Can you speak Cliffside?
Every region of the country has its own peculiar words, expressions and pronounciations. Somehow, we natives of the Cliffside area feel ours are particularly special. (At least special enough to list them alphabetically on a website.) We hope you’ll submit your favorites by clicking here.
Word or Phrase | Meaning | Usage |
---|---|---|
A fine howdy-do | exasperated reaction to an unexpected or undesired circumstance | Now that’s a fine howdy-do! |
A piece | some distance | The old sawmill is down that road a piece. |
Ain’t got a lick a sense | stupid; foolish | Well, if he even thinks about marryin’ her, he ain’t got a lick a sense. |
Ar | or | Who you gonna choose, him ar me? |
Bad to | inclined to; has a propensity for | My uncle Bob was bad to drank. |
Bedroom suit | bedroom suite | We bought a bedroom suit at Miller’s Furniture. |
Been a bein’ | past condition | She ain’t nearly as well as she’s been a bein’. |
Bless your heart | you/that poor thing | Well, bless your/her/his heart |
Boogerman | the devil | You better be good or the boogerman will come git you. |
Bring | be worth | What do you think that cow will bring at auction? |
Car shed | garage | We keep our lawnmower out in the car shed. |
Come across | find; discover | Holler if you come across my missing car keys. |
Come up a storm (or shower) | storm will occur | Looks like it’s about to come up a storm. |
Continueds | movie serials | After the newsreel and the cartoon they showed a continued. |
Cow horns will hook, doesn’t believe | Unrealistic, not in touch with reality | He doesn’t believe cow horns will hook. |
Cut out the light | turn off the light | Wish you’d cut out the light so I can git to sleep. |
Dibs | baby chicks | I bought me a dozen of them dibs at the hardware store. |
Dinner | lunch | We’ll eat dinner right after the 11:00am church service. |
Directly | after a while | She’ll be along directly. |
Dope | soft drink | I’m gonna drank me a dope. |
Drive … in the ground like a stob! | humorous threat | You keep foolin’ with me, I’ll drive you …..etc. |
Eh, law | oh, well; too bad; alas | Eh, law. He’ll end up in prison, you wait and see. |
Ellenber | Ellenboro | Jimmy Sparks lives up ‘air not too far from Ellenber. |
Evenin’ | afternoon | He’ll be here about two o’clock this evenin’. |
Fall of the year | fall; autumn | Last time I saw him was in the fall of the year. |
Far | fire | Put another log on the far. |
Far board | fire board; mantel | Got a cigarette? I left mine on the far board back at the house. |
Far City | Forest City | I think he lives in Far City. |
Fell off | lost weight | You have fell off since the last time I saw you. |
Futher | farther, further. To avoid confusion about which word to use, we adopted a hybrid word to fit all occasions. | And futhermore, you’ll find that the ocean is futher away than you think. |
Git a wheel | Tear off in a car, spinning the wheels | Everytime he takes off in his Thunderbird, he gits a wheel. |
Going to the store | going shopping | I’ll be back after ‘while, I’m going to the store. |
Git Gone | Leave, be missing | I’ll put off sweeping the porch ’til y’all git gone. |
Granny woman | haggard old lady | Pore Hattie, in the past few months she’s come to look like a granny woman. |
Hard | hired | Cliffside Mills hard me on the day after Christmas. |
Hawg-killin’ time | cold weather | You know, I believe it’s hawg-killin’ time. |
Heck far | mild expletive | Well, heck far, I never seen the like! |
Hen aigs | eggs | We gonna dye some hen aigs at Easter. |
Henretter | Henrietta | She’s the purtiest girl in Henretter. |
Hep | help | I can’t hep it, but I’m still in love with you. |
Here ‘while back | some time ago. Not as long ago as ‘way back yonder, but prior to some date in the last week or two. | I run into him in Far City here ‘while back and he was wearing ‘at new wooden laig. |
Hind end | posterior, butt | I wish somebody’d kick him in the hind end. |
Hisself | himself | Ernest got hisself a new Studebaker. |
Hoodoo | fool, deceive | Don’t you try to hoodoo me! |
Humdinger | special or unique individual or thing | ‘At ’55 Chevy I got is a humdinger. |
I declare | good heavens, my stars | Well, I declare, I ain’t never seen nothing like ‘at! |
Idey | idea | I ain’t got no idey. |
I’ll be doggone | my heavens; I swear; I can’t believe it | I’ll be doggone, he run off with that hussy. |
Jeet? | Did you eat? | Jeet yit? |
Jerk a knot in … tail | punish, straighten out | If he keeps that up, Mr. Beatty will jerk a knot in his tail. |
Kingdom come | end of time | It will last til kingdom come. |
Knowed | knew | Hung hisself, eh? I never knowed him to do that before. |
‘Light and come in | alight (from your conveyance) and enter our home | Why don’t y’all ‘light and come in? (Undoubtedly a term carried over from “horse and buggy” days, when one would alight (come down) from a carriage or stage coach. |
Loaf bread | white bread | Put a slice of baloney between two slices uv loaf bread. |
M’daddy | my father (pronounced MUH-DADDY’) | That old reed hook belonged to m’daddy. |
Mess | portion, quantity | She picked her a mess of poke sallit. |
Moseber | Mooresboro | Grandma is buried in Sandy Run cemetery over at Moseber. |
Nanner pudd’n | banana pudding | I’m saving room for some of that nanner pudd’n. |
No ‘count | worthless | Since my health turned bad, I jist ain’t been no ‘count. |
Of a mornin’ | mornings, on mornings | I always enjoy the sunrise of a mornin’. |
Old as the hills | really old | Grandma is old as the hills. |
Orten to | ought not | You orten to do that. |
Outta whack | undone, broken | The links on this page are outta whack. |
Paper poke | paper bag | She put my groceries in a paper poke. |
Piccolo | juke box | Why don’t you play somethin’ on the piccolo? |
Piled up in the bed | be, remain, in bed | I went over there at dinner time and he was still piled up in the bed. |
Pitch a fit | express displeasure | When my sister came home late, Mama pitched a fit. |
Pizzle-sprung | exhausted, tard, wore to a frazzle | I tell you, after following that mule around all day, I’m just pizzle-sprung. |
Pore | underweight; skinny | Since she had her operation, she’s pore as a snake. |
Puttin’ on the dog | being uppity | Look at that hat he’s wearing, ain’t he puttin’ on the dog? |
Quare | peculiar | He’s a quare one. |
Red as a gobbler’s snout | florid | His face was red as a gobbler’s snout. |
Rinch | rinse | Rinch the soap offa your hands! |
Rite smart | a lot, a goodly amount | There’s rite smart a cotton left in the field. |
Roas’n’ears | roasting ears | Go down to the corn field and pick us a sackful a roas’n’ears. |
Rulfton | Rutherfordton | You wanna ride with me up to Rulfton? |
Scarce as hens’ teeth | in short supply | Snuff dippers are gittin’ scarce as hens’ teeth. |
Show, or picture show | movies, movie theater | Let’s go to the show tomorrow night. |
Squallin’ | crying | She left the room just a squallin’. |
Standin’ | shut down | The mill is standin’ this week. |
Straight shot | direct route | You jist turn left right down air and it’s a straight shot to Chesnee. |
Suit a clothes | suit | I put on my best suit a clothes. |
Sweet milk | milk | I love corn bread crumbled up in a glass a’ sweet milk. |
Tard | tired | I can’t get up, I’m too tard. |
Tater | potato | Most years we store our taters under the house where the pigs can’t git to ’em. |
The house | home | I gotta git along to the house. |
They | buildup to an exclamation | They, hellfar! He’s gonna kill hisself. |
Tight as Dick’s hat band | stingy; miserly | Don’t count on him paying that high a price, he’s tight as Dick’s hat band. |
T’mar | tomorrow | I cain’t thank about that today, I’ll thank about it t’mar. |
Toenails | cashew nuts | When Tommy Hamrick and his daddy went to Spindale they bought some toenails. |
Tote | Carry | How ’bout totin’ this anvil? My arms are tard. |
‘Way back yonder | years ago; long ago | Grandpa bought that mule ‘way back yonder. |
Whuppin’ | whipping | You better behave or you’ll get a whuppin’. |
Wore to a frazzle | exhausted | After climbin’ ‘at hill, I’m jist wore to a frazzle. |
Yore | your | Is ‘at yore coat? |
You’nses | yours | Is that little shoat one of you’nses? |