A few weeks back I was asked to talk to students and parents at a local school about being a blogger. There were several speakers and the participants were divided into groups. Each group spent about 15 minutes with a speaker before moving on to the next.
I talked about blogging in general. I read Charles Fletcher’s story “Old Jim the Pet Crow” and I talked about Appalachian Language. I believe they enjoyed the Appalachian words I tested them with more than anything else, even though not many of them recognized the words.
My star pupil was a lady about my age who grew up in Brasstown. She knew most of the words. Coming in second was my sister-n-law’s nephew who is in 8th grade. He didn’t necessarily know all the words, but I could see a flash of recognition go across his face for most of them. I hope my presentation will make him, and the others, pay closer attention to the colorful Appalachian language they hear and take pride in knowing it’s part of their heritage.
Tipper
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I miss the old timey language. Mama was a treasure trove of it and I often wish I had jotted them down.
I miss hearing our Appalachian speech like I did in my childhood. My parents and grandparents conversation was filled with similes such as “hot as a firecracker” and “cold as a wedge.” Who now-a-days even knows what a ‘wedge’ is? Thanks, Tipper for all you do to keep it alive. In my own way, I try to do the same.
I think it’s great we pass it down to our kids so they can , and so on. It should always be kept alive. Thanks Tipper and God Bless!
I’m doing my part to keep the language alive. Each time I think of a word I haven’t heard in some time, I write it down. My cousin does the same thing. We call each other and use examples that include the words and have a few laughs as we go down memory lane. I anxiously await your Appalachian vocabulary test each month so that I can test her the same day you post it.
So nice to know our youth are being taught there is a lot of good things on the internet. Hope they check out your blog and learn about their heritage. So much social media today is junk and hurtful.
“Not many of them recognised the words.” I guess TV and school accounts for that. Which has me wondering if those colleges that have an “Appalachian Studies” program include language as part of it.