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It’s time for this month’s Appalachian Vocabulary Test.

I’m sharing a few videos to let you hear the words and phrases. To start the videos click on them.

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1. Epizooticks: imaginary illness; common cold. “I swear everybody has got the epizooticks. I wish they’d stay home and stop spreading it around.”

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2. Evening: time between middle of day and dusky dark. “Granny and Pap liked to sit in the backyard of an evening after they’d worked in the garden.”

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3. Everhow: however. “Everhow he tried to fix it made it worse. Now it won’t even turn on.”

4. Everwhat: whatever. “I told her everwhat they wanted to do was fine with me, but to let me know when they figured it out.”

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5. Extree: extra. “We ate at a new place up in Hayesville today and it was extree good.”

All of this month’s words are common in my area of Appalachia. Although I rarely hear anyone say epizooticks these days.

Hope you’ll leave me a comment and tell me how you did on the test.

Tipper

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25 Comments

  1. Every.Single.One! I had almost forgotten about Epizooticks. We just said Epizootick. It could be either real or imaginary.

    When I was growing up I had a hard time figuring out evening because I was also exposed to a different definition that was more like the early part of night. My Grandma W. Used it the most of anybody. It was anytime after dinner — dinner was always at noon.

    Here is another: overneath. It is the opposite of underneath.

  2. Extree is still a common word I hear. I use everwhat and everhow in my vocabulary. (Now that I think about it, a lot more than I realized!) But I’ve always loved to hear the word epizoodous. It’s just plain fun to say. It was used a lot when I was growing up. People had the epizoodous flu, but I rarely hear it used now.

    Reminds me of the time the lady in church told us she had the “flumonia diabetes”.

  3. I never heard of the epizooticks before. I also did not realize how often I use all the other words in my everday talkin’. Only when I read the vocabulary words and those in the comments does it remind me that I say these words without thinking how they sound. I just grew up saying them.

  4. I don’t know any of these, and evening to me is suppertime or later. I think it’s a Southern thing, too, to drop the g’s from words ending with -ing. I do it without thinking about it. I don’t write the way I speak.

  5. Tipper,
    I never heard of epizooticks, unless I wasn’t paying attention. My girls use to remind me of that. I did hear my dad say “extree” a few times. And as my friend Ed says, I say whurever and everwhat all the time.

    I enjoy winding down, after I get the chores done, “in the Shade at the end of the Row.” …Ken

  6. Never heard epizooticks but have heard all the rest. Also heard Tomar and Wheelbar used for tomorrow and wheelbarrow and the “g” dropped off some words like fixin instead of fixing. These all bring a smile to my face. As a young person I remember hearing some people say they were going to dinner and I thought they meant their noon meal where actually they were talking about what I called Supper.

  7. I have seen epizooticks, but only after I started pursuing anything Appalachian online. I love Jim Casada’s word “gloaming.” Some words are just pretty, and say more than the word. “Of an evening” is still used by many, and I am always substituting ever how for however.
    An expression we used to use a lot got my brother in law called to the plant office when he moved North. We would often begin a sentence with “boy” which was not related at all to gender or age, and not a word showing disrespect. An example of its use was we might say, “Boy this is a hot day.” It was more for stressing to the listener how hot the day was. Needless to say that hardworking man did not stay North, but came back to his home state and lived happily ever after where he could have his Appalachian food and not have to apologize for his expressions. So glad, as he did quite well in his own home town.

  8. My Wife’s Dad often said epizootee but the only time I hear it now is my Wife or me using it in a joking way. Awhile back I used epizoote on a couple of church members. You know how people are always shaking hands and asking how you doing before church starts. No one knew the word. A dying word I think. I guess we will have to revive it. Well, maybe if you said it now that you had the epizoote people would step back and put their mask on.
    The other words are fairly common but I don’t hear extree much any more. I said the word several times and it came out as exteer.

  9. Everwhat and everhow are words I have said all my life and still do, even after my daughter laughed and slapped her thighs while pronouncing however…real slow. Sounded stupid to me and I told her I’d say everwhat I wanted to. Never heard epizooticks. That must be the same illness as blydoekee.

  10. I’ve heard and used all of them. The epizooticks are related to that other terrible ailment, the dread mahoakus!

  11. I call it epizootica
    Evening is the time between dinner and supper
    Don’t forget everwhur and whurever (spellcheck don’t like either)
    I been spell it extry. Have I been spellin it wrong all these years?

    Do you pronounce the row at the end of tomorrow? We say tomar. Same with wheelbarrow. It’s wheelbar. Some say wheelbarrel.

  12. Hmmm hard ones today. I would have to say at best 3 of 5; epizoorics, evening and extree, maybe everwhat but not everwhen. Rarely hear any of them with extree being most likely. Sometimes I say ‘extree’ on purpose to be different from the standard English ‘extra’ just to touch base with my roots. I do that with different words at different times but not unless with folks I’m confident will ‘get it’. For example, I wouldn’t ever have to ‘catch myself’ talking to you Tipper nor would you ever have to talking to me. .

    1. Grew up on the words: “can’t help-it’s “. Such as what’s ailing ArbaJane now? Oh, nuttin’. She just has a case of the can’t help-it’s!! Don’t fret, she’ll come around in a day or so.
      I took this to mean the person in question was ” down in the mouth” another expression for the doldrums

  13. Epizooticks, now there is a word! I’ve heard it all my life and I’ve heard all the others as well. Actually, I still hear most of them but not as often. I love the way we have our own language with really colorful words like epizooticks!

  14. Tipper–Epizooticks is new to me; the others are commonplace. In the case of evening, I’ve often heard it (and personally use it) in connection with fixing (i.e. “i’m fixin’ to go fishin’ this evenin'”). The dropped ending “g” is also commonplace.

    What I don’t think I’ve ever heard used verbally, although it is a wonderful word, is a synonym or near-synonym for evening, namely, gloaming.

    Jim Casada

  15. Of an evening, I don”t hear it often anymore, but it puts a smile on my face remembering the times with my family. Extree and everwhat I have heard but never used.

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