help from the teller.
ReplyDeleteI noticed some formula endings.
"...they kicked me so hard I landed here." from Haiti,
"Jack Mandora me no choose one." from Jamaica
"Snip, snap, snout...this tale's told out." Grimm's Brothers
"...but that is another story." (my favorite but I don't remember where I first came across it.)
For the most part, phrases seem to be well known and acceptable to the community. But woe to those who are strangers to the cultural meanings; they would certainly be recipients of the raised eyebrow.
I agree it's a "bad habit." Automatic apologizing always gets in the way of otherwise compelling performance.
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