grabble

grabble
 v.— «Judge Bryant took exception to my notion that you’d have to be an idiot to noodle, considering what you might put your hands on—besides a catfish—underneath slimy rocks and logs in a river or lake. First of all, Judge Bryant, who grew up in the Goldmine community, said folks called it “grablin,’” not “noodling.” “We’d go down to the Savannah River on a Friday and grabble. The women and kids would join us on Saturday afternoon, and we’d have a big fish fry.”» —“Jolly green johnny” Independent-Mail (Anderson, S.C.) July 17, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

Stub Your Toe (episode #1606)

Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...

If Grandma Had Wheels (episode #1603)

While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be...