Time for this month’s Appalachian Grammar Lesson.
It is common for the words like to to be used in place of the words almost or nearly. A few examples:
*We was coming across the mountain when it fell a flood. I like to have froze to death before we got back to the house.”
*I saw Juanita down at the store, I liked to have never got away from her. She was a telling me about her family.”
*He like to of quit after they talked to him that away. But I told him just hold on a little longer and it’d all work out.”
Would you hear the sentences above in your area? Or would the ‘like to’ be replace by almost or nearly?
Tipper
I thought of one that I heard people use…air-ish It means very breezy. “It’s right airish today.”
I’m so proud of my East Tennessee Appalachian roots! I always tell people ‘don’t expect me to talk like a Southerner, cause I ain’t one…I’m an Appalachian mountain girl!”
Charlotte and Jeff, we use it for lack in South Ms and North Ga too. And I love when I’m corrected – as if I didn’t know. I’m a high school guidance counselor with a master’s degree and I guess they think I don’t know better – but I’m really just not aove my raisin’.
Not likely to hear it in my area, that is unless you are at my house.
Tipper: “like it happened right smart” or so they say. i thought that was western jargon . guess not. regards k.o.h
Of course we use like and then again I don’t live far away neither. LOL
I liked to have fell over at the great Caldwell barn pictures!
Oh yes, know it well. You mean everbody dont talk this way?
I agree with the other TN folks … hear them/use them all the time.
None of the above are heard in England though “Near as like” means the same as “more or less”, while “like as not” means “probably”.
John
“By Stargoose And Hanglands”
Have you ever read the book “Christy”, by Catherine Marshall? I feel like I’m reading it when I read your post today! I’m re-reading that book for the umpteenth time right now…love it!
Tipper,
I ‘liked’ to got my hands blistered pullin’ wires from pole
to pole for my White Runners. Yeah, I recon thats the way I talk
too…Ken
Tipper , Thanks for your work. Common veracular for us here in
far east Tn. Larry Proffitt
Of course I still hear this from my Dad. Same thing with near. “I nearly have this finished” “I most near put my eye out”
I love it – I had almost forgotten about “liked”. I remember my grandma telling my mother
“I reckoned you wasn’t coming this year – I liked to worked myself to death puttin these pole beans up by myself.”
Laurie
We still use it around here!
Oh yeah, of course we do here in East Tennessee.
As a non-native local this is one phrase I have adopted when speaking in causal settings. It sure beats the excessive repetition of “like” I heard from kids when I lived out West. Give me “like to” in the South any day 🙂
Yes, we’ve always used those words and we do use “like” instead of “lack” all the time. Isn’t it nice to know we share things in common in this hustle, bustle world?
I talk like this all the time, I once had a friend comment when I said I liked to have hit him crossing the bridge….well, why didn’t you if you would have liked to?
‘Like’ and ‘like to’ get a fair amount of play here in the foothills. We also have purty near, or as my grandma said it, purt’ near.
I still use “like” in my everyday life. I like to have never gotten that border on straight…..
Pop over when you have time and take a look at my “outhouse” quilt.
Take care.
Every day around home in Winston-Salem!
Well, since I consider Spartanburg Co to be the coccyx bone of the Carolina Appalachians, yup, I hear it and use it all the time.
Tipper–There are Appalachian “talk” synonyms for “like to” and they ain’t nearly or almost. Instead, they are “purt near,” “near about,” and “near nuff.” As in I purt near (or near about or near nuff) roasted yesterday while working in the garden.
Jim Casada
http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
Tipper,
I liked to have fell over laughing ’cause I thought nearly and almost was wrong usuage…ha
Thanks Tipper
“Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like watermelon.” — Groucho
I liked to of laughed out loud when I read this and realized that I say it all the time!
Jeff-thank you for the comment-and you are so right about the other usage. I would say “how much do you like till your done with the mowing?”
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Clint-I still hear that phrase-and use it myself too : ) Like- I come within one of falling down that bank behind the house or I come within in one of telling her exactly what I thought.
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Oh yeah, “like to” is very prevalent in our conversations. You might hear the occasional “nearly ’bout”.
Somehow,”like” has also become interchangable with “lack”. As in, “How much do you like being done with your homework?”
Absolutely! I hear that all of the time! Of course, I live in the heart of Appalachia. I love it!
I like this Tipper. I talk this way myself sometimes..lol..
We use like/liked in the same way Tipper. Hey I recognize that old barn from over in Cataloochee! I love being in the upper part and looking out over that big field.
These are commonly used here. I use them and also nearly.
I grew up with everyone talking like that and I talk that way on a regular basis.
We would say ‘almost’ or ‘nearly.’ I used to hear my grandmother say a phrase I don’t even know how to write. It’s something to the effect of to ‘come within one’ of doing something.
since i live in Florida, these are not sentences we would hear down here. i used to here them in GA and KY but that was many years ago.
I have always heard and spoke the same as above.
Oh, for sure …it’s “like” as in I liked to starved to death last night in this house cause there is NOTHING to eat….lol.