Bless His Heart
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
{Bless His Heart}
In the South, we have this phrase that has several different meanings. It doesn't take others long to catch on.
I first heard it from my Father. He was referring to a divorcee down the street who had taken to too many cocktails for breakfast. And for lunch and dinner. "Bless her heart. After Curtis left her, she's not been able to cope." Fine. It's a term of endearment.
I later discovered Bless her heart took on different connotations. It was mean-spirited when said about the ugly girl who tryed out for homecoming queen. "Bless her heart. She thinks she's got a chance." Are you really being warm and sincere? Or is it more like you want to give a shit, but don't have it in you to do so?
It can be endearing as in, "Bless his heart, he's trying so hard to ride that bicycle".
It can dress up the snarkiest remark, express sincerest regrets, or upmost respect. But it can also be confusing to outsiders until you learn to recognize it's use as both compliment and criticism.
Like this degree of audacity when Bless his heart can be interchangeable with things like, Poor Bastard, or What An Asshole. As in "Bless his heart, (Poor Bastard,) Dick Cheney actually thinks we believe all those lies he's been telling us."
In the South, we have this phrase that has several different meanings. It doesn't take others long to catch on.
I first heard it from my Father. He was referring to a divorcee down the street who had taken to too many cocktails for breakfast. And for lunch and dinner. "Bless her heart. After Curtis left her, she's not been able to cope." Fine. It's a term of endearment.
I later discovered Bless her heart took on different connotations. It was mean-spirited when said about the ugly girl who tryed out for homecoming queen. "Bless her heart. She thinks she's got a chance." Are you really being warm and sincere? Or is it more like you want to give a shit, but don't have it in you to do so?
It can be endearing as in, "Bless his heart, he's trying so hard to ride that bicycle".
It can dress up the snarkiest remark, express sincerest regrets, or upmost respect. But it can also be confusing to outsiders until you learn to recognize it's use as both compliment and criticism.
Like this degree of audacity when Bless his heart can be interchangeable with things like, Poor Bastard, or What An Asshole. As in "Bless his heart, (Poor Bastard,) Dick Cheney actually thinks we believe all those lies he's been telling us."
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