Do you speak Appalachian?
Like Dan’s family in Hainted, mine hails from the rolling Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. The people and the culture are a mix of Cherokee, Scotch and Irish, with a few Germans thrown in for good measure. All of these have made their unique impact of the local dialect. Here are a few examples:
Haint – This word can be a noun or a verb. A haint is a ghost; to be hainted is to be haunted.
Blackberry winter – Noun. A late spring snowfall.
Diddles – Noun. Baby chickens.
Fetched – Adj. To be annoying for the sake of irritating others.
Long sweetening – Noun. Molasses.
Y’all – Noun, plural only (seriously, Hollywood). All of you (people).
Want to learn more? Check out Mountain Talk: A Guide to Mountain Speech by Peggy Poe Stern. In the meantime, what odd words did you grow up with? I love learning new dialects, so tell me all about them in the comments!
Fun! LOL!
Thanks, Pauline!
I had no idea that chicks were called diddles. I love it!
Definitely a term you only hear from the older generation these days. I grew up calling them chicks like everyone else, but they were always diddles to my grandmother.
I guess I spent too much time on the coast to pick *most* of those up. But the language of the Smokies is certainly a creature all its own. You should hear my wife speak. “Down Yonder”, “Up’air”, “Down the road a ‘fer piece'”, “fler” “yeller”.. the list goes on. LOL.
Does she “warsh” the clothes and check books out of the “liberry?” LOL.
Hehe. She does say that on occasion but only to annoy me. My grandmother on the other hand, who also grew up in the mountains, does say it that way. I cringe every time I hear her say it.