Unfortunately, there are no surviving mp3's or other recordings from that era. But, thanks to prolific writers like Pine Castle's own Will Wallace Harney, we do have an abundance of pioneer writings that give us some idea of how they spoke.
These writings indicate the language employed by our early settlers was a unique blend of English. The most genteel nuances trace to southern England by way of the Old South, but most prevalent was the backwoods vernacular derived from Northumbria. And, astute observers can attribute at least some of its cadence to Africa and some of its vocabulary to Spain.
Following are some illustrations of the folk speech I've uncovered while studying these pioneer writings.
- ALLOWED - admitted or confessed.
- ANGRY - infected or inflamed, often used to describe a toothache.
- BELLYACHE - complain (when used as a verb) or complaint (when used as a noun).
- BOOK-LEARNING - education.
- BUMFUZZLED - confused.
- CHITLINS - entrails, typically fried as an entrée. Derived from the standard English word "chitterlings."
- COOTER - freshwater turtle.
- CORN PONE - hoe cake made with milk instead of water.
- CRACKER - a Florida native, said to derive from the sound of whips used to drive cattle.
- CRACKLINGS - crisp shreds of hog fat, generally the leftovers from making lard; used to add flavor when cooking, most notably in "crackling corn bread."
- CRAW - throat. If someone had something "stuck in their craw," they were upset about something.
- CRITTER - creature, usually an animal but sometimes applied to people.
- CROAKER SACK - burlap bag, name derived from its use for collecting frogs ("croakers"); sometimes used as an inexpensive material for clothing.
- DISREMEMBER - forget
- FAVOR - sometimes used instead of "resemble," when describing a person's appearance. As in, "She favors her mother."
- FETCH - retrieve
- FIXING - preparing or getting ready.
- FLAPJACKS - pancakes.
- GATOR - alligator, from the Spanish "el legarto" ("the lizard").
- GRITS - dry, coarsely-ground corn used as a potato substitute.
- HAINT - ghost, morphed from the standard English word "haunt."
- HEIFER DUST - nonsense.
- HOE CAKE - primitive bread made from corn meal and water, originally cooked on a hoe over an open fire; later in a skillet.
- HOMINY - whole kernels of corn preserved in lye water.
- HOWDY - hello; shortened form of "howdy-do," which was morphed from the standard English phrase "how do you do?"
- LIGHTERED KNOT - kindling wood harvested from a tree that has been struck by lightning, and thus full of flammable turpentine gum.
- LOW BUSH LIGHTNING - a form of moonshine distilled in remote locations (presumably under palmetto bushes).
- MARSH TACKIE - breed of horse favored by Cracker cowboys, said to be descended from Spanish stock and well-adapted to the Florida wilderness due to its small size and durability.
- MESS - plentiful but indeterminate amount, particularly used for food as in a "mess of greens."
- MOONSHINE - illicit liquor, typically distilled in the middle of the night to avoid detection by authorities.
- NEKKID - nude, morphed from the standard English word "naked."
- NIGH - near.
- NO-ACCOUNT - worthless or shiftless.
- PASSLE - package, morphed from the standard English word "parcel."
- PEKID - unwell, morphed from the standard English word "piqued."
- PERLEW - meal consisting primarily of rice and meat, usually chicken.
- POORLY - unwell, sick.
- PORKER - pig or hog, sometimes applied pejoratively for an obese person.
- RASSLE - wrestle.
- REVENUERS - tax assessors and tax collectors.
- RIGHT - sometimes uses instead of "very."
- ROOTER - wild hog.
- SCOOT - slide or move.
- SKILLET - frying pan.
- SPARK - woo or court.
- SWAMP CABBAGE - heart of the sabal palm, cut and boiled like cabbage.
- TATER - potato.
- TRAIPSE - wander.
- VARMIT - pest, usually an animal but occasionally a person. Morphed from the standard English word "vermin."
- WHOPPER - unusually large item.
- WIDDER - widow
- YONDER - there.
- YOUNGENS - children, morphed from standard English "young ones."
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