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. Afront of: in front of, before. “Remember that woman that used to walk everywhere? She had a little dog that walked afront of her ever step of the way.”
2. Aggravatingest: most aggravating. “He was the aggravatingest person I’ve ever worked with. He about drove me plum crazy!”
3. Aim to: to intend. “If I can find them, I aim to pick a lot of blackberries this summer.”
4. Akinned: related. “We’d been friends a good long while before we realized we were akinned through the Wilson line.”
5. Alkyhol: alcohol. “Sunday at church one of our dear elders used the word alkyhol. As you might imagine I grinned from ear to ear. Pap and Granny both used the word.”
I’m familiar with all of this month’s words. Hope you’ll leave a comment and tell me how you did on the test.
Last night’s video: First Garden Tour of 2026.
Tipper
Subscribe for FREE and get a daily dose of Appalachia in your inbox
Pretty familiar terms. Love Matt’s explanation of being akin to Elvis. I guarantee he’s much better looking now. LOL. Matt not Elvis.
Enjoyed reading this blog . Love the vocabulary words!
I too am familiar with all of them. I just love to hear your girls say them though!
I heard of and use them all still.
Tipper, my mom Janet has had a rough day today. She almost fell on me. Her legs get wobbly with her Parkinsons. I held on with everything I had to keep her from falling. please continue to pray for her.
I’m so sorry! I will keep praying for her and for you too!
I’m familiar with & have used all of those phrases/terms. As I read them a phrase common in our family came to mind: “fixing to git ready to”. We Texas folk never gave it any thought until our youngest son dated a girl from Canada. For whatever reason it really aggravated her. He later married a girl from Italy – the phrase only confuses her!
Hi Tipper and family!!; I haven’t posted a comment in a while, but I keep up with and enjoy your blog every night. It’s usually the last thing I do before settling down for the night. That way I can read all of the comments from my fellow ACORNS. Down here in Lucedale MS we are getting ready for summer harvest already. We have several large commercial U-picks that supply the local needs and also the country with fresh fruits and vegetables. Be on the lookout at the grocery stores for labels Eubanks Farms, Courtney Farms, and Crooms Farms. We live just a couple miles from all of them and there are fields after fields of beautiful produce; a lot of it almost ripe for picking. Of course, home gardening is the best, but we are in our 60’s now and don’t do as much of that anymore. We do have container gardens in our back yard, and guess where I got that idea? Years ago from you!!. We put in Irish potatoes this year, and in a few more days, we will be enjoying them. I get so excited when harvesting them; like hunting underground Easter eggs!! I was familiar with all the sayings; In our area, our language is so like yours, the descendants that have deep ancestral roots that trickled down to this area by way of the mountains. A lot of our words are combined together in one phrase. One my husband says all the time is “yont to” (rhymes with want) instead of saying “do you want to”. Have y’all ever heard or used that one? Y’all have a great day!!
Afternoon everyone. I hope everyone got some rain. We got too much. Standing water everywhere. It has brought out snakes, and a baby Robin. I didn’t think the eggs would make it through the storm and wind, but one did. The second might be pecking out. The egg is cracked so maybe taking it’s time. My son is tall and can look in, or takes a picture on his phone. The pine tree is still young so was bending really bad. Those 2 parents were incredible. Staying on the nest being pelted with rain and wind. One egg is missing. I hope I don’t find it. Matt just cracks me up. Anna from Arkansas.
oh my goodness lol . all those words come outta my mouth probably daily lol.
I’m familiar with them all!
Good morning! Have heard all of these used most of them, except I don’t think I am familiar with “afront of.” All the others are common words to me. My favorite one of these would be aggravatingest! It can be used to describe situations or people quite perfectly.
If you are “afront” of people, don’t stop short so that they might bump into you, or they may be “affronted” by what you did…It does actually have something of a nautical sound to it, like “astern,” “athwart,” “abeam” and the like.
All the words are common around my house. Afront of reminds me of another directly related word I haven’t heard in a good while. Afor means the same as afront. Ammons, ain’t nothing better than biscuits made with flair unlessen it’s the scrambled aigs served with them.
Wow, look at me! I have actually heard them all.
I aim to is the only one I have heard.
Alkyhol in my family was akin to Alky-seltzer and extry-crispy fried chicken.
Hmm for starters I’m like Sadie; never heard (as best I recall) “afront of”. Makes perfect sense, especially in relation to toddlers. with their short steps. Also makes me think about walking a single-file trail in the woods you want to think it about who is ” afront of” you. My memory doesn’t serve me well enough to say whether I heard “akin” or “kin” most growing up. I’m thinking it was “kin” though. As to kin to Elvis, I shouldn’t be greatly surprised if Matt were. I have encountered the Pressley name in early US history in the upper TN and western VA and a major migration pattern was westward through TN to northern Alabama. Also would not be surprised if there isn’t a version of an online genealogy of Elvis. Not suggesting you all are greatly concerned. But I read an article a day or so ago that something like 183 million Americans have a connection through genetics to the Founding Fathers.
On the “Presley” line of Elvis’s ancestry, the name was anglicized from “Presler/Pressler” (both spellings show up) in the early 18th C. The Presslers, from southern Germany, settled in Northeastern Maryland, just south of the Pennsylvania Dutch country, around 1700. Some would end up around Charlotte NC in the late 18th C. So it wouldn’t surprise me very much if Matt is distant kin going back to around the time of the founding of the Republic.
I forgot to say that “afront” is almost always prefaced by “out”, “way out”, “way out in”, “way out up in”, and et cetera.
Yep, I’ve heared them sayins many a time in my youngin days. Hearin them again brings a smile to my heart. I miss my young in days.
Me too, now on most days I feel and look like I kissed a Mack truck running 60 mph. I have been told I was a pretty baby but I outgrew it!
I know them all and still use them frequently!
I have heard everyone of them and use most of them myself. Loved seeing all the beautiful flowers.
got some more rain last night, praise God for that, God bless you friends have a great day
I have heard all these phrases you have posted today. ‘Alcyhol’ makes me smile…thinking about my hubby’s grandparents saying it. His grandpap used to practically take a bath in the wintergreen kind. It was always sitting beside his chair for any emergency bug bite or boo boo.
I’m familiar with them all
Heard all but AFRONT OF…. Pretty good actors you hired to use the vocabulary words and quite fetching to boot!!! Have a great day all! Bright eyes, pretty teeth, pretty hair and smooth skin-the apples don’t fall far from the pretty tree…Gid bless you all today!
Aggravatingest and aim to were the only two I have ever heard used by my family members. But all the others I understood what they mean and liked them too. Thanks for the words! ❤️Meg
Hi Tipper and Acorns. I love how we talk here in Appalachia. TY so much for the garden tour video. It is alyays so enjoyable to be in your garden with you. I keep everyone here and up Wilson Holler in my prayers. TY all for praying for my son, Ed and me. I love y’all.
My family used “aggravatingest,” “alkyhol,” and “I aim to”. They said “kin to”. I never heard “afront of”.
I was familiar with all of the words this morning and they put a smile on my face. It reminded me of a visit with my cousins on my aunt’s front porch in 1976, in The Flatwoods jn Adair Co KY. One was talking about flares set out along his semi while he repaired a flat tire. He was 23 and driving for DG. His brother was an 18 yr old senior in high school and asked the very serious question “where they real or artificial??” Greg said I burst out laughing and Perry just stood looking confused. The accent got the country boy. He thought his brother was setting out FLOWERS along the road to warn cars to move over!! We might still be chuckling about that tho sadly Greg has passed. Thanks for bringing up a great memory Pressley fam♡ I greatly enjoyed the garden tour!! And look forward to the next as it all fills in!!
We make biscuits with flare!
Kim. I worked 38 years at Michelin making tares not tires. We had a country preacher that would joke and say the Wisemen were firemen, they came from afare, a fire.
I’ve heard all of these and use most of them. Often wondered where some of these words and sayings come from and why I know them but my roots are in Appalachia .
Have a great day Tipper and family.
I have heard and use all of them, in fact I was telling someone at church Sunday I was akin to another church member. I aim to cut my grass later on today depending on the forecasted rain this morning. I am tickled pink to be getting rain this week but the downside is my grass has took off growing again.