Books : Informal English : Excerpts

Chapter One: A

It is easy to foresee that in no very distant period their language will become as independent of England as they themselves are; and altogether as unlike English as the Dutch or Flemish is unlike German, or the Norwegian unlike the Danish, or the Portuguese unlike Spanish.

-- Reverend Jonathan Boucher, English-born philologist, Virginia resident, and compiler of the Glossary of Archaic and Provincial [American] Words, writing on American English in 1777

above snakes

Above the ground. [Tucker]

abskise

To depart, go away. Of local usage in parts of the West settled by Germans; probably [from] German abscheiden. [Clapin]

ackempucky

Any food mixture of unknown ingredients. West Virginia. [Wentworth]

acknowledge the corn

A confession of having been mistaken or outwitted....
A popular account of the origin of the phrase ascribes it to the misfortunes of a flatboatman who had come down to New Orleans with two flatboats laden, one with corn, the other with potatoes. He was tempted to enter a gambling establishment, and lost his money and his produce. On returning at night to the wharf, he found his boat with corn had sunk in the river, and when the winner came next morning to demand the stake he received the answer, "Stranger, I acknowledge the corn -- take it. But the potatoes you can't have." [Schele de Vere]

ackruffs

River-thieves; river-pirates. [Matsell]

across lots

To go across lots is to proceed by the shortest route; similarly to do anything in the most expeditious manner. The phrase had its rise in the natural tendency of settlers in thinly populated districts to shorten the distance from point to point by leaving the road and striking [out] across vacant lots. Brigham Young familiarized its idiomatic use in the notorous saying "We'll send the Gentiles to hell across lots." [Farmer]

admiral's room

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the skipper of the English fishing vessel arriving first in a [Newfoundland] harbor in the spring was the "Fishing Admiral" for the season. He had his choice of location of fishing room; hence our expression. [Sandilands]

after night

After night is a local expression, peculiar to Pennsylvania and some of the border[ing] states, where night is very commonly used for the hours of the afternoon; hence, "Court will be open again after night" simply means after candlelight [becomes necessary], as it is expressed everywhere else. [Schele de Vere]

airtights

Canned goods. Today we can buy anything in cans, from pie-dough to potato strings. But the open-range cowboy rarely saw any canned foods other than corn, tomatoes, peaches, and milk. West. [R. Adams]

Alabama wool

Cotton [for] clothing, especially underwear. Pacific Northwest. [McCulloch]

alarm-lock

A lock, padlock, bolt, latch, or knob so arranged that a bell is caused to ring by any movement of its parts, or by any attempt to open the door...to which it is fastened. [Whitney]

Albany beef

[A] mixture of sailors' names and landsmen's notions has led to the cant terms by which sturgeons and herrings are apt to be known on shore. The former, coming up the Hudson River as far as Albany, and being highly esteemed there, especially when roasted in the form of steaks, are popularly known as Albany beef; the herring, caught in abundance near Taunton in the state of Massachusetts, is called there a Taunton turkey, half in derision and half, no doubt, for the sake of the alliteration. [Schele de Vere] New York turkey, bacon....Arkansas chicken, salt pork. Northwest Arkansas. [Carr]

allerickstix

Presumably a corruption of German alles richtig. Used in common schools of Cincinnati as equivalent for the English all right. "How did you get through examination? Allerickstix." [Hart]

all horns and rattles

Said of one displaying a fit of temper. A man in this mood, as one cowboy said, "maybe don't say nothin', but it ain't safe to ask questions." West. [R. Adams]

all-overs

Nervous jimjams, creeps, fidgets. "I don't like such stories. They give me the all-overs." Eastern Alabama. [Payne]

all sorts

The drippings of glasses in saloons, collected and sold at half-price to drinkers who are not overly particular. [Clapin] "A counter perforated in elaborately-pricked patterns, like a convivial shroud, apparently for ornament, but ready for the purpose of allowing the drainings, overflowings, and outspillings of the...glasses to drop through which, being collected with sundry washings, and a dash, perhaps, of fresh material is, by the thrifty landlord, dispensed to his customers under the title of all sorts." [Sala]

all turkey

"It's all turkey," a quaint saying indicating that it's all equally good. It is said that an old gentleman who was asked at a Thanksgiving dinner if he preferred white meat or dark replied, "I don't care which -- it's all turkey." [BarrÈre]

ambeer

Tobacco juice; the spittle produced by chewing tobacco. Virginia. [Green] Ambia [is] used in the South and West for tobacco juice. It is a euphemism for the spittle produced by this voluntary ptyalism. More commonly spelled and pronounced ambeer, probably from amber, denoting its color. [Bartlett]

amen corner

Seats near the pulpit in church. Southeastern Missouri. [Crumb] That part of a meeting-house occupied by persons who assist the preacher with occasional and irregular responses. [Thornton]

American tweezers

An ingenious instrument of American invention by means of which it is possible to turn a key in a door and unlock it from the outside. [Farmer]

among the willows

Said of one dodging the law. West. [R. Adams] Keep close to the willows, to be conventional, conservative, modest. Nude boys, swimming in willow-bordered creeks, keep close to the trees to avoid being seen. Ozarks. [Randolph & Wilson]

Anglo-bluenose

A Nova Scotian. [Scargill] From the species of potato which [Nova Scotians] produce and claim to be the best in the world. [Johnson] White nose, a man spending his first winter in Newfoundland. [England]

ant-bed

An ant-hill. Eastern Alabama. [Payne]

anxious mourner, anxious bench

Persons who are peculiarly excited to a consciousness of their sinfulness and the necessity of seeking salvation are called anxious mourners, and are led to the anxious bench. [Schele de Vere] Mourner's bench, a seat for "mourners" near the pulpit. Southern Indiana. [Hanley]

apperflappety

Willingness or obligingness. Nebraska. [Pound]

apple-palsy

Plain drunk, caused by too much [apple-]jack. Burlington County, New Jersey. [Lee]

Arkansas wedding cake

Corn bread. Pacific Northwest. [McCulloch]

Arkansayan

A compromise form between Arkansawyer and Arkansan. Arkansawyer, both as a noun and as an adjective, is universal among the uneducated and occurs even among the educated. The adjective and the noun Arkansan are in disrepute among the uneducated and others because the word suggests Kansan. Kansas and Kansans are very unpopular in Arkansas. [Carr]

armsweep

The length of reach or swing of the arm. [Lyons]

Armstrong mower

A hand scythe; similarly of other hand-operated tools. [Weseen]

arm waitress

A waitress skilled at piling dishes on her arm. "Experienced arm waitress wanted." -- Seattle Times want-ad. [Garrett]

astern the lighter

Tardy, lagging behind; a lighter being a slow-moving craft used for transferring cargo. To be astern the lighter is to be rather a laggard, and the term is used in a contemptuous sense, as "Oh, he's always astern the lighter." Nantucket. [Macy]

at liberty

Unemployed. An actor without a job is at liberty. Theater slang. [Weseen]

at oneself

Up to one's full strength or ability. "I can easily pick 300 pounds of cotton when I am at myself." Eastern Alabama. [Payne]

attitudinize

To assume affected attitudes, airs, or postures. [Worcester]

Attleborough

Not genuine; made to imitate. At the town of Attleborough [Massachusetts] jewelry is manufactured from the baser metals, or so alloyed as to deceive those who are not good judges of the genuine article. [Matsell]

autospill

An emptying of an automobile by tilting or overturning. Kansas. [Ruppenthal]

axe-craft, axery

The art of felling trees. [Thornton]

azzle

To back out. "We made a fair trade but he azzled out of it." Southeastern Missouri. [Crumb]