I’ve had a bout of the creeping crud. I’m feeling much better, but The Deer Hunter has it now. I’m guessing we acquired it at our Christmas get together since my niece’s family has been sick and so have Chatter and little Woodrow.
Thankfully Woodrow’s was only minor and Chatter seems to be on the mend too. Chitter and Ira have escaped other than some minor symptoms for Chitter. And best of all Granny hasn’t come down with it at all.
What we’ve had is just a bad cold no fevers or body aches, just enough to make you feel like curling up in the bed instead of doing what needs to be done.
When I was a girl we often talked of having the crud or creeping crud at school when someone was sick. I still hear the phrases today.
A few other words used to describe illnesses I’ve heard.
- epizootic
- epizooty
- a bug
- feeling puny
- tizic
- heaves
- miseries
- ague
- hydrophobie (Pap used this one in a kidding way when he was sick—of course he knew he didn’t actually have hydrophobia but he sure felt like he might)
One of my friends loves our Appalachian language as much as I do and one time she shared some unique phrases for illness from her mother and mother-n-law.
- palpeetus of the punk
- diabetes of the blow hole
- membrens croup (this was an infant illness)
When I was young and someone had diabetes folks called it sugar. For example: “No honey she can’t have any cake she has sugar.”
I’ve also heard folks who have arthritis say they had the arthur or arthur had come to visit.
Here’s a few sickness related words from the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English:
- weak trembles
- puny-turned
- dauncy (sickly or frail)
- the flux (diarrhea)
- phthisic (asthma or a bad cold)
- peaked
Peaked, puny, and weak trembles are ones I grew up with and still use today.
I hope you miss this year’s creeping crud!
Last night’s video: Matt’s Last Christmas Present (Roasted Chestnuts).
Tipper
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My folks came out to California in 1946 a few months before I was born. I love being reminded of their unique words describing illness. I remember my dad saying he had the weak trembles and when I don’t keep my blood sugar up I inherited it from him. I think it is a form of hypoglycemia the opposite of diabetes/sugar. I just eat and I’m all better. I remember grandma saying she had the old arthuritis. I have used Vicks on my feet. It penetrates all the way to your head through your feet. I have a lot of sinus trouble and this helps. There is a healing technique which is called reflexology. Each part of the foot corresponds to a certain part of the body. You can also massage those parts of the foot. I also put a couple of drops of castor oil in my belly button for general health, which also goes throughout the body, because this was your feeding tube.
Get well soon Tipper and Matt. When my children were young I would always say this too shall pass and give it to God to heal them after, I had done all I knew to help them. Rest is always good for recuperation.
Love and Blessings to all.
I could always tell when my daughters were sick just by looking at their eyes. Our family would always say you look “peaked “ when someone was sick. And we always had a jar of Vicks handy to rub on noses, chests and feet. Then we would put on wool socks and flannel pajamas.
Hope everyone in your household recovers quickly. I’ve been “under the weather “ since Christmas after our family gathering. It seems whenever I’m around the kids in my family I come down with something!
Karen-hope you feel better soon!
I’m sorry y’all are feeling bad. Hope it passes quickly! Many around us are sick and I just got over about 6 weeks of something. It’s the first sickness I’ve had since Dec of 2021.
We call it the creeping crud, too. Momma always said when we looked bad, “your eyes look like two burnt holes in a blanket “. I love hearing all the phrases.
Praying Granny stays well!
We tried the Arsh Tater Cake and it’s so good! I grew up eating black walnuts as our daddy loved them. We love black walnut ice cream, too. Daddy always talked of his grandmother making a black walnut cake and I wonder if this was it. So very good! Everything we’ve made from the cookbook has been delicious! It’s a bonus watching you fix it.. Thank you
I’m guessing “peaked” is pronounced “peak-ed.” I was familiar with that one growing up, A statement like, “He’s looking a little peaked,” meant he looked sick. I remember my grandmother telling the doctor, “I’m feeling a little muley.” She also told him she thought she had a case of the creepin’ crud.
I’m thankful the “bug” bypassed your Mother. Glad the rest of you all are on the mend!
My mother has had rheumatoid arthritis since she was 11 years old so speaking of ole Arthur has taken place quite a bit.
Also…I remember when my granny Crowe was still living she would swear up and down that she had the dysentery every time her stomach bothered her the least lil bit. Her and my pawpaw are the only 2 people I’ve heard use the word.
We call it the crud anytime there’s mucous involved with a sickness
Sure hope y’all feel better real soon! I know how miserable even a bad cold can be. I’ve got the sniffles, but hoping it is allergy from cleaning out an old closet yesterday. I very allergic to dust. I’ve heard folks say they have the Jungle Rot, but not sure what they were talking about. My daughter & little granddaughter are coming from the next town today for lunch & shopping, so I hope I don’t catch anything from them or I don’t give them anything. Praying for all who may be sick.
Morning everyone. I’ve had arthritis forever. I always tell my son “Arthur is bothering me”. It’s strange but this cold weather makes my arthritis hurt a lot less. This is GROSS, anyone heard of the “Hershey Squirts”? Sorry for that. I hope everyone gets better soon. Please take extra care of Granny. I just want to hug her. Anna from Arkansas.
Anna, yes my kids use that phrase. We also use ‘screamers’ and ‘the thins’. So funny!
I had something right before Christmas. Took the wind right out of my sails Too many symptoms to tell. Put me in the hospital for 3 days. I felt worse there. So glad when I got home to recuperate. It still took a few days and had to cut back on activities. Christmas hopefully will be normal next year. Finally feeling like I’m moving on to better days. Pray everyone gets better sooner than later. Please God, can You give this old creeping crud, or whatever this is, the boot. Please. Amen.
Jennifer Lee-sorry you were in the hospital. So glad you are feeling better!!
Thanks and the same goes for y’all. Prayers still coming your way.
Sometimes I feel so bad that I open up with words I normally try to avoid. “I feel like $#!+”
My family always said puny, peak-ed, or down when they were sick. My ex-husband used to say he had the blydokie. I have been taking elderberry supplements and daily probiotics that I credit for keeping me well while most of my friends and family have been down with the crud. I kept hand sanitizer in my car and desk at work for years even before Covid came around. My boss picked up a big bottle of hand sanitizer and tossed it in the trash after I used it one day. He said his daughter had just been released from the hospital for the second or third time because her mom kept her germ-free until she started school. The doctor said to let her out of the bubble! At work, I handled hundreds of boxes daily that had been touched by an estimated 5-10 people within the last 12 hours and seldom got sick thanks to my use of hand sanitizer.
It sure is going around. so many people have been sick. I hope we don’t get it. I’m filling in and helping out one of my friends of taking care of an 84 yr old man. I wouldn’t want to take to him. I hope you all get to feeling better . My grandson had it and his dad.
Puny was what I always heard from my Grandparents, but later my Parents would refer to it specifically as a cold, flu, diarrhea, or diabetes and such. Meeting one of my Mother’s cousins who lived in East TN, she said to my Mother that she had sugar. First time I had heard diabetes described that way.
Sorry to hear you’ve been sickly and I hope Matt gets over it soon. Glad to know that Granny and Paul have not come down with it and I pray they don’t.
My grandma always said the trembles but the one I heard most was “I’m down.” if it’s a cold or bug and if there’s a specific pained location she’ll say “I’m down in my back.” or “I’m down in my knees.” and that’s the one that’s stuck with me. We were all down with something for 2 weeks early Dec. but we had fevers here. There’s a lot going around. Hope you get to feeling better soon!
I got the creeping crud on Dec. 27. I think I may have picked it up at church on Dec. 22 when we had our candlelight service and everyone was mingling. Anyway, it’s down to just a cough now & that’s generally my sign that I’m on the way to recover. Of course, the cough sounds horrible but I don’t feel bad with it. Hope no one else in your family get it & those that have it now get over it fast. Hugs!
My Grandaddy would comment in the mornings that”ole Arthur’s got me” and my Grandmama would tell us that somebody had “the P neumonie”. (Saying the P like the letter!)
I find myself saying puny and peaked.Some of my coworkers are several years younger than me, so they look at me funny when I ask if they have been puny or if they feel ok that they look kinda peaked. I hope everyone in your family feels better soon.
A friend of mine’s Father was playing with one of his grandkids and had it raised up over his head while sitting in his chair. Drool dripped out of the babies mouth into his. He was freaking out a little bit and his wife said Dad, that’s just sugar. He replied, I know, but I’m a Diabetic.
David-so funny!
My dad had rheumatoid arthritis. He would say Arthur has come to visit when he was having a really bad day. We would say we had the trots when we had diarrhea. I have also heard down and out or down for the count for illness. My family passed around a head cold at Thanksgiving. I was the last to get it. No fever just a lot of coughing and draining and diarrhea. I hope you all are well soon.
I grew up calling diarrhea the green apple quick step.
We call it “feeling puny” when someone is sick. I have an auto-immune disease, so I have to be careful of who I’m around. I go to church, but I have stayed home when Covid and other respiratory illnesses are going around. Last year during the first part of December I got RSV and it hung on for two months. My husband who also has an auto-immune disease fortunately didn’t get it but he did get bronchitis. Try the Vicks VapoRub application on your feet and put on socks. It does cut down the number of days for a cold. Also, drink plenty of liquids. This helps to wash out germs and viruses from your body and hydrate you. I drink at least two quarts of water a day, mainly because I have kidney disease. I’m praying for everyone to have a healthy and blessed new year.
We call it the East Texas crud. There are so many things that bloom here, because our weather is so temperate- lots of people have allergies . We have only had one hard freeze so far this fall .
I always heard and used the words
poorly, sickly, puny, or peaked depending on how sickly one looks. We called diarrhea the runs, or back door trots. If it’s stomach and diarrhea it’s the Bug.
I have not heard many of these terms for being sick but growing up when my people talked about someone having diabetes they would say they have sugar diabetes and it sounded like “sugar dy-bee-tees”. I have not been sick in quite a while but started feeling like I was getting sick on New Year’s Eve so I will be resting today after a full day of being in the kitchen cooking yesterday. I made the orange cinnamon pull apart bread for part of breakfast yesterday and will enjoy all the leftover items this morning. Hopefully the being sick will be short for us all! I am tempted to try the VicksVapoRub on the feet. We went through a lot of that growing up but not on the feet. My parents put it on the chest and a slight amount under the nose/ sinus area.
Praying ya’ll all are better quickly. Reading all those just reminds me of hearing some of those when I was younger.
One day there will be no more sickness. Won’t it be wonderful?! As a Christian, I have such a longing for Heaven and no more sickness or death. What a day that will be!!!
Amen!
Today’s post illustrates the coining of new words that catch people’s fancy and live beyond them. I sure do hope I can escape The Dread Mahoakus. Anything spelled with capital letters that will get you if it can is scary. Also today’s post shows the tendency to make light of miseries that just are our lot and can’t really be avoided. Matt may not feel good enough for it to be helpful but my Dad would say, “It’ll feel good when it quits hurting.” I guess that’s a backward kind of way of saying things will get better. Sharon has had a round but I have escaped thus far.
Ron, I too will often say or tell myself or others (co workers) when they pinch a blood blister, bust a knuckle, hit their fingernail with a hammer (be careful with that one) or some other things “it will feel better when it quits hurting.” I can’t believe some of them will talk UGLY to me when I say this too them!
I think I have used or heard 90% of what you listed. I would add “the back door trots” or “thin dirties”my dad used for what I’m sure you can imagine. We referred to arthritis as Uncle Arthur. I’m like you, I just love these old terms and phrases. God bless all of you.
I’ve heard some folks say they were feeling poorly when they were sick. So sorry you folks have been hit with this bug but thankful Granny hasn’t. Continued prayers for you all.
So sorry you and your family haven’t been well, Tipper! Praying for ya’ll!
I’m so sorry you all have been feeling puny! Hopefully you will be over the worst of it soon. I have it too, as well as the majority of my extended family…thinking it was our Christmas Eve celebration that spread the “gift.” I just keep telling myself “this too will pass.” We call it “having caught a bug.”
Kirsten-hope you feel better soon!
A new one for you from a deceased friend from Pikeville, KY- the creeping crud aka HONKUS BONKUS. Here’s hoping you feel better and to impart a bit of immunity the natural way, please get elderberry syrup with herbs and honey. I drink over a half shot glass of elderberry syrup every day. The Murrman believes in ivermectin. Between us both, we are trying to cover a lot of ground. Lol and so far so good. Please get better soon, rest as much as you can, and stay warm. Get better Tipper from your friends in WV and lil Zipper your kitty namesake… much love and many blessings your way and to all our friends impacted by HELENE in NC and TN and VA and WV…
Prayers for you all to continue to heal and that Matt feels better soon!
We mostly say “a bug”. If it’s more than a cold and the stomach has been invited to the party, then it’s “a stomach bug” .
We always said we had The Dread Mahoakus.
Glad you’re all on the mend!
My grandma always said somebody looked puny to her if they were looking weka or sick. She said you could see it in their eyes. I think I can kind of see it too in my own kids now. She was right! You can spot puny eyes!
May we all skip the creeping crud!
Hope you all feel better soon! When I was a kid my Pawpaw would say the kids had “the droop head and the bend tongue”. I have not heard it anywhere else so I don’t know if he made it up. Course we still say it today and he’s been gone since 1997.
Sometimes my grandma called it a sinking spell. She was born in Cherokee Cty.
My family has always said we caught a “bug” of some sorts. When my mama isn’t feeling well, she always says she’s not “up to par” today.
We didn’t have such exotic words that you folks have to explain that we are under the weather. Or the flu bug has gotten you. Mostly we would we just say we are sick; although sometimes we’re so sick we could die.
Janice, if I say I am sick or under the weather I will be asked what kind of sickness do you have. When I use these “exotic” words, the people I like to associate with know exactly what sickness I have, I don’t have to explain! My friends and I not members of the high “flaunooting” society.
Yes, I have the creeping crud too but I’m on the mend. I think I also caught it at our family Christmas party. It was fun to see everyone but it cost me 10 days of feeling awful. Glad your family is starting to feel better.
I hope this will help you guys, when I get a cold I put vicks vaporub ( and only vicks) on my feet and be generous 3 times a day and put on warm socks even if you wear house shoes., I know this sounds crazy but it works for all that I have told about this about I don’t know how this helps but I get totally over a cold in no more than 2 days using this trick, I will be praying for your family, and thank you so very much for all of your videos.
John, my late father-in-law would put a bar of soap under his bed for all his miseries. Didn’t matter what brand. That, like your remedy, was a new one on me.
Praying you feel better each day, prayers for all of you. I pray Matt feels better soon also and that Granny and Paul escapes it!!! Praying for Corie and Woodrow and all
God bless you and yours❤❤
I have had the creeping crud since Christmas but am getting better. I have talked to several friends during the last several days and all of them have had it too. I have heard and will sometimes say “sugar” for diabetes. I remember when I was a young kid following in every step my Grandaddy Kirby made, he would say he had the “weak trembles” and would break off a stem of Johnson grass and suck the sap out of it. He said it would help. I have heard a lot of different names for diarrhea, two of them the “the green apple quick step” or “ the backyard trots.” I was told 50 years ago I had inherited arthritis from my mother’s family and would be having a hard time with it by the time I got to be in my 50’s. The doctor knew what he was talking about. “Arthur” does not like the weather we have been having at all. I like to joke and say “ if I had known I was going to inherit all of these different things, I would have been more careful about who my parents were!” That is a big lie, my parents were the best. Speaking of weather the next 2 weeks are predicted to be very cold with below average temperatures. This will be the longest streak of real cold days we have had in several years.