South Georgiaisms

Bill Palmer w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET
Tue Aug 25 19:43:49 UTC 2009


My late mother in law (born and grew up in Moultrie GA, in the SW part of the state) used a number of words and expressions I have never heard anyone else use, either before or since.  She was born in 1908 and was college educated, Wesleyan College in Macon GA and U of California, when the only one there was,  was in Berkeley. 

Exx:

"Tight as Dick's hatband" for a parsimonious person
"Tough as whit-leather"...someone we would call hardnosed 
"Bumfuzzled"...surprised or disconcerted
"Pine burr" for what I would call a "pine cone"

Google hits on all, but I'm wondering if these expressions still live anywhere or are now just theoretical, or if they are known to anyone on the list.


Bill Palmer

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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