To shammick means to “amble about slowly or lounge around.” Most often heard in Appalachia, this verb is also spelled shummick. Writer Horace Kephart defined it this way: “to shuffle about, idly nosing into things, as a bear does when there is...
An old Irish curse goes: May the devil make a ladder of your backbones while picking apples in the garden of hell. If you’d rather offer someone a friendlier wish, try May angels bless your sleep with the smell of apple pies. This is part of a...
Byron in Jacksonville, Florida, shares that when his mother was astonished, she’d say Don’t that beat all! But when really surprised, she’d exclaim, That beats bobtail and bobtail beats the devil! What’s a bobtail and how...
A San Antonio, Texas, woman wonders about a tradition she grew up with. Before drinking an alcoholic beverage, you hand the drink to someone else to have a sip in order to take the devil out of it. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...