ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Southern Traditions: Vocabulary

Updated on February 2, 2010

 

Below are several words that you can hear any day in any small town in the Deep South. To help explain, I’ve provided a sentence with each word so that readers can understand the application of the vocabulary words.

Yestiddy – the day before today

I had to work overtime yestiddy.

Mess –  enough of a specific food for a family meal

I caught me a mess of fish at the pond yestiddy.

Findigo – about to leave

I’m findigo to Mickey D’s; you want a Big Mac?

Fur piece – a considerable distance

Washington is a fur piece from here.

Plague take – a curse

Plague take that cat for jumping on the table!

Plike – to assume pretend role models

Let’s plike I’m a cowboy and you’re a saloon girl.

Co-coler – any type, flavor, or brand of soda

What kind a co-coler you want – a coke, Sprite, or Orange?

Sodie water – any type, flavor, or brand of soda

You want a sodie water to go with that hotdog?

Weenie – a hotdog without the bun

I’m gonna cook me a weenie in the oven.

Reckon- to suppose

I reckon I need to get up and get to work.

Alanna – a city in Georgia with tall buildings

Have you been to that giant fish tank in Alanna?

All Benny – a city in South Georgia

Let’s go to Albany to eat at A.J.’s!

Pole lice – law enforcement

If they don’t quit fighting, somebody’s gonna call the pole lice.

Conniption – a fit of anger

Mama’ll have a conniption if she finds out I skipped church!

Boggin’ – purposely trying to get your 4 x 4 stuck in the mud

Hey, it’s raining! Let’s go boggin’!

Rile – to anger or harass

Bubba, don't rile that dog - he'll bite you!

Washateria – a laundry mat

I have to take the laundry to the washateria because my washer got repossessed.

Varmint - a pest

If you go varmint huntin’, Mama can make us a stew.

Peanut hog – a hog fattened on peanuts, usually used to describe obesity

Aunt Agnes is a regular peanut hog!

Black baldy – a bovine cross between a Hereford and an Angus

Is this t-bone off a black baldy?

Slew-footed – having feet that turn out

That slew-footed mare is lame again.

Heap – a large supply

My wife sure does have a heap o’ shoes!

Lead pill – a bullet

I think a good dose of lead pill would straighten him out.

Testosterone poisoning – what negatively affects a group of males

The county commission is suffering from a bad case of testosterone poisoning.

 

Grocery feet – very dirty feet

Did you see them nasty youngins with them grocery feet?

Piddlin’- a small quantity

That sure is a piddlin’ amount you put in the collection plate this morning.

Skank – a low-class person

That boy she’s dating ain’t nothing but a skank.

Gator mouth – someone with very bad teeth

That gator mouth needs to see a dentist!

Hankerin’ – desire

I got me a hankerin’ for some pecan pie.

Skunk head – a dark-haired person with a gray or white streak

Did you see the skunk head brother at the bar?

Plumb – completely

I done run plumb outta ideas.

Youngin – a child

What is that ornery youngin up to now?

Tow head – a small child with very light blond hair

His hair might be dark now, but when he was a kid, he was a pure tow head.

Tote - to carry

Help me tote these groceries in.

Sammidge – two slices of bread with meat or some other filling between

I made me a sammidge outta that leftover barbecue.

Mater – a tomato

Would you make me a mater sammidge?

Tater – a potato

I want butter and sour cream on my baked tater.

Okrey – a green slimy vegetable often found in gumbo

Are you gonna fry that okrey, or boil it?

Okra – a famous female celebrity

Did you hear that Okra Winfrey gave away a bunch of free cars?

Ignernt – dumb

He’s so ignernt he don’t know when to come in outta the rain.

Idjit – really dumb

She’s such a idjit she can’t tie her own shoes.

Gully washer – a heavy rain

That gully washer nearbout broke the pond dam.

Frog strangler – a heavy rain

We got nearbout 4 inches in that frog strangler last week!

Yonder – a location, often used in conjunction with “ways”

That row of peanuts is over yonder ways.

Show – a cinema

Hey, what’s playing at the show this week?

Nearbout – almost

I nearbout fell off my chair when he said that!

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)