February 5, 2021
Can you believe we’re in the second month of 2021!? Time is going so fast before you know it we’ll be planting the garden.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner I decided to talk about love words, phrases, traditions, and stories in my latest video.
I hope you enjoyed the video! Where you familiar with most of the love language?
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Great video enjoyed all of the different words and sayings in the ‘love’ game…many are the same as I knew and heard here in Eastern Canada…tx. for sharing this Tipper with us all.
Here in eastern NC most of these words were used when I was youger. We still use courtin and scooch over. I heard my parents tell of shivarees when they were young, back in the 20’s. The churches I grew up in, pentecostal, men and women sat together. The only churches where they sat separated was the primitive baptist. Lovin your blogs, I have introduced my 11 year old daughter to your blogs. Her response to your vocabulary words has been, “papa, you talk just like that” . Keep up the great job.
Someone mentioned couples would met at church. I started courting my wife after one Sunday night at church. Even though we had went to church together I never paid her any attention until that NIGHT. After two years of courting and going steady we tied the knot. She was 19 and I was 20. The knot is still holding 46 years latter. Driving her school bus didn’t help either.
I love to joke and tease. I tell everyone that while at church that night I was sitting on the back pew (Baptist) checking out the girls instead of listening to the preacher and God punished me and has been ever since. When asked about staying together that long, I tell everybody we found out headache pills were cheaper than lawyers.
The truth is she has been a blessing and I could have looked the world over and never found a better wife, mother, and grandmother for the family God blessed me with.
I remember a couple of small country churches having separate doors for male and female and the only males to sit on the female side were those babies and toddlers.
My wife became curious and went on a date with me after I said we would go ‘scutter puttin’. She wanted to find out what that was. We’ve been married 56 years.
I would have called it Scooter Pootin’!
It was really common to give a hint things might be getting serious when somebody mentioned that a couple ” was talking.” I found in WV at that time it seemed to just draw attention to something might be getting serious enough to start courting. That was back in the days when all life was slow paced. Like Sheryl I remember the expression “swapping slobbers.” There was a lot of sparkin’ and courtin’ in those days. During my Mother’s young years mostly couples met at church, especially if they lived in the country. Mom met Dad at church, but Dad and friend used to joke that Dad walked by and saw this pretty girl milking a cow. Lots of jokes back in those days about just ordinary everyday living. We always used scrunched up if we crowded together.
You like love stories? Listen to this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_otTOZEFYY
As always, I enjoyed your video and remembered so many of those words. Most of those words I heard in N.E. MS and mostly with my southern folks. One I didn’t hear up north was “sparking” although I heard it down south when I was grown and wondered what they were talking about. Upon leaving or getting to visit Grandparents, Aunts or Uncles, I was quick as a little child to give them “some sugar.” I was surprised when you said the men sat separately from the women. I had never heard of that other than probably Puritan history. My Mother would be 104 if she was still here and I could ask her. I sure heard many, many stories of their going to church and young peoples’ meeting in their growing up years. but never heard them say men and women sat separate. Now I wish I could ask my Mother or Father. Like you, Tipper, I’m always wishing I could ask them something.
We always heard “scrunch” instead of “scrucb”.
When I was a teenager, Mama’s cousin asked me if I was courting yet.
My uncle was a big teaser and used a saying I have never heard anyone else say. To describe kissing he would say swappin’ slobber. That doesn’t sound very romantic in my opinion. Since I’ve never heard anyone else say that, it could have been something he made up just to tease or embarrass some young person. Sparking was most commonly used to describe dating when I was growing up. When my girls were young, they would pinch their cheek and pretend to sprinkle sugar over my cup of coffee.
If you read my comment on the video you’ll see that swapping slobbers didn’t come only from your uncle. In fact it used to be fairly common in my neck of the woods.
Tipper–I’m curious as to whether your or any of your readers are familiar with the word honeyfuggle. It has various meanings but one of them is sweet talking or flattering someone in whom you are romantically interested. I’m wondering because I used it in something I wrote and a fellow called me saying he’d never heard the word. Although it’s obscure it has been in my vocabulary a long time and I feel like I picked it up as a youngster growing up in the Smokies.
Since you are on the subject of romance I thought I’d ask.
Jim Casada
Jim-I have never heard of honeyfuggle but I like it 🙂
It was “courtin” where I grew up. If “sparkin” was used at all it was not at all common. I heard “shivaree” spoken of but never knew of one. My wife and I escaped it though we found out later that my wife’s uncle was planning on coming to our little rental house. His wife talked him out of it. Knowing him, it is untelling what he was up to.
We never had a honeymoon. We were married on Saturday and I went to work as usual on Monday. That was some time ago and for the life of me I can’t recall what I was thinking about it one way or the other. I do know it wasn’t about money. In our life together we do a lot of ‘little special’ but not much ‘big special’.
I can remember my Grand Pa asking me if I was courting yet. Well I was little and didn’t even know what that meant. He would laugh after he said it. He was just messing with me, he knew I was too little to know what that was.
I love our our expressing, courting. I guess that would would be formal language in a country setting!
Enjoyed the video, terms and phrases were common growing up in a farming community here in East TN. Other than “courting” or “squash up ” many of the population here now wouldn’t know the phrases. I’m intrigued with the church seating arrangements mentioned. Never witnessed men and women sitting in different groups, wonder how common that was.