Southern Traditions: Vocabulary
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!
Read more about the South:
- Southern Traditions: Crazy Names
Ive always wondered how parents chose some of the crazy names they've given their offspring. Did they think for a minute about the poor kids being saddled with those monikers for life? Im...