"Mountainese"
Dictionary"
A
Ain’t-(a nt)
Is not or are not.
Ain’t you
cute.
B
Batchy-(bat chee)
dirty. Put down
that old rag,
it is batchy.
By in by (by
in by) A time
reference. I'll
be back by in
by.
C
Cabbige-(cab idge)
to take something
that isn’t
yours. Did you
cabbige my pen?
Churry-(chur
ree)a small red
fruit. George
Washington cut
down the churry
tree.
D
Dang it-(da ing
it) Well shoot.
Dang it, Sam behave
yourself.
Directly (di
rekly) A time
frame. I will
be back from town
directly.
E
F
Fair to middlin-(fare
t’ mid lin)
Not too bad. How
are you? Oh, fair
to middlin.
Fixin (fix in)
A noun, a verb,
or an adverb.
I have all the
fixins for a pie.
I'm fixin the
motor. I'm fixin
to go to town.
Flar-(fla R)
A nice smelling
plant. My boyfriend
bought me a nice
flar for our date.
Ground up wheat.
Get me some flar
so I can bake
a cake.
G
Gimme (gi mee)
Give me. Gimme
a hand with this.
Gonna (gon na)
Going to. What
are you gonna
do now?
H
Hain’t-(h
A nt) Has not
or have not. Hain’t
you done the dishes
yet?
I
Irn or Arn (a
rn) To press clothes
or a local beer.
I am arnin’
the wrinkles out
of these pants.
I'm gonna "Pump
an Arn" (Drink
an Iron City Beer)
J
Juke (j U k) To
move out of the
way. Quit jukin’
around, I can’t
cut your hair
straight.
K
L
Lickin (l ik N)
To hit or smack.
You two quit your
fightin’
or you’re
gonna get a lickin.
M
A mess ( a mess)
An amount. Only
mountain folk
know how many
fish, collard
greens, turnip
greens, peas,
beans, etc. make
up a mess.
N
O
P
Plantnin (plant
N) Green leafy
plant. Did you
feed the plantnin
leaves to the
hog yet?
Pole Cat (Pol
cat) Skunk Tell
Sam to quit chasin’
that pole cat.
Q
R
Ritch-(rich) to
squirm around.
Will you quit
your ritchin’
around and sit
still?
Red-(red) to
straighten up.
Go red up your
room.
S
Shar-(sha R) The
thing you use
to take a bath
standing up. Go
take a shar, you
stink.
Shine (sh I n)
Short for moon
shine. Is the
shine ready yet?
Sang (s ang)
Short for ginseng.
Are we gonna go
look for some
sang today?
Still (st i l)
Distillation device
for making moonshine.
The dang still
dun blowed up
again.
Sugar (shu gar)
A kiss. Gimme
some sugar pumpkin.
T
Tomarra-(ta mar
ra) Day after
today. I’m
going to town
tomarra.
U
V
W
Worsh-(war sh)
To clean. Did
you worsh the
clothes yet?
Whistle Pig (W
istle P ig) Ground
hog. Did the whistle
pig see his shadow
yet?
Whitetail (white
tail) An Eastern
US deer. He got
himself a 12 point
whitetail.
X
Y
Yep (y ep) Yes.
Is Tatter home
yet? Yep.
Youins (you ins)
You all. Youins
goin fishin today?
Yonder (yawn
dur) A general
direction. There
is a whitetail
yonder in them
briars.
Z
Only Mountain
Folk know the
difference between
a hissie fit and
a conniption fit,
and that you don't
"HAVE"
them but "PITCH"
them.
Only Mountain
Folk know how
many fish, collard
greens, turnip
greens, peas,
beans, etc. make
up "a mess".
Only Mountain
Folk can show
or point out to
you the general
direction of "yonder".
Only Mountain
Folk know exactly
how long "directly"
is - as in: "Going
to town, be back
directly."
Even Mountain
babies know that
"Gimme some
sugar" is
not a request
for the white,
granular sweet
substance that
sits in a pretty
little bowl on
the middle of
the table.
All Mountain
Folk know exactly
when "by
and by" is.
They might not
use the term,
but they know
the concept well.
Only Mountain
Folk know instinctively
that the best
gesture of solace
for a neighbor
who's got trouble
is a plate of
hot fried chicken
and a big bowl
of cold potato
salad. (If the
neighbor's trouble
is a real crisis,
they also know
to add a large
apple pan dowdy
or banana puddin'
if yur from the
South!)
Only Mountain
Folk grow up knowing
the difference
between "right
near" and
"a right
far piece."
They also know
that "just
down the "road"
can be 1 mile
or 20.
Only Mountain
Folk both know
and understand
the difference
between a redneck,
a good ol' boy,
and po' white
trash.
No true Mountain
Folk would ever
assume that the
car with the flashing
turn signal is
actually going
to make a turn.
Mountain Folk
know that "fixin'"
can be used as
a noun, a verb,
or an adverb.
Only Mountain
Folk make friends
while standing
in lines. We don't
do "queues",
we do "lines";
and when we're
"in line",
we talk to everybody!
Put 100 Mountain
Folk in a room
and half of them
will discover
they're related,
even if only by
marriage.
Mountain Folk
never refer to
one person as
"ya'll",
however "Youins"
may be singular
or plural.
Mountain Folk
know grits come
from corn and
how to eat them.
Mountain Folk
know tomatoes
with eggs, bacon,
grits, and coffee
are perfectly
wonderful; that
red eye gravy
is also a breakfast
food; and that
fried green tomatoes
are not a breakfast
food.
When you hear
someone say, "Well,
I caught myself
lookin' .... ,"
you know you are
in the presence
of genuine Southern
Mountain Folk!
SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN
FOLK
Someone once noted
that a Southerner
can get away with
the most awful
kind of insult
just as long as
it's prefaced
with the words,
"Bless her
heart" or
"Bless his
heart." As
in, "Bless
his heart, if
they put his brain
on the head of
a pin, it'd roll
around like a
BB on a six lane
highway."
Or, "Bless
her heart, she's
so blind, she
couldn't see the
moon shine."
There are also
the sneakier ones
: "You know,
it's amazing that
even though she
had that baby
7 months after
they were married,
bless her heart,
it weighed 10
pounds."
As long as the
heart is sufficiently
blessed, the insult
can't be all that
bad.
I was thinking
about this the
other day when
a friend was telling
about her new
Northern friend
who was upset
because her toddler
is just beginning
to talk and he
has a Southern
accent. My friend,
who is very kind
and, bless her
heart, cannot
do a thing about
those thighs of
hers, was justifiably
miffed about this.
After all, this
woman had CHOSEN
to move to the
South a couple
of years ago.
"Can you
believe it?"
she said to her
friend. "A
child of mine
is going to be
taaaallllkkin'
liiiike thiiiissss."
Now, don't get
me wrong. Some
of my dearest
friends are from
the North, bless
their hearts.
I welcome their
perspective, their
friendships andtheir
recipes for authentic
Northern Italian
food. I've even
gotten past their
endless complaints
that you can't
find good bread
down here. And
the heathens,
bless their hearts,
don't like cornbread!
The ones that
really gore my
ox are the native
Southerners who
have begun to
act almost embarrassed
about their speech.
We've already
lost too much!
I was raised
to swanee, not
swear, but you
hardly ever hear
anyone say that
anymore, I swanee
you don't. And
I've caught myself
thinking twice
before saying
something is "right
much"; "right
close" or
"right good"
because non-natives
think this is
right funny indeed.
I have a friend
from Bawston who
thinks it's hilarious
when I say I've
got to "carry"
my daughter to
the doctor or
"cut off"
the light. She
also gets a giggle
every time I am
"fixing"
to do something.
And, bless their
hearts, they don't
know where "over
yonder" is,
or what, "I
reckon" means.
My personal favorite
was my aunt saying,
"Bless her
heart, she can't
help being ugly,
but she could've
stayed home."
To those of you
who're still a
little embarrassed
by your Southerness:
take two tent
revivals and a
dose of sausage
gravy and call
me in the morning.
Bless your heart!
And to those
of you who are
still having a
hard time understanding
all this Mountainese
and Southern stuff,
bless your hearts,
I hear they are
fixin' to have
classes on Mountainese
and Southernese
as a second language!
