Appalachian Language Quiz

1. What might an Appalachian speaker mean if they used the word " everwhere"?

Everywhere
Wherever
Every time and place
None of the above

2. Your friend tells you your car is looking gaumy. What is he saying?

Your car is smeared and dirty.
Your car is broken down.
Your car looks new.
Your car looks shiny.

3. A child tells you she got a gee-haw whimmy-diddle yesterday. What did she get?

A type of fried dessert
A pinwheel
A wooden toy
An apple-filled pastry

4. The grocery clerk asks you if you’d like a poke to put your apples in. What is he offering?

A basket
A bag
A cart
A crate

5. Your neighbor tells you that the new shed he built is si-gogglin. What is another word that would also likely describe the shed?

Lopsided
Small
Rickety
Well-constructed

6. “Better avoid that ripshin thicket,” says your hiking buddy. What are you avoiding?

Poisonous berries
Stinging nettles
Poison ivy
Thorny plants

7. What does it mean if a woman is husband-high?

She is recently married and in the honeymoon phase.
She is old enough to get married.
She is fed up with her husband.
She is deeply in love with her husband.

8. What is a sang hoe and what would it be used for?

A short, narrow-bladed hoe used for digging ginseng
A gardening tool used for digging holes when planting
A wide hoe used mostly for digging up weeds in vegetable patches
A tool used for digging up potatoes

9. We might be linguists, but what is a linguister, according to some native Appalachians?

An author
Another word for linguist
A translator
Anyone who knows more than one language

10. Which of these are attested uses of they-uns?

They-uns were headed down to the store.
That is they-uns car.
I told they-uns that I was going to the picnic.
All of the above.