East Tennessee fer Yankees

Comment #10

rdgrnr — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:24:31 GMT

Hey, you got me on that dingle thing. I never heard that one. Is it a switchback or a curve or something like that? Sounds like you got the mountains in your blood. That happens. Whatcha doin' out there in them flatlands? Nah, there won't be no book writin'. I'm way too lazy for that. I read 'em like crazy though. <br

Comment #9

rdgrnr — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:01:49 GMT

"Fixin' to" is also said "fiddin' to" around here. If you're going to leave you say: "I'm fiddin' to go

Comment #8

hoping2winbig — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:11:34 GMT

Hey there Rdg , wanta wish ya lots of luck with the quittin , its not an easy thang to do and wanted ta ask how that thar e-cig is workin for ya ? , I seen em on the net but just aint real real sure about em . I dont get but a few minits usually late at nite & once inawhile ( like rite now ) during the day to come set a spell at LP to read the latest and wanted ya to know I thoroughly enjoy your posts rdgrnr , I can soooo relate to your topics having moved from a big city where I grew up on the right coast to a small mountain town in the appalations , it was hard at 1st to understand when someone gave me directions , such as over that thar mntn ridge and down thru the holler , and then ther was go on up that hill and make a right at the dingle LOL ! heck I had no idea WHAT a dang DINGLE Was LOL LOL ! but I know now ! I lived 5 minits from W.V. and 15 from PA so I learned a whole new language after living there for bout 8 yrs , also got a real nice twang to ma voice LOL . I now reside in NE. and notice when I talk I have this mixture of midwest accent with a little mntn twang to it still LOL ..... I sure do miss that lil mntn town with the cricks & the hollers & the dingles etc etc . , I hope to get back ther somday ........... Also wanted to compliment you on how well you write , ever thought about writin a book ?... [ More ]

Comment #7

LadyMylena — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:50:02 GMT

I remember she and her friends always called cantaloupe "mush-melon". :-) My family's always said, "fixin to". lol

Comment #6

rdgrnr — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:59:44 GMT

Like 'Wahr Cords' which means Steel Belted Radial Tires of course. But who wouldn't have known that? lol. And it's tars, not tires. Yeah, like they say, quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a million times. Hopefully this'll be the last time; it'll have to be cuz smoking that fire retardant in them new cigarettes makes me cough like crazy. Sore throat too. It'll be interesting to see what diseases that has caused in a few years.... [ More ]

Comment #5

rdgrnr — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:34:51 GMT

Thank you JAP69.

Comment #4

konane — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:27:46 GMT

Fingers crossed for you quitting smoking. Did that myself about 25 years ago and not regretted it a minute. Nicotine cravings went away relatively fast but took better than 5 years to break the habit of wanting to put a cigarette (or something resembling it like a pencil or straw) to my lips. Chew lots of gum and keep your hands busy. LOL Good luck

Comment #3

JAP69 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:25:50 GMT

I meant it to be a compliment on your skills as a writer.

Comment #2

rdgrnr — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 23:39:36 GMT

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know whether to thank you or be insulted, lol.

Comment #1

JAP69 — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:03:23 GMT

Went by the name Rip Snorter. His actual name is Jack Purcell

Original Blog Entry: East Tennessee fer Yankees

rdgrnr — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:07:49 GMT

Gettin by in East Tennessee.

Some say tomato, some say tomahto but in East Tennessee it's maters.

Potatoes are taters.

A creek is a crick.

Your Grandfather is your Papaw.

Your Grandmother is your Mamaw.

What you call bean soup, we call soup beans and you eat it with corn bread.

What you call license plates we call tags and we say tags even though there's only one on the back.

Sit is set.

Piece refers to distance (up the road a piece).

Spell refers to time (set down fer a spell).

It's not iced tea - it's sweet tea or unsweet tea. Otherwise it's hot tea.

It's not a shopping cart - it's a buggy.

Window is winder.

And a hollow is a holler and that's where I live. You'll never here the word hollow in East Tennessee. You might see it on road signs and such but it's always pronounced holler. Critters don't sleep in hollow logs here. They sleep in holler logs.

Knoxville people like to consider themselves part of East Tennessee but most of the people here don't think they are. Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol (they're called the Tri-Cities) are considered the big cities in East Tennessee by the country people. Memphis is a world away and might as well be in Arkansas or Texas for that matter as far as any connection to the people here. Nashville is a long ride.

Well, lookin' out the window the holler is still white with snow. When you get down lower it's like the season changed, there's no snow on the ground at all. I see one of my dogs - Merle, just sittin' there waitin' for something to come out of the woods so he can chase it. If he doesn't see anything he'll be at the back door pretty quick cuz it's about 27 degrees out there and he's a Rot/Dobe mix that isn't too crazy about the cold. I love my dogs.

Well, this kept my hands busy for a few minutes without a cigarette. Now if I can just get through a couple more weeks I'll be fine. Oh yeah, no problem. Right.

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