Kentucky phrases

Posted by ESC on May 12, 2007

In Reply to: Kentucky phrases posted by Kathy Ryan on May 11, 2007

: Is there a source (preferably online) of Kentucky phrases? I've looked through the archives but am looking for something comprehensive. Am particularly interested in phrases having to do with Bourbon (including the making of it), corn, water, horses and family.
: Also curious to know if there are phrases by region (eastern Ky vs western Ky vs northern Ky) and where regional differences in the phrase originated.

"The Wolfpen Notebooks: A Record of Appalachian Life" by James Still is a collection of phrases and sayings recorded by Mr. Still. He wrote them on little scraps of paper and then recorded them in 21 notebooks. There are some good ones in this book. But there's no indication of when and where he heard them. And there's a small book -- "Kentucky Folklore" by R. Gerald Alvey -- that has some sayings. But at least some of them are not specific to Kentucky. Other than that, I don't know. You could research in "The Dictionary of American Regional English," volumes 1 through 4, and such like.