You can take the girl outta the South...

It's not a new thing for me up here in Washington state to be asked where my accent is from. And those of you that know me know that some of my quirky sayings are just "Lauren-isms" and not exactly cultural. However, I was surprised yesterday when I was recapping a presentation I had just given with my preceptor at the Tacoma Family Medicine clinic and she mentioned a colloquialism that I might want to be aware of. At the end of May, the culmination of my residency will be a beastly presentation over my year-long project at the Western States Residency Conference in Monterrey, CA. So feedback on my presentation skills is valuable to me.

What was it that I said, you ask? I threw in a couple of "might-oughta"'s. I said "might-oughta" in reference to how you should use certain oral diabetic medications. I had no idea this was a regional phrase, but I quickly learned that people don't use such phrases up here. I laughed for about 5 minutes. And now I will reserve my southern phrases/Lauren-isms to nonprofessional settings.