In parts of Appalachia, the southern United States, and a few other places, the expression I don’t care to is understood to mean “I wouldn’t mind to.” In other words, I don’t care to may mean exactly the opposite of...
In Appalachia, if you’re being lazy, stupid, or idle, you may be told to quit your footercootering. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Quit Your Footercootering!” Here’s a handy word I’m adding to my...
The liked to in statements such as It started raining yesterday and liked to never stop is directly related to the word likely. The terms liked to and likedta used in this way reflect a British dialectal term that found its way into the speech of...
A physician in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, shares some of the vocabulary of his patients from Appalachia. There, a misery is anything painful, such as a misery in my jaw if they have a painful tooth or a misery in my back if they have lumbar pain...
An Alabama listener says her grandmother would express astonishment with the phrase They! My goodness! This exclamation, which is common in her grandmother’s native Appalachia, is probably an R-less pronunciation of There! as in Look there...
Linda in Blountville, Tennessee, wonders why many old-timers in her area pronounce the word ask to sound like aks with the S and K switched, sounding like the word “axe.” The pronunciation “axe” for ask has nothing to do with...