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. Had ought to: should. “Granny always said I had ought to always comb my hair and wash my face before leaving the house.”
2. Haint tale: ghost story. “Us kids used to love to tell haint tales anytime of the year but they seemed especially spooky in fall of the year.”
3. Heap: many; a great number or amount. “I’m hoping the heap of mast I’ve been hearing folks talk about this fall means I’m going to get a heap of snow this winter.”
4. Heekack: a noisy argument with everyone talking at the same time. “He got so mad he went down there and raised a heekack. Said they weren’t going to do him no such a way anymore.”
5. Hog sucker: a scavenging fish, the log-perch (Percina caprodes). “The very few times I fished with Pap and caught something it was usually a hog sucker.”
All of this month’s words are beyond common in my area of Appalachia except heekack. I have never heard it nor even read it in a book.
When I noticed heekack in the Dictionary of Southern Appalachian English I immediately liked it. The entry says the word is most common in Kentucky and West Virginia. When I shared the video several folks commented that it was a German word.
Hope you’ll leave a comment and let me know how you did on the test.
Last night’s video: 9 Brides & Granny Hite 12.
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I was raised in northwest Illinois. My Dad was from northeast Missouri. That area is almost like a small part of the Ozarks in the phrasing and words they used to use. Like every where, it is becoming diluted. I have lived in northwest Arkansas for 43 years. Had ought to has crept into my Yankee vocabulary as well as reckon and fixin’ to. Heap is one of those words I think I heard as a child as well as branch (creek/crick).
I have never heard of heekak. I have heard of conglomeration of tongue waggers, though!
Tipper,
Number 3
AND, a “whole heap” is even more?
My neighbor gave me a whole heap of corn to can.
Growing up in WVa I have heard Harrican because there was an area close to where I lived which was named Hurricane. However, most of the people who lived there pronounced it Harrican. The word ‘hog sucker’ I have not heard before. I have heard all the other words and phrases. Strangely enough, I find myself using some of the same words without realizing it. I guess some words have just become part of us after we’ve heard them all our lives. Anyone heard the word ‘spizzerinctum’? My folks used it a lot. For instance, if food was bland my Mother would say it needed some spizzerinctum!
I’ve never heard of heekack, and I was born and raised and have lived here in Kentucky pert near all my life so I guess it’s just not common here in the southeastern part of the state. Tipper, I guess my favorite vocabulary word you ever did was palpeetus of the punk. 🙂
Never heard heekack before. I’m embarrassingly familiar with hogsuckers though lol. Caught many of them and my husband says those don’t even count as real fish, just throw backs…he usually says this when my count exceeds his
I love all the words! Prayers for you and yours, Tipper 🙂
I have used “had ought to” and “heap” but not the others. I haven’t heard of any bottom feeder fish no one wants to eat, except Carp. I really like listening to and learning the new words though. It’s a beautiful day and I had ought to go on outside before it rains later on. There’s a heap of leaves that need raking.
Heekack is new to me, but I like it! Have always used and heard the other words. Enjoyed the test. Last night’s reading was great! Loved how Corie was walking even before the doc. knew, and the folks had blasted him but sure changed their tune about him when they found out she could walk. Now they are sweet on each other. Can’t wait to see where this goes. I still say, one of the best books yet. Thank you for sharing it. Have a great day everyone and prayers to Granny. Another week behind her now.
Thank you, Tipper, for the vocabulary test. All but “heekack” and “hog sucker” were familiar to me.
The sharp look and sound of the ‘k’s in the word ‘heekack’ made its meaning clear to me even before you defined it. This started me thinking about the Bouba/kiki Effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect). All that thinking tired me out, and I got hungry. But not hungry enough to eat a hog sucker fish. : )
Thanks again, Tipper. May God comfort, encourage and strengthen Granny and the rest of your family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPBzo1H7nsU
Had ought to is the most familiar saying to me. My granny Myrtle said it all the time.
I’m so glad your mother endured this week of treatments. Praying for her, Israel and our country.
Everyone get out and enjoy this beautiful day because cold weather is on its way. Set a goal of things to do and get it done!
Never heard heekack that’s a new one for me. We use “haint” another way too. “I’m so tired this morning from wollering the bed all night I look like a haint for daylight ”
Papaw had real haint tales while coon hunting he would share. The thought scared us to death. They all swore they were truth to the end.
Thanks for keeping the words of the mountains alive. Prayers for Granny!
I like heehack, I’m gonna use that one.
Have a blessed weekend.
I have never heard heekack but all the other words are common in my neck of the woods. This is the time of the year when haint tales and hainted houses sound even scarier. God bless Granny!
The only one familiar to me is heap. I have heard of haints, but I’ve never used the word myself. I enjoy these vocabulary tests, as I am a word person.
Know all except heekack and hog sucker fish.
Heekack is new to me. We say raised Cain or caused a ruckus. Had ought to or hadn’t ought to were both common when growing up. One family always said, “You don’t belong to do that.”
Hog sucker and hecack are two terms I haven’t heard before. Instead of oughta we in WV say ORTA. If you’ve talked to one hillbilly in NC you can sure talk to one in WV because there are enough similarities to figure out what’s being said. You know I got no money, but I sure am rich! Have a great day y’all and let’s be appreciative for what we DO HAVE and don’t worry about what we don’t. I got hacked of my money two nights ago, but I’m hanging in there like hair in a biscuit knowing it will work out or not…continue to get better DEAR LOUZINE and the rest of you take time for yourself and self care….. much love to all
I’ve never heard of heekack but all of the other words were quite common. I remember hearing the old folks saying them, I
don’t think they are very common anymore, you seldom hear them or at least where I live.
Blessings to all
3 of 5; had ought to, heap and hog sucker. Never heard “hekack” nor “haint tales” (even though my Grandpa liked to tell’em). I’m pretty sure I have commonly heard plain “ought to” and “had ought to” more rarely as a deliberate quirky emphasis which seems to be a characteristic of us on the whole. The wittest folks spice up the common with turns and twists and the best ones endure.
Heekack is unknown to me…my family goes back many generations in Swain, Jackson and Haywood counties. The other words were all commonly used and understood.
One and three are very common to me and often said by me. I have also heard of hog sucker fish. Instead of haint tales I say ghost stories and I have never heard heekack, I have always said they got hot.
Thanks for these posts. I also love and appreciate all the regional terms and phrases that come from our ancestors. My dad used to say “eedjit,” meaning idiot, which we discovered was Irish slang. Such wonderful language!!
Like you all these words are as common as cornbread in my little corner of Appalachia except heekack.
Have always heard and used all the words except for heckack. That’s a new one for me.
I reckon we grew up so poor that we are those “hog suckers” if we caught them. We always ate mudfish when I was growing up. Most would just throw them away, but my daddy knew how to clean them and prep them as soon as we caught them so the meat didn’t go mushy. I sure moved it! And boy would they put up a fight to catch ’em.
That was supposed to say we ATE, not that we are. lol
Enjoyed all the words this month. Prayers for Granny and an easy time for Katie.
I like heekack too! It just sounds like what it means. I believe chickens raise a heekack pretty often. So do the Bluejays when they’re around my bird feeder.
The read yesterday was a real discussion for the Hubby and I. I think we talked about that one more than the others. The odd part is that he does not like fiction, rather wants ‘real’ books, but this one is so different for him. That makes it a winner for me. Loved the words and have used and still use some of them. Thanks for sharing. God Bless you guys…Get well Granny.
I got tired of waiting on Tipper to read the book to me! I bought my own Granny Hite book and have read it once and before two long be reading it again. I have never learned how to add a smiley face to my comments.