Just Can’t Gee-Haw

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Father Dennis from Martin, Tennessee.

Father Dennis from Martin. Where is Martin, Tennessee?

Northwest Tennessee, far away from everything.

Okay.

Well, you’re near Missouri, though.

Yeah, not far from Missouri. I can get to Missouri in about an hour from here.

What can we do for you, Father?

I was at a nursing home not too long ago visiting some people, and I was talking with one of the staff, and they were explaining that someone was going to have to be moved because the two residents sharing a room couldn’t jee-ha together very well.

And I said, what does that mean?

And she said, you know, like they don’t jee-ha together. They don’t get along. They’re always sniping at each other.

And I said, where does that expression come from?

And she said, well, I’ve lived here in northwest Tennessee my whole life. Haven’t you heard that before?

And I said, no, I grew up in Memphis. I’ve never heard that before.

And I knew that you guys would be the ones to ask.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, that’s a great southernism. It’s not just that state. But all throughout the South, there’s plenty of reports of g-haw. A little old-fashioned these days. But it means to get along, to move along.

If somebody g-haws, it means they’ve got some spring in their step. They’re going. And it comes from the farming or rural terms that we use to indicate whether or not your animals, your horse, your oxen, whatever, should go left or right. G and haw.

That’s pretty much it.

So you’re talking about two animals pulling together then. If they’re not g-hawing, then the two aren’t getting along.

Yeah, so they’re trained to obey.

Yeah, exactly. They’re trained to obey voice commands. So you might actually have them slowly going. You know, you train them to plow, and you’re going behind to pick up the clods or whatever, bust up the clods and so forth.

But I love that. If you have a couple that doesn’t jihaw, then they’re not getting along. They don’t work well in the traces together, right?

Yeah, yeah.

But you know, Father—

Well, thank you, because I grew up in Memphis, and I’ve never—I’m not—I’m a city boy. I mean, Memphis is still the south, but it’s a pretty urban place. I just never heard anything like that before. I’m not really familiar with farm animals.

I learned G and Haw not as a verb, both words together. I learned them from Jack London. I learned them from A Call of the Wild.

Oh, is that right?

Yeah. He uses them up there in Alaska during the gold rush when he’s working with his animals.

Oh, interesting. And it goes back 1960s-ish as a verb, but G and Haw as separate words go back well into the 1800s, early 1800s.

And this is very American, by the way. This isn’t something you’re likely to find an English farmer using when they’re plowing the fields.

Wow.

Well, thank you so much. Listen, before I go, can I share with you my favorite portmanteau?

Oh, please.

Please. I’m a Catholic priest. When I get my Bible and my rosary and my prayer books and all those other things together, those things are called my paraphernalia.

All right.

Bonus points for you, Father. You win the call. Prayer paraphernalia.

Thank you. That’s great. Nice.

Thank you. Thanks for calling us, and thanks for the laugh. I really appreciate it.

All right. That was a great day. Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

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