Pretty as a Speckled Pup

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, I am Carmen Bogard and I’m calling from Jacksonville, Florida.

Jacksonville, Florida. Well, we’re glad to have you, Carmen. What’s up?

I called because my husband is from Memphis and when I first traveled there to meet his family, when I met his grandmother, as she first saw me, she said, you’re as pretty as a speck of puff.

So the translation to that meant, well, I guess you were facially pretty.

So during this day, of course, I had to ask, well, what if you’re not facially pretty?

And she said, then you’re a dammit, I’ll bite you.

So my question is, are these Southern sayings, expressions?

It was the first I had ever heard that.

But I have since gone on to let my daughter know who had her first grandbaby.

So now we call her a speck of puff.

So I just wanted to know what rootings this may possibly have or if you’ve ever heard of it.

Oh, so Carmen, that’s a delightful thing, though, to meet your in-laws and have them tell you that you’re pretty, right?

Exactly.

Yeah.

So you’re saying speck of puff, S-P-E-C-K-O-F-P-U-F-F.

Correct.

What’s really interesting here is that that is a form, it’s a modified form of the farm or common version, which is cute as a speckled pup.

So S-P-E-C-P-L-E-D-P-U-P, like a little puppy with speckled fur.

Yes, yes, I’ve heard as much, but I remember her saying speckled pup.

And so my husband said that’s all he ever heard.

So I don’t know if that was then her variation of what should be the truth saying.

It has to be, because that’s a far more common expression in the U.S., in the American South.

And the longer forms are things like cute as a speckled pup under a red wagon, or pretty as a speckled pup with a ribbon around its neck.

And this goes back at least to the 1870s.

It’s legendary history.

It’s just one of those beautiful, charming Southern expressions that should just keep being used.

It’s just got a real nice feel to it.

And it is Southern?

Yes, it is, yeah.

Yeah.

U.S. Southern.

And I can see how she could reanalyze it as a speck of puff because that’s, you know, just a little bitty, little bitty cute thing.

Yeah.

Are you a small thing, Carmen?

Are you a little bitty gal and you’re just as cute as can be?

I’ve been told as much.

That’s to be modest.

But what about if you’re not sexually pretty?

Then is that something you’ve heard?

No, I’ve never heard, damn it, I’ll bite you.

It’s a way to say that someone’s not pretty.

It reminds me of The Wizard of Oz, though.

There’s a scene where Dorothy tells Miss Gulch, who’s the mean lady who is trying to take Toto from her.

And Dorothy says, you go away or I’ll bite you myself.

For some reason, it reminds me of that.

But that’s probably not related.

Wow. Oh, my goodness.

Okay, well, I had to get to the bottom of it somehow, because I’ve been talking about this to my husband for quite some time.

So I love your show. I listen to it all the time.

Oh, that’s really nice.

I’ll just make the call.

Well, you, Carmen, are as good-natured as a speck of puff.

Thank you.

All right, you take care now.

Thanks, Carmen.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

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