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. At oneself: in one’s normal senses. “She hasn’t been at herself ever since he left. She acts so different I don’t hardly know her anymore.”
2. Aside: next to. “My car is the silver one parked aside that big brown truck out front.”
3. Ary: any, a single one. “There wasn’t ary kindergarten when I went to elementary school.”
4. All-overs: nervous, the shivers, uneasy anticipation. “When I get the all-overs the little hairs on the back of my neck all stand to attention.”
5. A-purpose: intentionally. “He sprayed me good with the water hose this morning, but he didn’t do it a-purpose.”
Although I’ve heard all of this month’s words used in my area of Appalachia, aside and all overs are pretty rare.
Hope you’ll leave a comment and tell me how you did on the test.
Last night’s video: Hard Work Never Hurt Me – Aunt Arie 8.
Tipper
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Are you familiar with the word, “fininth”?
Example: “She lives fininth the mountain.”
Meaning: She lives at the foot of the other side of the mountain.
I’m not 🙂 Thank you for sharing it!
Those seemed normal to me….
I enjoyed them all!
I hear along-side more than aside. Didn’t know all-overs but I like it!
I have heard ary , but more often nary.
A-purpose and at oneself still used here in NW GA.
I’ve heard them all at some point but not in a long while. My grandparents generation used most of them a good bit. Hope everybody is doin well over in Wilson holler!
I’ve never heard of the “all overs” before. All the others I’m familiar with.
I am in Northwest Arkansas. I’ve never heard “the all overs” or “ary”. I believe that some people in Arkansas use the word “nary”. I believe that “ary” and “nary” could be used interchangably. Listening to your examples, it sounds like the 2 words have the same meaning. Thanks for sharing.
Got them except for all-overs. Always look forward to these tests.
In NWNC, don’t think I’ve ever heard “all overs” or “a’ purpose. The others are all common. Prayers for Matt’s dad.
I’ve heard ary used as in: “Did you see all the crowd in our yard this morning?” “No, I didn’t see ary a one.”
I understand them all, but the only one I have ever heard is a-purpose. Mostly we say on purpose, but a-purpose is said too. My three littlest grandchildren are often found trying to figure out if something another did to them was ‘on accident’ or if it was done ‘a-purpose’. LOL
I have heard and used/use all, but “yikes”. That is “lostun” to me.
You got them all! Yikes is part of the picture, not an “A” word.
Thanks for pointing that out for me.
Common words I use pert near every day
I didn’t know any of these words.
Oh, Cyinthia, you have lived a sheltered life. (:-)
I’ve heard someone outside my family say the all-overs a few times when I was younger. All the other words are common around my house, especially ary, a word that means the same thing as nary in my dictionary.
Does not being “at oneself” mean the same thang as “being out of your gourd”?
I’d say yes 🙂
I’ve heard (or maybe just read) All-Overs in the past but don’t use it myself. The rest were/are fairly common in my little circle.
I’ve heard them all, the only one I use is ary except I say nary
I love the vocabulary tests and truly enjoy watching Matt and the girls act them out. It won’t be long ’til the boys will be able to join in♡ After all of the rain we had about a month ago(washed out my lane down at the creek) we haven’t had “ary” a drop since! Last year, as we were entering a 6th or 7th year of a drought, I purchased a moisture meter to test the moisture levels in my yarden and the potted plants. It’s quite fun to guess what the meter will show and then see how close you are. Last evening I was checking to see if the watering schedule and amounts were maintaining the optimal amount. Happily things are holding steady and everything looks great. My only issue is with a skunk digging up my cucumber seeds. I replanted a 3rd time and gave a liberal scattering of chili powder and pepper all around the mounds. Hoping to see no damage when I check things out in a bit. Thinking of all who are needing our prayers and hoping all enjoy a peaceful weekend. Can’t believe it’s the end of May already!
Here in “northern Appalachia” we say “My cah is the rusted out one pahked aside that thaya sled (nobody in Maine says snowmobile) .”
Hmmm 4 of 5 if I heard wouldn’t give me any pause, though I figure I have not spoken them in quite some time. The 5th one is “all overs”. If I’ve heard it, it has been a long time ago and/or sparingly then. I have 4 tests for your vocabulary words; (1) do I say it currently or, (2) have I heard it recently or, (3) can I recall hearing it growing up or, (4) if I heard it now would it give me pause while I figured it out? Each of them are only best guesstimates though. I just generally think I can go anywhere in Appalachia and almost never be really stumped to understand anything I hear. I think it likely also that my own speech would change a little (I would revisit childhood) without me even realizing it. I recently had the experience of listening to about a one-hour tape of an interview I did. Let us just say I didn’t impress myself. It was an odd experience, kinda like ‘Who is this person?’
Ron, that is a brain thang. Somewhere’twixt the ear and the brain something causes everyone to say the same thing: “I don’t really sound like that! Do I?”
Praying for Papaw Tony.
when asked how are you, appalachia folks will reply “fair to middling”. have you heard this one?
I have 🙂
sho nuff
Those are great words and phrases! Sadly, the only place I have heard any of those colorful and imaginative phrases is your videos and books. I wish we all still used such lovely language!
Except for the “all overs”, I have heard them all. I have also heard the phrase “nary a one” meaning not even one.
Ary is the only one I have ever heard.
Some I have heard, some not. Tipper, have you ever heard anyone say “If horses could fly, we would all ride.” lol A lady I worked with would say that all the time. We are still getting a lot of rain. Like Aunt Arie, the weeds are taking over. The lawn ant been mowed in a week and there are the largest mushrooms in our backyard. Our garden for three is looking good. Peanut Beans have small beans sitting on and tomatoes, peppers, onions, squash, garlic, cucumbers and okra all look good so far. Have a blessed weekend.
I have heard a variation of that one 🙂
I never heard at oneself or the all-overs but the rest are familiar. i don’t use any of them myself.
This was the first vocabulary list you have ever posted where I hadn’t heard or known the exact words. Always enjoy the vocabulary posts!
it’s scary but I understood everything.
good morning everyone, thank you for praying for me, please continue to do so, things are not working out as I would like, God bless you very much