12 Kentucky Sayings That Need a Translation North of the Ohio River
Cross the Ohio River, and some everyday Kentucky words may need a translation.
A few sound familiar, and a few sound made up, but plenty earn a puzzled look from your northern neighbor.
Here’s what Kentuckians mean when they use them.
1. Directly
Directly sounds like it means right now, but a 2018 Winchester Sun column lists it among Kentucky expressions with a meaning of soon.
That isn’t right now.
Merriam-Webster defines that sense as in a little while.
Its example sentence is “we’ll be leaving directly.”
If somebody tells you they’re leaving directly, you’ve got time to finish your coffee.
2. Fixin’ To
Fixin’ to is a phrase you’ve probably heard.
Merriam-Webster labels it informal and chiefly Southern.
It means being on the verge of something.
Michael Crisp, a Kentucky author, narrowed about 350 regional phrases to 100 for his book, It’s a Kentucky Thing, Y’all Wouldn’t Understand, according to the News-Graphic.
He named fixin’ to a personal favorite.
If your friend says it, you can start looking for your keys.
It means almost.
3. Bowed Up
Kentucky Living‘s 2016 list of Kentucky words defines bowed up as standing up to someone or turning mean.
The list credits the Dictionary of American Regional English for that meaning.
Cattle can do it too, when they hump their backs in winter.
If you hear that your neighbor bowed up at the feed store, you aren’t hearing about posture.
4. Fair Up
When the sky starts to fair up, the clouds are clearing after a rain.
The phrase comes from Paul Dalton’s thesis on Allen County speech.
If someone tells you it’ll fair up by noon, you can leave your umbrella by the door.
5. Sigogglin’
Sigogglin’ means something that is crooked, according to a Daily Yonder column on mountain talk.
If your host says a chair is sigogglin’, you might want to check the legs.
Kentucky Living pairs it with cattywampus, another word for knocked out of line.
6. Disfurnish
Disfurnish means selling or giving away so much that you end up in need yourself.
The list credits Verna Mae Slone, an Appalachian writer from Knott County, and her collection How We Talked.
Disfurnish is a word you’ve probably needed and never had.
If you’ve given away so much that you have nowhere left to sit, disfurnish is your word.
Psst! Think you can guess what these Kentucky sayings mean? Flip each card and see how many you get right.
7. Blinky Milk
If your milk is blinky, it’s starting to sour, according to Kentucky Living‘s list.
Smell the milk before you pour it, and check the date.
The Winchester Sun and Daily Yonder columns both spell it blinked, not blinky.
8. Riddie Bob
If somebody tells you to hop on a riddie bob, you’re about to ride a seesaw.
You’ll want somebody on the other end.
It comes from Verna Mae Slone’s How We Talked.
9. Airish
Airish describes weather that’s getting cooler.
That entry draws on the Dictionary of American Regional English.
If somebody says it’s a little airish out, you’ll want your jacket before you leave.
10. Swivet
If your cousin is in a swivet before the wedding, you’d ask what’s worrying them, not who made them mad.
It’s nerves, not temper.
A swivet is a nervous state of mind, and the word comes from Dalton’s thesis on Allen County speech.
11. Poor Doe
Poor doe is gravy made with water, according to Kentucky Living‘s list.
It was made when there was no milk.
If somebody offers you poor doe, you’re getting gravy that skipped the milk.
12. Shebang
Shebang is a word you’ve probably used.
If you check Kentucky Living‘s list, you’ll find shebang as an old Irish term for a place where liquor is sold illegally.
The entry comes from Dalton’s thesis too.
More Winchester Sun Words
In a 2018 Winchester Sun column, Sue Staton writes that a clothes hanger called a rack was new to her.
If somebody asks you for a rack, you’re being asked for a hanger.
A tote is a paper bag instead of a sack.
Put out means somebody got angry about something.
If somebody says they got put out over the parking, you know they’re angry, not evicted.
Het up is another way to say angry, and chill bumps means goose bumps.
More Everyday Winchester Sun Words
The 2018 Winchester Sun column also records how some Kentucky words sound.
If somebody asks you to worsh your hands before supper, you’re headed to the sink.
Worsh is wash, holler is hollow and crick is creek.
Buggy is a shopping cart.
Staton writes that you don’t have to live in a holler by a crick to talk this way.
Sayings Beyond Kentucky
Fixin’ to also has an entry in a University of South Carolina glossary of Smoky Mountain speech.
It means getting ready to or being about to do something.
If you hear it in the Smokies, you can translate it the same way.
Appalachian Word List
Michael Montgomery’s overview of Appalachian language in the Encyclopedia of Appalachia lists poke as a paper bag, the same thing the Winchester Sun column calls a tote.
Fireboard is a mantel, check is a light meal and piece is a snack.
If somebody sends you to get a piece before supper, you’re getting a snack.
Right smart is a good deal of something.
If you ask for a right smart of biscuits, you’re asking for a good deal of them.
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