How to Speak Southern

[Ranai]

or "there is a puddle the size of one of the smaller Great Lakes flooding the road ahead; please use caution or you may drown,"

The image this brings to my mind are the endless endless endless sodden swamps traversed by a trio of escaped convicts in Jim Jarmusch's wonderful movie 'Down By Law'. Are you telling us the South of the US is really like this: damp and moskito-infested?


Ah, finally, this is the thread where I can ask the all-important question:
What does 'sug' mean?

'A kind of worm or larva' ?
'Southern University Group' (that would be the Cosmetics and Truck Departments) ?
'Southern University Games' (that would be the football) ?
something else?

And how is it pronounced?

(Yes, this is a real question: The above defintions are the pitiful results of a web search. I suspect that it's an abbreviation of 'sugar', but I'm not sure... Also, if so, is it pronounced like the first syllable of 'sugar': shoog?)