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In my life I’ve been privy to hear many different sayings. Of the varied statements made by others there is a certain one that—though not heard often—carries with it a certain all-powerful effect.
Bless your heart.
These three little words (though the middle one is subject for change to fit the situation) seem to smooth over just about anything and everything someone might say about another person in any way negative.
For example: “Boy, have you seen Melissa’s baby? That boy is as ugly as homemade sin…bless his heart.”
And suddenly the slam is socially acceptable—especially if made by a grandmother.
How is it that these individuals can get away with this type of verbal downgrade and insult?
You know, I don’t know either; curse them, hearts and all…
Photo pilfered from: http://media.photobucket.com/image/blessed%20heart/food4thought3/heartoflove.jpg
15 comments:
Well, bless your heart, u said it well!. (LOL)......
Hmmm...never thought about it that way...seems alarmingly true.
Hahaha, I've noticed this too. I think it's quite comical! Especially when granny rattles it off! ♥it!
Yes, this is quite true. Living in Kentucky, I hear this all the time. But, they add the word little..."Bless his little heart" whether they are talking about grown-up or child.
My other all time favorite is, "I love him/her/it BUT....and then comes the slamage.
Verbal pukeage. It stinks no matter how you try to cover it up.
That was my grandpa's saying. Loved it. Thanks for soiling that memory for me...
So true! It's just like "no offense but..." Another verbal eraser that is much less effective.
Many a time I"ve wished we had the northern equivalent to that.
We have nothing.
No get out of jail free card like that around here.
You are right on!
I don't even know what "bless his heart" means. It's a made up phrase so people can feel better about their put downs.
If they live in Utah, I bet they have a "sweet spirit" too.
What a funny observation that translated into an equally funny post.
It also works well when someone does something odd or out of the ordinary and you don't know quite WHAT to say..... so you say.... "bless your heart".
Heh, heh, heh. It's an original southernism. You see, only a southern biddy could (and in fact had to) come up with a way to insult someone in a socially acceptable manner. Hence the cleverly hidden barb. "Mama did you hear what she just called me?" "I don't know sugar. She did say bless your heart. She coulda meant it, you never can tell." ;)
Well hello! Thanks for popping in my blog and introducing yourself. I have been navigating around your blog a little. It is so nice that you co-author with 2 others. I always like checking out new blogs. I'll be popping back in soon!
I tend to say, "bless his/her/my/your heart" when I don't know what else to say, and I'm not old. Well, at least I don't think I'm that old. LOL
I have a friend that is all of 35 years that always makes use of "bless his/her heart." So, after reading your post, I paid careful attention to her words when she came for dinner the other night. Turns out that she used it twice, and exactly as you pointed out...to chase condescending remarks about others. I'm rather bothered by it now.
I've noticed this one myself, especially when I was at school in Utah. I guess the expression was big there at the time. (Or maybe the people in California just weren't using it because they didn't feel guilty making the slams and hence didn't bother to try to mitigate them.)
;)
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