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.
1. Atwixt: between; halfway. “Brasstown is atwixt Murphy and Hayesville.”
2. Ash hopper: a barrel or similar container in which ashes are collected to produce lye for soap making. “Chatter is a great soap maker, but she buys her lye. She’s been researching ash hoppers and would love to make her own lye.”
3. Applejack: alcohol beverage distilled from apple juice. “I heard he used all his apples to make applejack and wouldn’t allow his wife to use any of them for eating.”
4. Any much: very much. “He’s been a coon hunting for the last week but hasn’t had any much luck.”
5. An such: and other, like, or similar things. “In the summer there’s good eating from the garden. I love all that fresh squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, an such.”
So how did you do on the test? I’ve never heard anyone say atwixt, but Chatter picked that word out of the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English for me. I’ve heard all the rest, but seldom here anyone talking about applejack. Hope you’ll leave a comment and share which ones you are familiar with.
Last night’s video: My FAVORITE Kitchen Utensils! | Favorite things to Use in the Kitchen – Part 3.
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In Texas we say “tump,” which is a cross between “tip” and “dump.” As in “don’t you mess around near that pitcher or you’ll tump it over.”
I love regional dialects and vocabulary. Thank you for these fun videos.
I learned tump from some folks who moved from Memphis TN to Appalachia. I don’t use it, but must be a south-central thing.
Tipper,
I watch many of your youtube videos. I like them all.
Are you familiar with the expressions used by some of us old guys here in South central Kentucky such as….pertinerit pronounced pert-neer-it and the two words…. right-smart. They are both used as a measurement.
pertinerit = close, nearly or almost. Did you find as many mushrooms as you had hoped? pertinerit
right-smart = a good amount. Did you find a lot of ripe strawberries? right smart
Not who you asked, but I understand pertneer to be a shortening of “pretty near”, same as your meaning. If you said something was “right smart”, like a bunch of strawberries, I’d think you meant good-looking, not a large amount. Just the way I’ve heard it in East TN.
I have heard or read all those terms and have used most of them and still do occasionally.
Comments about lye soap (from the ash hopper term) brought to mind something my Pa taught us kids. He always insisted that chapped hands came from failing to rinse adequately. He was brought up using lye soap and was probably given this bit of wisdom by his peers or elders. If you failed to get all the lye off, your hands were bound to chap and crack. I still rinse very thoroughly just like I still shake any milk container (from having grown up before all mile was homogenized).
Today, 27 May, is the 128th anniversary of my Pa’s birth in the Needmore Community of Swain County, NC. That’s him in my avatar.
An such and Applejack only.
I remember lye soap being made in the big iron kettle over fire outside. I’m pretty sure it was cooked–not like where the fat is poured into the lye solution. I don’t remember an ash hopper but I wonder if they got lye that way for the soap.
Don’t remember any much but knew all the others. I love these vocabularies!
I’ve heard them all, but growing up I heard betwixt more than atwixt. Context alone makes the meaning of atwixt clear.
I have an observation about the use of “holler” and “hollow.” Would you say, “The rabbit ran into a holler log, so I hollered for Pa to bring his gun”? Yes, because holler log, when spoken, would be universally understood. On a printed page, however, I say this sentence would need a hollow log, even in Appalachian English, so as not to confuse flatlanders.
I have heard these except for ash hopper. I can remember as a little girl my Grandma making lye soap in a big, black pot over a fire. I remember the smell of it and when it was finished and I have no idea how long the process took, when it was ready she would give it to all the family. I remember it being white and boy would it clean. I enjoyed Sallie explaining it today. I sure do wish when I was younger I wrote down all of the things the old timers knew. They were so full of knowledge. When you are young, learn all you can. I enjoy this blog so much. Thank you Tipper!
I can’t remember saying or hearing atwixt, but have heard betwixt. Ash hopper I’m drawing a blank on, even though I’ve seen my mamaw Lewis make lye soap over an open fire and a big black kettle, I don’t remember where she kept the ashes.
I too have heard and used the majority of these phrases. The most common to me is “atwixt”, which I still use when I’m in “a pickle”, “trouble”, etc… “I find myself atwixt a rock and a hard place many times during the week.” Katie might like that one – LOL! Also, living in coal mining country in PA, we used “coal hoppers” to bring coal into the house for heating and then shovel out the coal ashes. Wish I could remember if the ashes were used for anything. It will be interesting to learn about Corie and her ashes to lye discoveries! All in all, I did pretty good on this vocabulary test – LOL! Thank you so much for ALL you do, Tipper!! Blessings…
1. I’ve heard twixt and b’twixt but not “atwixt”. To me txixt doesn’t mean halfway between. It means anywhere between. “My knife fell off the truck sommers twixt here and Bryson City and I ain’t never gonna find it.
2. Our neighbors on Wiggins Creek had an “ash hopper” that they kept on top of their wood heater. They would shovel ashes out of the stove into it and pour in water. The water would seep through and carry the lye from the ashes through a copper tube down to the floor and into a another metal pot that caught it. Aunt Pearl would use the lye water to soak corn to make hominy. I understood she could make soap but never watched her do it.
3. I always thought “Applejack” was hard cider. That shows how much I know! Applejack must be similar to what I call apple brandy. I’ve never been one to partake of distilled spirits.
4. I don’t think I’ve ever heard “any much”.
5. I don’t use “and such” much but Dusty says it all the time. I don’t know where he picked it up!
I’ve heard all them except atwixt. This was the first I’ve heard that one. Thank you for sharing!
Tipper, these are all good ones and I think I’ve heard all of them but not lately. I’m no expert but have learned the basics about soap making over years of trial and error, reading and listening to others. I demonstrated soap making several years at many festivals and events and learned a lot from the people I met. I think what Glenda referred to is the way people had to wash clothes with soap made from wood ashes before they could buy lye to make soap. I don’t see how you could use just ashes to wash clothes. But if that was all a person had maybe it would work. Soap is made from some form of lye, water and fat. Ashes were put in an ash hopper and water poured over to leach out the lye which became a reddish liquid. The people who had to do that preferred lye from hardwood ashes. That kind of lye is potassium hydroxide. Experience taught them how much lye to mix with how much fat, usually lard rendered from hog fat, how long to cook it and how long it should sit to cure to get soap. They might float an egg in the mix or stick a chicken feather in it to tell the right proportions of lye to fat. After cooking in an iron kettle over a fire they also had to know when it was done. I have been told that some people made a stronger soap (made with more lye to fat) for washing dirty work clothes and a more gentle soap (made with less lye to fat) for bathing. I think someone who was that skilled was very smart. And I’m not talking about classroom education. Making a usable soap that way is like baking a cake with no recipe nor measuring cups nor measuring spoons in a wood stove. It usually made a soft soap. Later, brands of lye like Mary War Lye or Red Devil Lye became available. That kind of lye was sodium hydroxide and was mixed with a certain amount of water which became extremely hot. After it cooled enough the liquid was mixed with warm fat. Lard was readily available as there might be old lard left over from the year before’s hog killing. I’ve been told most people saved the fresh lard for cooking. But many people saved old or rancid lard and bacon and other fried meat grease for making soap. Soap made from old fat might not smell the best but would make soap that would clean. When sodium hydroxide is mixed with water to make lye then mixed with fat it was referred to as cold water soap. The maker has a set amount of lye, water and fat (a recipe) but still has to know the correct temperature of ingredients when it is ready to be mixed, how long to stir and be able to recognize when it “traces” and is ready to pour into a mold. Today there are many books and recipes and ingredients available so that soap making is much easier to learn. Usually today’s soaps are scented and made with oils resulting in pretty scented soap bars. But the cold water soaps our ancestors made as well as the ash hopper soaps made by cooking over the fire would still clean as well. If the maker was experienced the ash hopper soap was gentle to the skin but great at cleaning everything. The harsh lye soap we have heard horror stories about was due to too much lye mixed with the fat or not cooking long enough or not leaving the soap long enough to cure before using. I am amazed at the stories I’ve read or been told about how our ancestors made what they needed from common things they had and how they used up and wasted very little. I’ll be interested to hear how Corie’s making lye with an ash hopper turns out and I admire her for trying that method of soap making.
Sallie-thank you! Corie could learn much from you 🙂
I’ve always heard twixt the devil and the deep blue sea, meaning being in a bad situation with no good way out.
Familiar with all but atwixt. When I saw it I immediately knew what it meant. There’s a town atwixt Athens, GA and Atlanta by the name of Between.
That road through Martin’s Creek nigh onto Murphy is so crooked a cyar needs hainges to make the curves.
I wish I could have paid more attention to our little neighbor when we lived in Norfork Holler before we moved to the mountain. Even though it was a coal camp she had a big two-story house, probably left over from a farm that was once there. She made lye soap, and I just bet she used the ashes. She did the old ways, and even filled her yard with corn. Her long dress with apron gathered the food, and she even donned a bonnet mostly worn by those even before her time. I remember her for kindness to children, taking her own money to have a bridge built across the creek. she feared we would drown wading. My sis remembers our grandmother taking her to teach some neighboring young girls how to make kye soap. I never got in on that.
Atwixt and any much are two terms I never heard. Many still often say “any such” as in “I never heard of any such of a thing.” I love the way your lessons make us reach back into the far recesses of our minds. We can then grab the most wonderful memories associated with that word or thing. Much of it was so much a part of our life, we can actually reach back and for a brief time we are right back there in the moment.
Let’s see; atwixt, ash hopper, applejack, any much, an such? These are hard ones. Never heard or read to recall “atwixt”. Closest I know is ” betwixt and between”. Know of, but never saw, an ash hopper. I want to think one had some part to play in tanning leather, like maybe taking the hair off? Apple jack the same, just know of but nothing by experience. “Any much” I draw a complete blank on. “An such” I know used just as Katy did, to mean “etc” or – more accurately – “and others likened unto” the preceding. (I like that “likened unto” and use it just for fun. It has a KJV biblical echo in it.)
I’ve been wondering, is Katy with rocks much like Will Rogers said he was by people, never met one he didn’t like? I get out roaming around here and see the mica schist sparkling where the sun shines on it and I think, ‘Wonder if Katy would want to make a necklace out of that?’ There are other rocks around here that have a mix of the mica and white quartz in small crystals that I think may be unusual. I wonder what Katy would make of those.
Ron-Katie has never met a rock she doesn’t like 🙂 But some definitely work better for what she does than others.
I have heard all the words but not much since my parents passed away. Atwixt is the word I remember hearing most often.
Some folks say” ideal” for “ idea”. “I’ve got a good Ideal”
Richard 🙂 I’m one of them
Amazing! Lots of “ER”s added to words that end in a or o down here too.
Highway 28 between Lauada and Franklin has curves so crooked you’ll meet yourself coming back!
This reply was intended for Don Byers. I don’t know how it landed here.
I have heard people say “ideal” but I’m more likely to hear “idy” or “idee”.
Hi Tipper just wanted to say how much we enjoy your vocabulary tests. And I want to personally thank you for your website & how much we enjoy it. My mother will be 97 in July and she is so depressed & lonely since my wife passed away.
Every single evening I go to your website on you tube & play several videos for her. She absolutely loves everything you do. We both enjoy your reading. We loved the book Dorie of the Mountains and now we are following your reading of Mountain Path. I have never experienced a author that is so descriptive, and more important is your reading style I love your voice & the rhythm in the way you read. It creates pictures in my mind that are so clear just like I am there and involved with characters in the book. Keep up the good work of preserving appalachia. We live in southern ohio but all of our family is from southeastern Ky….Just a note a lot of times during the day my mother will ask me…wonder what Tipper is doing…or have you heard anything from Granny…We love your beautiful daughters..My mother worried to death until Katie got back from her trip. We are both Christians now (Mom was baptized at 93). Thank you so much for the inspiration & happiness that you bring not just us but everyone around you…Keep appalachia alive..God Bless
This comment is to Ed Ammons: I LOVE the little rolling pin you carved for Tipper that she showed in last night’s video.
It was a special gift for a special lady!
I have not heard atwixt but have heard the others. I remember Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies making lye soap with ashes in a big cast iron pot over a fire out by the cement pond 🙂 She made lots of applejack too or some type of it. It would be great if Corie can make her soap the old fashion way with ashes instead of purchased lye. I appreciate that you all try to keep the old ways alive because that’s what it’s going to take to survive.
Thank you for this post. It’s a trip down memory lane for me and I can hear my family saying these things in my memories. Life was much more interesting before language became homogenized.
I have heard all these except “atwixt”. Instead I heard “betwixt”, also meaning “between.”
I’ve heard all of these, even atwixt. You ever heard of someone being atwixt a rock and a hard place, I have.
I love our colorful language.
Yeppers, have heard them all but the one about ‘ash’. I would love to see how that is done. I have heard about lye and using it to add to your water to wash cloths?…as best I remember, my Grandmother had a very large, I think it was made of iron, pot that you put water in and ash to wash cloths with. Grandpa would build a fire under it, outside in the back yard, to heat the water and that is what she washed the white linens in. They are both deceased and I am not able to question them about it. Learn all you can from your Mom as things just aren’t the same as the ‘olden’ days, and unless someone journals like you do, they are gone forever.