Black-Hearted Buzzard

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Patricia Davis. I’m calling from Midland, Georgia.

Welcome, Patricia. What can we do for you?

I had a question about the phrase black-hearted buzzard. I’ve heard that phrase all my life. My mom used to use it sometimes when she was referring to an evil person or somebody who was mean-spirited.

And I was using it in a conversation with a friend a couple of weeks ago, and she said she had never heard that expression before. And I was just flabbergasted. I thought it was pretty common.

You know, I researched it, and I can’t find the origin of it. I can find black-hearted, but not the phrase black-hearted buzzard. So I thought maybe you could help me with that.

Yeah, I think we might be able to do that. So this was something special to your mother?

No, I’ve heard it before, and I heard it on an episode of the Andy Griffith Show. They were referring to, I don’t know if you watched that show, but the boonies were having an argument.

It was a husband and a wife.

And he told the husband to call an old black-hearted buzzard.

And so I’ve heard it usually referred to women, but I was using it to refer to a man.

So, Martha, a black-hearted buzzard, as far as I know, isn’t really a standard expression.

It might be something that just belongs to Patricia’s mother.

None of my reference books have it either.

Although here’s the thing I would do, Patricia, if I were going to, I would break this down into two separate parts, look at blackhearted and buzzard separately.

And there we really have something there.

We can really get some history on this term.

And if we do that, we find blackhearted to mean someone who has bad intentions or ill will as far back as the 1600s.

So we’re talking 400 years or more, which is kind of amazing.

And then buzzard goes back to the 1300s as an insult.

And it’s probably a minced oath or a euphemism for bastard, just a little more polite way.

And the reason buzzard kind of became a pejorative is it refers to the Latin genus name for the falcon family.

But in Europe, there’s a specific type of bird known as a buzzard, which is different than the North American buzzard.

It’s a type of falcon that wasn’t good for falconry.

It’s kind of slow and heavy.

And so it was kind of despised by falconers.

And then on top of that, here in North America, you probably know our turkey buzzards.

They’re a type of vulture, and vultures are despised and looked down on, right?

They go after carrion.

They’re not considered clean animals.

So there’s like this double historical negativity about buzzards.

Right.

Now, my mom, when she would reference it, she would usually, you know how children back in the old days, we were seen and not heard.

And so we would overhear her using that expression.

And it usually referred to a woman who was, and like you said, along the, and my mother was prone to use some expletives.

And so I’m sure growing up with her preacher daddy that she would not say the word bastard.

She probably would, but, you know, but she referred to it as a woman who was like a homewrecker or some kind of little Jezebel or something.

And so I’ve heard my mom would use it in that connotation.

That’s right.

So you’ve nailed the vulture part of that because what do vultures do?

They hang around looking to take advantage of a situation, a bad situation, right?

They’re there to pick the bones clean, to take anything good that’s left in a situation.

So, yeah, there is definitely, at least in North America, that notion that a buzzard is circling, circling, circling, waiting for its moment.

So we’re just going to have to put these two together.

Patricia, you know, the great thing about this show is that if there are other people listening who know this expression, they’re going to let us know about it.

Oh, boy, do they.

Well, I hope so.

I hope it wasn’t just my mom and Andy Griffith that I’ve heard these.

I doubt it.

Yeah, possible not.

Although those are two very good sources, however.

Yeah, your mom is the best source ever, right?

Yes, right, absolutely.

You take care now, all right?

All right, thank you all so very much.

Love the show, and I appreciate your time.

Okay, goodbye.

Thanks, Patricia.

Bye-bye.

Okay, bye.

Well, is there a word or phrase that your family uses,

And you’ve realized that other people around you don’t use it?

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Thank you.