I grew up in Carter County, Tennessee. Both my father and mother used the word “juberous” often.(Apparently there were a good many things to be dubious/skeptical/somewhat-frightened-by in our neck of the woods.) I’m certain I have heard both my brothers use the word as well. Although rather removed from Appalachia now many years and living in Cambridge, MA, I happened to just now use the word “juberous” with my wife in describing a door to door salesman’s pitch. She was rightfully a bit confused by the word, but has long grown accustomed to my occasional use of “odd” Appalachian idioms and archaic words. To assure myself that this was in fact one of those Appalachian words and not something I just made up, I immediately Googled it. I was pleased to find that Google finished spelling it for me before I could finish typing and that indeed Merriam Webster agreed that juberous was a word. The second link in that search led me to visit your site for the first time, and I’m very pleased that it did. Keep up the good work of preserving our colorful regional linguistic heritage!
—Finneus Flogg
Here’s a portion of the entry the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English has for the word juberous.
dubious adjective
A variant forms juberous, jubers, jubus.
B Hesitant, uncertain, doubtful.
1859 Taliaferro Fisher’s River 204 I felt mighty skittish and jubus of Davis, fur he was allers a-swaggerin’, and cavortin’, and boastin’ about. 1895 Edson and Fairchild Tenn Mts 372 He was juberous about crossing the stream. 1937 Hall Coll. Wears Cove Tn I was jubers of that. (Jim Lawson) 1939 Hall Coll. Cataloochee NC Uncle Steve said, “You go around [the bear]. I’m jubers and I’ll go below him.” (Will Palmer) ibid. White Oak NC juberous = kind of afraid. (Carl Messer)
I’ve never heard anyone in my area of Appalachia use the word juberous, but sometimes I am juberous.
The Deer Hunter is my sounding board. I’m always asking him what I should do about this or that. He says I always do the opposite of what he tells me so sometimes he tells me the opposite of what he thinks I should do so that I’ll actually do what he thinks I should do 🙂
Last night’s video: The Thread that Runs so True 5.
Tipper
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New one to me, not heard in my family’s neck of the woods in NC.
I’ve never heard jouberous. I’m like some of the others who thought it meant joyful….we were way off! Matt knows you like a well read book!
I agree . means Happy or excited! Makes more since!
I sure related to what Matt did to you, Tipper. Years ago when we were planning on going to WV from here in Knoxville, we had two ways to go. One was through KY and the other was through VA. He wasn’t sure about this time so he asked me. I said well, I would like to go through VA. So he said “I think I will just go through KY”. LOL
I always thought that juberous meant excited, all charged up and raring to go! That would be pretty much the opposite of what you found. So yes, I have heard the word (mostly in Church) I think.
Never heard “juberous” or at least not to recall. I am beginning to think though that a body could take the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English (DSME), study hard on it, use only the words and expressions in it and not come up much short in anything needing said.
JC and Gene tickled me with that ‘family language’. So true and much of it was/is insider jokes. I bet the linguists have not given much if any attention to it as an origin for language change. Somehow I suspect Appalachianers have been and may still be leading the pack in inventing single words and phrases.
To Finnus Flogg,
I also grew up in Carter County TN and was curious if the word was used, widespread.
Sanford
Posted July 09, 2015
A few weeks ago, I got the following email from Sanford.
Tipper,
This is a word my Mother used quiet often when she was skeptical about something. Is it a word with which you are familiar?
sanford
juberous
adjective ju·ber·ous \ˈjüb(ə)rəs, -bə(r)s\
Definition of JUBEROUS
South and Midland
: doubtful and hesitating : dubious
Here’s a portion of the entry the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English has for the word:
dubious adjective
A variant forms juberous, jubers, jubus.
B Hesitant, uncertain, doubtful.
1859 Taliaferro Fisher’s River 204 I felt mighty skittish and jubus of Davis, fur he was allers a-swaggerin’, and cavortin’, and boastin’ about. 1895 Edson and Fairchild Tenn Mts 372 He was juberous about crossing the stream. 1937 Hall Coll. Wears Cove Tn I was jubers of that. (Jim Lawson) 1939 Hall Coll. Cataloochee NC Uncle Steve said, “You go around [the bear]. I’m jubers and I’ll go below him.” (Will Palmer) ibid. White Oak NC juberous = kind of afraid. (Carl Messer)
Although I’ve read the word, I have never heard anyone use it in my area of Appalachia. Have you heard or used the word juberous before?
Tipper
My daddy and my husband’s granddaddy used the word “jubus.” Enjoyed reading about the different variations of it.
It is reasonable to assume that dubious became jubus, or juberous, because someone misheard the word and thought the speaker had pronounced it with a “j” sound. I’m no linguist, but here’s another idea: Jubus is easier to say than dubious, just as Jedus is easier to say than Jesus. I came across Jedus somewhere, probably in a Negro spiritual. Not sure where I saw it.
We put up corn yesterday. The earliest we’ve ever had it. It got frosted on 4 times but came on along and done good. One of the few advantages to living in eastern NC.
Ron, I’m no farmer, but have been around farming and gardens all of my life. It seems to me unless it is a real heavy frost, a frost does not hurt corn. Many of the ones in my area (Greenville County, SC) start planting corn in March.
How do you define a heavy frost? We get lots of frosts here that heavily coat rooftops and windshields but don’t make it to the ground. If the frost covers the ground here most likely your corn won’t make it. It’ll turn black all the way to the seed. Lot’s of vegetables will only get stunted and recover but corn, taters, maters and okry likely won’t.
My replant of sweet corn is coming up good now. The first planting must have rotted in the ground because of all the rainy weather we’ve had.
That’s too funny Matt uses reverse psychology on ya Tipper. My grandparents and in-laws used the word Juberous often and it’s still used, mostly by us older folks, in my neck of the woods.
My Granny was born in KY in 1911 and she used all kinds of words when I was growing up that I never heard from anyone else, but those words come in handy! My kids have grown up knowing and using a lot of her words out of our love for her. One word she used that we use all the time is “doodless,” which meant to be lazy or useless. Another word she used to describe something (usually fruit or vegetables) that we’re looking small or not great was “ribey.” If a piece of clothing was too big for someone, she would say it was “loopy.” Has anyone else ever heard any of Granny’s vocabulary words?
That word would have been too fancy for my family’s vocabulary! Skeered was easier to say.
I often heard juberous used when I was young not much anymore.
Good morning everyone. Juberous is a new word for me. I will admit it fits me. Hope everyone is well. Anna from Arkansas.
I think we’re all juberous at one time or another. Matt sounds like my dad. He usually knew what mom was going to do before he said anything.
I always love your posts about Appalachian vocabulary. I learned a new word today that I can’t wait to use. Thanks for all that you do. ❣️
My Granddad Byers said “jubus”….autocorrect didn’t want me to spell it!!!
Through my lifetime I realized that my family sometimes “played” with words. In that play, different forms of a word just stuck in their funny pronunciations and became a part of the language that family used with each other. For the word ‘chimney’, we sometimes used the word ‘chimbley’ as a way of remembering what Gramps called it. It became a sort of tribute to the relative that talked that way. In our jobs we’d use the proper word but around home we’d switch back to the family’s language.
JC, I could have written that post.
I used to call it a chimbly but now I still do. It’s in the Merriam-Websters dictionary. Look it up leaving out the e.
Matt!! That’s brilliant. Using reverse psychology. When she asks your opinion and does the opposite. My little bride does the same thing. I’m going to try your method the next time she asks my opinion. Although I’m a bit juberous that it will work.
If I want you to do what I want you to do, I tell you to do the opposite! Reverse Psychology?
I have never used the word juberous but it is interesting. I Google the origins a it said it was first used by a methodist minister in 1871 in Indiana!
Totally an American word! Love it!
My grandmother had a dog by the name of Juber in Carter County TN in the 1930’s.
I guess I thought jubererous meant celebration, joyous. Boy was I off. Love yinz guys Tipper n’at!
I agree with Vincent! Means happy!
I believe I either heard or read that word before. It is surely interesting
I have never heard anyone using this word. Reading the last paragraph reminded me of a story I once read titled “Mary The Contrary.” It was about a man’s wife always doing the opposite of whatever he wanted or told her to do, so he began to do like the Deer Hunter, he would tell her the opposite of what he really wanted to do. One day when crossing a creek that was flooding on a foot log, she fell off and drowned. While everyone else was searching downstream, he was searching upstream, he said she was so contrary she would have floated upstream. Tipper I am not calling you contrary you are just being a normal wife!