13 Phrases Tennessee Baby Boomers Still Say Even If Nobody Else Does

A dragonfly lands on your fishing rod, and an older Tennessean calls it a snake feeder.

Sayings like that stuck around in some families long after everyone else stopped using them.

Here are the phrases Tennessee baby boomers still say, even if nobody else does.

1. Bad To

Joseph Hall, a pioneer researcher of Smoky Mountain speech, recorded about sixty people in 1939.

His collection includes a speaker from Cosby, Tennessee, who said a man was bad to hunt raccoons.

“Bad to” means a habit or weakness for something.

The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) labels it chiefly Appalachian, especially in western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

Say your dad was bad to fish, and you’d know where to look on a Saturday.

2. Snake Feeder

A dragonfly lands on your fishing rod.

That’s a “snake feeder,” a term the Tennessee Encyclopedia lists for a dragonfly.

The Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States found it more widespread in the east, though it was recorded in West Tennessee too.

3. Fight Fist and Skull

A speaker in Sugarlands, Tennessee used “fight fist and skull” in a story about facing a bear.

The phrase means a knock-down, drag-out fight with bare fists and no weapons.

DARE labels it chiefly Southern.

If you hear someone threaten it, you’d better step back.

4. Fee Grabber

Spot a patrol car in your mirror, and one documented Tennessee name for the officer is “fee grabber.”

Only a small handful of terms are labeled as confined to Tennessee, and this is one of them.

Those terms are far from widely known or used, and they aren’t useful for characterizing the state’s speech, according to the encyclopedia.

5. Listen At

In Emerts Cove, Tennessee, a speaker used “listen at” during a heavy rainstorm.

It means to listen to, and it’s labeled chiefly Southern and Midland.

The earliest citation is a Civil War letter from 1863.

Many older Tennesseans might still say it that way.

Tell someone to listen at the thunder, and you’re using a phrase with a Civil War letter on its record.

6. Family Pie

A “family pie” is a deep-dish pie.

The Tennessee Encyclopedia lists it, along with snake feeder, among new terms unknown in the British Isles.

Promise a family pie at a potluck, and you’re promising a deep dish.

7. Church House

A speaker in Copeland Creek, Tennessee used “church house” for the first church building on Webb’s Creek.

It’s labeled chiefly South Midland and Southern, and it means the building where services are held, as distinct from the congregation.

Some older Tennesseans might still call the building that.

Tell a friend you’ll meet at the church house, and you’ve given them directions.

8. Garden Stuff

A speaker in Sugarlands, Tennessee used “garden stuff” for what the family raised to get by.

It means homegrown vegetables.

When your tomatoes get ahead of you, hand a neighbor a sack of garden stuff.

9. Lay Out

A speaker in Hartford, Tennessee used “lay out” for a fishing trip on Big Creek.

It means to camp out and spend the night out of doors, with a second sense, to kill game.

Say you're laying out Friday night, and your family may ask whether you mean the tent or the hunt.

10. Jump the Broom

If your cousin says she's jumping the broom, you're probably headed to a wedding.

“Jump the broom” means to get married, usually without clergy.

DARE labels it chiefly Southern, South Midland and Texas, with a long history in the American South.

It cites both European folk traditions and scholarship on the custom among Black Americans.

A speaker in Emerts Cove, Tennessee used the phrase in Hall's collection.

11. Mule Lot

A speaker at Nine Mile Creek, Tennessee, used “mule lot” in a story about two men heading out to it.

A “mule lot” is a pen for mules.

Hear someone say they're headed to the mule lot, and you know where to find the mules.

12. Right Smart

“Right smart” means many, much or a good deal of something.

It's labeled Southern and South Midland, and a Cades Cove, Tennessee speaker uses it as an adjective phrase.

One quotation says it can convey any given quantity in the speaker's mind.

Say you've got a right smart of leftovers, and your guests can fill in the amount themselves.

13. Let On

A speaker from Copeland Creek, Tennessee used “let on” in a story about not letting on that he saw them.

“Let on” means to let something slip or give it away.

The earliest citation dates to about 1844.

Planning a surprise party, you'll want to be careful not to let on.

East and West Speech

Drive across the state, and the phrases you hear shift, since East Tennessee speech is closer to western North Carolina and north Georgia.

West Tennessee has linguistic ties to Mississippi and the Lower South.

The state's speech also has pronunciation habits the encyclopedia calls shibboleths.