Appalachian English Lexicon

#appalachia#language#culture

A working glossary of words and phrases from the western North Carolina mountains. This is the dialect I grew up with — the one that surfaces in my writing when I’m not actively suppressing it, which I’ve decided to stop doing. If something I wrote sent you here, welcome.

This list is a living document. Words get added as they come back to me.

Word / Phrase	Meaning
absquatulate	to leave suddenly and without explanation
aim	to intend, to plan to do something (“I aim to fix that”)
ain’t	am not / is not / are not / have not — a perfectly valid contraction
airish	cool and breezy with a bite to it; a chill in the air that isn’t quite cold
all-fired	very, quite, intensely — “all-fired important” means seriously important
allow	to suppose, to reckon, to figure (“I allow that’s not right”)
anymore	nowadays — used positively, which is the opposite of standard American English. “Anymore, everything runs in containers” means these days, not no longer. One of the most distinctively Appalachian constructions in the dialect.
aye god	exclamation of surprise, wonder, or exasperation — “well, I’ll be” with more conviction
bad to	prone to, inclined toward (“he’s bad to forget things”)
ballhoot	to move recklessly fast; to charge headlong into something
biggety	conceited, acting above your station, putting on airs you haven’t earned
bless your heart	context-dependent: genuine sympathy or the politest possible condescension — the tone tells you which
bodacious	impressive, bold, remarkable
booger	a scary or stubborn problem; something difficult to deal with
boogered up	broken, messed up, in a bad state
bowed up	defensive, confrontational, ready to push back
britches	pants, trousers
carry	to take someone somewhere, to escort (“let me carry you through this”)
cattywampus	crooked, misaligned, out of whack — see also sigogglin, whomperjawed
chunk	to throw (“chunk that over here”)
come to find out	to eventually discover or realize (“come to find out, it was a typo”)
commence	to begin, to start (“it commenced to rain something terrible”)
cove	a small, enclosed mountain valley — narrower and more sheltered than a holler; hollows open up, coves close in
consarned	confounded, blasted — a mild intensifier expressing frustration
coot	an odd or eccentric person
crick	a small stream or creek
dadgum	mild oath expressing frustration; a substitute for stronger language
dander	anger, temper (“got my dander up”)
dauncy	feeling off, not quite right, a little queasy — not sick enough to say so, just dauncy
directly	soon, in a little while — not immediately, but before long
done	already; a completive marker (“it done quit on me”)
dope	a soft drink, soda — in the NC mountains, often specifically Coca-Cola
druthers	preferences; what you’d rather do (“if I had my druthers”)
fair to middlin’	passable, okay — not great, not terrible
feisty	spirited, scrappy, ready to push back
fetch	to go get something and bring it back (“fetch me that wrench”)
fixin’ to	about to, getting ready to do something
frog-strangler	a very heavy rain — also gully-washer, toad-strangler; a storm that earns its name
fur piece	a long way off, a considerable distance (“that’s a fur piece from here”)
gawsh	mild exclamation of surprise or exasperation
give out	to become exhausted; to stop working
ground boomer	a groundhog, woodchuck
granny woman	a folk healer, midwife, or keeper of traditional remedies — distinct from a doctor; trusted in ways a doctor might not be
gumption	initiative, nerve, common sense
haint	a ghost, a phantom; something that lingers and won’t go away
hankerin’	a craving, a strong desire
heap	a large amount, a lot (“a heap of trouble”)
highfalutin	pretentious, overcomplicated, putting on airs
holler	a small valley nestled between hills; also to call out
hornswoggle	to trick, deceive, or swindle
I swan	mild oath of surprise or exasperation; “I swear” softened
ill	angry, in a foul mood — not sick. “She’s ill today” means she’s in a temper, not under the weather. Outsiders get this wrong constantly.
jasper	a fool; a contemptible or untrustworthy person; also just a strange one
kinfolk	family, relatives — blood and chosen both count
laurel hell	a dense, impenetrable thicket of mountain laurel you can’t get through
lay out	to be absent, skip, avoid responsibility — “laid out of school” means played hooky
let on	to pretend; to indicate; to reveal (“don’t let on like that’s expected”)
liable to	likely to, apt to (“that’s liable to break something”)
lollygag	to waste time, move slowly, dawdle
make out	to manage, to get along; how something turned out (“how’d it make out?”)
mamaw	grandmother — warm, immediate, always right
mash	to press or push something, like a button
maw	mother, mom
mess	a quantity, a serving — “a mess of beans” is enough beans for a meal; not pejorative
might could	maybe able to; potentially can (“you might could fix it with a flag”)
mullygrubs	a state of low spirits, the blues; general malaise
nary	not a single one, none at all (“nary a warning”)
nigh	near, nearly, almost (“nigh on impossible”)
no-count	worthless, lazy, good for nothing
norate	to spread news, announce to everyone — “if she norates it, everybody’ll know by supper”
of a morning	in the morning — “of an evening” works the same way
ornery	stubborn, cantankerous, difficult
papaw	grandfather — alternate spelling of pawpaw
passel	a large bunch, a whole lot of something
paw	father, dad
pawpaw	grandfather; also the native Appalachian fruit tree (Asimina triloba) — two meanings, both legitimate
peaked	looking or feeling poorly, sickly — two syllables: peek-id
pert near	pretty near, almost (“pert near got it on the first try”)
piece	a bit of a distance or time (“down the road a piece”)
piddlin’	trivial, small, beneath notice; also tinkering aimlessly
plumb	completely, absolutely (“plumb forgot”)
poke	a bag or sack; also the pokeweed plant, which is toxic if prepared wrong and a spring green if prepared right
polecat	a skunk; a disagreeable or untrustworthy person or thing
pop	a soft drink, soda — see also dope
powerful	very, intensely — used as an adverb (“powerful strange”)
puny	sickly, weak, fragile; also small and insufficient
purty	pretty
reckon	think, suppose, figure
redd up	to clean up, tidy a space — “redd up the kitchen”
rigamarole	an unnecessarily complicated process or procedure
right smart	quite a bit, a considerable amount
sallet	cooked greens — an old pronunciation of “salad” that stuck; “poke sallet” is pokeweed greens cooked down right
sang	ginseng — “going sanging” means hunting wild ginseng in the woods, which is serious business in the NC mountains
shoot fire	mild exclamation of frustration or surprise
sigogglin	lopsided, off-kilter, structurally unsound — see also cattywampus, whomperjawed
sorry	worthless, no-account, of poor quality — not apologetic. “That’s a sorry excuse” means it’s a bad one, not a remorseful one. Another one outsiders get backwards.
sparkin’	courting, dating — “they were sparkin’” means they were sweet on each other
skedaddle	to leave quickly, get out fast
slanchways	at a slant, sideways, not quite straight
spell	a period of time (“spent a good spell on that bug”)
stove up	beaten up, broken down, barely functional
study on	to think carefully about something, to consider it properly
sull / sulled up	to pout; to become unresponsive and just sit there
that dog don’t hunt	that idea won’t work; that argument doesn’t hold
tater	potato
tetched	a little crazy, touched in the head
tolerable	fairly well, not bad (“how’s it going? tolerable”)
took on	made a fuss, carried on about something
tote	to carry, to haul around
tuckered out	completely exhausted, worn down
tump	to tip over, knock over, topple
up and	suddenly did something, often unexpectedly (“it up and quit”)
used to could	used to be able to — “I used to could do that without looking it up”
varmint	a pest; a troublesome creature or person
vittles	food, provisions — from “victuals,” but said the way it sounds
what-all	what various things, what all — “what-all did you get?” widens the question to include everything
whomperjawed	crooked, knocked askew, badly misaligned — see also cattywampus, sigogglin
wore slap out	completely and thoroughly exhausted
y’all	you all — second person plural, and the English language’s greatest omission
yonder	over there, in that direction
you’uns	you ones, you all — the mountain-specific form; more emphatic than y’all and older
young’un	a young child; also something new or inexperienced