Mulligrubs and Mulligrubbing

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Good morning.

Good morning. Who am I talking with?

Betsy Flynn.

Where are you, Betsy?

I am in beautiful Murray, Kentucky. We are having a beautiful spring here.

Oh, that sounds good.

Well, did you call to share something fun with us?

I did. I was playing cards with my friends the other day, and one of them was complaining about her cards, very good-naturedly.

And I said, just quit your mullig rubbing and play.

And they all said, what did you say?

And so since then, I’ve asked about 10 people, have you ever heard the term molly grubbing?

And none of them had ever heard it.

So I thought, I know who to ask about this because I love your show.

I listen to it every time it sounds.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, you came to the right place.

Quit your molly grubbing.

Quit your molly grubbing.

And then I had asked my sister if she had heard that word.

And she said the next day she heard it on television.

She said that’s the first time I’ve ever heard it in my life.

I thought evidently it didn’t come from my family then, so I don’t know where I had heard it.

Quit your mully grubbing, meaning quit your complaining, right?

Right.

Okay.

Quit your belly aching.

There you go.

That would be closer than complaining.

Betsy, you will be very pleased to hear that mully grubbing is a perfectly legitimate word.

Okay.

The original version of the word mully grub is really, really old.

It didn’t even originate in this country.

Mully grub goes back to the 1500s in the UK where mully grub meant a state of depression or a bad mood.

Or you might talk about, I have the mully grubs.

And that means that you have a stomach ache or you have an intestinal upset.

We don’t know the origin of the word mully grub.

It might come from an old word, megrim, M-E-G-R-I-M.

That means migraine, or it might be related to that.

We’re just not sure.

But if you look in the Dictionary of Southern Appalachian English, you will see mullygrub used as a verb.

You know, meaning to either complain for no good reason, or to be slightly unwell, or slightly upset, or to have the blues.

And if somebody is mullygrubby, then they’re just kind of sulky, which sounds like the person you were playing cards with.

Only for a moment.

Okay.

That makes sense because my parents and grandparents were from East Tennessee, so I’m sure that’s where it came from.

Mm—

Yeah, it’s pretty much in the South and particularly in Appalachia, so you’re right on the money there.

It’s a perfectly legitimate word.

Yeah, and as a verb, molly grubbing goes back about 130 years or more.

Thank you, guys, and keep up the good work.

All right, take care.

Thank you so much.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Well, whether it’s the slang of the sport that you love or it’s a linguistic heirloom that you learned from your parents and grandparents, share it with us.

Tell us what you know and teach us a thing or two, 877-929-9673, or email words@waywordradio.org.