Pale as a Haint

Hey there, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, I’m Ashley and I’m calling from Danville, Kentucky.

So there’s a term that my grandmother has always used and I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older. My mom and I both use it as well, even though I’m not sure that either of us know what it means exactly. If someone looks really bad, well, female specifically looks really bad, like pale, maybe hungover or just peaked, she’ll say, oh, she looks like a haint. And I’ve referred to myself that way when I wake up and I look really bad. I’m like, oh, I look like a haint. And I feel like somehow maybe it’s related to a haunt, but I’m not, I’m really not sure.

Well, that’s a really good guess because you’re right.

Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah.

The term haint is a dialectical term that means a ghost or evil spirit, and it’s probably just a variation of the word haunt.

Okay, well, that makes sense.

I thought I was probably far off base, but times when, you know, you’ve woken up with your makeup on and your mascara smeared and you’re pale, I just always thought, oh, it must be a haunt.

Yeah, it’s not that you ain’t looking too good.

But it’s, yeah, particularly in the South and Southeast, you might talk about a house that’s painted or somebody looks like a haint, meaning they look like a ghost. And, you know, I bet our South Carolina listeners in particular are saying, oh, yeah, haints, because in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia, the word haint, meaning a ghost or evil spirit is well known among the descendants of enslaved Africans, the Gichigala culture there. And there’s actually this long tradition there of trying to ward off haints, those evil spirits, with the use of the color haint blue. And you may have seen this on houses in the south. Sometimes people will paint the ceiling of a front porch with sort of a robin’s egg blue that’s called haint blue and that’s because there’s an old belief that a haint can’t cross water or they’re so confused by this shade of blue that they think it’s water. Isn’t that weird?

Oh wow, I love that. That’s so interesting and I have especially in the older southern homes. Right. With the large wraparound porches and things. I’ve seen the ceiling painted blue like water.

Yeah.

As far as when it dates back to, do you have any ideas of that?

It’s been around a while. It’s hard to know because so often the pronunciation is independent of the spelling, if that makes sense. Somebody might spell it H-A-U-N-T but pronounce it haint. Definitely a long tradition. My Aunt Maiso used to talk about that house is hainted.

Oh really?

Oh my granny is going to have such a fun time hearing this and knowing because for a while we picked on her for saying it and then over the years we picked it up ourselves.

Nice.

It’s really funny.

So fun talking to you guys. I love etymology. That’s when I travel, if I’m on a plane, I’ve got a book. And that’s my favorite thing to read on an airplane is about etymology.

Wow, you should fly out and visit with us.

Absolutely.

You’ve become loaded with information.

Oh, that’s so fun.

All right.

Well, thank you, guys.

Take care, Ashley.

I appreciate it.

You too.

All right.

Bye-bye.

Thanks so much.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Haunt, the verb, goes back to the 12th century in French. So it’s got a long history, even before it shows up in English. The French etymological dictionaries trace it back from an Old Norse word, meaning to frequent or find again or to long after, you know, to desperately want. And it might even refer to the herds of animals in the barn seeking the stable for the winter.

Ooh.

Yeah.

Very interesting, right?

Great stuff.

Let’s talk about language. Give us a call, 877-929-9673.