Chris calls from Nassawadox, Virginia, to say that on their second date his girlfriend used the term pine shadows for what he calls pine needles. Particularly in Virginia, the terms pine shadows and pine shatters denote those long thin leaves that fall from pine trees. The word shatter applies to seed pods that fall out of their case, which is why the term shattered corn is used for corn that has fallen off from the ear. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Pine Shatters”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello, this is Chris. How are you doing?
Hi, Chris. Where are you calling from?
Nassauautix, Virginia, the Eastern Shore.
Yeah, welcome to the show. What can we do for you?
Yeah, I was wondering if you guys might happen to know the origins of a crazy term my girlfriend happened to come up with on her second date.
Oh, okay.
So I grew up in upstate New York where pine needles are appropriately called pine needles.
And I think it was our second date.
We were walking through the woods.
And I don’t know how the conversation came up, but she looks at them and calls them pine shadows.
And I just kind of went quiet for a second or two.
What did you just say?
Pine shadows?
Shadows, yeah.
-huh.
Some people might call them shatters, too.
Mm—
She’s here, too.
Sorry.
Oh, she’s here, too.
Well, let’s put her on.
Let’s see what she has to say about this.
Hi.
My name is Yvonne.
Hi, Yvonne.
Tell us about these things on pine trees.
It’s really when they’re on the ground, they’re called pine shadows.
I wasn’t born here.
I grew up here, and I think I just picked it up from people who lived here when I was a kid.
And that’s just—
In Virginia.
I mean, I know that they are pine needles, but I can’t stop saying pine shadows.
Okay, but there was a moment of silence where Chris was just looking at you like you’re out of your mind or you have two heads or something.
Why am I dating this one?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
What are you saying?
You’re making these things up.
Yeah.
Well, I tell you what, we need to have Chris back on the phone because, of course, you are using a perfectly legitimate word, and we will explain that to him.
Okay.
How’s that?
Thank you so much.
This isn’t the result I was hoping for.
We always ask at this point, is there something on the line, like dishes for a week or a nice dinner out or a car wash or something?
No, nothing on the line other than just pure defeat.
I am a little concerned with our new child being raised, calling them by something I truly believe is wrong.
Okay, listen up, buddy.
Actually, this is a really delicious question because you’re from upstate New York and she’s from Virginia.
And she heard the term pine shatter or pine shadow, which is a term that you will usually hear in Virginia.
It’s a dialectal term that refers to those pointed leaves that fall from pine trees.
There’s also a dialectal verb shatter, which refers to seeds falling from a seed pot or oats falling out of their case.
Or you’ll also hear in parts of the United States, you’ll hear people talk about shattered corn, which is corn that’s loosened from the ear.
And those two words may be connected.
Darn.
Yeah, but it’s a cool phenomenon what happened here.
So the shatter, S-H-A-T-T-E-R, is sometimes pronounced as if those T’s or D’s, shatter.
And the word shadow is sometimes pronounced as shatter.
So those two shatters can sometimes be mistaken for each other.
So pine shatter can be mistaken as pine shadow.
And besides, the way the leaves fall, the way the needles fall,
Does look like a shadow of the tree.
It really does look like a pine shadow.
Her mother uses that alternate shatters.
Yeah, pine shatters, yeah.
It’s a real thing that’s been chronicled by dialect researchers
And been mapped out even.
So how about that, Chris?
This is the worst news ever.
Well, congratulations on the child who will be speaking a proper Virginia dialect.
Y’all are adorable. You got to call us back again.
Yeah. Give Yvonne a kiss and a hug for us. And thanks for calling. All right.
Will do. Thank you very much.
Bye bye. Take care.
Bye bye.
What are those little linguistic disputes that you have in your house that are never quite resolved?
And maybe you have fun battling your partner.
Maybe it’s just a little teasing here and there.
Hey, let us get in on the action.
