It’s time for this month’s Appalachian Vocabulary Test-take it and see how you do.
- Shirt-tail boy
- Shed of
- Sideling
- Sight
- Skiff
- Shirt-tail boy: a small boy. “Paul was just a shirt-tail boy when we moved into the house Pap built.” or “He’s been playing the fiddle since he was just a shirt-tail boy. I reckon thats why hes so good.”
- Shed of: to get rid of something. “I told you Irene I just want to get shed of the whole mess. And I’ll never get mixed up in a deal like this again!”
- Sideling: land that has a slope to it. “She was walking down that sideling part of the yard when she fell and broke her wrist.”
- Sight: a large amount. “My blueberry bushes have a sight of blooms on them already. I hope this warm weather stays cause I sure don’t want them to get bit by a late frost.
- Skiff: a small amount; a thin layer. “We never did get a big snow this winter. We got a skiff of snow once or twice but not enough to fill a washtub like I wanted.
I’m familiar with all this months words and I use all of them myself-except #1-but I still hear ‘shirt-tail boy’ on a regular basis.
Hope you’ll leave me a comment and let me know how you did on the test.
Tipper
I’ve heard “shed of”, “sight” and “skiff”. And do use them occasionally.
This time I only know 2 and 4. I don’t think I’ve even heard of the other ones.
I’d heard shed of and sight but not the others. Always educational!
I am familiar with all the words in this test. I never use shirttail boy but have heard it many times the rest I do use.
A guy I used to work with said shed of and used sight that way. He grew up in the country and I bet he knows a lot of these. I do remember my mom use the word hippins(from an older post) when she would tell us about “the olden days”
Tipper,
I stumbled onto the site by the subject of canning kraut,, the music held me and the honest simplicity brought me back.. Nice
I’m curious to the chop of the kraut I’ve never thought to cut some that size n shape, good garnishment size. Wish I had seen this before,,Cuz I just packed 2-25 gallon crocks almost 300lbs of cabbage oh well I wrote it down and next year I will. Have you ever brined or cured meats? Guess what we are eating for ST Pattys day?? home brined corned beef and cabbage hearts lol left over from unowut.
No matter where you live:
It’s nice to see the same heritage handed down from generations gone bye and know it exsists in all parts of the USA 🙂
Mike
Gee whiz, I only know # 4 (and I use it). I have never heard the others
I like Grannie’s toboggan a sight! And if we could get shed of this warm weather & get a skiff of snow, I might actually get to wear it!
Shirt-tail boy is a new one to me Tipper. Skiff I’ve heard, but rarely. And around here, I have to be careful who I say sidelin’ around or I have to explain myself.
My Papa, David Newton, born in 1914, didn’t get his first pair of britches until he was six years old.
All young’un were shirttail chill’uns, until they went to school.
We still have several old fotos of Papa in his dress/shirt.
I have heard them all except for sideling. I have “shed” a few pounds. I use the term “skiff of snow” often, but usually say young boy or gaffer, rather than use shirt-tail boy. I guess I’ve never heard of sight used in that way, but I have said something is out-of-sight,like as amazing to see.
Angie
Knew all of them this time, Tipper. These are fun!
Tipper,
I’ve heard and used shirt-tail..as.. Before I could catch the little rascal he run out the screen door with nothing but his shirt-tail on….
When she got hit in the head by that ball she went sideling down the road til she got her bearin’s back…
The rest I’ve used the way you described for years….
Thanks Tipper,
I love your choices of vocabulary words, Tipper..Every time I read through them, I hope that we won’t ever lose the cultural vernacular of our generations past..We will just have to let them slip into our Own conversations more often, expecially around our children and grandchildren so that they can pass them on to the future..Since our growing up years was in MS, I’m remembering that my grandmother used to exclaim, “Boy, he’s a Sight today!” which mean that the person was most likely pretty disheveled or dressed in some odd manner..A shirt-tailed kid was one older than a toddler, but not in grammar school..A skiff, usually seen on our MS Coast or ponds was/is a small boat that you paddle..Sideling meant that a person was ambeling or moseying along, in no hurry..Will be looking forward to your next word trip into the good ole days, Tipper..We are thankful for your myriad of interests and thoughts, and for ‘carrying us along’.
All that we got for snow this winter was a skiff also. We never did get enough for a washtub full either. I wonder if you use a washtub of snow the same way we do. SNOW ICECREAM.
Yes, I know them all. “Shirt-tail boy” comes after he has outgrown being the “knee baby.”
Heard them all and use all but shirt-tail boy. I use when he was still a pup in regard to when one was small.
My brother turned his dump truck over on sideling ground one time, it was a sight of gravel he spilled! I don’t use shed of as much as I did when I was a pup myself and being around the the old timers who used it often. Great post!
The only one I wasn’t familiar with was sideling. I grew up with my grandfather saying all the other ones.
I think I got most(?) I like “to shed” or get rid of something. As animals do they “shed their winter coat for a summer coat”, or to shed some light on the matter is to cast of the darkness so you can see the matter clearly.
I am familiar with those words except skiff: I usually think of a small boat when I think of skiff.
This one about shirt-tail brings back a memory of something my Granny once said. There was this bible salesman that overstayed his welcome once and Granny lost her patience and said, “Get off my front porch and leave and don’t let your shirt-tail touch your butt til’ you are out of sight of this house!” I think that was her way of describing the speed she wanted him to take while getting out of her sight.
I didn’t get any right this time!! I’d better do my homework!
You got me today – I missed them all. Thanks for the education!
I have heard “sight” and “skiff” used, but not alot…the others were new to me. Thanks for the lesson…love them!
These are not as familiar as most vocabulary words. I have not heard shirt-tail boy or sideling. “Sight for sore eyes” is used, and we sometimes get a skiff of snow. The sida-tha-hill describes any area not flat.
Don’t recall shirt-tail boy, but I know the others well. I also remember “shed of” as more like “shet of” or “shut of”.
I got’em all, I guess Jo wasn’t familar with sidling since there aren’t many sidling places in Coastal Carolina. I too use skiff to describe a small work boat, I think this is partly the blame of the Carolina Skiffs which are built around Wilmington if I’m not mistaken, they’re fairly popular in the mountains also. My High-Tider cousin in Bertie Co. has a large one he uses on the Albemarle Sound which has some rough waves which proves the Sea-worthiness of the design as they ride high in the water. Jo needs to do a guest column on High-Tider Vocabulary as it’s as unique as our Appalachain Colloquialisms. My flatland cousins and I have a lot of fun out of our different languages which are both are English in origin.
Tipper—If somehow I could shed a sight of pounds and a sight of years I would once again be a shirt-tail lad who could go sideling around the ridges no matter whether there was a skiff of snow or a slew of dog hobble.
Jim Casada
http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com
Maybe skirt-tails is what I was accused of chasing. I know I’ve heard that word somewhere.
You know you’re right (as usual) A lot of old photos show little boys in long tailed shirts.
Our Ozark mountain speech holds with all of those. Our pronunciation differs a bit. “shed of” more often comes out ‘shut of’ and “skiff” is ‘skift’.
Layers of fog are drifting through the woods and across the old garden this morning,silver air as the sun comes up over the ridge. Hope you have a grand day everyone at Blind Pig and the Acorn
All familiar except sideling. “Sidehill” serves pretty much the same purpose in our area. “Shirttail” is often also applied to distant relatives.
All the words in today’s Appalachian Vocabulary test were familiar to me, except we might say “dress-tail boy” instead of “shirt-tail,” indicating, of course, that boys wore dresses as little tykes until at least they were weaned fromd diapers! We would leave out the e in usung sideling and say, “Well, that cornpatch was really sid’lin’, planted on that hill like it was. It’s a wonder the rain didn’t warsh them seeds right outa that ground!”
I’ve only heard sight, shed of and skiff. I use skiff. Like ‘just a skiff of snow is all we’ve had this year.
We always use little skiff for a dusting of snow.
Familiar with all those. Don’t hear skiff much. Have heard sideling used as verb to describe a sort of crab like walk, from the slope I guess. Even in my father’s youth, boys wore long shirts, almost dress like, until they were three or four and fully housebroken. Easier to make, easier to wash than pants or jeans.
I have heard them all, except sideling, though skiff is the only one I’ve used myself. It always amazes me how hill-talk has persisted this close to the Connecticut Western Reserve. Thanks for another great test!
I’m with Sue a skiff is a small boat, never heard of sideling. The skiff, I think uses only a small amount of water, so perhaps the origins of the word are the same, since we live by the coast the word shifted it’s meaning to a small boat. We also use shut as well as shed.
Ed-I read the shirt-tail saying came from the days when small boys-like toddler age-would wear long shirts as their daily attire.
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
I have also heard shut and shet used the same as shed. I thought it was Skirt-Tail from when littlins would hide in their momma’s skirt tail.
I love the vocabulary posts! Am following in Ireland this week. Riding out in the country feels a bit like being in your mountains/woods.
For the first time, my coastal NC vocabulary is different —sideling?(never heard anything even close)…It’s a hill, even if it’s just a little hump.
A sight,no again,…that’s a mess, even when it’s good(a mess of turnip greens).
And a Skiff is a small work-boat that skims the top of flat water. Used to be used alot by fishermen working alone, but not so much anymore. They were always made locally, and there aren’t many boatbuilders around now.(skiff of snow sort of relates)
Guess a Shirt-tail Boy is a shirt-tail boy wherever he goes.