‘Coastal Brogue’ preserved on paper in dictionary project

When the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) was published in 1975, it affirmed North Carolina’s “Coastal Brogue” as a special and treasured dialect.

 

To gather the data, 80 field workers aboard a fleet of “word wagons” visited America’s nooks and crannies. Interviews were conducted between 1965-70.

 

The interviewers who were mostly graduate students attending colleges and universities in the Midwest were said to have “especially enjoyed” talking to the crowd from Harkers Island and other Down East Carteret County communities as well as Ocracoke Islanders.

 

They collected beaucoup local sayings and terms for the project. 

Some of the colloquialisms that struck the fancy of editors are listed below.

“Drime” (pronounced as “droim”) – An interjection indicating extreme doubt or incredulous disbelief. Used to express skepticism, much like saying “yeah, riiight!” It serves as a polite or colloquial way to call someone out for exaggerating or telling a tall tale.

“Scomfish” (pronounced as “scumfish”) – A verb meaning to suffocate, stifle, choke, smother or sicken from want of air, from smoke, heat, stench or the like. “So, to be scomfished is altogether an experience to be avoided.”

“Slick cam” – An expression meaning “completely calm, glass-flat water with no wind.” Used to describe weather conditions when the surface of a body of water is completely smooth or slick, undisturbed and reflective.

 

“Mommick” – If you’ve been mommicked, you’re bothered, frustrated, flustered or exhausted by a situation or conditions. Foul weather can be the culprit, leaving one beaten to a pulp and slam worn out. “I’ve been mommicked this day, I have.”

 

“Whopperjawed” – If something is out of kilter, crooked, askew, misaligned or off-balance, it is whopperjawed. A good synonym is “caddywampus (or cattywampus).”

 

“Quamished” – If you’re feeling kind of queasy, sick to your stomach, nauseated or otherwise unwell, you’re quamished.

 

“Mulligrubs” – A condition of despondency, sulkiness or ill temper caused by a “vague or imaginary unwellness.”

“Pizer” – This is another name for a porch or veranda that is attached to a house. Pizer is derived from the Italian word “piazza.”

 

“O’cocker” (pronounced as “O’coker”) – A true born-and-bred native of Ocracoke Island.

 

“Dingbatter” – Originally, this term referred to anyone who is a tourist, but over time, dingbatter has evolved to describe people who come to visit and like the area so much they decide to move here. A related term is “Dit-Dot,” the name given to tourists who come visit, spend their money but then go back home.

 

“Fladget” – A small piece or a tiny flake of something. For example: “He accidentally cut a fladget of skin off his finger.”

“Buck” – A close friend or chum. For example: “I’m having a beer with my bucks.”

 

“Yethy” – A term to describe something that smells bad or stinks. For example: “That five-day-old fish is yethy.”

“Meehonkey” – A version of the game hide-and-seek, which is believed to be unique to Ocracoke Island. The game follows the standard rules of hide-and-seek but features a distinct twist. Hiders call out the word meehonkey to taunt the person who is “it” and searching for them. Children believed the sound mimicked the honking of a goose in flight.

 

“Rantum scoot” – An outing with no definite destination or an aimless, carefree adventure just for pleasure. “Starting out for a day’s tramp in the woods, he would ask whether we wanted to take a ‘reg’lar walk,’ or a rantum scoot, the latter being a plunge into the pathless forest.” (“Rantum” is a linguistic corruption of the word “random.”)

“Scud” – A term to denote sudden, swift movement of a boat under the force of wind. Also, the formation of low scud clouds can move in quickly before a gale.