kyarn

[Mullins, Bill]

>In my childhood in
>East Texas, a word that sounded like "kyahn" was used by my parents and
>grandparents with a meaning something like "an otherwise-unidentified
>substance with a disgusting odor," since it occurred only in sentences
>like "That smells/stinks like/as bad as kyahn." I've never heard
>"kyahn" used by *anyone* outside of my immediate family. Nevertheless,
>about 35 years later, while thumbing through a book on the vocabulary
>of *Ozark* English, what before my wondering eyes should appear but the
>citation, "kyahn. n. carrion." It blew my mind, to say the least.
>Unfortunately, I'm unable to recall the title or the author of the
>lexicon.

My wife's maternal grandmother is in her 80's, and grew up/lives in
south Georgia (Douglas, Nicholls).  My wife picked up from her side
of the family "kyarn", meaning carrion (note the "r").  The best decription
is kyarn is what a dog will roll in just before it
comes inside and rubs against you.  The stinkier, the better.