Redd Up

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Chet Sewell, and I’m calling from San Diego.

Well, hiya, Chet. Welcome to the program.

Hi, Chet.

Thank you. Hi.

Well, I grew up in Iowa, and my mother grew up on a farm in southern Iowa.

And when she was growing up, her mother, my grandmother, when they would get done with dinner,

my grandmother would say, okay, kids, read up the table.

And on fancy days when they had a big, huge meal, my grandmother would pretend that they had a maid, and Bridget would red up the table, the imaginary maid.

When I grew up, my mother would tell us children to red up the table.

And then when my parents remodeled their kitchen and my mother got the coveted dishwasher, the dishwasher became Bridget.

And so our job was to red up the table and load Bridget.

That’s cool.

I’m curious about the phrase red op.

I’ve never heard it used outside of my immediate family.

My aunts and uncles used it because they were with my mom when they were growing up.

But I just don’t know where it comes from.

And every time I say it to somebody, they look at me like I’m completely off my rocker.

Well, you may very well be.

What part of rockerless Iowa are you from?

I grew up in Des Moines. I grew up in the big city.

And that’s where your aunts and uncles and mother and so forth are from?

They grew up in Osceola, Iowa. My grandmother grew up in Indiana.

Huh. Maybe northern Indiana, eastern Indiana.

Yeah, Reynolds, just near Lafayette.

Anna, what kind of lineage does your family have?

German, French, and Irish.

Mm-Well, yeah, we can assure you that you may be off your rocker, but you’re using Red Up correctly.

Oh, cool.

And you’re not alone.

Yes, you’re not alone.

I’m not.

No, you’re not alone, Chuck.

Well, that is so funny because out here in California, nobody that I have come across knows what I’m talking about when I mention that phrase.

Right, right.

Because it’s more confined to that area of Pennsylvania, especially Ohio, northern Indiana.

And it reflects the footsteps of Scottish immigrants in that part of the world.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it spelled out.

No.

It’s usually spelled R-E-D-D.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, and it’s a vestige of the language of Scottish immigrants and means to tidy up.

Yeah, it’s got a great long history in the United States in all the various dialects of that part of the country,

And it’s well attested to. It appears in print consistently decade after decade.

It doesn’t even seem to be disappearing, which is nice for a little dialect feature like that.

Well, cool. I teach kindergarten, and I use it oftentimes with my children when it’s time for us to clean up.

Oh, my gosh.

I’m passing it on.

Good for you. Their parents are probably scratching their heads.

Right.

Yeah, that’s great.

So that’s good to know where it comes from. Thank you so much.

Oh, you’re welcome.

Thanks for calling, Chet.

Oh, it was fun. Bye-bye.

All right. Bye-bye.

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