Starnated Fool

Rosalind from Montgomery, Alabama, says her mother used to scold her for acting like a starnadle fool. The more common version of this term is starnated fool, a term that appears particular to Black English, and appears in the work of such writers as Kiese Laymon, who includes it in his memoir about growing up Black in Mississippi, Heavy (Bookshop|Amazon). The word’s origin is unclear, although it might have evolved from stark naked. This is part of a complete episode.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1 comment
  • Another idea, which didn’t occur to me until later, is that “starnated” is just another form of “tarnation,” which is a euphemism of “damnation.” Tarnation possibly has its roots in “eternal” and possibly “infernal” as well as “damnation.” So a “starnated fool” is basically a damned fool or an “eternally damned” or “infernally damned” fool.

More from this show