“I’ve got the head cold and distemper.”
Tipper
Overheard: snippets of conversation I overhear in Southern Appalachia
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“I’ve got the head cold and distemper.”
Tipper
Overheard: snippets of conversation I overhear in Southern Appalachia
Subscribe for FREE and get a daily dose of Appalachia in your inbox
9 Comments
Sue McIntyre
January 25, 2020 at 8:50 pmIf my daddy sneezed several times in a row, he would say he had distemper. He also claimed to have a Goozle Pipe. Never could confirm that one either! LOL
Tommy
January 26, 2020 at 7:36 amI’ve heard people use ‘goozle’ referring to a dog’s snout
Ed Ammons
January 25, 2020 at 7:59 pmPeople can be infected by the virus that causes distemper in dogs but it doesn’t affect us the same way. The virus is similar to measles so if you have had measles or the vaccine you won’t get distemper. Even if you do get the virus, you may not show symptoms.
aw griff
January 25, 2020 at 4:05 pmGot here late. I’ve heard people say that as an expression of having a bad cold but not really meaning that they had dog’s distemper. I saw a dog die of distemper and it was a horrible death.
I recently heard a friend say he was getting SHUT of junk from his storage building.
Leslie
January 25, 2020 at 2:14 pmThat doesn’t sound very pleasant.
Miss Cindy
January 25, 2020 at 2:02 pmI’ve used the word distemper to describe being out of sorts. However I have no idea where I picked it up. I love all the words that we repurpose.
Jackie
January 25, 2020 at 9:31 amDistemper is a condition in dogs. I never heard of a human getting it.
Gayle Larson
January 25, 2020 at 8:57 amThat is a new one for me. I don’t think I ever used those words. We were stuffed up if we had a cold.
Ron Stephens
January 25, 2020 at 8:06 amHeard of distemper growing up but was never clear on what it meant. Si I looked it up just now. It has a bunch of meanings; (a) throw out of order, (b) derange, (c) bad humor or bad temper, (d) a disordered bodily state or (e) a highly contagious viral disease of canines, especially dogs. Anyway, it is a jumbled up feel poorly situation. I’m sorry for the one who said they had it. Hope they recover soon.