"to come", "cain't be hoped", and "dope wagon"

Ronald Tucker ront26 at SUWANNEEVALLEY.NET
Sat Apr 4 21:48:31 UTC 1998


I'm not a linguistics scholar (or any other kind for that matter). Just
thought someone out there might be familiar with phrases that I heard as
a kid in the Piedmont area of North Carolina (Stanly County to be more
exact). I hope I didn't step in where I'm not wanted.

My grandfather was from the western part of the county and he and his
kin used some phrases that we didn't hear often in the eastern part of
the county. One was the use of come to mean wanted or would like. For
example "I could come a coke about now". This lead to no little bit of
embarrasement when he, his girlfriend, and my dad and I took a trip to
New Orleans in 1970 and ate at a little burger joint. He saw the milk
shake machine behind the counter and told the waitress that he "could
come a milk shake about now".

Another usage that I heard often from the west Stanly folks was 'hoped'
in certain instances instead of 'helped'. Actually I believe it was
always in the phrase, "It cain't be hoped". Helped seemed to be used the
rest of the time.

Both of my paternal grandparents worked most of their lives in a cotton
mill. The mill had a food cart that sold soda and snacks. It was often
referred to by the mill workers and others associated with the mills as
the 'dope wagon'.

I just wanted to mention these phrases as I can't find many folks that
remember them being used.

Ron Tucker
ront26 at suwanneevalley.net



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