A listener in Springfield, Illinois, recalls that an elderly relative would respond to the question “How are you?” with the answer “Forked end down.” By that, he meant, “I’m fine.” If you’ve ever drawn a stick figure, you know that the forked end is where the feet are, so forked end down means someone’s feet are firmly planted on the ground. In the American West, “forked end up” long referred to the unfortunate position of a rider thrown from a horse. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Forked End Down”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Peg Tanner, and I’m in Springfield, Illinois.
Oh, hi, Peg. How are you doing?
Hello, Peg.
Hey, hi.
What can we do for you?
Well, I have a saying that I hadn’t heard before when I went to Eastern Illinois University. My friend BJ’s grandfather had a strange comeback for, how are you? We would walk in the door, and we would say, Granddad, how you doing? And he would always say, fork it and down. And he was born in 1894, and he lived on a farm near Wearden, Illinois, which is close to Charleston. And so he was a farm boy. And I believe when you say fork it and down, it’s because your hay fork is down. You’re fit and ready to work. Everything was okay.
So when he would say that, it meant that he was in good operating condition, right?
Yeah, everything was fine.
Okay.
If he was forked in down.
Forked in down.
Peggy, have you ever drawn a stick figure?
Of course.
Okay. Which end of that is forked? The top or the bottom?
The bottom, yes. The other end looks like a spoon.
Yeah, exactly. So if your forked end is down, both of your feet are on the floor.
Yeah, that’s interesting. Very interesting.
Yeah, so you’re not laid up with illness, or you’re not sleeping, you’re not relaxing.
Yeah.
You’re not feet up.
That’s right. You’re not feet up. You know, you’re still standing. That’s how I think of it. You’re still standing. Not like a dead bug in the windowsill.
Yeah. So it’s a pretty simple explanation. I’ve seen descriptions of people riding bucking broncos and going forked and up, you know, when they get thrown from the horse.
-huh. I see.
Yeah, but if you’re forking it down or forked in down, then you’re standing tall. Ready to go. On your feet and raring to go.
Okay. Well, that’s all I have then.
All right. Thank you so much, Peg. Take care of yourself.
Thanks, Peg. Keep that forked in down.
Okay. I will.
Bye-bye.
My forked end is down.
Okay, good.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
It’s old-fashioned, but it’s out there. You can find this in old Google Books, forked in down, right?
Yeah. It’s not that common.
I like it.
I do, too. Because, you know. It takes just a second for it to click, right?
-huh. Just a second.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think that’s going to be my new response when people say, how are you doing? Because how often do they really want to know how you’re doing, right?
Almost never. It’s just custom. Forked in down.
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