One of the things that’s good when I go to the Kentucky Appalachian Mountains for a story or when I stay in a rural area is that I can let my characters talk country. That’s pretty easy for me since I talk country. Many of the things you might have heard in the hills of Eastern Kentucky back some years ago, I grew up hearing and saying. So no wonder I can hear my characters talking.
Somebody sent me some examples of southern country talk a few years ago. I stumbled across it tonight and nodded my head on many of the expressions. Of course, some of the mountain lingo is a bit different that I’ve been able to use in my stories. Some of it is a little more poetic too like the edge of dark for evening time. Or getting a soon start for being out and going early. Others can be amusing. One I remember reading but didn’t use in my stories is that someone said a certain man was so slow it didn’t hurt him to fall out of a tree.
But here are a few expressions that are right here at home in my own dialogue.
“I reckon” is a handy way of saying quite a few things like I suppose, I think, I imagine, I guess. I reckon it works fine when you’re sharing what you are thinking with a neighbor or maybe agreeing with what he might be telling you by saying “I reckon so.”
“If I had my druthers” is a way of saying if things would just go the way I think they should everything would be better. For example, I’d druther be reading a book than chopping out the garden any old day.
And have you ever known anyone who was “madder than a wet hen?” You didn’t have to tell country folk that you’d best step away from somebody like that. And maybe stay away from that hen that got doused in a sudden rainstorm.
“It don’t amount to a hill of beans.” Beans are pretty common out in the country. We grow them in our gardens and the mountain folk strung them up on strings to dry for shuck beans. So a hill of beans never seemed worth much and if something didn’t amount to a hill of beans, it wasn’t worth thinking or worrying about. Of course, sometimes a person might be said to not be worth a hill of beans too.
“Till the cows come home.” If you’re doing a task that is going to keep you working until the cows come home, you know you’re in for a long day’s work. Cows don’t get in a hurry to come home unless they know somebody is chopping up some corn or pulling out a bale of hay to feed them.
Then there’s “over yonder.” I’m not sure a true southerner can give directions without telling you something is over yonder somewhere. Over yonder so and so lives. Over yonder you can find the blackberry patch. And if you say something is “way over yonder” then you can reckon on it being a good ways to get there.
I’m sure I used some of these in my new book, The Song of Sourwood Mountain. I like it when I’m “fixin’ to” get my characters talking in my stories because that means I can hear their downhome voices in my head. I might even shake that head when they get in trouble in my stories and let somebody tell them “bless your heart.” Can’t get much more southern than that.
What country expressions make you smile?
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Ann, those are all familiar expressions. When we lived in Wilmore in the early 70s, the college librarian lived near us. His young daughter who was about ten years old would come across the back yard to chat with my wife if she saw her outside. One day, my wife commented about something being “over yonder.” Quite innocently, the girl asked, “Where is yonder?” Although it’s been over fifty years now, from time to time when one of us uses the word “yonder,” the other will ask, “Where is yonder?”
Author
Ahh, yonder is a dream that we all have of the perfect place – a place where we can find whatever we are looking for and all is good, Edward.
But the little girl did have a reasonable question. Sometimes it’s hard to know where yonder is exactly when somebody is telling us where to go or look. Fun story.
Here’s a few.
Whatcha gonna do when the crick runs dry? …
Pitching a hissy fit. …
Running like a headless chicken. …
Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash.
Well, that just DILLS my PICKLE!
He is so dumb, he could throw himself on the ground and miss
We called a ‘brown paper bag a poke.
When there was a lot of traffic passing by, Who let the cows out!
My daughter in-law was from Florida, one day a lot of traffic was passing by, my son said , who let the cows out. My daughter in-law
said will we have to put them back in the field.
I’ve always lived in northern Indiana (except for 2 years in Minnesota) and I’ve heard and used all of these expressions. Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
A fun post that’s right up my alley, Ann. I have posts about all but three of these expressions on my “Words, Wit, and Wisdom: Life Lessons from English Expressions” blog. Thanks again for your 12-7-2020 guest post on “Throw a Monkey Wrench into It.”
I was born and raised in the city but I know and use everyone of those sayings! I’ve visited relatives who lived on farms but never lived on one myself. One oddity to me is hearing country folk say they “warsh” their clothes. Another is folks who follow a “receipt” rather than a “recipe” when they bake. I don’t hear it anymore but Minnesotans used to say they had to use the “biffy” when they needed to utilize a “restroom”. And I rarely hear “for crying out loud” these days. Words and sayings are just so much fun!
Author
I used to say “warsh” until I volunteered to read some books for the Library of the Visually Impaired. Then I learned to leave the r out of wash. 🙂 Lots of other words I still don’t say properly though.
I never heard of “biffy” for “restroom.” Might be a good change from restroom. But I am very familiar with “for crying out loud” for heaven’s sake. I’m sure I’ve heard or said that often.
My mother used to say, “she’s running around like a blind dog in a meat house.”
Also, “Don’t stand there like a goose lookin’ for thunder.”
Right now I’m fixin’ to run the sweeper!♥️😂
Author
I never heard either of those, Margie, but both things give a person a picture for sure. It’s sort of neat that one of the remarks seems to be to slow you down and the other to get you moving if I’m thinking about them right. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Spending a lot of my youth with grandparents in Paint Lick Ky, I heard all of these sayings. I also heard “hunkie dorie” when things were going well, and “it’s slicker than a greased rats tail” after an ice storm or if the roads were muddy.
Have a wonderful week and fun Independence Day celebration Ann.
Author
That “hunkie dorie” echoed in my head, Lavon. I’m not sure it was all great when I heard it or said it. I can hear a sliver of aggravation in my memory according to how you might say it.. “That’s just hunky dory!” I think I’d spell it with y’s instead of ie’s. No reason, just how I imagine it.
That’s sort of like “well” and what the word might mean according to the tone of voice or whether it’s said briskly or drawn out.
…Latin’’ in bed ‘til the sun warps your teeth. This means someone overslept or didn’t get up early.
Author
I never heard that one, Debra, but it makes me smile. I’ll try to get up before the sun warps my teeth.
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, not the south but I’ve heard and used all those expressions all my life. Well, all except fixin’. Picked that one up in North Carolina when we lived there. One phrase we heard a lot down there always amused my husband.. somebody would say they “carried”a neighbor to an appointment, store or someplace, meaning they gave them a ride. He thought that was hilarious. That phrase you mentioned about slowness really cracked me up.
Author
I’ve heard that about carrying somebody somewhere when they mean giving them a ride, Lee. I guess in a way they are carrying you along. My brother-in-law always told my sister “let’s go to the house” when he was ready to go home. We all thought that was funny since we just said “let’s go home.” We all have different ways to express things. Neat that you knew those country expressions in Pennsylvania.
A friend from Canada liked to make jokes about us saying we were “fixin'” to do this or that.
My husband used to say that “Let’s go to the house” phrase. I hadn’t heard it before I met him. It amused me to hear it. I’d sometimes ask which house? Poor house or nut house?”
Oh my I remember hearing some of these sayings Madder than a wet hen, and Till the cows come home and also It don’t amount to a hill of beans. Have a Blessed Week
Author
Those are some good ones, Sarah. It’s fun seeing what others are adding. I like one mentioned on my FB page about being “fit to be tied.” I should look that one up and see exactly where it got started and what it first meant.