Time for this month’s Appalachian Vocabulary Test-take it and see how you do.
- Quarrel at
- Quartering
- Quare
- Quinsy
- Qualmish
- Quarrel at: to scold; to fuss at. “I’ve quarreled at the children all morning. All they’ve done is scream and holler till I’m so nervous I can’t think straight.”
- Quartering: an object moving diagonally away. “The deer was quartering to the right just before I took a shot at him.”
- Quare: odd, different, strange. “Well old man Baker might have been a little quare but I liked him a sight. I didn’t mind it none that he liked to sit out in a rainstorm as long as he didn’t ask me to do it with him.”
- Quinsy: sore throat; sick. “I didn’t get much sleep last night I was feeling quinsy. The sickness seems to have passed on off this morning.”
- Qualmish: nauseated, upset stomach. “Every time I go over Blood Mountain I feel qualmish. Why even if I’m driving my stomach still flops around.”
I’ve never heard anyone use the word quinsy before-but I’ve heard all the rest. How did you do on the test?
Tipper
The first one is the only one I have heard. The others are completely Greek to me.
I’m going to use quare next time I play Scrabble
Four out of five this time – not bad! Quinsy was new to me, but I’ll keep it in my if I ever come across someone using the term. It wouldn’t be the first mountain term for illness I’ve missed in my nursing career 🙂
You got me this time, Tipper. I do not recall ever hearing quartering, quinsy or qualmish!
Quare, I know, in fact I’ve known a few quare folks in my life.LOL
Those girls got some long legs, like their Daddy!
My neighbors use quarrel at and quare –the only place I’ve heard (read) quinsy is in Shakespeare.
I failed!!!! Got ” quarrel at” & “quare”, but I never ever heard of the others. Mitchell never heard of them either & wants to quarrel at you!
Tipper , I didn’t do as well this time. We use queasy , quartering , and quair or quare. I can hear my grandma Proffitt referring to someone who had quair ways. Larry Proffitt.
Familiar with all of them except #2 – QUARTERING.
Oh my stars…this batch of words tells that I am not ‘from the mountains’, but am a flatlander from Southern Mississippi.
Never heard of a single one of these.
The closest one I’ve heard used is Queasy, meaning your tummy is a tad upset, and maybe on the verge of causing you to loose your breakfast.
I love reading about all your mountain terms because you can take a trip back to the good ole days with every vocab. list.
Thanks for educatin’ us flatlanders, Tipper!
Another fun test! I failed miserably on this one! I’ve never heard qualmish, quartering or quarrel at – though I sure can relate to the example you used for it! I have only encountered quinsy in very old books and thought it was a victorian term for sore throat, nice to find it is still in usage. I always learn something new here!
I did actually know all of them. Quinsy is a rather old medical term for peritonsillar abcess. The term was often used in combination with “sore throat” and called a “quinsy sore throat” meaning that there was an abcess present. I don’t think it is used often anymore.
Down in Wiregrass country, folks used to say cattycorner or kittycorner; probably still do.
Quare was introduced to me by a beautiful mountain girl many years ago. She could have walked any high fashion runway, if the designers could stop laughing at her mountain words, and ways.
The others I knew, but don’t use most of them.
During my working years I covered so much of the globe that I long ago learned to listen AND watch the folks I was amongst.
Thankfully most of us mountain folks communicate just fine.
Familiar with 3/5. Never heard quartering or qualmish.
Gee Tipper … usually I know them all, or most of them, but this time I’m only familiar with #1. Interesting though, and fun to read through.
I made a D on the test; only knew quare. Interesting though!
Tipper,
I never heard of quinsy, we use
queezy to talk about feeling bad
or upset stomach. And I don’t ever
remember using quartering and I
deer hunt alot. These words are a
little bit quare today, but I still enjoy the test…Ken
I flunked, like an egg from a tall chicken.
I think I probably heard them all from my Grandmother and my Aunts. I knew the meanings of them.
I haven’t heard quartering or quinsy. The rest are common words for me, but then, I’m a little quare! 🙂
Knew 3. We say queasy for being nauseous. Never heard quatering.
I failed miserably this time…had not heard of any!
Got me this time: I only knew quarrel and quare. The others I’ve heard or read, but didn’t get the context.
I’ve heard them all but one and still use several of the words when I’m with family. I think Mom and Granny said squimish instead of qualmish. I recently referred to someone as being quare turned. My city-slicker friend is still laughing at that one.
Quarreling at and being quare are the easy ones. Movement in quarters relates directions and positions on the clock, I use it frequently in the classroom to make my students think twice. For us, quincy is any medicine or gargle used for a sore throat. Qualmish is used by my Dad, but I usually say squeamish. (I’ll tell you more about my family one day.)(And using Southern Vocabulary in my classroom.)
Ive heard and use them all. I love your Voc tests!! I read them to my husband when you post. He uses most of the words you post. There great!!
Good test, Tipper.
I knew all of them, but quinsy. I never heard that, before. What a quare word. (grin)
JD
Not familiar with qualmish, but years ago I had Strep throat and our family doctor was talking about complications and I remember him saying that it could go into what the older folks called quinsy. Never knew what it actually was.
Failed this one. Have heard of quarrel at and quare. When being sick at your stomach, it was said to feel quizy. Not familiar with the other ones.
Tipper,
In this instance I wish I could listen to my Grandmothers pronounce the words today…With the exception of quare and quarrel..I hear those in my head and have said them especially quare…..
Quinsy..I thought you might be referring to as “gueasy” as my family used queasy to describe a lot of things besides being sick at the stomach…We think our Grandson had a Quinsy (abscess in the back of the throat last year, (for real)put him in the hospital for a week..
qualmish…We always said, squeamish.
quartering..only in reference to horses here in Tennessee..
These words today made me swimmy-headed this early in mornin’ and a bit pukesum….Not a great score for me this time…
Thanks Tipper..
Quartering is new to me being from a fishing not hunting family. I am also not familiar with quinsy, we do use queasy for everything from the sore throat to an upset tummy, interchangeable with qualmish, squeamish,& woosie depending on who is sayin’ it.
You got me this time, Tipper. I knew quarrel at and quare. Never heard any of the others.
Tipper–For what I think is the first time, I didn’t know them all. Like you, I’m unfamiliar with quinsy. I’m always heard squalmish rather than qualmish and even more frequently, squamish. Quare is also rendered or pronounced as quair. It’s one of my favorite words form Appalachian English. Finally, I’m sure that the Deer Hunter will tell you that taking a shot at a deer quartering away form you is a pretty problematic deal.
Jim Casada
http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
tipper
most all these apply to my learning , i can identify with any of them .
sure takes an old person back to a better way of life ,
they may not have been proper but they got the word out and God Bess them , we love them still
Quarrel and quare i’ve heard. the rest, no. My grandmother used to say quare, which of course, I thought was very funny.
I think this is my lowest grade so far Tipper. Never heard quartering in that context, never have heard quinsy at all, and have maybe heard – maybe- heard qualmish or a variation of it – I remember now: sweamish instead of qualmish. Have heard quarral at and quare all my life.