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. Backjaw: to reply disrespectfully, sass, back talk. “I’d never let my children backjaw me the way she does.”

2. Backside outwards: wrong side out. “My family teases me about wearing my sweater backside outwards. I always tell them not to worry the next time I put it on it’ll be frontside outwards.”

3. Backstick: large log put at the back of a fireplace to keep fire going over night. “As fast as this year is going Matt will be looking for backsticks to use in the woodstove before we know it.”

4. Barlow knife: single-bladed pocket knife (occasionally two-bladed). “Barlow knives were so common in days gone by that someone made up an old time tune about them. You can hear a version of it here.”

5. Bean breaking: people gathered to break beans. “The only bean breakings I attend are family affairs. They are fun nonetheless and many hands sure make the chore go quicker.”

I’m familiar with all of this month’s words and phrases. However they are on their way out of regular use in my area.

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

Tipper

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