Wednesday, December 30, 2015

How to speak Southern Appalachian



“Southern Mountain Speech” is the official term given to the dialect spoken in Southern Appalachia. It is a unique subset of the Southern accent, with many similarities in pronunciations but with a lot of differences, as well (there are also a lot of similarities with many African American dialects.) Some have called it the oldest spoken form of English –there are many elements of Elizabethan English as well as Scots-Irish dialect. Early settlers in the mountainous regions of western Virginia and North Carolina were very isolated, and their speech patterns remained the same or similar over the generations even as English continued to evolve (even in England.) At least, that was the theory for a long time- more recent studies question some of those claims.

The first thing to bear in mind when examining this dialect is to remember that it IS a dialect, an accent, a different way of saying things –not something inferior, which is how it has usually been portrayed. Its speakers continue to be assumed to be ignorant, backward, and lazy. This stems from the hillbilly stereotype, which is a subject for a different day.

"There can be no doubt that it's the most heavily stigmatized regional speech in the country," South Carolina author Michael B. Montgomery told National Geographic. "I can't think of any other region where five words out of somebody's mouth will completely affect another person's evaluation of their intelligence, their reliability, their truthfulness, and their ability to handle complex tasks.”

A Southern mountain dialect is no more “inferior” than Scottish, Irish, Cockney, or New York English accents. Many aspects of the dialect that are considered improper in contemporary English were considered culturally and grammatically proper in the 1700s. It is also worth noting that there are regional differences within the dialect: while many of these terms are used throughout Appalachia, some are location-specific. For example, calling a soda pop a "dope" is rarely done outside western North Carolina. There are even variations from county to county. My own home county, White County, TN, has words and expressions (such as rullick and yert) with which people native to adjacent counties are totally unfamiliar. Also, I have not included some words and phrases that are more generally rural or Southern than specific to Appalachia, such as "pole cat" for skunk.

It is also worth pointing out that -as you will see -this pattern of speech is not a random selection of "improper" or "uneducated" words. It HAS RULES, including pretty consistent rules for vowel pronunciation and grammar. This is what makes it a legitimate dialect and not just a collection of slang. They just aren't necessarily the rules to which you are accustomed.

With all that in mind, let us look at some of the speech markers of Southern Appalachia… and if I missed anything, please let me know.



·         The word Appalachian itself: Southern Appalachian natives usually pronounce it App-a-LATCH-un, while outsiders tend to pronounce it App-a-LAY-shun.
·         The SUFFIX –ing (e.g., winning, spinning, twisting) drops the g, becoming winnin’, spinnin’, and twistin’. However, words ending in –ing but not as a suffix (e.g., thing, bring, sing) do NOT drop the g. instead the vowel becomes a nasalized a: thang, brang, sang. The same thing happens with words ending in –ink (think becomes thank, stink becomes stank). It is similar to the in/im in French (wherein the word vin, or wine, is pronounced as a nasalized van.) Therefore, anythin’ is incorrect; anythang is correct. "Nothing" is an exception. “You thank it don’t mean nothin’, but it means ever’thang.”
o   Thing = thang
o   Sing = sang
o   Single = sangle
o   Fingers = fangers
o   Think = thank
o   Bring = brang (past tense: brung) Sometimes this becomes prang/prung
o   English = Anglish

·         Fire is pronounced the same as far. In fact, all words with the –ire sound are pronounced –ar.
o   Fire = far
o   Tire = tar
o   Hire = har
o   Wire = war
o   Retire = retarr
o   Iron = Arn
o   Irish = Arsh
o   Exceptions: liar, buyer, flyer, or any other word where the -ire sound is created by adding -er or-ar to a verb that rhymes with pie
·         Flower is pronounced the same as flare. All words with the –ower sound are pronounced –air (including the words "our" and "hour".)
o   Flower/flour =flare
o   Power = pare
o   Tower = tare
o   Shower = share
·         Pronounce royal as if the y were not there: hence, ro’ahl. Do the same with all words that rhyme with royal.
o   Royal = ro’ahl
o   Oil = oh’ahl
o   Boil = bo’ahl
o   Coil = co’ahl  (unless it is a verb, in which case it is quile)
o   Toil, soil, etc.
·         Want is pronounced the same as won’t. On is pronounced the same as own.
·         Can’t rhymes with ain’t.
·         A long o sound at the end of a word becomes –er
o   Hollow = holler
o   Follow = foller
o   Fellow = feller
o   Window = winder
o   Yellow = yeller
o   Potato = ‘tater
o   Tomato = ‘mater
o   Tobacco = ‘backer
If this sounds "uneducated", bear in mind that, in modern British English, when a word ending in a vowel is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, an R is inserted between them (much like in French a T is inserted in such circumstances.) Thus, a 21st century Englishman might say "Pizzer is my favorite food, but a bananner is nice from time to time." 
·         An -a at the end of a word often becomes a –y / -ie. Thus the names Lula and Sara become Lulie and Sary, and the town Sparta is sometimes Spartie. Extra becomes extrie, soda becomes soadie. Noah becomes No-ee. In a few rare cases, though, an r is added at the end of the word instead of changing the a to ie/y: Cuba = Cuber    Jonah = Joner
·        The sound –or sometimes becomes –ar. The actual word “or” can be pronounced either “er” or “ar”.
o   Orange =Arnge
o   Forest = farrest
o   Foreign =Far’n
o   Oregon = Ahregon
o   Florida = Flahrida. Sometimes Flardy.

·         Where is pronounced whur
·         Scared = skeered      Care = keer  I don't care = I-oant keer, which to the untrained ear can sound like "ount-keer". Are ye skeered? I-oant keer.
·         “Right” can sometimes mean very. “That’s right kind of ye.”
·         Right smart = a large amount. “You could fit a right smart of people in that room.”
·         Clean / plumb = completely. “He knocked ‘att-un clean outta the park, it was plumb awesome.”
·         Southern Appalachians are apparently one of the few groups that pronounces the l in walk and talk.
·         It is very hard to explain the Southern pronunciation of the long I, because there is no other sound in American English to which it can be compared closely. Normally an English long I is pronounced like the –ai in Japanese (as in hai, for yes.) If you think about it, in that diphthong you are pronouncing both letters separately, but really, really fast: Ah-ee. So imagine dropping the –ee part. But that’s not exactly it, either, because the Southern I does not sound like “ah”, which is how I have often seen it portrayed. It’s sort of like saying ah but while smiling real big. I think that’s the best I can describe it.
·         Many monosyllabic words are drawn out into two syllables. Hence Troy becomes Tro-ee, Carl becomes Carr’uhl, and sometimes Bill becomes Bee’ahl. Red becomes rayud. Shit becomes shee-it.
·         Some grammatical practices which exist (and are technically considered incorrect) all around the country are used with far greater frequency in Appalachia
o   Dropping g’s, as mentioned above
o   Past tense of “to be” always used in singular form regardless of number: He was, they was
o   Use of the word ain’t
·         Past tense often differs from standard English.
o   I saw = I seen   Sometimes seen and saw are reversed: "Oh, I seen him. He was the meanest man I'd ever saw.
o   I knew = I knowed
o   I grew = I growed
·         Double negatives are employed, often for emphasis. “I ain’t got nary’n.” “He ain’t got no sense a-tall.” This was considered standard English until the mid-18th century; Shakespeare often used double negatives.
·         Southern Appalachians still use the word ye, and often. Whether ye or you is used often depends on the emphasis in the sentence: “Should I GIVE it to ye?” “Should I give it to YOU?”
·         Toys are called purties (pretties), or play purties.
·         Strew is pronounced stroe. Strewn is stroe’d. “That dadgum young’un done stroe’d his play purties ever-whur!”
·         Sip is pronounced sup. “Give me a sup of that drank.”
·         The words yonder and reckon are still used often (oddly enough, they are also used in British English but not non-Southern American English.)
·         Ary and Nary = Any and None. They come from the Elizabethan terms “e’er a” and “ne’er a”. “Do ye have ary batt'ry for this thang? I ain’t got nary’n.”
·         Y’uns (“you ones”). This is an Appalachian word that is interchangeable with y’all. Northern Appalachians (in Pennsylvania) also say it, but they pronounce it yinz while Southern Appalachians pronounce it like a German umlaut u, or yünz.
·         Lack is pronounced “like”. “All we like now is four more dollars.”
·         “Like-ta” or “like-to-of” = almost. “I like-to-of died.” It is only used when speaking of the past, up to the immediate past.
·         Aunt and Ant are pronounced the same as Ain’t. Hence Andy Griffith spoke of his “Aint Bea.”
·         Tobacco is called either “tobackuh” or “backer.”
·         Borrow = Barr. Borrowed = Barrd. Sometimes borrow = bahrry. Also, sometimes borrow means to loan: Can you bahrry me five dollars?
·         Wash = warsh
·         Be-in’s (sometimes also “bezun”) = being as =since. “Be’in’s y’all are goin’ that way, can I get a ride?”
·         This, that, them: the th is often dropped. “Say hey to your mama and ‘emm!” “Those” is very rarely used. “Hand me ‘emm nails.”
·         Right here and right yonder sometimes become ri-cheer and ri-chunder. "Over there" is o'vair.
·         Might could =might be able to
·         Haint = haunt (ghost). In some parts of Appalachia ain’t is pronounced hain’t. In those areas, it is pronounced hit.      An unruly person is wild as a haint.
·         “Reach me” = “hand me.” “Reach me ‘att wrainch.”
·         To chunk = to throw
·         The leg of your britches = your britchie-lag.
·         Corn = roas’n’ears (roasting ears), but pronounced roash’nears.
·         Ramps = wild onions
·         Col’drank: not just any chilled beverage, specifically a carbonated one (i.e., soda pop).
·         Coke = absolutely any kind of carbonated beverage, regardless of brand or flavor. “Gimme a coke.” “What kind of coke do ye woant- Mountain Dew? Grape?” Coke and col'drank are interchangeable. "Pop" is used in Eastern Kentucky and some other areas, whereas in East Tennessee saying pop would immediately mark you as an outsider.
·         Narrow = Narr.
·         Kindly = kind of. “That road over yonder is kindly narr.”
·         Every = ever’. Ever’body, ever’thang. You don’t say “everyone” at all, just “ever’body”. Same with anyone/anybody.
·         Once’t, twice’t. Adding a t to the end of these words is also an Elizabethan convention.
·         Directly = later. It does NOT mean directly as in immediately. Pronounced dreckly. Sometimes: “here dreckly.” Synonym: afterwhile.
·         Puny = sick
·         Poor (pronounced "pore") = skinny, sickly. "You're lookin' real pore -are you feelin' puny?"
·         Fixin’ to: preparing to. This is not as weird as outsiders make it seem; after all, if you are preparing dinner, you are FIXING dinner.
·         Three meals of the day: breakfast, dinner, supper. Dinner is the midday meal. If someone tells you to meet them around dinner-time, they mean around noon.
·         Far = fur. “Hey dispatcher- how fur to that far?” Sometimes "for" is fer, sometimes it is far: "Fer petesake, what'd ye go 'att fur far? Ye goin' to a far?" Also: furthest can be "futherest."
·         Yoant-to = you want to?
·         Ort = ought   “Yoant-to? Y’ort to!”
·         Goozle = that funny thing in the back of your throat. “I ort to choke your goozle!” Sometimes goozler.
·         Goober = peanut, but in many parts of Appalachia, penis.
·         Aholt = ahold
·         One t’other = sometimes just “one” for short. “I’m fixin to go to Nashville or Knoxville one.”
·         Hi’dy. Appalachian for howdy. It’s probably where our contemporary word “hi” comes from.
·         Light bread = white sandwich bread
·         Sweet milk = regular milk, as opposed to buttermilk
·         Ah’ Law! An exclamation meaning Oh Lord. It’s not pronounced “ah”, but rather like you were going to say “at” and never said the t.
·         They Law! An exclamation meaning The Lord. This one can be shortened to just They. Andy Griffith could often be heard saying They or They Law.
·          A mite = a little. “Well, that’s a mite harsh, don’t you thank?”
·         Pert near’t = pretty near it, or almost.
·         Nigh on to = nearly
·         Ill = always means ill-tempered. It does NOT mean sick, puny means sick. Or just sick. “I don’t like that man- he’s always ill.”
·         Rainch = ranch, but also wrench and rinse. “After ye warsh ‘att, remember to rainch it.”
·         Mock = to imitate. Like a mockingbird. It does NOT mean deride or laugh at, it always means to imitate scornfully. (Think of things like mock fur, for example.)
·         Sairdy = the day after Fridy.
·          The Show = the movie theater
·         Sorry = no good and low-down (as in a sorry excuse.) “I’m sorry!” “Good, now apologize!”
·         Job = jab
·         Stob = a stick, usually one poking out of the ground. “Festus got jobbed with a stob”.
·         A story = a lie. “Don’t you tell me no stories, young’un!”
·         Study on = think about for awhile
·         Thoe = throw. “I seen Bill at the show and he never even thoed up his hand at me!”
·         Done = finished. "That's it, I'm done." Also substituted for “did” when that verb has an object, but not when it is used alone:  “I done painted that! I done it! I swear I did!”  Also: Done = already. "I done fixed that door once!" Hence, one can say "I done done that." For emphasis: I done already done that.
·         Hind end = butt
·         Pen is pronounced pin. In fact, -en and –em usually become –in and –im. Thus an encounter with the Empire becomes an incounter with the Imparr. Ten and tin are both pronounced tin. This is why Appalachians use the terms stick-pin and ink-pen (ank-pin), to distinguish which kind of pin/pen you mean. Also, depend is pronounced de'pinned. Yet is yit. Get is git. As noted, however, with set/sit it is the opposite: "If ye woant to write a letter, set down and git ye an ank pin."
·         Catty-corner = what in other regions would be called kitty-corner.
·         Si-gogglin, or cy-gogglin = lopsided, especially as in a leaning building. Some have speculated this comes from side-goggled, with goggle as in askew (like “goggle-eyed”)
·         Towns ending in –ville are not pronounced “vill” but rather “vuhl”. Nashvuhl, Knoxvuhl. In Cookeville the k is often silent, making the word “Cuh’vuhl.”
·         Towns ending in –boro are pronounced burr. Hence Murfreesboro = Murf’sburr, and Gainesboro becomes Gainesburr.
·         Many words have emphasis on different syllables than in other regions.
o   AutoMObile
o   InDUStry
o   POlice
o   AmbuLANCE
o   Thee-AY-ter
o   Resi-DENCE

·         A-verbing: adding the prefix –a to a verb, pronounced as a schwa and usually to a verb indicating progressive or continuing action. “We was a-walkin’ and here come a bear a-runnin’ right at us.” The form is most often used in the context of recounting a series of events or telling a story. This was common in standard English in the 1500s, and until the 1700s was considered not only acceptable but literate and sophisticated.
·         -ever is sometimes reversed to the beginning of a word. “Everwho done that is ignernt.”
·         Poke = sack.
·         Woman is sometimes pronounced “woe-mern.”
·         Kerosene = coal oil
·         Kyarn = carrion, and the smell associated with it.
·         Tote = to carry
·         To carry someone = to give them a ride
·         Boggan, or sometimes toboggan = a knit cap, such as some would call a beanie or a stocking cap.
·         Airish =chilly or windy
·         Cathead = a large biscuit 
·          Sometimes the sound -ay becomes almost a long I, similar to some British accents, so that today sounds almost like to-die (this is the standard long I, not the Southern one.)
·         Vomit = vomick, and diarrhea = di'reer. Virus = varse, and is almost always used to mean an upset stomach. "I've been vomickin' all day, I thank I got the varse."
·          Serious = seerce
·          Wasn’t = wadn’t; doesn’t = dudn’t    isn't = idn't    isn't it = idnit   isn't that = idn'at           
·         Where do you live = where do you stay at?
·         Eat up = consumed.  “I’m eat up with love.”
·         Evening = late afternoon, around dusk. Once it gets dark, it’s night.
·         Next Saturday = the Saturday of next week. If it is Thursday and I say “next Saturday”, I don’t mean two days from now, I mean nine days from now. On Thursday, two days from now would be “this Saturday.” 
·         Light out = leave. Also sometimes “light a shuck.” As in, lighting a corn shuck so as to see the road as you travel.
·         Mind = obey. “You mind me, child!”
·         Risin’ = a pimple. “I got a risin’!”
·         Ruin = rern. Past tense: rernt.
·         Set = sit. “Set down and stay a spell.”
·         Whip = whup. This is NOT pronounced “whupp” or “whoop”, but more like whüp
·         Chair = cheer.   Set in this cheer!
·         A spell = a while. Also, a dizzy spell- but you don’t always say the “dizzy” part.
·         If you are dizzy, you might say you are light-headed, or that your head is a-swimmin’. Or you’re having a spell.
·         “I don’t care to” = I don’t mind doing it. This leads to confusion with outsiders, who think “I don’t care to” means “I don’t want to.”
·         The t is silent in slept.
·         Some words have added syllables: drowneded, for example. Or breasts, sometimes pronounced breastiz, or nests becoming nestiz. Sometimes the extra syllable comes in the middle: realtor = real-a-ter, athlete = athalete, nuclear = nukular. If this sounds similar to Texas Southern, it is because a large number of people who settled Texas were Appalachian.
·         Stove up = injured. If you just feel kinda sick, you’re peaked, pronounced peekid.
·         Backwards = shy. “His daddy was always kindly backwards” (pronounced backerds.)
·         Chimney = chimley
·         Drain = dreen
·         Don’t get above your raisin’ = don’t be stuck up. Also, don’t put oan airs. Don't be biggity, or uppity.
·         Vienna sausages = vye-eenies.
·         Tomorrow = ta’marr 
·         Wasper = wasp
·         There you go = Air ye go.
·         Yorn = yours. Also: his'n, her'n, our'n, their'n. You can also get out'n a scrape. If'n ye try hard enough.
·         Purse = pocket book
·         Bedroom suite is not pronounced “bedroom sweet” but rather “bedroom suit”.
·         Chest of drawers is pronounced chester drawers.
·         Restaurant = resternt
·         This one is not often used anymore by folks under 70, because of the sexual connotation: quarr, for queer, as in strange (not as in homosexual). “He always was a mite quarr.”
·         Crayfish = crawdad
·         Cantaloupe = mushmelon
·         Pear = p’ar
·         Brung up (or prung up) = raised, as in from childhood
·         If something tastes good, it will make you slap your granny.
·         Give out = exhausted. “Lordy, I’m plumb give out.”
·         Gulley warsher = heavy rain
·         Rullick = a low person of questionable character. People outside of White County, TN, seem to be unfamiliar with this one.
·         Go on = talk at length, or sometimes behave foolishly. “Lord, that boy does like to go on.” Or, "Oh, he's just goin' on."
·         Count = good. “Is Bill any count?” “No, Bill ain’t no count a-tall.” Short for "of any account."
·         It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy.
·         It is not a hand-truck or a dollie, it is a two-wheeler.
·         “Home-made sin” =something very disturbing or ugly. “That feller was uglier’n home-made sin.”
·         “Well, bless your heart” can mean either “you poor, unfortunate soul” or “you poor, ignorant person,” depending on circumstances.
·         Duns = bills. “Nothin’ in the mailbox but duns, as usual.”
·         It’s not an electric bill, it’s a light bill.
·         If you play hooky from school or work, you are laying out.
·   “Chance” is pronounced “Chaince”, or “Chaince’t.” Similarly, "branch" is pronounced "brainch" (a branch is a small stream or creek.) "Dance" becomes "Daince."
·         “Fell off” = lost weight    “Flesh out” = gain weight. You’ve fell off, you need to flesh out.
·         Towel, trowel, foul, owl, etc. all rhyme with “pal”.
·  “Stout” = physically strong. It does NOT necessarily mean large; a thin person can be stout.
·         The L is usually silent in “help”
·         “Ready-roll” = a store-bought cigarette
·         Sweetenin’ = dessert food, candy, etc.  “I ain’t had no sweetenin’ today, I’d shore like some pie.”
·         Some people –especially older folks –call a motorcycle a motor-sickle.
·         Daughter is sometimes pronounced “dorter”; water is sometimes “worter.”
·         Brother is sometimes shortened to Br’er (just like Br’er Rabbit), which is pronounced “Burr.”
·         Play like = pretend. Also, “let on” = pretend   "You thank he's seerce?" "No, I thank he's just lettin' oan."
·         Favor = to remind a person of someone; also, “puts me in mind of.”  “Ol’ Jeff favors his Daddy.” “He puts me more in mind of his Grandpa.”
·         Hull = to shell, as in beans or peas.
·         Skift = a small amount, as in “a skift of snow.”
·         Fireboard =mantel over a fireplace
·         Dog-iron (pronounced dog-arn) = an andiron
·         Singletree--pivoted crossbar to either end of which the traces are fastened when yoking a horse or mule to a plow. Pronounced sangletree, of course.
·         Backset--a reverse, a relapse in illness.
·        Blink--exercise an evil influence, bewitch, turn sour. "Blinky milk."
·         To be marked by = for a child to be born showing, in some fashion, the influence of someone the mother knew. “Junior is always tellin’ stories, I must’ve marked him by my brother Bill.”
·         Learn = both to learn and to teach. ‘At’ll learn ye! I’ll learn you to sass me!
·         Coil = quile   “That copperhead was quiled up.”
·         Rear back/ rear up =rare back, rare up
·         Itch sounds like each
·         If someone is very hungry, they may say “my stomach thinks my throat’s been cut.”
 ·         Just like in Elizabethan English, gentlefolks who would never dream of swearing still use the words shit, ass, and piss, which they don’t consider vulgar. (vulgar words, to them, would be Goddamn –which is “taking the Lord’s name in vain” –or anything pertaining to genitals or their sexual use.) I can attest to this. I have seen Appalachian mothers smack their children for saying “dirty words” and telling them “we don’t say shit like that around here.” Which makes sense; after all, “piss” occurs frequently in the King James Bible because it was not considered vulgar in the 1600s.
·         Ears are sometimes called years.
·         Leg can be pronounced lag or laig
·         If you don’t like someone, you might call them a shit-ass. Or a peckerwood. Maybe even a sumbitch (accent on the first syllable).
·         If you want to say the f-word as an exclamation, but you don’t really want to say the f-word, you can say: foot!   “Well, foot! We’re fixin’ to lose ‘iss game!”
·         If you are behaving in an inappropriately mean manner, you are “being ugly.” “Quit bein’ ugly to that girl!”    synonym: Hateful, which can mean not just cruel but also rude or cross. "Ye don't have to be so hateful about it."   Inappropriate sexual behavior can sometimes (disapprovingly) be called "actin' ugly" - they was out yonder in the bushes actin' ugly.
·         Giving someone a kiss is “giving them some sugar.”
·         If you suspect someone was saying bad things about you behind your back, your ears are burning.
·         If things are going well, they are finer’n frog hair. If they are going real well, they are finer’n frog hair split four ways (sometimes three ways).
·         A booger is an evil spirit or monster. “Be keerful out yonder, a booger might git ye!” Of course, as in the rest of the country, a booger is also a piece of dried mucus. In some parts of the north, a piece of dried mucus is also called a “goober”, but bear in mind that in Appalachia goober can mean penis. So if you come South and tell people you woke up with goobers in your eye, and they laugh hysterically, that’s why.
·         Gaunt = gaint. Synonyms: pore, puny
·         Sometimes, with demonstrative pronouns, “there” becomes “they”. “They’s a lot of thangs I ain’t told ye.”
·         Jasper = a stranger. “They’s some jasper out yonder pokin’ around.”
·         Chow chow = home canned relish
·         Glom onto = take hold of
·         Someone with a pleasant personality has a good turn; someone ill-tempered has a bad turn. Someone very strange has an odd turn or a funny turn.
·         If you pull someone’s hair in a fight, you done jerked ‘em up by the hair of the head.
·         If something is stuck fast, it is tighter’n Dick’s hatband. The same phrase can describe someone who is cheap (therefore tight with their money.)
·         If something is flatter’n a fritter…. it’s pretty flat. People often pronounce it “flatter’n a flitter.”
·         Catawampus = askew, awry.    Also pronounced catty-wampus.
·         Different = differnt     Ignorant = ignernt
·         Sometimes the G is dropped in “I’m gonna,” becoming “I’m oanna.” This only happens in first person, not with he’s gonna, she’s gonna, etc. “I’m oanna catch up later.”  Also, the W is often dropped in "you want," becoming "yoant."
·         Stupid is often pronounced styupid. Here can be hyere. Note that "styupid" is more in line with the modern British pronunciation than the American.
·         A common greeting, which is impossible to spell accurately, goes something like this: “O hyanh.” The second word is something between a snort and a sneeze, and the phrase approximates “Oh, here” or “[Hell]o here.”
·         Garbage collectors are sometimes called “dobie boys” in White County, TN.
·         Yert: this is a word that is unique to White County, TN. It has been used (primarily by teens) for decades –at least since WWII and possibly before –and its origins are unclear. Basically, it can be used as a positive exclamation/affirmation or greeting, and is sometimes accompanied by a gesture approximating the pulling of the cord of a train or big rig air horn. “Yert, good buddy!”
·         Remember = recollect. However, in a command, you always say remember- you would never say "Recollect to do that!" But you MIGHT say: "Do you recollect how I told you to remember to do that?"
·         Common people = NOT a compliment. Rather, denotes low quality. “I ain’t bein’ prung down by all these common people in this town.”
·         Southern waitresses aren’t the only people who call everyone sugar, honey, and darlin. It is common for older women to use those terms when addressing anyone younger than them, regardless of gender, and for older men to use them when talking to any women and to males into their 20s. 
·         Shorts = short pants. It has only been in the last couple of decades that I have seen local Appalachian males of middle age or older wearing shorts in public (or sandals.) Traditionally, “short pants” were for young children (boys) who graduated into long britches, so for a grown man to be seen in short pants would be humiliating. Traditionally, adult male attire was usually overalls, work boots (clodhoppers), and a hat of some kind; a pork pie or something similar before the mid-1970s, a John Deere or Ford ball cap since. Until the 1990s, one could walk around the local Wal-mart or grocery store and tell which of the senior males were local, and which were move-in Yankees, just by their attire. This is still true to some extent, but is no longer universal.
·         Being tickled by something means to be either pleased or amused by it. “I’m plumb tickled to hear that!” “The way that Bill goes on, it really tickles me. It can also mean "pleased" and can be synonymous with "proud."  I'm plumb proud to hear ye say 'att, I'm tickled you thank of me 'att way.
·         You don’t leave things on the floor, you leave them in the floor.
·         Gas station = fillin’ station
·         Shitfire is a common exclamation, as is hellfire- pronounced shee-it-far and hail-far.
·         Slew = a large amount. They’s a whole slew of words I ain’t even thought of yet.
·         Clodhoppers = farmers’ heavy work shoes.
·         Someone who is just a mite too pleased with themselves might be grinnin’ like a possum.
·         If you are a bit too optimistic, someone might tell you to wish in one hand and shit in the other, and see which one gets full first. Their implication: you’re dumber’n a box (or bag) of hammers. Or as useful as tits on a boar hog. However, you might know that you’re smarter than they think- you’re slicker’n snot on a doorknob.
·         Keith Richards looks like he has been rode hard and put up wet.
·         If I want you to repeat what you just said, I might say: Do what?
·         If someone has a stroke of bad luck, they might say “well don’t that beat my hat blowin’ down the creek.”
·         If you want your young’uns to mind, you might threaten to tan their hide. Or to jerk a knot in their tail.
·         Just as “foot” can substitute for the f-word, you can avoid another four-letter word by saying “Well shoot a monkey.” Or “shootfire.”
·         Riled up = roiled up; angry
·         When you meet a stranger you might ask them: “Whose boy are you? Who’s your mama’s people?”
·         Looks to me like = a statement of agreement. Bob says, “I reckon winter’s here, Joe.” Joe says, “Looks to me like.”
·         Young’uns are on their first legs.
·         Daddy Longlegs = Granddaddies  
·         Fart = poot
·         When visitors come to your door you say “Why don’t you come in and stay awhile?” and when they leave you say “Why don’t y’uns just stay with us?” Even if you don’t actually want them to do either of those things.
·         If you show physical sensitivity when getting a haircut, you might be known thereafter as “tender-headed.”
·         Battery = battry
·         “Tennis shoes” is pronounced “tennie shoes”
·         Pry = prize. “Sometimes ye just have ta take ye fangers and just prize thangs open.”
·         Y’all = you all, of course. I debated even including this, since everyone knows what it means and it is used throughout the South and parts of the West. I decided to include it in order to emphasize that y’all is ALWAYS plural, at least in Appalachia. Someone using y’all when speaking to one person is a non-native trying to imitate the dialect. In the past when I have made this assertion about the use of y’all in general, there have always been some people who swear up and down that they have heard Southerners say y’all in the singular somewhere. I have still never heard it, but for the sake of doubt, I will instead merely claim that it is always plural in Appalachia. Y’all and y’uns are generally interchangeable, but when the second-person plural pronoun comes at the very end of a sentence it is almost always y’uns.  “If y’all woanna go, we’ll take y’uns.”  When speaking of three or more people, it can become “all y’all” or “all y’uns.”
·         Robe and slippers = housecoat and house shoes
·         And = the d is almost always silent.   Also, the f is often silent in "of", and to is usually ta/tuh. The 'th' in them/these/those, which is often dropped, remains in place when following o'. "I'm goin' ta one o' them stores down yonder an' git me a col'drank. I like 'emm col'dranks."
·         Cure = cyore. I thank ‘att risin’ is startin’ ta cyore up. Or: You’re cruisin’ fer a bruisin’, an’ I’ve got the cyore fer shore.
·         Horrible and terrible = harble and turble.
·         Marry and merry are both pronounced “marry”.
·         Guarantee is gairntee, sometimes garntee
·         Gaumed up = smudged or begrimed. This word was common in 17th century English.
·         What people outside the South call sweet tea, we just call tea (because, duh, of course it is “sweet” tea unless someone says otherwise.) I remember going to a restaurant when I first moved to Illinois and ordering tea: I almost spit it out when I tasted it. “I didn’t order unsweet tea, I ordered tea!” “Um, there are sugar packets on the table.” “Do you mean to say you expect people to sweeten their own tea? That’s barbaric!” (note: this is not Appalachia-centric but applies to the whole South. I decided to include it because most folks who have not spent time in the South would probably not be aware of it.)
·         Always = all-the-time. As in: You’re all-the-time askin’ me for favors.
·         Lawyer is pronounced Lah-yer, not Law-yer or Loi-yer.
·         The L is usually silent in “help”: Let me he’p ye with that. In some places, particularly NC, “help” can be pronounced “hope.”
·         Spoiled (as in a child) = petted. She always was kindly petted.
·         Yesterday = yesterdy. Similar with days of the week: Sundy, Mundy, Tuesdy, Wensdy, Thursdy, Fridy, Sairdy.
·         Such = sich.  “Do you believe in haints an’ sich?” “Ain’t nary sich a thang.”
·         The PO-lice is also the law, used interchangeably. “The law come by here earlier.” Law can also refer to individual police officers: “How many laws was they?” “Three er four laws, I reckon. Po-lice ever-whur.”   Also, Sheriff is pronounced Shurrif or Shur'f.
·         Twilight is sometimes called dusky-dark. After darkness has fallen, someone might say it is “about dark-thirty.”
·         Soon, aka d’reckly, can also be “here ‘fore long.” “Here ‘fore long att’ll come back to bite ye.”
·         Ask is usually pronounced "ast" in the past tense, and sometimes also in the present (but not usually). "I done ast ye once't and now I'm fixin' to ask ye agin."
·         “Puttin’ on” (pronounced putt’n oan): pretending, in the sense of presenting yourself as something you are not, and often in the context of trying to convey a higher social or moral stature than you actually possess. “He ain’t all that –he’s just puttin’ on.”
·         Trespass is pronounced “truspass”
·         A bar of soap is called a CAKE of soap.
·         To my Minnesotan wife, “spatula” means both the sort of single-bladed thing you serve cake with and the larger thing with long vertical slits that you use when you fry things. The latter is NOT a spatula where I come from, it is an egg-turner.
·         It is not a “stove cap”, it is a “stove eye.”
·         You do not change the “tabs” on your license plate, you change the “tags.”
      You do not "loaf", you "loafer." "I'm just loaferin' today."

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This list will grow over time, as I think of more words and phrases or they are pointed out to me (again, let me know of any I missed.) Meanwhile, bear in mind that the Southern Mountain Dialect is a legitimate dialect of the English language, and not a marker of intelligence or cultural inferiority. While it might seem strange (or exotic) to some, it is not something to laugh at or deride.

Note: I use a good bit of Southern dialect in my novel Good Rebel Soil: The Champ Ferguson Story, about the infamous Upper Cumberland Confederate guerrilla.



            
          

112 comments:

  1. This is a wonderful compilation, Troy. We say a lot of those things in Owyhee County, which is interesting because that area collected folks from all over the country, especially Texas. So maybe we have a via Texas thang goin'.

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  2. All well an' good till ye went an' said some of us call peanuts "penis". It's spelt PEENEES! LOL! Love this article. My parents and grandparents' Appalachian dialects were much heavier than mine but many people here in East TN have dialects that are a mixture of Appalachia and Texas.

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    1. I have lived in Texas and Tennessee and please allow me to add a slight correction, the folks from Texas have a mixture of dialect from Tennessee. Many of their ancestors came from our lovely state and they raised their children speaking a similar dialect as that found in Appalachia. Years ago, I also lived in Eastern North Carolina and we had many who spoke with a Scottish Brogue. Many of the early settlers in the South were from Scotland and were proud of their own heritage and way of speaking. I loved listening to Southerners from a smal town called Scotland Neck.
      https://www.carolana.com/NC/Towns/Scotland_Neck_NC.html

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  3. I live in Jefferson County TN and something I always heard was "pole cat". This is a skunk.

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  4. I didn't include pole cat, and a lot of other terms, because they are more rural than specifically Appalachian; I'm pretty sure skunks are called pole cats all over the South and throughout the West. Skunks are also sometimes called wood pussies... I think that's in New England, but I may be wrong.

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    1. I'm from East TN and have heard the term Woods Pussy used for skunks all my life.

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    2. My mom always called a skunk a pole cat, and if the milk was about to go bad, she would say it was blinkey. She had a strong accent, for a pair of pliers , it was a pair of plares. although she was born and raised here in Texas, this gives me a good idea where her folks came from.

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    3. Could you tell me if this saying happened to come from that area? ( Its rainin like a cow pissin on a flat rock.)

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  5. take yr play purdy... tellin' child to go play quietly..from my mom
    bethvv@yahoo.com

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  6. I didn't see "tother" as in He lives tother side of that crick down yonder

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  7. Don't know if it's Appalachian or generally Southern, but slippers are referred to as house shoes.

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  8. Mom used to call perfume stink purdy

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    1. Also: aw well bless it, dont got th sense god gave an animal cracker.

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    2. Also: aw well bless it, dont got th sense god gave an animal cracker.

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  9. I wonder if "yert" is analogous to the New Orleans "yat"? The Yat dialect greeting is "Yat!" Which I understand is shortened from "Where ya at?"

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    1. That's an interesting possibility!

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    2. I lived in New Orleans and now in NC and I thought the same.

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  10. let me hope you..,hope meaning help..anyone heard this one ?

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    1. Yes. I grew up in Wilkes County, NC, and hope was often used for help. "Let me hope you tote that sack."

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    2. I think it's spelled "holp". I've seen in in writings of early English words.

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    3. It is "holp." Past tense for help. Another tie of Appalachian to Elizabethan English. Shakespeare used "holp".

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  11. I have written a book for my family filled with stories that have been passed down from parents and grandparents and I have included many of these words as I feel it may become a dying language.
    My grandma always cooked arsh (Irish) and sweet potatoes, and she would tell us not to pint(point) at something.

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  12. Wow. I reckon you bout got all of 'em. Good job!

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  13. How about the "R" in Iron. People in NC say I-Ron, most other places pronounce it eye-ern.

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  14. My family is from central Louisiana for many generations and we used more than half of tnese words and terms. Plus one you don't list (perhaps southern rather than Appalachian): "make haste" (pronounced "hace") for "hurry up."

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  15. I love this page. You had to work hard to compile this list of the way I talk. Good work!

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  16. Fascinating!! I found your page looking for the "i don't care to" phrasing for "i don't mind." It's an inexplicable variation in this dialect!

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  17. Thanks for the kind words, y'all! And I've never heard "make hace", must be a Louisiana thing

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    1. We say "make hace" here in western nc. But then again...my kin is pert near backwoods as we can claim to be.
      Also, you mentioned some people lettin on like they heard y'all used as singular? Reckon what that feller heard was someone taking kindly to one but but speaking on their kin(not present) too?

      Like say "Shaw yeah son, y'all come on up to the house" when in fact there is only one person and his family is at home.

      Food for thought is another word I got...in wnc we say "frans" stead of friends.ends is also "ans" so there might be a rule or two in that mess!!

      Thanks for the fun read!

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  18. My grandma, from Middle Tennessee, referred to dragonflies as "snake doctors." Said she never heard them called anything else until she moved to Illinois.

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    1. I have heard dragonflies called snake feeders all my life.

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  19. If it's true that mountain talk preserves a lot of Elizabethan English and Scot's dialect, it would be wonderful to see a production of a Skakespeare play--say Macbeth--performed by Appalachian speakers. Has it been done?

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    1. I don't know, but there IS this great piece about the original Elizabethan pronunciations of Shakespeare, and how radically different is was from modern British: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s

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  20. Thanks for posting this. My East Tennessean dad passed away in December. It is a comfort to see preserved the expressions and pronunciation he used. You've given me another way to remember my dad.

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  21. I love your list of vocabulary and my husband and I are compiling our own lists for our children. Husband is from eastern Ky. You didn't mention "h'it" as in "bless h'it's heart" or "supper," "skillet," "kettle." we get teased about these words all the time. And I am unsuccessful in finding terms for parents/grandparents online. It was always Mommy, Daddy Mamaw and Papaw and maybe Pappy.

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  22. Boy when i was bad my granny made me pick a hickory switch n she whip me raw with it. I be over yonder in the crick catchin crawdads and git all wet. She'd hollar and tell me ta pick a switch lol id fetch the biggest one so it didnt sting lol my granny is from Huntington WV n Kentucky im gonna go n visit her now after readin this shes gettin old and startin ta get dementia i am worried fer her she always gives me a twist a bacca allen county or king b ya my granny chews still i lover so much and hate ta see her like this. Thanks fer the read

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  23. I live in Sullivan Co, TN, it's one of the eastern most counties (save for Johnson and Carter). I love all of the information you have compiled; thank you very kindly for your hard work. I have some other words that I have listed as part of a specific lexicon to the area (words you don't have mentioned). I wonder if these are generally southern, or Appalachian by your estimations? Also, I have a bit of a quandary when it comes to the "Pop v. Soda v. Coke" debate. There seems to be a split within my own county which I cannot clearly define. For the most eastern side, pop is pretty common. It is also rated high for usage in Carter Co. where it is arguably the most common reference for a soft drink. Dope is also prevalent and the associated Sodey-Dope. As far as it is related to calling everything a "Coke"…I have not heard a single instance of a native East Tennessean saying such a thing, yet it's often indicated as the most popular variant. It also depends on the way in which said soft drink is referenced. If one were to indicate, “please go and retrieve me a soft drink,” but wished to speak in the manner I am attempting to define, they would then say, “go and get me a pop.” Or you may offer a guest, “hey you want a pop?” A pop is a thing, a canned or bottled soft drink. Pop is also the general idea of a soft drink, as in your doctor telling your diabetic self, “You really shouldn’t drink so much pop.” But if you were to refer to it in the context of its ability to be served up, you wouldn’t say, “Do you want a glass of pop?” In this case you would have to include the soft drink referenced, “Would you like a glass of Co-cola?” Also, the container is a popcan, or popbottle. So for the other side of the county, limited representation tells me that they would either say Sodapop, or Soda, the later I find hard to believe based on polling. Where were you considering East TN? Also, almost everyone around here is infatuated with the Andy Griffith Show, set just over the Mtns in Western, NC. And I quote, “"You know what I think I'll do?...I think I'll go down to the fillin' station, get me a bottle of pop, go home and take a nap, go over to Thelma Lou's and watch a little TV...That's what I'm going to do, down to the fillin' station, get a bottle of pop, home, take a nap, then go over to Thelma Lou's and watch a little TV.

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    1. A tall - you use it in two examples but don't have it listed as it's own entry. A tall in lieu of at all.

      Whyfor, or Whyfer - used in place of why or what for (as in function, not 'giving them the "what for."'

      You have entered "right," and "directly" but I have encountered the two always intrinsically linked, right directly. "I'll be at your place right directly."

      chock full of - none more full

      Double contractions:

      mightn't've - might not have "If you'd told me that I might't've felt so poorly about it"

      shouldn't've - should not have "After we got in that fight, I shouldn't've came back down here"

      put the quietus on [it, you] - to stop, literally to make quiet by death. used explicitly with "Put the," and "on."

      liketa - like to/lack to: very nearly. "When that bomb went off I liketa died"

      Allow - tell or know: "What did she allow" "What do you allow?"

      very seldom - not that often, "Do you go to church anymore." "Very Seldom." Seldom in this context is hardly ever used without very.

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    2. About the Coke , or Pop, my mom called sodas, Sody Wader.

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    3. Now, I'm from Monroe county Tennessee. Ine tell ya that we all say coke for bout any fizzy drank. Unless its beer, the we say Cole drank, but I'd heard'at from other places too.

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    4. I’m from East TN (lived in all sorts of places like Elizabethton, Bristol, Unicoi, Jonesborough) and southwest Virginia (above Abingdon) and I’ve never heard anyone say “Do you want a pop”. We have always called it “coke” regardless of brand or flavor so that’s interesting that others don’t find that to be true. I wonder if it’s due to the colleges like ETSU being there and bringing in outside dialects? I’ve heard some people call it soda but that wasn’t really until I moved to Nashville.

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    5. agree. ETSU would bring in others. Too, there were times in the 1980s and recently, where there was a sort of boom times in the Johnson city area where industry came in and there probably were people coming from other areas to live here. Pop and soda, I think, are spoken in other dialect areas.

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  24. My mother in law from Somerset Kentucky, said yesterday.
    The rest room smells like cow urn. Have you heard this? Her mom used to say when they would come in from playing or working all day. You kids smell like cow- urn. I don’t know the meaning or correct spelling. Do you?

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    1. Could that be the Kentucky variation of what here in Tennessee is called "kyarn", or kee'arn? I have OFTEN heard people say, when something stinks, that it smells like kee'arn... which is the Appalachian pronunciation of "carrion," or something dead.

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  25. Mr. Smith, I have been thinking of my Granny who passed last year so frequently this week and they way she would turn a phrase. So, I started searching for the use of the word "light" as she would use it. "I'm gonna light her for a little while." Or, "that fly is lightin' on the table". Both uses intend to convey that same as "sitting" or placing oneself somewhere. Do you have a reference for this usage? Thank you so much for creating this blog.
    -Brenda

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    1. That one is common throughout the South and other parts of the country. It is short for "alight," meaning "to land." To "light out" is different- I think that comes from the practice of lighting a torch when you are leaving somewhere at night.

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  26. Perhaps from “alight”- to perch or settle. My people use this also.

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  27. The "ya'll" thing drives me insane when tv characters use it to refer to one person, but I think the misunderstanding appears because we often use "ya'll" to mean "you and your people" or "you and your family" even if the implied other people aren't present. So if I'm talking to you, I might say "Y'all come see us." That doesn't mean "You come see me" even if we're the only two people in the room. It really means "You are your people come see me and my people."

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  28. I love this. Parents grew up in eastern Kentucky. Many of these are familiar. Words I learned growing up (though didn't use all of them since I grew up outside of Appalachia):
    Ijo! Exclamation. Corruption of By Jove? Not sure
    Jonkils = Daffodils. corruption of French Jonquilles?
    House shoes/Housecoat = slippers / bathrobe
    sweet milk = regular milk
    plime blank = just like (Boy looks plime blank like his pa)
    Maters, Taders, Angerns = Tomatoes, Potatoes, Onions
    Arsh taders = taders cooked overnight by burying the whole tader in the ashes of a dying campfire
    hum = to throw/toss (hum a tader o'er here)
    Side-sworpin = staggering around as if drunk
    Land fish = edible fungi that grow on trees (not sure why they called it that)
    Stagger-weed = something cows would sometimes eat that would make them side sworp
    Chicken toe, ramps, speckled britches and a whole slew of other names for foraged foods.
    Used to get made fun of for saying 'pop' and house shoes/coat when I went to college (among other words I grew up with).
    Parents used to slip up and sometimes use 'mango' for bell peppers. Not sure if any others have heard of this.
    I only had one foot in this world so trips back to Kentucky weren't always easy (understanding relatives 100%). I was accused of talkin fancy sometimes.

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    1. I live in Indiana and parts in north, central and southern Indiana use mango for green pepper. My family in part can from Bourbon Co. KY.my mom had a big garden and she used to sell the produce roadside. One day a woman stopped by and said, "Hey, I want to see your mangoes." And she said,"They are right there" And the lady said, "Those aren't mangoes; those are green pepper. Mom said,they "Around here they are mangoes."

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    2. Late to the party, but same for me. My parents are from Eastern Kentucky, and I grew up calling bell peppers 'mangoes'. Same for 'arsh potatoes' (along with other things.) Also, my grandfather owned a grocery store when I was growing up, and I can second that in Eastern Kentucky, when people asked for soft drinks, they asked for 'pop'. Down around Greensboro, NC, where some of my mother's family lived, it was 'coke'. Here in Texas, it's also 'coke'.

      The only reason I can think why might be that RC Cola (or should I say, 'Ar-a-Cee Cola') was a strong favorite in that part of Kentucky, with the classic RC Cola and Moon Pie combo being a big favorite, especially among the miners who came into the store. (Moon Pie..my absolute childhood favorite!)

      One more word to add, and if I've missed it, I apologize, but 'sigodlin'. I know there's some variations on the pronunciations and the spelling, but it means something's not quite straight. I've heard people claim cattywampus means the same thing, but to me, cattywampus always meant that something was all of a mess, whereas sigodlin means it's just not straight. I'm constantly telling my daughter she needs to hold still when I'm doing her hair because her part's gonna be all sigodlin. :)

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  29. Absolutely as good an overview of mountain talk as I've seen. I hope you fully appreciate how"hard core" Highlands speech has remained in Eastern Kentucky, an isolated enclave of the Cumberland Plateau where clinging to folkways and traditional speech has been embraced as a sort of passive resistance to the outside interests that have bludgeoned the beautiful, little mountains as part of the coal business. Here, you still hear f'rninst as over and against, Jordan is Jordan (?) and the rite of scarifying is still carried out on hapless youg'un's! I love that hill country around Sparta and Clay County, TN and envy the fact that the area escaped the coal industry. Tennessee, to us, was always the "promised land." Thanks to you!

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  30. Troy, I enjoyed this article so much. It brought back memories of my childhood and sweet Southern family. Thank you. I do wonder since there isn't the isolation and Southerners are highly educated, why the dialect hasn't been lost. Do you think it's being lost?

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    1. I certainly do. I almost NEVER hear people under 30 saying these words.

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  31. Troy, I don't believe I saw "hicker nuts" for hickory nuts. As a child living with my grandparents for awhile, I learned about hicker nuts. Took sometime for me to realize they were hickory nuts. My family is from Overton County, TN.

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  32. I didn't see the devil's own food: "Poke Salad" - When that time of year came, and my grammaw would put that basket over her arm, and light out into our farms back pasture of weeds, I would start to gag! lol The notion of "free food" was a sign of God's blessings, because as granpaw used to say, "Now, Sonny, when you ain't got no job, no money and no food, ya'll know what real fear is!"

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    1. I didn't include "poke salad" or "poke sallet" as a specifically Appalachian word... because that is actually what it is called, it is not an Appalachian term for something known by a different name somewhere else :-) "Poke Salad Annie... the gators got her granny..."

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    3. Awwwwww. I love poke! My ex-mother in law was from Cookeville, TN and she would fry it with eggs and onion. It was tasty!

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  33. Im from Haywood County, NC, something I didn't see on the list is that the word "yonder" is often pronounced "yander". Maybe just what I've heard though

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    1. I didn't include "yonder" and "reckon" as specifically Appalachian because they are common throughout the South and the West... and are still regular usage words in British English. In fact, in the English-speaking world, people who think "yonder" and "reckon" are weird are, themselves, weird :-)

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  34. In reference to "When visitors come to your door you say “Why don’t you come in and stay awhile?” and when they leave you say “Why don’t y’uns just stay with us?” Even if you don’t actually want them to do either of those things". In Madison County, NC, when guests were departing, one would say "Stay the night" or "Stay all night". Also, in addition to 'youns', if we were referring to something that belonged to you, it would be 'yern'. Is that yern?

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    1. In Tennessee we also say "stay with us." Except here it is more often yorn than yern.

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  35. My grandmother from eastern Tennessee (hollers near Knoxville) used to say "commenced to..." in place of "started to..." or "began to..." Pronounced "commenceta." This usually occurred in a narrative.

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  36. Hi Troy

    Thanks for this great article. I'm from Loudon and my husband is from Coalfield. There are actually several differences in our accents,especially the use of "hit" instead of it. I never heard that growing up.

    I have lived in South Carolina, England, back in Tennessee, and now I live in Florida. Of course, I have been made fun of all of my life. The minute they hear your speech, they automatically assume that you are an idiot. That always drove me nuts! Our East Tennessee speech is so different from a true southern accent. Most of us don't drawl out our words and speak very slowly like a deep south accent.

    I used to love to listen to Andy Griffith because his speech reminded me so much of things that my daddy would say. One thing that I didn't see mentioned is something that my daddy and Andy would say, "That's a time" meaning you did something right and "nary" meaning none. He didn't bring me nary a penny.

    You can just imagine how out of place our accent is here since we are practically the only southerners living in west central Florida. No one thinks it sounds odd to have a strong New York or Boston accent which is way more exaggerated than ours but I get made fun of all the time. I no longer care! This way of speaking must be very special for it to be able to hang on for all these years. I have a cousin that moved to California when he was about 12 and at 73, he still uses many of the sayings we grew up with. They "work" for us. They feel right. It'll be sad when in a few years, it will be nothing but a Wikipedia entry.

    Till then, I'll keep watch on this page and let you know if I think of anything else.

    Thanks so much,

    Pam Jones

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    1. And here i am saying 'et instead of it. Then again im interior Appalachian and not exterior Appalachian

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  37. I loved reading this because a) it reminded me of my childhood and b) it made me laugh at the things I say that I never realized were part of a dialect. I’ve lived in Nashville for 12 years now so I’ve gotten used to explaining myself for some phrases (like buggy or light bill) or completely removed them (like saying drink instead of coke). But one I didn’t see that I haven’t found to be a southern thing in general is calling a “manual” car a “straight” . That was mostly from southwest VA in Washington county there but I’ve heard people say that was specific for that area. Is that true?

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  38. Oh and one more. I’ve always said “I’m going to the store” and it always means the grocery store. Otherwise I would say which store haha. Is that just me because I lived in the middle of nowhere where “the store” could really only mean the grocery store since it was all that was there? Just curious :)

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  39. This was a great read. I'm from southern Ohio with great grandparents born and raised in eastern KY. I never knew how much of what my grandma says (usually jokingly, however) is actually Appalachian. Something I'm curious about though, is calling wasps 'waspers' an Appalachian thing? I remember my great grandma calling them that. Where I'm from I think has a good bit of Appalachian influence but she is the only person I ever heard saying that.

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  40. Great memories from growing up in Loudon County. One thing I didn’t see in there is the use of yorn with y’all. If we meant EVERYBODY we’d say, “All of y’all and yorn.”= Bring all of your friends and family.

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  41. Also how about “jeet”, a contraction of “did you eat?”
    “Jeet”
    “Naw, yauntoo?”

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  42. Don't forget that completely leaving out the ah in Appalachian and having it be *ahh platch in* when talking casually is ok as well.

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  43. I have heard "y'all" said to a single person. Say that I am talking to one person and I know he has four fisherman friends. Today is opening season for Bass and I see him in the cafe and I tell him, "Hi Bill, I am going to go out tomorrow, Sunday to the lake to fish for bass, why don't y'all come join me, I can take you all in the car with me". To one person but referencing a group of people. *never* to one person by him or herself.

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  44. Hi you all.

    There is something about a southern accent that I should "warn" people about! Say that you, for some reason, want to not only learn how to speak it and that you live perhaps in an area of accent and that you want to "convert" your accent to theirs. Say, too, that you actually pull this off such that no one thinks that you are faking it. Ah, you succeed!

    Here is where the Challenge lies. If you change your accent, you will change how everyone around you interacts with you! I do not mean that merely some northern person might then see you as a hick redneck hillbilly, this goes far deeper than the above! They will interact with you *as* a southerner. If in the south, you will be expected to also know the local customs too. They do not come along with the accent and then you BETTER learn real quick!

    However...and this is the Biggie, you all: *YOU* will change! your very character will be Challenged to change.
    There is an Indian tribe in the southwest where their language has no word for time! There is no concept of time. The natives have such a hard time understanding our time concept partly due to there being no language that they can use, thus no self-concept can be formed.

    So if you have a real accent, here the Tail begins to wag the dog! the accent will begin to change you! You will have to begin to think *southern*! This can be good or bad, depending upon what your life-goals are for personal development.
    The South has the best storytellers and the best "country" music, and I do NOT mean modern country music. Your ability to feel and to have emotion will increase as there now are words and expressions to express this. Of course I cannot tell how one will change.

    My "warning" also holds for developing any accent! Take the New york city accent. If for some reason you develop this accent, your sense of sarcasm and criticism might increase. Your anger too, might be stimulated. In other words, the very "worse" of the city"s life attitudes will stimulate the corresponding inner attitudes within you ,as now you will be able to express these better. Thus then try to find the very best expressions of the New York accent then weave these into your life!

    Thus if you "find" that you have now a southern, or any other accent, you should then develop with yourself the very best expression of that culture area's way of life and thinkings.

    freestone

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  45. Fascinating and thorough! The variations within the region, sometimes subtle, are very interesting. Here on the edge of the foothills, in Piedmont Virginia, our folk-speak includes about half of what you list here.

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  46. I may have missed it but, I didn't see clam. "Bed not clam over that fence cauz'n that bull iz liblin' ta git ya."

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  47. I must admit this is an impressive list! Thems some gooduns 👍 Don't forget the nicknames for an ignoramous such as peckerhead, doofus, & goober (but I think I saw that one describing man parts lol) I've always said Lawda mercy! Or just lawdy. Or awe law. Then there's bless it, bless it's heart, bless it's pea pickin' heart! I live in Leicester, NC but it's referred to as Lester and if'n yer not sayin it as such yer not from roun'hare 😉

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  48. So much of this reminds me of my grandmother. One that she said that I loved, "camry" for camera.

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  49. This information is precious to me! I’ve always wondered why my mom aways said “arnge.” She grew up in NC near Tennessee, awarded masters degree at Chapel Hill. My dad: central NC. Enough technic college to support a family, He was alway correcting our pronunciation and table manners.

    So sometimes I have my mom’s accent, sometimes a Michigan/Ohio of my childhood (sounds a little Canadian or Pennsylvanian), but mostly a flat midwest accent that would make my dad proud—even though cut my meat at the table like a lefty.

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    1. Oh, my mom had only a very slight southern accent. With some words like arnge, and of course, pecahhhhn (the correct pronunciation, lol). My dad had no discernible accent but he’d jokingly use a LOT of these terms and dialect. Like go get me a dope, for “soda,” which is what we say in Massachusetts. Stuff he said made no sense to me, so thanks for this article!

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  50. It's 3:20 In the dern morning christmas day, here I am sqwalin as memories are flooding my mind....I just lost my mother last week.But seriously a good cry....this really put a smile on my face thank you so much

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    1. I am very sorry to hear of your loss, and hope your family's Christmas -if not merry -was a time of reflection on the love you were blessed with in your mama.

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  51. I grew up in rural west Tennessee in Henderson county and what you described is almost exactly how we spoke growing up. I think the scots Irish culture and dialect spread through Tennessee and on into Texas. I live in east Tennessee now in Loudon county and I still hear that dialect, but as more and more people move into the region I hear lot of standard English (Yankee) talk, especially in the bigger towns.

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  53. I Have heard of someone saying "y'all to one person! It is used only if that one person is part of a group, like in inviting a family. You see your friend at the cafe and you wish to invite he, his wife, and the two kids over for supper. So you might could say, "You, Linda, and the kids please come over for supper about 5 pm, tomorrow. y'all come.

    Also, I read that dialect researchers in North Caroline found 105 accent zones in that state. I can just imagine how in the mountains every single valley, hollow, and cove might have sutle variations.

    A word I have heard of, in South Georgia, is "fram", or "framing". Only there have I heard it. Does anyone know what this word means?!
    Freestone

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  54. What a neat article. I've always been so interested in dialect and my husband is a wordsmith and mimic with family near Appalachia. His mother used to describe him using a word that meant someone who could feel emotions for others, such as grief rage and sadness, so they would not have to.. James is a musician and performer who used to go through a gamut of emotions on stage. It would not be catharsis but almost like someone who is a channel for others. Do you know what word his mama could have meant? Nobody in their family can remember it. Thank you so much and keep up the important preservation!

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  55. This is a wonderful list! Great job

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  56. What does everyone call a baby chic? My family called it a doody.

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  57. Dr. Troy D. Smith, howdy, from the “mega-metropolis” of “Corrytonvegas!”

    I was just “sottin' here thankin'” on the mornin' of 9/20/2022 (a Tuesday). My first article, of 3/6/2006 -- How to Pronounce “Appalachian” -- is still my most viewed article (of 358 so far). I thought that I'd see where that article ranked on good ol' Norton Safe Search.

    What do ya know? My article is on page 2, of “How to say 'Appalachian?'” search – three articles below you'rn, of 12/30/2015 (this 'n here, on which I'm commenting).

    I think that I'll read a while on your articles. I might drop another comment or so. You're welcome to do the same, on my website.

    Tell all the good folks at Tennessee Tech University that this Appalachian Irishman said howdy! Take care, and try to “turn right and go straight” out there, y'all! I'm 10-10 on the side, for now. See ya!

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  58. I have lived in far western KY/TN my whole life. I pronounce some words like those you posted, but some I do not. For example, the words ending in "ow" like follow and yellow that are pronounced "er" in your dialect; I usually end them with "ugh".......a softer ending. Also, I don't pronounce "want" and "won't" the same. Won't has the long O. But want has a deep "AW" sound to it. I think I have a mixture of southern Appalachian and southern dialect. For example, Charlotte is Sha-lot. Enjoyed your column!!!

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    1. So fascinating how things can differ over a relatively small physical distance! -Troy

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  59. My mother from Yadkin County, NC, not far from Andy Griffith's home town of Mount Airy a little to the east, always called a bedspread a "counterpin." I thought everyone called it that until I encountered the word "counterpane" in a high school literature compilation and it had a footnote explaining that it was "archaic for bedspread." I was raised in Eastern North Carolina and I don't think I ever heard anyone else use the expression. Mount Airy, by the way, is far enough to the east that Andy Griffith's way of talking is only marginally Appalachian. Anyway, I don't see "counterpin" or "counterpane" on your list.

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  60. I had never heard that one!! Thanks for the info! -Troy

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  61. Ran across this as I was looking for a word my mom uses for chicken poop (tawny/tauny). Being born and raised in E KY, I have heard and family still speak these words. After graduating I moved to Fl. Which I was poked fun of due to language. Example includes being asked my drink, I said a pop people where like a what? What’s a pop well in Fl everything is a Coke haha. In grocery store store I said where are the buggies? They had no idea and finally was like the “shopping carts” ? I have had many encounters with this and since moving back to E KY, I am proud of my roots. It is bothersome, as you indicated the Appalachian people are teased and considered “ignorant” because the way we speak. I hope this article has enlightened people with a little more knowledge that it’s a dialect that is rare, don’t go lookin fer it bespoken in C KY as they kindly uppuddy. Lol again, great find. Thank you for shedding some light!

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  62. My dad was born and raised in Scott County, Tennessee and my mom in Dayton Ohio. They moved out to California where we were raised. I had to laugh because my dad said a lot if what you wrote; even my mom. And when we’d drive back to see the family it was always a culture shock but one that I always enjoyed and was dear to my heart. Even I picked up on some of the dialect living here in California - my friends would say I had a slight TN accent. I still say a lot of those sayings and my adult sons, who have never been to Scott County, TN do the same. Thanks for this. It brought back many fond memories of my Tennessee family.

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  63. I commend the author of this post. It’s the most comprehensive list of Appalachian speech and phrases that I’ve ever come across. Some phrases I didn’t see are:
    “Get out of my road” instead of “Get out of the way”.
    Or “colder than a well-diggers butt.”
    Or “slower than s*it runnin down a barn door.”
    Or “So buck-toothed she could eat an ear of corn through a picket fence.”

    I can confirm that “goddamn” was the worst curse word you could say in that area. More so than F*ck.

    Although I may have missed these phrases in the article, or they may not have originated in Appalachia.

    But again, I love this article. I was born in Eastern Kentucky and I grew up saying most of these things. When I moved out of that area at a young age, I was teased so much that I consciously tried hard to lose most of this accent and words because of the stigma and the teasing. Which, in retrospect, is kind of a shame.

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  64. My family grew up in eastern Kentucky. I will never forget my brother telling us about giving a formal business presentation in front of a large group of northerners (Yankees).

    At one point he needed to write something on a piece of paper, so he asked the group, “Can I barree a pen?”

    Of course, someone repeated the word and questioned him in a disbelieving voice. “Barree? You need to barree a Pen?”.

    The everyone in the room laughed hysterically. Luckily, my brother has a good sense of humor, but he never said barree again.

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  65. I love that you list some of the older and more obscure words; as in ‘backwards’ means ‘shy’. I also can’t believe how many of the pronunciations, words, and phrases you covered in this list. Well done!

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  66. He ain’t worth a hill of beans

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