Appalachian Mountain Talk

[gajda1984]

Appalachian's are the friendliest people as a whole in the States. They'd give the shirt off their back for you and defend you with their life if they're your friend. 

[xXtorrieboo21Xx]

@dmarie0791 , he probably means that since most people in the mountains are isolated from the "modern" world with technology and stuff that they've not even learned what these technologies are. They're still stuck in the old ways pretty much

[deatheater459]

loooollllll i love it what about saying plum before a verb?

[exposefraud]

Family friend, Ali Randolph, sang her original song about Popcorn Sutton at his Memorial Service. She has now posted a video of the song played with her band, The Outta Luck Band.

Moonshiners - Popcorn Sutton - Ali Randolph & The Outta Luck Band - Music Video -

[dmarie0791]

"we are 20 years behnd the whole country"? what does that mean???

[andreysolodovnikov96]

wheres ulises evra migel for thosewo dont know thats from o broter where art thou

[sbjennings99]

Ant nothin better than good country mountains Folks Y'all!!!

[sbjennings99]

East Tennessee is My home Y'alls

[TammyLoves2Read]

My parents and all their kin are from the mountains of WV. I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I have never been prouder to be from "over yonder". Appalachia is a magnificent place.

[Linda4734]

Wonderful,  I saw the special on the documentary channel it was great

and God Bless Popcorn ... Rip .... he is missed

[awatercoloredlife]

I like my moped!!

[owlandtree]

What about a fried Cackleberry sandwich?

[owlandtree]

Popcorn Sutton!!

[hillbillybushcraft]

We are the best friend a person could have or the worst enemy. I am afraid they don't make to many of these nowadays.

[thecritiquevirtuoso]

This would be a fascinating anthropological experience to study these mountain folk.

[annzup57]

@thecritiquevirtuoso Social linguistics is a huge part of sociocultural anthropology. Mountain talk or lack of it, describes one's relationship to the world, including people in it. And unless one has kin from here, or is an expert in linguistic code switching, not getting far with mountain people. As one person commented, "best friend or worst enemy." Less of a laboratory tone would go "a-ways."

[westvirginiamtnman]

god bless popcorn sutton

[tonlo92]

My Grandma "Maw Maw" was from Appilachicola, Fl she talked just like this even though she lived in South Florida for more then 40 yrs

[gestalt100]

@tonlo92 Appalachicola's a nice place. 

[heatherdu]

My family speaks like this! I am proud of my heritage!

[gbrentwll]

LOL at the 'peckerwood' comment @ about 4:40, I haven't heard that in a while. Half the words mentioned my dad spoke, passed it to me, and now I know where it REALLY came from, ha ha. My husband thinks I made half my words up, thanks for posting the video!

[paulboon]

please never change you lovely people  although i live the uk the words yonder and plumb are still use here love you all

[BLUEMOONGRASS]

I always enjoy visiting this site and takes me back to my youth. I have wrote a new song some might enjoy and sing around the campfires...HILLS OF KENTUCKY_harlan county coal mines.......bout the miners in Appalachian and the fine folks of Harlan Country Kentucky...just click the bluemoongrass link to listen to the new song

[koviack]

@DawnRoselyn i'd hope they'd be bitterly intolerant to your bullshit

[Dulcimerdude205]

I live in NW Ga. My "mamaws" folks came from Graham Co. and they are friendly folks. I am 3 generations removed from the area but still talk and understand "mountain talk". I'm kin to the Odoms,Colvins,Crisps and Welchs. Some are buried near Santeetlah lake in an unmarked graveyard known only to locals and family. Thanks for posting the video,brings back good memories. My great aunt,Dessie Odom,worked there in the jail in Robbinsville till she passed away several years ago.

[keymankeys1960]

its done rurnt now...from my folks...I still say far (fire),,,,,,warsh (wash)...oral (oil)...and my favorite....ohh he took and take it ( he took it )

[WFORACING2010]

Great Video.

[BdaB420]

well ill be damned. ol popcorn sutton is the first fella in the video. he made the best creek liquor below the mason-dixie line!

[gatoryak]

Southerners and Appalchian folk too proud of their funny talk; my grandmother from Michigan used most of these terms as did many old-timers in western states. The young'uns don't talk like this until they get older, when the societal pressure to conform overcomes the youthful desire to rebel. When people return to the south after living in a different region, they are concerned they they may have lost some of their accent. Where else are people so self-aware of speaking with an accent?

[Monscent]

@gatoryak Man this is a documentary about accents and ways of speaking, thats why theyre talking about just that. I don't think they go around contemplating their accent when the tv cams and inteviewers are gone lol.

[Tinyoak2]

@gatoryak people don't practice an accent in order to sound the way they are expected to by tourists. It's just how they sound. If you go to Boston you will see a huge difference and sometimes can't tell wether they are saying Cod (fish) or card because both sound so similar when spoken.In the beginning he says that much of the words and phrases were brought over by their ancestors and since not all imigrants went down south, you're bound to hear a similar speak out west somewhere.

[Bryansnod]

I’m the first generation removed from Appalachia, my mothers side of the family was from Hazard Ky. Being born and raised in Southern Ohio these are the words and phrases I grew up with. I'm proud of my heritage and would move to the hills right now if it weren’t for my job. These folks are salt of the earth, honest, good people. My grandfather was a coal miner; I learned more from him than I ever did in any classroom or book.

[frozenwarning]

i bet that si-gogglin' comes from the welsh word gogglydd- which means 'slanted'... seems likely don't you think? there were plenty of welsh people in appalachia

[bubaylei]

@DawnRoselyn

We may not be perfect humans, but we are a way more open and friendly then many other folks. I'm Appalachian and I've lived in many different places, but I've never felt like the people around me cared weather I lived or died, cept when I lived in the mountains. We speak in sing song and metaphor.  We like our speak to be balanced at the beginning and the end so it feels best being spoke. Thats my two bits. :) I love being Appalachian.

[Codderisback]

Im from Yorkshire England,we speak heavy dialects and have our own "language" we can even tell which part of Yorkshire someone is from depending on their dialect.

If i spoke that paragraph hardly any of you would understand it,lol.

[shineongirl]

I'm from southeastern Kentucky and this has made me really really homesick! They sound exactly like my grandparents. I live in Utah now and I'm almost ashamed that I've worked so hard to rid myself of my dialect. I learned from a young age that I should hide it because people will assume I'm unintelligent. Recently, I have decided to be proud of my heritage because we don't just speak we sing!

[myguatbabes]

@DawnRoselyn You know, I have lived here all my life and we are no more perfect or less perfect than any other group of people. We are not intolerant of others, we are just cautious as anyone should be with strangers. At least we care enough about each other to take care of our own and we are friends with our neighbors and worry about them if they are sick and try to help them if they need something.

[mithridates100]

@DawnRoselyn Welp, being from the region I know how most of the people are. They're good hard working people and will give you the shirt off your back. It's hard to imagine that it can be as true as it seems but that's just because the rest of the world is rude.

[spicedright]

@mithridates100 lol ... <3

[spicedright]

@mithridates100 lol .... <3

[mithridates100]

I'm from the west side of the appalachians in East Tennessee. This video reminds me of home so much. My mamaw talks just like the old woman in this video. Im out here California and they have now clue what I'm saying half the time. Things like poke salad, wher'd you go, wersh(wash), comode.

[jdbrown333]

@DawnRoselyn We are content with our way of life and love it but we are neither a "paragon of perfected humanity" nor do we embody the stereotype of bitter intolerance that you mentioned which is often portrayed in the movies. (Our culture is often very poorly and inaccurately portrayed in film.)

Sure, we are a bit standoffish with strangers until we get to know them and that is often misunderstood but it a part of having and maintaining a close knit community. :)

[EUROAMERA]

They proudly hold on to their rich historic heritage and they speak from the heart. Good people :)

[EUROAMERA]

These people are one of the "sweetest, kind-hearted' ppl in the South-East.

[EUROAMERA]

Honest, simple, and good people. You don't have to go deep into the Appalachia to find them.The older folks that talk like that live in western North Carolina, East Tennessee, South-eastern Kentucky. They lead a "retired" comfortable way of life, but they're wonderful. I believe that the Appalachian people are one of the very few that keep the American Heritage strong.And they're actually living all over the South-East.Retired, in a nice big house.At heart they keep the Heritage surviving.

[johnc385]

THEY SEEM LIKE VERY SIMPLE FREINDLY PEOPLE. I WISH MORE PEOPLE WHERE LIKE THEM.

[bellalucciola]

growing up hearing people talk like this was/is amazing. i love every bit of mountain talk...especially translating to people who don't know what it means. I lived in Hayesville, NC growing up an now I live in Blairsville, GA and go to school in Rome, GA and nobody in rome talks like this. People there get confused when I say words that people around home understand completely.

[hamstersniffer]

Spend a little time here in East Tennessee, you'll hear plenty of people still using "mountain speak". Lived in ET all my life and hearing folks speak in our native foothills tongue is music to m ears. Sadly, it's quickly fading away. The younger ones coming up are learning their dialect from pop culture. Many of them don't sound like they're from here at all. I suppose that's the natural progression of things but I hate to see it happen.

[logancbeeman]

hahaha peckerwood

[cabadejo]

I bet this is how America used to be.

A simpler life and a better life.

More in touch with nature and each other.

[curbshoppin]

they seem like good people,i think rual folks have there own kinda words no matter where you live here in Iowa we use some of them words like peckerwood , dickweed,over yonder ..plumb ore there.......and there is great people here ...i think its more the small town rual life thing

[RobbinYoHood89]

2:07 truerer words have never been spoken

[centervilletn]

just think y'all will be 20 yrs ahead of everyone else when the collapse goes full throttle

[centervilletn]

30/31 model A...folks here in tennessee still talk this way..hill people are the best in the world

[TheAnn2shoes]

Fascinating.........love the different aspects of the English language and I don't recognise any of the terms they use as being Scottish, Irish or English. So.....it must be mountain talk!

[blueridger28]

I live here in The Appalachian mountains insted of a ghost it a "Haint"

[seume]

Hell, I'm from Michigan and use the term "pecker wood" all the time.

[jmg1957]

well done.

[jws54]

my Gramma used to say "Hark" for "be still" and "Harken" for "listen".

[TheLexiLush]

I live in Eastern Ky and I love it. We don't have gang problems and the hills are beautiful all year round. Some people may laugh at how we talk shoot sometimes we do too.

[shal0mnurh0me]

@TheLexiLush If you don't get those illegals outa the apple orchards you'll have gangs soon enough. They're in centeral KY making there way east. Save American's jobs.

[country10001]

I grew up talking like this I grew up in marion nc sounde GOOD to hear people talk the right for a change. THANKS JIM.

[munkiman23]

Can see ther similarity between the mountain talk and scots/irish and we are not shy about makin words to suit a situation! We are creative with language! Nothin set in stone!

[toonful]

ANY1 know what,"hindside before" is???

[hollyhund]

@toonful

This is like"putting the horse before the cart" or "ass backwards" LOL. I'm from VA, Scot.Irish, Native American?Black!!!! What a mixture, but love every strain of my DNA!!!

[jackglen666]

they use a lot of the same words as we do in fife, scotland. they all seem really nice people. if i ever go to america this is the type of place i'd go to lovely countryside lovely people.

[ljones121]

these be the kinda folks i'd like for neighbors:)

[jdbrown333]

@ljones121 They are truly some of the best neighbors in the world. :)

[JoLeana76]

@jdbrown333 That's why I truly miss the southeast. People are much more nicer and neighborly. They will help you anytime you need some help. Can't get that here in Arizona.

[heroesinlove]

im from Boone, NC... Which is where Appalachian State. Its true all of this,,, A toyoto is Coyoto

[toonful]

@heroesinlove i got a cuzin at app.st.

[redfootwalking]

Wow...my dad (Lord rest his soul) used to have most of those words in his vocabulary...wow...memories. :)

[superevilposm]

best one of the series.

[LadyKibethNehema]

My great grandmother, and grandparents speak like that and they were all born and raised in Alabama... cept my Pawpaw (Grendfater) who was born in Tennessee...

[jmg1957]

nice..

[nebula402]

I didn't realize some of these words were only used in the mountains until just now.

[fadmacat]

Here in the Ozarks we say some of these words.  I guess it makes sense since many of the first Ozark pioneers were from Appalachia.

[PoorMansPlato]

Yonder is uphill

Yunder is down hill

Yander means left or right depending on gesture

zank is where you found the Morels (that you never give directions where you actually found them, lol.) if you got sick from wrong kind of mushrooms you feel "Pewney".

[Tabfort]

I'm from southwet Va. and there is a great difference between southwest Va. and the rest of Va. we visited the Staunton area of Va. and lets just say our accents stuck out like a sore thumb and, and someone even wanted to know where we were from.The southern appalachians are a very unique place.

[rmm413c]

@Tabfort I get what you mean. My Dad is from Roanoke and he used to make fun of my Mother's accent. She's from Buchanan Co., up in the mountains. Nobody quite speaks the same way as the mountain folks, even though Roanoke is part of SW VA also. I do think that the people in the Shenandoah Valley speak more like the folks in SW than they do the folks from the Tidewater, with their dropped "r" sounds and all (hee-uh for here, etc.) vs. harder and more nasally "r's" as in Appalachia and the Valley.

[Tabfort]

I can relate to so much of this, especially plumb and poke. I use plumb, and I grew up hearing my papaw say poke when referring to a bag, I've always heard words like yander. When I leave the area it always feels like home when I get back to East TN. and Southwest VA. and hear those good ole downhome mountain accents.

[astua]

i like my moped

[dwarf2]

when i was a child at school i told them i made a gaum and they told me it was a mess and i told them it was a gaum. then i told them a mess is what you eat like a mess of beans. My mom and dad are both from the mountains i heard this talk all my life.

[CraigSull]

pretty interesting language...barely english something completely different

[rodreeves]

well i aint from the appalalacha's, but I am from the Ozarks of Arkansas, I heard alot of these mountain words before. Thanks for postin

[brodank]

them si-gogglin jasper peckerwoods!!

[colindominy]

As a longstanding fan of Appalachian old-time music, I find this video clip immensely fascinating. Yes .. as others have observed .. these people come across as genuinely nice folks. Like, how things used to be, a few decades back .. when everyone looked after everyone else in the local community. I LOVE this 'mountain talk'. P.S. does anyone know : does the term 'pudknucker' come from this part of the country ? Congrats, this is GREAT posting !!

[VeronikaKicks]

lay law that was an excellent video

[atursix]

Wonderful video. I haven't heard "peckerwood" since I was a boy in North Carolina - almost 50 years ago. I'd lived in the Silicon Valley area for the past 30 odd years, and still wish I was back in the Carolinas.

[homeschoolmom42]

I'm not from Appalachia, but I am from central Ohio, which isn't far from the Appalachian part of our state. I've heard some of this talk, say some of it myself, and learned a few new ones. :)

All these folks sound like nice people.

I enjoyed the video. Very interesting.

[MistofRain752]

@homeschoolmom42 Many people from the Appalachian area resettled in the Dayton, Columbus, Akron and east side Cleveland, including my parents. We visited relatives and family friends in these different areas. I am 58 and living in Seattle, WA area and have people tell me they still pick up on my accent even though I grew up in Cleveland area. Their is a large community of people

in this area that came here to work in the logging industry.

...and yes they are all beautiful people.....

[ridgewatcher]

that there reminds me of alot of people i know, heck, i aint never gonna move into the city myself, life is better if you care for one another instead of city living where no one care fer nuttin or nobody!

[westvafan14]

@ridgewatcher Me too man, I'm gonna live in the southern wv mountains all my life.

[wvcaver774]

Great video !

[wvcaver774]

Great video !

[MacGirvan]

That's great!