"Fixin' to die"

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Dec 25, 2016

I love the word askew.

I also love the word 'winding'

and the phase '3 sheets to the wind'

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Dec 25, 2016

I must askew a question.

More like "I had the sense that something was askew" or similar meaning to "He seemed fixin to die"

kakamegamama · Dec 25, 2016

I love the word askew.

I need to use "askew" more frequently....as in, "My diet went askew today as I enjoyed every single piece of dessert I ate as part of Christmas brunch" (Did I use that properly?)

kakamegamama · Dec 25, 2016

I moved to Texas and I hear fixin to do stuff in a lot of local folk here. It just means getting ready to. It does not mean any to make fun of. They are serious when they say that. That nurse was fixen to send him off to a hospital because his condition was bad enough to warrant it. I just hope it wasn't over yonder cause you never know how far that could be.

Over yonder, if you're fixin' to go there, is a fur piece down the road. If you ain't careful, you might find yourself up Duck Creek without a paddle trying to get there!

Cheyenne RN,BSHS · Dec 26, 2016

Totally regional here. In rural Georgia many speak like this. I am in metro Atlanta now but it is mostly northern transplants (like me) and we do not talk like that.

I am an Army brat raised all over the earth from Alaska to Germany and then to Texas and now in the deep rural south. Atlanta has an International accent. I have practiced nursing for 30 plus years and live life in the deep rural south.

I never thought about all the euphemisms we use in every conversation till I went up to Ohio for a few years. My euphemisms, animal facsimiles, and verbal dialect did make people perceive me as stupid. That impression didn't last long tho.Once they watched me code a few folk and stand up to the doctors they learned quickly I may talk funny but I knew my S**t,

I worked very hard to talk and understand the dialect. If you are not born and raised in the deep south, then you are an outsider not to be trusted. My saving grace was that all my daddy's people were from the little town I worked in. I worked the ICU but I also did home care with the same patients when they went home. I loved it and had a superb relationship with my ICU staff and doctors.

I lived in this rural area over 30 plus years and saying ""fixing to" in an interview is just fine by me. That nurse will be talking to laypeople and others in the same communities. They don't want to be talked down to or in such a way they are made to feel stupid.

MunoRN, RN · Dec 26, 2016

I don't think anybody is arguing that it's a normal colloquialism in the south, and I don't know that it's worth getting irate about, but it was certainly a missed opportunity to educate the public that school nurses are actually able to formulate an assessment of a situation that is beyond what just anybody could come up with. "Fixin to die", while accurate in colloquial terms, isn't particularly all that different from how non-nursing folks could have described the situation.

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Dec 26, 2016

Yes.
I was making a joke. :)

Snickers, so was I. :yes:

More a snide reference to the fact that a nurse did her job spectacularly and saved a young one from a very untimely end and we have 'people who are getting their tits in a tangle' (kiwi expression basically means getting upset over not alot) about the fact that this nurse used a regional expression to describe the experience.

Jules A, MSN · Dec 26, 2016

'people who are getting their tits in a tangle' (kiwi expression basically means getting upset over not alot)

Gee, great, thanks, just what I need another hilariously inappropriate comment to use on the job where although an accurate assessment of the situation totally unprofessional. I can't wait!

RN2364 · Dec 27, 2016

That boy WAS "fixing to die"! What she did was make a lie saving decision. Your judging her seems ignorant to me. It's seems ignorant and I am appalled you took an uplifting story of a very intelligent RN who made the RIGHT decision and turned it into an English lesson to suit your own personal agenda to try and make you appear more intelligent..... it's her story. She did a fabulous thing. Let her feel good about herself without your uninformed predujice attitude trying to steal her "thunder".

la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2016

I made it through the majority of the comments and I'm not sure if I saw this particular notion brought up: as I was raised by folks from Oklahoma, terminology like that being used in the state of California is generally to place significant emphasis. In other words, the nurse saying that he was 'fixin' to die' was a black-and-white, under-no-uncertain-terms was this kid experiencing a manifestation of the stomach flu (the initial diagnosis) but rather a life threatening stroke. There was no, "Well, he was rather unwell appearing." or "He was critically decompensating." These terms make it seem not so bad, though true and, at least for our ED require a rapid response assessment (meaning, if he was on the floor a code would be called). But to the layfolk these are vague, professional terms and do not necessarily lend any idea of how dire the situation was, particularly when 'stomach flu' was previously on the table. People who don't have that experience tend to not be able to make that jump from stomach flu to stroke. Saying he was 'fixin' to die' was saying, "**** is about to hit the fan people so we needed to make a move without hesitating. Ya dig?!"

At least, where I see it, terminology like that is more demonstrative of the situation and not indicative of her capabilities. It cuts through the professional jargon that would not actually have been as impressive to those not coming from a medical background. Also, as the story was lauding her abilities and efforts, clearly they can see the difference. It wasn't, "School Nurse Appearing to Not Be the Coldest Beer in the Fridge Saves Student. More at 11." I don't really know how I would have said that in a way that would have gotten the same point across. I likely would have swore and then would have ended up similarly being judged by the OP.

Editor's Note: I have bronchitis and I am delirious so if any of the above seemed unclear, blame it on the Mucinex, the recent change to night shift, and way too much holiday stress. I'm fixin' to die over here, ya dig?

la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2016

Snickers, so was I.
More a snide reference to the fact that a nurse did her job spectacularly and saved a young one from a very untimely end and we have 'people who are getting their tits in a tangle' (kiwi expression basically means getting upset over not alot) about the fact that this nurse used a regional expression to describe the experience.

I want a Snickers bar, now.

morte, LPN, LVN · Dec 27, 2016

I must askew a question.

did yo mean eschew?