The United States was once a country of many dialects, but the spread of broadcasting media over the last century has taken a toll on regional speech: As radio hosts and TV newscasters started talking to the nation, the nation started to mimic them, abandoning local accents and dialects for a more standardized mode of speech. But now, one podcasting network is trying to help bring back America’s disappearing regional slang.
The Atlantic reports that Acast podcasting network has teamed up with the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) to revive 50 of the most endangered local words and phrases from across the United States. Acast is providing its podcasters—which include BuzzFeed, Ikea, and Financial Times—with a list of near-forgotten regional slang compiled by DARE, and encouraging them to incorporate slang terms into their podcasts. The idea is to help preserve endangered slang, and to get people interested in America’s rich linguistic heritage.
Acast Stories USA founder Karl Rosander tells The Guardian he hopes Acast’s popular podcasts can help combat the linguistic homogeneity of the airwaves. “This popularity should help bring these endangered words back into public discourse, with our podcast hosts using, pronouncing correctly and contextualising the DARE words and phrases in an organic and replicable way,” he explains. “As they say in New England, ‘I vum’ that this project should help restore these words and phrases to their former glory.”
Check out Acast and DARE’s list of endangered slang below:
Barn burner: a wooden match that can be struck on any surface. Chiefly Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Maryland
Bat hide: a dollar bill. Chiefly Southwest
Be on one’s beanwater: to be in high spirits, feel frisky. Chiefly New England
Bonnyclabber: thick, sour milk. Chiefly North Atlantic
Counterpin: a bedspread. Chiefly South, South Midland
Croker sack: a burlap bag. Chiefly Gulf States, South Atlantic
Cuddy: a small room, closet, or cupboard.
Cup towel: a dish towel. Chiefly Texas, Inland South
Daddock: rotten wood, a rotten log. Chiefly New England
Dish wiper: a dish towel. Chiefly New England
Dozy of wood: decaying. Chiefly Northeast, especially Maine
Dropped egg: a poached egg. Chiefly New England
Ear screw: an earring. Chiefly Gulf States, Lower Mississippi Valley
Emptins: homemade yeast used as starter. Chiefly New England, Upstate New York
Farmer match: a wooden match than can be struck on any surface. Chiefly Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, New York, West Virginia
Fleech: to coax, wheedle, flatter. South Atlantic
Fogo: An offensive smell. Chiefly New England
Frog strangler: a heavy rain. Chiefly South, South Midland
Goose drownder: a heavy rain. Chiefly Midland
I vum: I swear, I declare. Chiefly New England
Larbo: a type of candy made of maple syrup on snow. New Hampshire
Last button on Gabe’s coat: the last bit of food. Chiefly South, South Midland
Leader: a downspout or roof gutter. Chiefly New York, New Jersey
Nasty-neat: overly tidy. Scattered, but especially Northeast
Parrot-toed: pigeon-toed. Chiefly Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic
Pin-toed: pigeon-toed. Especially Delaware, Maryland, Virginia
Popskull: cheap or illegal whiskey. Chiefly Southern Appalachians
Pot cheese: cottage cheese. Chiefly New York, New Jersey, northern Pennsylvania, Connecticut
Racket store: a variety store. Especially Texas
Sewing needle: a dragonfly. Especially Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Massachusetts [Folk lore says that it would sew up one’s eyes and mouth (or fingers and toes) if one fell asleep outside.]
Shat: a pine needle. Chiefly Delaware, Maryland, Virginia
Shivering owl: a screech owl. Chiefly South Atlantic, Gulf States [Its cry is said to portend a death in the family or other ill omen.]
Skillpot: a turtle. Chiefly District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia
Sonsy: cute, charming, lively. Scattered
Spill: a pine needle. Chiefly Maine
Spin street yarn: to gossip. Especially New England
Spouty: of ground: soggy, spongy. Scattered
Suppawn: corn meal mush. Chiefly New York
Supple-sawney: a homemade jointed doll that can be made to “dance.” Scattered
Tacker: a child, especially a little boy. Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania
Tag: a pine needle. Chiefly Virginia
To bag school: to play hooky. Chiefly Pennsylvania, New Jersey
Tow sack: a burlap bag. Chiefly South, South Midland, Texas, Oklahoma
Trash mover: a heavy rain. Chiefly Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, Lower Mississippi Valley
Tumbleset: a somersault. Chiefly Southeast, Gulf States; also Northeast
Wamus: a men’s work jacket. Chiefly North Central, Pennsylvania
Whistle pig: a groundhog (also known as woodchuck). Chiefly Appalachians
Winkle-hawk: a three-cornered tear in cloth. Chiefly Hudson Valley, New York
Work brittle: eager to work. Chiefly Midland, especially Indiana
Zephyr: a light scarf. Scattered
[h/t The Atlantic]
September 9, 2016 – 7:30am