So, when I first saw this prompt I thought, “Wow, I have nothing to write about, no one really speaks a foreign language and I’ve had to do virtually no document translation.” Out of a clear blue sky, it hit me – Jerrellisms!
My husband is a self-professed hillbilly out of East Texas. His family had their very own language. I’ve heard time and again how his son would turn to him when they were visiting grandparents and say, “Translate?”
A few years ago we found out that one of his son’s coworkers had a white board in their office on which she wrote what she called, “Jerrellisms”. “Jerrellisms” are words and phrases that Bo had picked up from his dad over the years, whenever he would use one, she would write it on the board with an explanation. After thinking about this for a while I realized that my family also had some of these interesting words and phrases.
So, without further ado, I give you “Jerrellisms”
Deeneemite – “They blew that still up with some of that deeneemite (dynamite).”
Bums – “Those soldiers was droppin’ them bums (bombs) all over the place.”
Plowers – “Hand me those plowers (pliers) so I can tighten this up.”
Derbis – “That tornado sure left a lot of derbis (debris).” This is one of my favorites because my Momma said this forever. It wasn’t until she used it in the above sentence that I knew what she was talking about.
Slorsh – “Be careful or you’ll slorsh (slosh) the water out of that bucket.”
Warsh – “I need to warsh (wash) these dishes.”
Peffy – “That celery is peffy (limp).”
Blinky – “This milk tastes blinky (spoiled), we better throw it out.”
Stratty – “Boy, your hair is a stratty (tangled) mess!”
Winder Light – “We looked out through the winder light (window) and saw them comin’.”
Rarin & Pitchin – “She was always rarin’ and pitchin’ (throwing a fit) and her husband was so quiet and calm.”
Faunchin at the Bit – “He was faunchin’ (anxious) at the bit to get started.”
Holler – “He lived up at the head of the holler (narrow valley between two steep hills).”
Had-a-Runaway – I sprayed that whiskey up my nose and I ’bout had a run-a-way!” If you read week 18, you know the story behind this.
I’ll swan – “Well I swan (swear).”
Ambalance – “We called an ambalance (ambulance) when we saw that wreck.”
Derk – “They hit oil and it blew right up through the derk (derrick).”
Pile Knots – “He had some painful pile knots (hemorrhoids).”
She do – “You know ole Lucy goes to that new picture show.” “She do (she did or oh, really)?”
Clumbed – “He clumbed (climbed) that tree like a squirrel.”
Tabernickle – “We went to the preachin’ under the tabernickle (tabernacle).”
Croned – “I had a wreck and had to get my bumper croned (chromed).”
Sludge Hammer – “I busted that rock with a sludge (sledge) hammer.”
Then there are some sayings –
She looks like a busted can of biscuits.
Least said, soonest mended.
Don’t pee down my back and tell me it’s rainin’.
You can just get glad in the same britches you got mad in.
I know there are many, many, more that I can’t think of right now so I’m sure I’ll end up updating this one from time to time.
I’d love to hear what some of your family’s words and sayings are.
#52ancestors
What would I give for one more day or even one more hour with Momma? Pretty much anything. I’d love to be able to sit and laugh with her over the silliest of things –
Momma loved to tell about her childhood and how she and her best friend, Monaree Goode would slip across the fence at night and ride the neighbors horse, because Momma knew how to make a hackamore. The neighbor couldn’t understand why his horse always seemed tired. She would tell about learning to play solitaire from an elderly lady that boarded with them and she and I would play for hours.
I’m thankful for the time I got to spend “Close Up”, just the two of us, talking until the wee hours of the morning, for her always having orange juice in a glass carafe in her refrigerator, for knowing what “faunching at the bit” means, for being fortunate enough to have inherited many of the treasures that were in her trunk, for her fruitcake recipe and “gut gravy” aka giblet gravy, and for the mental picture she painted of “having a runaway” when she decided to spray whiskey up her nose to cure a sinus infection.
