It’s time for this month’s Appalachian Vocabulary Test-take it and see how you do.
- Racket
- Ramsack
- Ramstudious
- Ride
- Rightly
- Racket: a noisy fight, a sudden loud occurrence. “I didn’t get no sleep last night. Oncet them kids came in they set up such a racket in the livingroom I had to get up and throw’em out.”
- Ramsack: to ransack while searching for an item. “Did you hear what happened down at Mrs. Green’s? Shes gone to visit her girl out in Raleigh and while shes gone some good for nothing bunch ramsacked her house.”
- Ramstudious: quarrelsome. “That girl has got so ramstudious you can’t hardly stand her. If she don’t get off her high horse there ain’t no body gonna fool with her.”
- Ride: to tease or aggravate. “We’us all down at the store riding ole James. He ain’t never going to live down shooting that fake deer and getting caught by the law.”
- Rightly: correctly. “I don’t rightly know who’s in charge of this shindig but I’m about to find out!”
I found this month’s words especially interesting. I use and hear racket, ride, and rightly on a daily basis.
I honest to goodness thought ramsack was the correct word-instead of ransack. So that tells you how often I use and hear that one.
I’ve never heard the word ramstudious. I came across it in my Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English. I love the word! I’m going to make a conscious effort to add it too my daily vocabulary-it shouldn’t be too much trouble since I have 2 daughters who can be very ramstudious.
Please leave me a comment and tell me how you did on the test.
Tipper
Hi Tipper,
I never used ramstudious but my husband is pretty ramstudious when his back hurts.
I have rode my share of students to study and do their homework while they were making
a racket about not liking me. Then, they would start a racket about me being such an unforgiving
hard-nose teacher, I would just smile and tell them, “just wait until the end of grade tests and you will
happy I made you grind your nose to the books and burn the midnight oil.” After a few minutes, of
being silent as a door knob, one brave soul who was always as quiet as a stick in the mud asked to go to the toilet. I happily let him go believing that he really needed to go to the necessary room.
After a few minutes, he arrived back at the room with a sheep grin on his face and walked into the room like a sneaking dog. Then another would ask to go– After two shakes of a cat’s tail, I finally caught a drift that something was going on in the toilet. This crowd could be as mean as a striped snake and I needed to check out the toilet before the building was flooded. When I rounded the corner to the toilet I heard the racket. Lord a mearcy, what a racket. I hollered through the door, when I count three I’m coming in! ONE one litlun took out Two– a whole herd of them came a thundering out that door. No need for three– they were all gone in a flash of lightning.
I opened the door and talk about a nasty mess– oh boy! There was toilet paper all over the floor and the paper towels were running out of the trash can. I checked to see if everyone was out and they were.
I quietly went out, locked the door of the toilet, and went back to my teaching room. All of the boys were busy working on their lessons. Soon the cleaning man picked up the mess in the toilet. The boys had to check out their toilet paper from the principal’s office for a spell but they learned an important lesson–
keep the paper off the floor in the toilet.
Kathy Patterson
I’m with you on this one, I’d never heard of the word, ramstudious.
Ramstudious new to me. Use ransack and all the others regularly.
I got 1 & 5!!!!!
I have heard and use all of those except Ramstudious. My that’s a long word!
Never heard of ramstudious. We say rambunkious which evidently means the same.
Never heard of ramstudious & I thought it was “ramsack” til I learned to read. Racket & rightly are everyday words round here. And of course, Mitchell will put a saddle on you & ride you into the ground if you give him half a chance!
I was okay with four of the five. I have to agree with others that I have not heard ramstudious. I have a new word added to my vocab. Thanks!
I’ve used racket, ride and rightly in those ways; ramsack sounds like it’s just a regional mispronunciation like warsh and ejukashun, but it may be an improper cross between the words ramshackle and ransack, Lord who knows. But I’d dearly love to know how the word ramstudious came about…might be an interesting story.
God bless.
RB
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Like most others, I never heard of ramstudious, and it was always “ransack” instead of ramsack. The others are in pretty common use, even out here on the edge of the Great Plains.
Tipper , The other words are common to us but like you never heard of ramstudious.Larry Proffitt
I’ve heard all these used except number 3; that one was a new one to me.
Know and use them all but ramstudious….
Kenneth-I like thinking of you NC folks way out there-and I’m glad they took part of NC with them when they went way out west!
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
One of the phrases that I remember from my Granny’s was “I reckon”. It was used in place of “I think so”. Hadn’t thought about it in a long time. I reckon you stirred up old memories.
Used them or heard my Mom use them all except ramstudious. I tried to guess and I thought cramming for a test, vigorous study.. LOL.
Ramsack/Ransack it all meant the same to me, I didn’t even notice. My Mom used ramsack. Her fave was ride… Along with telling my Dad to not ride her about something she add “get off my back!”
Tipper: like most of the others,ramstudious is new to me. but as i think on it i use all the others. it seems those good folks from n.c. brought all they could carry with them when they came west. blessing on all. k.o.h
Tipper: I’d be plumb plezzed if youd scuse me for maken two postiss today! I dun forgot what it wuz that I wanted to telya. But here ittis – all the words you can use in tha place of RAMBUNCTIOUS:
ROWDY, UNRULY, RAUCOUS, ROWDYISH, TERMAGANT, TURBULENT, BOISTEROUS, ROWDYDOWDY and TUMULTUOUS
Fance words mount not mean much to alot of folks. But in my case I jest can’t tell ya how imporant words are to me! Noser! Unless you spent your early yeers in the backwoods and was skeerd to say a word cause someone would laf at your way of talken, you jest dont know how it tis! Eber day I study words – like big words – and eber night I furget em!
Eva Nell
Passed the test with all but one: ramstudious. Love these tests!
I’m familiar with all but “ramstudious” but intend to add it to my vocabulary posthaste!
Wellsir Tipper: As I’s studeng your list of words I’s pert nigh sertin youed had put RAMBUNCTIOUS on thar! As a yungen in a family of eleven yungens I heerd my mama use that big word many times! I alers felt it meant trouble wuz jest around the corner! Shore nuf is wuz most of the time! So alers im a sayen is you mout auta put that RAMBUNCTIOUS on your list next time!
Cheers,
Eva Nell
Tipper,
I thought it was ‘ramsack’ too, and I’ve never heard of ramstudious, but I guess its a
word. This Spring will make 3 years since a guy broke into my
house and ramsacked the place. Our
Law people wouldn’t ever do anything, so I bribed some dope-
heads and got to the source where
my guns were bought, after six
months of research I did recover
some of my guns. I know who
these folks are but they have
never spent an hour in jail…Ken
Ramsack, Rightly and Racket are all used regularly in England too in much the same way as they’re used in Appalachia. Ride I’ve not encountered, and certainly not Ramstudious. “Rantipole” is an old English word for a troublesome child.
I too have heard and used all of these except ramstudious, this word sounds pert near like an aigger and hisser (a law enforcement colloquiasm from aidder and abettor, meaning a person who enables another to get in trouble). Another good word that would fit right in with these is ramshackle meaning pert near about to fall in. Thanks for helping keep our beautiful colloquial language alive.
i recognized them from the past, but it has been many years since I heard them used.
I actually heard of some of these…Racket, Ride, and Ransack (with an n) weren’t unusual. Never heard of Ramstudious though!
Never heard of ramstudious but now that you mention it I can hear it being used at your house this very minute. LOL
Not sure that I’ve ever heard ramsack for ransack. Those two sound so much alike that I’m not sure I would notice the difference.
Now racket I know well and use regularly. I’m one of those people who live a very quiet life without a lot of racket.
Ride and rightly I’ve heard all my life.
It really is funny how many words I thought were perfectly good English that are turning out to be on your lists!
Good ones this month. Caught me on ramstudious too, use the rest quite often.
Never heard ramstudious. Knew about the others, though.
Tipper,
I don’t rightly remember ramstudious….sounds like a good one to use…It could have many applications around here…LOL
However, I use the rest quite often…I always thought ramsack was ransack with a n instead of a m..but maybe I weren’t hear’n so well!…That’ns a new wrinkle on my horn…lOl
Wish I could be at the Gingerbread Craft Show..sounds like so much fun…Are you selling some of your crafty things?
Thanks Tipper, great postes as always…
I say racket, ride, and rightly. A common phrase for me in the office is, “I don’t rightly know.” Never heard of ramstudious.