Time for this month’s Appalachian Vocabulary Test-take it and see how you do.
- Jasper
- Jaw
- Job
- Jerked
- Janders
- Jasper-a bad person, a dishonest person. “That Dockery boy is a real jasper. Why he stole from his own Granny!”
- Jaw-talk. “All them younguns want to do is sit around and jaw with their friends. None of them know how to do a days work.”
- Job-poke. “Stop playing with that stick before you job somebody in the eye.”
- Jerked-pulled. “That woman started pitching a hissy fit and he jerked her by the hair of the head and threw her out of the store. I’m telling you it was something to see.”
- Janders-jaundice. “Her baby was born last week. Poor little thing has the janders.”
I’m familiar with all of this month’s words, although I seldom hear jasper or janders anymore. The others-I hear and use on a daily basis. Hope you’ll leave me a comment and tell me which ones you knew.
Tipper
35 Comments
Becky
June 22, 2010 at 10:24 pmI’ve heard jaw, job and jerked, but not the others. Although I do think you talked about jasper on here before. Atleast I think that’s where I remember it from. tee hee
I’ve never eaten or even seen a sarvis tree.
Janet
June 18, 2010 at 7:59 pmKnew them all except for Jasper.
teresa
June 16, 2010 at 9:26 amHey there – Jaw was the only one of these that I am familiar with. Jerked makes sense but in my area we use “yanked”
Have a wonderful day.
Dockery
June 14, 2010 at 10:31 amTipper,
That jasper wadn’t a Dockery-he’us a Wilson!! He may have had the yellar janders-that causes you to act funny sometimes!!
GrannyPam
June 14, 2010 at 6:02 amI’ve never heard anyone use jasper, job, or janders. The others are familiar to me, even out here int he Midwest.
Boonsong
June 13, 2010 at 5:33 amI didn’t know Jasper (other than Jasper Carrot of course), Janders, or that particular use of Job.
I plan to start using Jasper.
Thanks for an interesting and amusing post.
All the best
Boonsong
David Templeton
June 12, 2010 at 9:36 pmI didn’t recognize “jasper”, nor was I correct with “janders”. I seem to recall janders used in some of Horace Kephart’s narrative in his book “Our Southern Highlanders” which is a much prized possession won from one of your monthly drawings.
Carolyn
June 12, 2010 at 8:56 pmNever heard of jasper and jander, but I’ve heard family use the others.
Also have never seen those kinds of berries. They look kinda like grapes so I figure they are as sweet as they look. xxoo
SandyCarlson
June 12, 2010 at 3:18 pmI like Jasper a lot. Sure could fill in for a lot of other words I have been known to use to describe rascals!
Kim Campbell
June 12, 2010 at 2:35 pmOK, I didn’t know any of these!! lolol!
Ethel
June 12, 2010 at 9:02 amI must add; Friday my dental hygenist was jawing with her tech aid while working on me. She, poor dear, is from “away” and was going on about our mystifying expressions. She said someone had told her his tooth felt bealed (sp?) and she had no idea what that meant. With my mouth full, I said, “I do”. She took her hands out of my mouth and asked. I said it means infected. Then she asked me about redding up a room. I explained that that is a quick tidy-up. Then I recommended The Blind Pig & Acorn to her. It seems so funny that the expressions we’ve heard and used all our lives could be foreign to someone!
Janet Pressley
June 12, 2010 at 1:21 amNever heard these words when growing up in Highland Park in Canton – but find them very interesting now. Thanks for the lesson! Nana
Sheryl Paul
June 12, 2010 at 12:05 amHi Tipper
I’ve heard jasper, jaw and jerked. Mostly though instead of jerked we used snached. “He snached her by the hair” Pitchin’ a hissy fit is common usage at out house.
Sheryl
Fishing Guy
June 11, 2010 at 7:19 pmTipper: Jeese, those were some tough J words.
Paul
June 11, 2010 at 6:53 pmI never really put job and poke together. I guess that’s why my Dad always told me to get the “jobber stick” when setting posts!
Connie
June 11, 2010 at 5:09 pmI heard all those words being used when I was growing up. I still use jaw and jerk. Thanks for the monthly test!!!!
Connie
Sarah
June 11, 2010 at 4:40 pmI only knew “Jerked” in this one. I guess I really am a Northerner! 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful weekend, Tipper!
Tipper
June 11, 2010 at 4:20 pmLanny-the small handful is all I got-and I ate them-I didn’t even share one : )
Blind Pig The Acorn
Music, Giveaways, Mountain Folk
All at http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Wanda
June 11, 2010 at 3:23 pmYay!! I knew all of these,and have used them. I really didn’t know the meaning of Jasper; we just used it when we didn’t know what else to call somebody!
I love these tests.
Grace Willard
June 11, 2010 at 2:45 pmI’ve never heard anyone use jasper, job, or janders.
I usually hear use jaw as jaw-jackin’. As in: those old women spend all day jaw jackin’ on the phone.
I know lots of people who say jerk. I lot of folks also say jerkin’ around which means procrastinating.
I from the northern part of Appalachia, and I think words vary depending on where your at. 😀
kat
June 11, 2010 at 2:34 pmAm not familiar with jasper and janders, but heard my folks using the other. Didn’t know what a sarvis tree is so looked up on the web and am wondering if it’s the same as a wild cherry? Don’t think it grows here. Would like to see the wood and try the berries. Enjoy them for us.
Holly
June 11, 2010 at 2:06 pmWell, I knew Jaw and Jerked. Both of which get used once in awhile. I like the monthly vocabulary tests!
sandra
June 11, 2010 at 1:34 pmi have never seen sarvis berries. i knew all the words except the Janders. haven’t heard that one I love these word test
Dee from Tennessee
June 11, 2010 at 12:40 pmJasper and janders are new to me. Rarely, if at all, hear “jaw” used that way any more.
Pat in east TN
June 11, 2010 at 12:35 pmJob and Janders are the two I’m not familiar with.
Love the picture of the berries … very pretty!
Ethel
June 11, 2010 at 12:28 pmI was only familiar with jaw and jerked this time, the others must be more southern expressions. Though we’d be more likely to say that the man snatched the woman by the hair and jerked her out of the store. And hissy fits are dead common up here too! I can never use that expression with a straight face though!
Kelli
June 11, 2010 at 12:27 pmI too have heard all of these but janders. I don’t hear jasper much anymore, but it reminded me of Jezebel for a rowdy, loose woman. hehe The others I hear daily. It’s funny, I don’t even think of them as being place driven words. lol
Oh, by the way, Ivy is loving the music here. It’s the quietest she’s been all day. 🙂
betsyfromtennessee
June 11, 2010 at 11:53 amHi Tip, I’ve never hear of jasper or janders.. I don’t think I’ve heard ‘jab’ pronounced like ‘job’…. Hmmmm … But—I have heard of jaw and jerked… I still use the word ‘jerked’ like that. ha…
Never heard of Sarvis berries… Look a little like crabapple berries to me.
Hugs,
Betsy
warren
June 11, 2010 at 10:24 amI use jaw and jerked all the time but I have never heard of the others, though Jasper seems reasonable…thanks for the education!
Lanny
June 11, 2010 at 9:50 amWe, my childhood family, always used Jasper for a mischievous child. I occasionally use it for grandboys. They’re not really mischievous just cute as heck. And “jaw” was pejorative for talkin’ for sure. Did you get enough berries for sarvis berry jam?
Miss Cindy
June 11, 2010 at 9:02 amDon’t think I have ever heard Jasper or Janders. The rest I’ve heard all my life.
The hospital where I worked had a tall tree with red berries on it. Probably the same Sarvis variety. It had pretty blooms. Anyway, in the late summer the birds would eat those berries and fly into the big glass windows of our cafeteria and either knock themselves senseless or kill them. Seems those sweet berries fermented!!!
Maintenance had to cut the tree down!
Just Jackie
June 11, 2010 at 8:20 amI love the vocab. test. I had never heard jasper or janders before. I used to tell my kids to behave or I would jerk a knot in them.
John Dilbeck
June 11, 2010 at 8:03 amGood morning, Tipper.
I’ve never heard Jasper or Janders before your test.
I’ve heard and used the other three frequently.
Once when I was a teenager (way back in the 20th century!) I made the mistake of telling Pop that I was bored.
He looked at me for a moment and said, “OK. So stop jawin’ and go jerk weeds out of the garden. There’s too much that needs doin’ around here for you to sit around complainin’ that you’re bored.”
I never again told him I was bored. (Thought it, yes. Said it out loud, no.)
All the best,
JD
Rachelle
June 11, 2010 at 8:01 amTipper I am right with you I also use those words on a daily basis except janders and and jasper I don’t hear alot of these days but I have. Thanks for that picture of the sarvis berries now I know what those were above my house that none of us could identify.
Keep up the great work!!!!!!!
Misty Taylor
June 11, 2010 at 7:45 amWe used to eat something that looked similar. We had no idea what it was, it’s a wonder we didn’t die with all the stuff we used to put in our mouths!