Journeys With Jani

Let me start by saying I have nothing against Southern slang. Lord knows I was born and raised in the South, and a little twang is just part of my charm (or so I tell myself). But there is one thing that has always made me pause, roll my eyes just a bit, and maybe chuckle under my breath: the word “Deddy.”

Now, let’s be clear—”Deddy” isn’t really a word. It’s a pronunciation. Southern slang for “Daddy.” And while I love a good Southernism as much as the next Georgia girl, I have to admit, I’m just not a fan of “Deddy.” Maybe it’s because my own Daddy worked hard to keep us from sounding too redneck. I can still hear him correcting us when we’d let it slip out: “It’s Daddy, not Deddy.” Bless him, he tried. If you’ve ever heard me talk, you know he didn’t exactly succeed—but hey, effort counts, right?

“Daddy” feels like a universal term—one that carries warmth, familiarity, and maybe a little nostalgia. It’s what you cry out when you skin your knee, the name you yell at a T-ball game, or the voice you hear giving you advice you didn’t ask for but probably needed. “Deddy,” on the other hand? It just sounds… well, like you might be missing a few teeth and sipping sweet tea on a porch that’s seen better days. (And yes, I say that with love, y’all. Don’t come for me.)

There’s something about pronunciation that ties us to where we come from, though. Language is funny like that—it holds our history, our family stories, and those little quirks that make us us. And while I might poke fun at “Deddy,” I can’t deny it’s part of the Southern tapestry I come from. It’s the neighbor down the road, the cousin at the family reunion, and maybe even that part of me I pretend isn’t there when I’m trying to sound all professional.

But at the end of the day, whether you say “Daddy,” “Deddy,” or something else entirely, what matters is the man behind the name. For me, that’s the memory of a man who tried to raise his kids with a little polish—even if we still end up sounding like we just stepped out of a country song. And if you know our family, is was not easy for him from the other side!

So, next time you hear someone say “Deddy,” you’ll know why I smirk just a little. And if you catch me slipping up and saying it myself? Well… let’s just call it Southern charm and leave it at that.

XOXO, Jani