Hillbilly Slang

[kybearfuzz]

Pop quiz! Do you know what the following things from my neck of the woods are?

1. A Thunder Bucket?
   
2. White Lightning?
   
3. A holler?
   
4. A winder?
   
5. Poke?
   
6. Corn Squeezin's?
   
7. A lick?

The Answers!

1. A Thunder Bucket is essentially a chamber pot. The "Thunder" part, according to my dad, was because when you went #2 in it, it sounded like roaring thunder.
   
2. White Lightning is another word for moonshine hooch.
   
3. A Holler is a hollow, the valley between two hills where folks live.
   
4. A winder is a window. Heavy Scots-Irish influences made words like window and hollow pronounced like "winder" and "holler"...
   
5. Poke is a leafy herb/vegetable that grows wild and folks will cook to eat. It was often heard from my mom, "Your Aunt Beverly is bringing over a mess of poke for me to cook tonight." I was never that big a fan.
   
6. Corn Squeezin's is also a term for moonshine, usually the corn grain alcohol variety.
   
7. A lick is a small stream, smaller than a creek. Here in Northern KY there is a park called Big Bone Lick State Park, which is due to Mammoth bones being found near a stream, and not what you're probably thinking of, but it is good for a laugh...

Comments

[davegrrr.livejournal.com]

Sure..it's all about the context though. ;-) Gay pokes are much more fun than grocery pokes.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

LOL.. well, I certainly wont argue with that. Can you buy poke in a grocery store?

[davegrrr.livejournal.com]

Well here in town, probably only at the Harris-Tetter down at Cameron Village. Unfortunately, they don't have them at the HT within walking distance from my house. Wouldn't that be convenient on a Friday afternoon as I drive home from work?

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Interesting... I guess it depends on if you like poke or not. Back home, it grows wild and people will find large patches of it and chop it down. I've never heard of my mom buying it at the grocery before.

I was never that big a fan of poke myself.

[davegrrr.livejournal.com]

Good heavens, we are talking about two entirely different things. :)

Poke to me is a paper bag. Maybe what you are calling poke is what I call plantin'. It's like greens, grows in clumps maybe 4-5" long with a broad light green leaf.

Ring a bell?

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

LOL... we are talking about different things. Your description of plantin' sound just like poke (or polk, as I think is the proper spelling).

That the stuff.. it grows wild for the most part and people in my rural KY town love it.