Interviewer:  Say a preacher that's not very well-trained, just sort of preaches here and there makes his living doing something else. You'd call him a?
863:  Oh, I don't know. Part time. {NS} Or maybe even that old term jackleg, you know, which means anything that's not well done.
Interviewer:  What else would you use jackleg about besides a preacher?
863:  Well, any job, it could be a carpenter job, or a plumbing job or anything that's, that's no well done or professionally done, you know, sort of haphazard.
Interviewer:  What about a mechanic? Would you call him a jackleg, or?
863:  You could. Uh, What would I call a mechanic? I really, I really don't have a particular term.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear of a shade tree mechanic?
863:  Yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as jackleg. Uh, A shade tree is, probably, one who has his own uh, little business that's under the shade of a tree, in other words, he may not even have a a building but that doesn't necessarily mean that he's not a good one. Sometimes, a shade tree mechanic, if he has real natural ability, though he may not have any capital investment,
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  is a better mechanic than some of them that have got some big, glossy buildings and hire some real jackleg mechanics, you know?
Interviewer:  Would you s- use the term shade tree about anything else beside mechanic? Or is that something you associate
863:  Most of the time, I think, it had to do with fixing an automobiles under the shade of a tree. I really don't think I've ever heard it used with anything else.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say you throw a ball and ask somebody to?
863:  Catch it?
Interviewer:  And I threw the ball and he?
863:  I caught it or he caught it.
Interviewer:  And I've been fishing but I haven't?
863:  Caught anything.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say he ran down the springboard and, what, into the water?
863:  He dived into the water.
Interviewer:  And several children have?
863:  Dived into the water.
Interviewer:  And he was to scared to?
863:  To dive.
Interviewer:  And if you dive in and hit the water flat, you call that a?
863:  Belly buster.
Interviewer:  And, say a child puts her head on the ground and rolls over, she turns a?
863:  Somersault.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say he dived in and, what, across?
863:  He swam across the pool.
Interviewer:  And several children have?
863:  Have saw across the pool.
Interviewer:  And children like to?
863:  They like to swim.
Interviewer:  And, if you don't know how to swim, you get in the water, you might?
863:  You might drown.
Interviewer:  And yesterday, somebody?
863:  Drowned.
Interviewer:  And, when they pulled him out, he had already?
863:  Drowned.
Interviewer:  And, the highest rank in the army, would be?
863:  General.
Interviewer:  And beneath a general?
863:  {NW} Colonel.
Interviewer:  And, a person in charge of a ship?
863:  Is generally a captain, could be an admiral.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear the word captain used in other situations?
863:  Oh yes, you have captains of industry. #1 I'm the #
Interviewer:  #2 What about #
863:  captain of my fate.
Interviewer:  What about, um, say, colored people calling the man they worked for captain? Do you ever hear that?
863:  Mostly colonel in the South.
Interviewer:  Was that very common? Addressing people as colonel?
863:  Oh yes, everybody had the honorary title of colonel who had never been in the military.
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  We had one in our family. Colonel Avril. Never been in the military, and he was retired all of his life. But he was a very imposing figure,
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  you know, fine head of white hair and fine, flowing, white beard and, everybody call him colonel.
Interviewer:  I guess it's just white people as, as well as colored people would call him
863:  #1 Oh yes, #
Interviewer:  #2 colonel? #
863:  everybody called him Colonel Avril.
Interviewer:  And, a person, um, who presides over the court, would be a?
863:  judge.
Interviewer:  And someone who goes to school?
863:  Student.
Interviewer:  And a woman who works in an office and does the typing?
863:  Secretary.
Interviewer:  And a man on the stage would be an actor, a woman would be a?
863:  Actress.
Interviewer:  And if you're born in the United States, you say your nationality is?
863:  American.
Interviewer:  And, what different words were there for colored people?
863:  Good and bad, you mean? Blacks. Negroes. I call them negroes but I notice that my aunt, and most of the older people in my family, always called them negras. It #1 always #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  ends in an a. The negras, you know?
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  And uh, oh and there are a whole lot of terrible ones, like coons and things like that but I was educated not to ever call them anything, as a matter of a fact, I had my mouth washed out for saying nigger. That was #1 not #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  considered to be a nice word. Although, I certainly hear it a lot.
Interviewer:  What would, be the most uh, common term you would use?
863:  Negro.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Do you, what about the term colored, or
863:  #1 Well, yes #
Interviewer:  #2 black, do you? #
863:  I use colored and, nowadays, I use black, because that's what they want. It's alright with me.
Interviewer:  What would you call a, um, real light-skinned negro?
863:  Probably a mulatto or, maybe, a high yellow.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  High yellow was a good term.
Interviewer:  And,
863:  And, actually, that was one I picked up from colored people, themselves, not, ever, from whites.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  They always used to refer to them, and scornfully, as a high yellow.
Interviewer:  What about mulatto? Does that
863:  Mulatto, mm-hmm.
Interviewer:  mean that their, one parent's white, or does it
863:  Well, it means that they have white blood in them.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. What about a real dark-skinned negro?
863:  Well, just a real black one.
Interviewer:  No special names?
863:  Probably are, and I can't think of what they are.
Interviewer:  And someone of our race, we'd call?
863:  We'd probably call them white
Interviewer:  Any other terms for whites?
863:  Well, caucasian but that's not a term, if you say what #1 race #
Interviewer:  #2 {NW} #
863:  are you, I say white.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Because that's generally the term that you find on any papers that, uh, you have to like your license or your what have you. {NS}
Interviewer:  And, white people that, um, you sort of look down on, they, they don't have any money or any education but they don't want to seem to do anything for themselves. They
863:  Well, there was a good ol' Southern term, again, something that I never heard from my parents or any member of my family but picked up from colored people who, again, looked down on them and called them poor white trash.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Only, you pronounce it poor white trash.
Interviewer:  Is, that term, poor white trash, used um, by white people ever?
863:  Yes.
Interviewer:  But it was just something that
863:  But we were, we just had the kind of family that were never #1 allowed to use #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  that because it was not considered nice.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Any other
863:  Yes, I've heard it a lot. #1 {NW} #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. # Any other terms that, um, blacks would use for whites that they look down on?
863:  Lots of them, and as a matter of fact, discussing it with my maid this morning, and she said that peckerwood was something that colored people,
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  uh, referred to whites and that was first time I'd heard it.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  And uh, I'm sure they had a lot of them besides the whitey that's current now.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  But, you know, I really don't know what they all are.
Interviewer:  What would you call, um, someone that lives way out in the country and doesn't get into town much and when he does get into town, you can tell immediately that
863:  A hick or a hayseed.
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-kay. #
863:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
Interviewer:  {NS} And, the French people in Louisiana are called?
863:  The Cajuns.
Interviewer:  Any other names?
863:  Mostly just Cajuns and, of course, it's supposed to be short for Acadians but nobody ever says Acadian, they always say Cajun.
Interviewer:  What about a joking name or sort of a crude-sounding name?
863:  Well, I really don't know.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear the term coonie or #1 coonhead? #
863:  #2 Oh yes. # Oh yes. I've heard those.
Interviewer:  How would those be used?
863:  Usually by one talking about another {NW}
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  Uh, really, as a matter of a fact, because we were never allowed to call names and really I had to grow up and read books before I ever heard such things as wop or kike or any of those things. These were not terms that I ever used but I think it was, perhaps, the gentile society that I was brought up in and perhaps we were protected from some of those things like knowledge of other things that go on. We didn't know that a {X} place existed. But I do know that in a lower economic level that these things are quite commonly #1 used, #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  I mean we were, we were sort of insulated against it.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  And I had to find it out, much later. Usually, by reading. Since then I've heard people call them, for instance, I know a good Cajun friend who's very successful and owns his own business and he'll say, an old coon-ass like me.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  You know, well, I wouldn't call him that for anything in this world, if he wants to call himself that, it's alright. But I know that he is referred to it and has been referred to it but he would, he wouldn't hate, he wouldn't like it either if he weren't #1 so #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  successful. He calls himself that without really believing he's that, {NW} you see. {NS} #1 But I've heard #
Interviewer:  #2 What about #
863:  the terms.
Interviewer:  Any other terms for, any special terms for Mexicans? People of Mexican descent?
863:  Oh yeah, I've heard them called spics which of course was for speaking Spanish and, and Mexes and we, Tex-Mex was, something we used to use a lot of and greasers. Again, these were things that I never used but, uh, I've heard those. I've heard people talk about them. Usually, the people who use most of those terrible nicknames are the people in an economic class nearer to them or who consider themselves, they're the Archie Bunkers. Uh, they're, I was just never allowed to use those things.
Interviewer:  Does Tex-Mex seem derogatory or? Is that a
863:  Yes, in a way, uh, for instance, if you, if someone says do you speak Spanish, you say, oh, a little Tex-Mex, meaning, I speak some words of Spanish but had, sort of devoid of grammar. {NW} Uncontaminated by grammar, you know? That sort of thing and, perhaps, in the same way that you would say Cockney for English or something #1 like #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  that, not necessarily bad but not necessarily good either.
Interviewer:  What about the term chicano?
863:  That's brand new. Chicano, uh, this is something they've invented in the last five years. Never heard Chicano.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Does it seem derogatory to you or does it
863:  No, because I think it's something they've made up to call themselves.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. And, say if you were at a party and you look at your watch and see that it's around eleven thirty or so, you'd say, well we better be getting home it's, what, midnight?
863:  Nearly midnight.
Interviewer:  And, if you were, if it was kind of icy outside, you'd say, well, that ice is hard to walk on. I didn't actually fall down but a couple of times I slipped and I?
863:  Nearly fell, mm-hmm.
Interviewer:  Do you ever say, I liked to?
863:  No.
Interviewer:  Have you heard it?
863:  Oh yes, all the time but again, you're talking to someone who's been educated and, and and you don't use that.
Interviewer:  {NS} How, well how have you heard people use that?
863:  Oh, I like to have fallen, I like to have died, you know, I was #1 so scared #
Interviewer:  #2 mm-hmm. #
863:  that I like to have died or something like that, you know.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  This isn't anything that I would ordinarily say because it's just not within my ordinary speaking
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  patterns but, uh, yes, you hear them all the time. But I don't always pick up these things. I hear them and know what they are but
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  I don't pick them up.
Interviewer:  And, say if someone is waiting on you to get ready to go somewhere calls out and asks if you'll be ready soon you say, I'll be with you in?
863:  In a moment.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay.
863:  Or in a minute.
Interviewer:  Or in ju-
863:  Or in just a minute, mm-hmm.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say, um, if I ask you, um, when are y'all going to Houston, you might say, well, right now we're, what to go next week?
863:  Right now?
Interviewer:  As things stand now, were
863:  Or as things stand now which, really, isn't exactly what I'd say We're planning to go next week #1 would #
Interviewer:  #2 Uh-huh. #
863:  be
Interviewer:  Do you ever say we're aiming to go or #1 we're fixing #
863:  #2 No. #
Interviewer:  to go?
863:  No.
Interviewer:  Did
863:  Occasionally I said fixing but it's almost always, again, like, the same way I'd use ain't.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  It's not a speech pattern as, as hamming it up a little bit.
Interviewer:  When you say
863:  But yes, I hear it all the time.
Interviewer:  With fixing, um, do you get the impression that it's something immediate or could it be a couple of weeks away?
863:  Probably more immediate.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  I was just fixing to do my hair, something like this, you know. Uh, it, it, it would be something that they're just preparing to do right now or just getting ready to.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  I think fixing would be in the term of just getting ready to.
Interviewer:  And, say if there was something bad that you expected to happen like a child's walking along the top of a fence. You expect them to fall off, then someone comes in and tells you he's fallen of. You say, well I just?
863:  I knew it was gonna happen.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say, well, he wasn't actually gonna get his little brother but he doubled up his fist and he, what, he was gonna hit him? #1 If he mean #
863:  #2 He wasn't. #
Interviewer:  he pretended, you'd say he?
863:  You're trying to say made out like but I would, yeah, I might've said that but I would probably have said pretended, I might have said made out.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  Probably not. {NW}
Interviewer:  #1 What #
863:  #2 But #
Interviewer:  about acting? Would?
863:  Acting as if though he was going to hit him? Probably not. I think that's a little bit awkward.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. And, this part of my head is called my?
863:  Your forehead.
Interviewer:  And, this is the?
863:  Your hair?
Interviewer:  And on a man? Hair here would be a?
863:  Beard.
Interviewer:  And this is my?
863:  Ear.
Interviewer:  Which one?
863:  Left ear.
Interviewer:  And this is the?
863:  Right ear.
Interviewer:  {NS} And, this whole thing?
863:  Your mouth.
Interviewer:  And,
863:  Your throat.
Interviewer:  Or the whole thing?
863:  Your neck?
Interviewer:  Any other names for throat?
863:  No.
Interviewer:  What about goozle?
863:  No.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear that?
863:  No. {NW}
Interviewer:  And these are the
863:  Your teeth.
Interviewer:  And one?
863:  Tooth.
Interviewer:  And the flesh around your teeth?
863:  Your lips? Or your gums.
Interviewer:  And, this is one?
863:  Hand.
Interviewer:  Two.
863:  Hands.
Interviewer:  And this is the?
863:  Palm of your hand.
Interviewer:  And one?
863:  Fist.
Interviewer:  Two.
863:  Two fists.
Interviewer:  And, a place where the bones come together?
863:  Joints.
Interviewer:  And on a man, this part of his body is?
863:  Chest.
Interviewer:  And these are the?
863:  Shoulders.
Interviewer:  And this is my?
863:  Knee. Or your leg.
Interviewer:  One.
863:  Foot.
Interviewer:  Two.
863:  Feet.
Interviewer:  And, say if I get down in this position
863:  You're kneeling. Or you're squatting.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. Any other ways of saying that besides squatting?
863:  {NW} Knee bend. {NW} Uh.
Interviewer:  Do you ever h-
863:  Squat is what I would use.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear people say, you're down on you're haunches or hunkers?
863:  Hunkered down? {NW} Yes, but I always think of that as a, something more Western {NW} and, or, or sometimes, perhaps, even more Indian people who use that as a regular
Interviewer:  #1 {NW} #
863:  #2 posture. #
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  And, uh, when I do it I'm just squatting down and it's something temporary you know, to pick up something, to weed, to do something.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Hunkering down, sort of gives me the impression, and I think it's because it's mostly something I've read that But you're down there and that's the way you are going to stay while you're eating or you're doing something, that's
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  That's a normal position, for instance, like sitting down would be for me.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  I don't know if that's a correct impression or not but that's the one I have.
Interviewer:  {NW} And, this sens-
863:  But I wouldn't use it, I wouldn't
Interviewer:  #1 Uh-huh. #
863:  #2 say # hunker down unless I were trying to write something, um, if I were writing a short story about a cowboy or an Indian I might use
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 it. # Only because I think of it in that context.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. This sensitive bone here?
863:  Shin?
Interviewer:  And, say if someone had been sick for a while, you'd say, well he's up and about now but he still looks a bit?
863:  Peaked.
Interviewer:  And someone who's in good shape, you'd say he's big and?
863:  Strong.
Interviewer:  What if he's getting a little bit overweight? You'd say he's?
863:  Husky, probably.
Interviewer:  Okay. What about stout? Do you have
863:  Stout. But, you know, stout almost always goes with a woman and a girdle. {NS} Or a corset, you know, isn't that
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  funny. But I would think of a man as husky. And, yet, I would not say that a woman is husky.
Interviewer:  Do you ever use the word stout talking about butter that was turning #1 bad? #
863:  #2 No. #
Interviewer:  And, someone who's always smiling, doesn't lose his temper you'd say that he
863:  Even tempered.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. Or if he's easy to get along with, you'd say he's? What kind of person?
863:  Oh, agreeable. Ah, easy-going.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. And someone like a teenage boy who's just all arms and legs?
863:  Gangly.
Interviewer:  What if he's always stumbling and dropping things?
863:  Awkward, anyway, Uh. Maybe accident prone.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. And a person who keeps on doing things that don't make any sense? You say, he's just a plain?
863:  Fool, probably, or a
Interviewer:  How's
863:  I don't know.
Interviewer:  How's the word fool sound to you? Is that? How insulting is that?
863:  Mildly, if any.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  because this is something you can say to someone if, uh, if you think what you are doing is foolish, uh, oh you're a fool to do that.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  You know.
Interviewer:  And the person wouldn't really get?
863:  No.
Interviewer:  And, someone who has a lot of #1 money #
863:  #2 and if you # got really angry and told them they were a damned fool, they might. But
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Probably not. It's a, it's a mild word.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Or to me.
Interviewer:  Someone who has a lot of money but really hangs onto his money? Won't spend any of it, you'd call him a?
863:  Miser, perhaps.
Interviewer:  Any other
863:  Maybe even just a {X}.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. {NW} And, when you say that a person is common, what does that mean?
863:  Probably without any refinement or graces.
Interviewer:  How would you use it?
863:  I would use it derogatorily.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  I would consider it if I said, oh, she's very common, I would mean that she really just didn't have any refinement, perhaps no education no, uh, graces, perhaps, not many morals.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Does it have a different meaning when you're talking about a girl being common? Than, you know, if you just
863:  Well, if you talk about the common man, you're talking in generalities and, uh, you're talking about the average man. If you say a girl is common, yes, that's different from saying he's a common man.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Does it have sort of a um, more referring to
863:  Morals, maybe?
Interviewer:  Yeah.
863:  I think that's part of it.
Interviewer:  And, say an older person, maybe in their eighties, still gets around real well
863:  Spry.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay.
863:  Active, also.
Interviewer:  And, say a child was saying, well I'm not gonna go upstairs in the dark, I'm?
863:  I'm afraid of the dark.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. You'd say, well, I don't see why she's afraid now, she
863:  Wasn't afraid yesterday? Or?
Interviewer:  Okay but using the expression, 'used to be'? You'd say she?
863:  Used to be afraid? Yes I'd say used to be.
Interviewer:  Or if it's the opposite of that? I don't see why she's afraid now, she?
863:  Never was before. I don't think I'd say didn't used to be, if that's what
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  That's, I've heard this but I don't think I'd say it now. I do say used to be but wouldn't say didn't used to be.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Uh, I don't know why I would make that distinction but I think used to be is something that you pick up Uh, you know, you used to say that she used to live next door to me and #1 we used to #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  be good friends.
Interviewer:  But you wouldn't say
863:  But I wouldn't say we used to be good friends. I'd say we were never good friends.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  You see? I don't know why but I don't use it in the negative when I do use it in the #1 positive #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  affirmative.
Interviewer:  And, say if your children were out later than usual, you'd say, well, I don't guess there's anything wrong but still I can't help feeling a little?
863:  Worried.
Interviewer:  Or a little?
863:  Apprehensive. Scared.
Interviewer:  Or you wouldn't feel #1 easy about it. #
863:  #2 Frightened. # Yeah, I'm not easy, I'm uneasy.
Interviewer:  And, someone else would say, well, they'll be home alright, just don't?
863:  Fret.
Interviewer:  Or don't?
863:  Don't worry.
Interviewer:  And someone who leaves a lot of money on the table and goes outside and doesn't even bother to lock the door. You'd say, he's mighty? What, with his money?
863:  Careless. {NS}
Interviewer:  Huh? {NS}
863:  Careless.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say, there's nothing really wrong with Aunt Lizzie, but sometimes she acts kind of?
863:  Strange.
Interviewer:  Any other #1 expressions? #
863:  #2 Oh yes. # {NW} Depends on who Aunt Lizzie is. I guess just strange would be
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear people say queer or queer?
863:  Queer yes, but uh, queer, really, uh, has a meaning to me that, um, that they're really a little bit beyond the normal pale. And uh, I probably wouldn't say this about Aunt Lizzie unless Aunt Lizzie were really very strange indeed. {NW} Uh, I hate the words too, they are using them all now for, for homosexual or something. I hate the use of the word gay for that because that was such a happy word. But I think I probably wouldn't say it, course nowadays, under the influence of my children, I might say they were weird.
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 {NW} #
Interviewer:  Does
863:  But I think I would've said strange but I've heard people say queer and of course there's the good ol' thing about the two old sisters who were quakers and one said, sister I think all the world is queer but thee and me and sometimes I think thee's a little queer too.
Interviewer:  {NW} Did
863:  But I wouldn't use it, probably.
Interviewer:  When did the word, queer, start being used to mean homosexual? Has it always had that meaning?
863:  Yes, we used to talk about queers {NW} along with pansies and fairies when I was, say, in high school and college.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Gay, of course, is the one that's only come to mean that, in what, about the last five years.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  And I'm having a terrible time expunging that delightful word from my {NW} {NW} from my vocabulary because it means like, our hearts were young and gay meaning happy and almost carefree?
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  {NW} Spoiling a perfectly delightful word like that, terrible. I like it better when they were queer.
Interviewer:  And, someone who makes up his own mind and then you can't argue with him? He's gonna do things
863:  Stubborn and hardheaded.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. And someone that you can't joke with without him losing his temper. Someone who's just sensitive? You'd say that he's?
863:  Humorless? Serious?
Interviewer:  Or, say something
863:  Dull. {NW}
Interviewer:  If something had happened
863:  A square. #1 {NW} #
Interviewer:  #2 Uh-huh. # Something had happened to embarrass him you say, well, don't tease him about that subject, he's still a little bit?
863:  More sensitive.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  But sensitive can mean good things too.
Interviewer:  Do you ever
863:  Sensitive can mean sensing other people's moods and, and understanding and that sort of thing. It can mean {NW} a real awareness of nature, not necessarily just being thin-skinned.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Thin-skinned is the kind of sensitive that that question would
Interviewer:  Do you ever use the terms touches or touchy or?
863:  Touchy, yes.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say
863:  Mostly saying, not so much that a person is touchy but that a subject is very touchy with them
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 you know. #
Interviewer:  {NS} And you'd say, well I was just kidding him, I didn't know he'd get so
863:  Upset.
Interviewer:  Or, all of a sudden, he got really?
863:  Angry?
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. And, if someone's about to lose their temper, you'd tell them, now just?
863:  Calm down.
Interviewer:  And, if you had been working very hard, you'd say you were very?
863:  Tired.
Interviewer:  Any other expressions?
863:  Worn out? Mostly tired.
Interviewer:  And, say if the person had been well and then, suddenly, you hear that they've got some disease, you'd say, well, yesterday they were fine, when was it that they?
863:  Discovered they were sick or?
Interviewer:  #1 Or? #
863:  #2 Became # ill or what have you.
Interviewer:  Or when was it that they, what, sick? When was it that they?
863:  Got sick.
Interviewer:  And, if a person went outside in bad weather and came in sneezing and everything, you'd say he?
863:  Catching a cold.
Interviewer:  Or if that had happened yesterday, he?
863:  Caught a cold?
Interviewer:  And, if he couldn't talk right, he sounded?
863:  Hoarse.
Interviewer:  And, {NS} if you do that you have #1 a? #
863:  #2 He # coughed.
Interviewer:  Huh?
863:  He had a cough, huh?
Interviewer:  And, is someone was, um shot and didn't recover, you'd say, well, the doctor did all he could but still the man
863:  Died.
Interviewer:  Any nicer ways of saying died?
863:  Oh yes, you can pass away. That's probably the most you can you say that we are so sorry you lost your dear one, that sort of thing. Passed away is probably the most common. Or the one I'd think of first.
Interviewer:  What about a crude or joking way of saying that?
863:  Um, kicked off, you mean, or kick
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 the bucket. # Yeah.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say, he's been dead a week and nobody's figured out yet what he died?
863:  Of.
Interviewer:  And, a place where people are buried?
863:  Cemetery.
Interviewer:  Any other names for that?
863:  Graveyard.
Interviewer:  And, what they put the body in?
863:  Grave.
Interviewer:  Or?
863:  Casket.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm, any other names?
863:  Coffin.
Interviewer:  Which of those terms would you probably use? Is it cemetery or graveyard or?
863:  I think I would use them interchangeably and probably depending upon the, the uh, when you are actually talking about the funeral, itself, and you're thinking about the services and everything, casket is what you think of because I think that's what the funeral directors like to call it
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  But coffin is an older term and, uh, and I think you would always refer to the, the pine box that people used to be laid in as a
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 coffin. # Whereas, the fancy things that come away now go along with their own #1 language #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  it's a casket but either one is, is very much interchangeable today.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. And the ceremony is called the?
863:  The funeral services.
Interviewer:  And, if people
863:  Or the funeral.
Interviewer:  if people are dressed in black, you say that they're in?
863:  Mourning.
Interviewer:  And, {NS} say a bee stung me in my hand if it got bigger, you'd say my hand?
863:  Swelled.
Interviewer:  And it's still pretty badly?
863:  Swollen.
Interviewer:  And if a bee stings you, your hand will?
863:  Swell.
Interviewer:  And, a sore that comes to a head is called a?
863:  Pimple or boil.
Interviewer:  And, the stuff that drains out?
863:  Puss.
Interviewer:  And in a blister, the stuff that drains out?
863:  Oh, I don't know. Fluid. It's, uh, I really don't know.
Interviewer:  Just that clear liquid.
863:  Oh, I don't know, I really don't know that I've ever called it, my, my blister popped, you know, and uh,
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  it does come out but I don't know whether I have a term for it.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear it called humor or water?
863:  Probably water.
Interviewer:  And, someone who can't hear anything at all, you'd say that
863:  He's deaf.
Interviewer:  And if a man had been out working in the sun and he takes off his shirt and it's all wet, you'd say, look how much I
863:  Perspired or sweated. {NW} Man, he's probably sweated. {NW}
Interviewer:  If someone got shot or stabbed you'd say you have to get a doctor to look at the
863:  Wound.
Interviewer:  And if a wound doesn't heal back right, it gets sort of a skinless growth?
863:  You mean it's infected or?
Interviewer:  Well, something that's
863:  Gangrenous or something like
Interviewer:  No, it's gotta be cut out or burned out. If you had horses, um, I think a lot of times horses will get this on their leg or something.
863:  Sores, you're talking about.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear of some kind of flesh?
863:  Proud flesh.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. What is that exactly?
863:  {NS} I think proud flesh is probably the, the, the place that dies that really isn't healing.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  And some of that time, that has to be removed and it may even be the same thing as gangrenous or something like that.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Again I, I'm not quite sure.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  It's an impression.
Interviewer:  And, and say if you had a cut on your finger, a brown liquid medicine that stings
863:  Iodine.
Interviewer:  And a real bitter medicine people used to take?
863:  Cast, nah, no not Castor oil they, they took, well they took sulfur and molasses What'd they take? Uh, Quinine, would be bitter.
Interviewer:  And say on an average sort of day if someone ask you how you're feeling you'd say
863:  Fine.
Interviewer:  And when you're getting older your joints start hurting
863:  You're arthritic?
Interviewer:  Or you call that what?
863:  Arthritis.
Interviewer:  Any other names?
863:  The old term used to be lumbago and always the colored people that worked for you had the misery.
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  And misery was anything.
Interviewer:  {NW} Just any? Compl-
863:  I think mostly misery generally was with something like arthritis or neuritis or something like that.
Interviewer:  And, this is a disease that children use to get and die from They'd get a really bad sore throat Blisters inside their throat and they'd choke up.
863:  Diphtheria.
Interviewer:  And a disease where your skin and eyeballs turn yellow?
863:  Yellow fever?
Interviewer:  Or? It's
863:  Jaundice.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Mm-hmm.
Interviewer:  And when you have a pain down here and have to have an operation?
863:  Appendicitis.
Interviewer:  Any old fashioned names for that?
863:  For appendicitis? No I don't think so.
Interviewer:  And, something that you do every day if I ask you, do you do it often you'd say yes, I? #1 What? #
863:  #2 Yes. #
Interviewer:  All the time.
863:  I do it all the time.
Interviewer:  And, if you wanted to ask me whether he does that sort of thing, you'd ask me
863:  Does he do it, everyday?
Interviewer:  #1 And, #
863:  #2 I do it all the time. #
Interviewer:  I'd say I don't smoke but he
863:  Does.
Interviewer:  And, you'd said well I don't know if he did that or not but people
863:  Do.
Interviewer:  Or people? What, he did it? People.
863:  People Do what or I'm sorry, I'm, I'm not
Interviewer:  I don't know whether he did it but people
863:  Do it.
Interviewer:  Or they what he
863:  Do not {X}
Interviewer:  You say people says he
863:  People say he did it. Okay, okay. {NS}
Interviewer:  And, If I ask you if you know a person you might say, oh no I don't know him but I?
863:  But I know people that do know him and I know of him? Okay.
Interviewer:  Do you ever say I heard tell of him?
863:  Only jokingly. Again, like the use of ain't, when I when I know I mean I can say, oh I heard tell so and so is doing something but I'm, I'm being thought of cute when I
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 do it. # but I know that people do say it I mean you pick it up but it isn't something that I use unless I'm you know being corny.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. And, Say if someone ate something that didn't agree with them and it came back up, you'd say he had to
863:  Threw up.
Interviewer:  Um, any other ways of saying threw up?
863:  Yeah, vomited. Tossed his cookies.
Interviewer:  Which sounds the best and which sounds the
863:  Threw up sounds best to me. {NW}
Interviewer:  What about a real crude way of saying that?
863:  Um, a real crude way, you mean besides tossed his cookies? I don't, I don't know
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear puke or
863:  Oh yeah, I've heard puke.
Interviewer:  How does that sound to you?
863:  Crude. {NW} Just exactly as you said.
Interviewer:  And, if a person threw up, you'd say he was sick?
863:  With his stomach.
Interviewer:  Huh?
863:  Stick it, sick to his stomach.
Interviewer:  And,
863:  And some people say sick too but I think I'd say sick at his stomach but I really I really think I'd just say he was nauseated so but I could say sick at his stomach. It would be at instead of
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 to though. #
Interviewer:  And, How would you use the words up or down or over, talking about location? Like you'd say I saw him, what? Houston last week, I saw him?
863:  I saw him in Houston last week, I might say I went over to Houston last week.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Uh,
Interviewer:  Why would you say over?
863:  Well, I think I would say it because I have a very good sense of direction and Houston is nearly on an east/west axis.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  I think I would go up to Nacodoches and over to Houston and down to Sabine Pass. Which is out here you, you understand?
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. And,
863:  But with me it's strictly a directional thing.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  I'm thinking of up and down is north and east and south and west.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Say if a boy kept on going over to the same girl's house and like he was seriously interested in her? You'd say that he was?
863:  Probably, in the old days we used to say courting. {NW}
Interviewer:  #1 Do you hear that nowadays? #
863:  #2 But uh, # Most everybody is going steady or something like that. Courting is not very commonly used. More out in the country
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  You might still get courting up in, say, Nacodoches and not so much in Beaumont.
Interviewer:  And, he would be called her?
863:  Steady. Boyfriend.
Interviewer:  And she would be his?
863:  Girlfriend.
Interviewer:  And, if a boy comes home with lipstick on its collar, his little brother would say he had been?
863:  Oh goodness. Nowadays, they wouldn't say the same thing, we used to say necking pecking. Smooching. I don't know what they say.
Interviewer:  And,
863:  They've got new terms. Making out and a whole bunch of other things that I
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  Making out is something a little bit further along the line.
Interviewer:  When a girl stops letting the boy come over to see her you'd say that she?
863:  They've broken up?
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. And he asks her to marry him but she?
863:  Turned him down.
Interviewer:  And they were engaged and all of a sudden she?
863:  Broke the engagement.
Interviewer:  Any other expressions?
863:  No, mostly broken engagement, called it off.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear jilted him or #1 Oh yes #
863:  #2 gave him # jilted.
Interviewer:  Huh?
863:  Oh yes, jilted.
Interviewer:  When would jilted be used?
863:  Uh, Well, That would probably be if suddenly without any cause she just, suddenly said jilted him or went off with a jilted usually means that she found someone else.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  So that you jilt someone for someone else. Just deciding that this is a mistake
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  is breaking it off and that's not the same thing as jilting. Jilting, usually, has this sort of uh, She's got to have been a little bit ugly to him or he's
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  been a little ugly to her he's something that that everybody else recognizes as not being quite fair are
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  quite nice, you know, it has a connotation of maybe a little hard-heartedness or, or or even the suddenness.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. Does it could be at any stage, though, it could be #1 you know #
863:  #2 not after # marriage. {NW}
Interviewer:  #1 Well, #
863:  #2 No. # {NW}
Interviewer:  #1 {X} #
863:  #2 {X} #
Interviewer:  #1 Be left #
863:  #2 Or # Just dating or left at the altar.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. And, if she didn't turn him down you'd say they went ahead and got?
863:  Married. Any joking ways of saying that? Hitched.
Interviewer:  And, at a wedding the boy that stands up with the groom?
863:  The best man.
Interviewer:  And the woman stands up with the bride?
863:  Maid of honor. Possibly, matron of honor.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. What about the the other women?
863:  They're attendants or bridesmaids.
Interviewer:  And
863:  Groomsmen.
Interviewer:  A long time ago if, um, people in the community would get married other people would come by their house at night and make a lot of noise maybe beat on pans or
863:  I've never, ever seen it done, it was evidently an old custom. It was called a chivaree.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  It was not one of my terms, I know it {NW} mostly from the movies
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Really and, and reading some about it but it was not within my experience.
Interviewer:  You think it was done in this area?
863:  Yes. Probably, in the country in older times.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  But not I don't even know, I think maybe it was possibly more frontier sort of thing and it probably was done when this was a frontier.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  But after it, it was no longer frontier and it had grown up I don't think You still get a little hazing from now and again if they know where you are the first night.
Interviewer:  And, say there was trouble at a party, you'd say the police came and they didn't arrest just one or two of them they arrested the?
863:  The whole bunch?
Interviewer:  Any other terms besides bunch?
863:  Probably. The whole group, the whole bunch. We used the word passel yesterday but I don't believe I would've used it. It wouldn't occur to me.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  I think I'd just say the whole bunch. {NS}
Interviewer:  And, when young people go out in the evening and move around on the floor to music?
863:  They're dancing.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. Any special names for dance that you'd have at home?
863:  'Course it depends on the dancing you're doing, we used to jitterbug or, uh, cut a rug in the old days but, um,
Interviewer:  #1 Where do you cut a rug? #
863:  #2 Or no # That was just an old term we used to have.
Interviewer:  Just referring to dancing?
863:  Just referring to dancing.
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  But generally it was vigorous dancing.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  You know, like he could really cut a rug and that was just a way of saying it, um
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. #1 Say, #
863:  #2 It's a # slang term.
Interviewer:  If children get out of school at four o'clock, you'd say at four o'clock school?
863:  Let out.
Interviewer:  And, after vacation children would ask, when does school?
863:  Take up. {NS}
Interviewer:  And, if a boy left home to go to school and didn't show up at school that day you'd say he?
863:  Playing hooky.
Interviewer:  And, you go to school to get a?
863:  Education.
Interviewer:  And after high school you go on to?
863:  College.
Interviewer:  And after kindergarten you go into the?
863:  First grade. {NS}
Interviewer:  And, years ago children sat on benches at school, now they sit at?
863:  Desks.
Interviewer:  And each child has his own?
863:  Desk.
Interviewer:  And if you wanted to check out a book you'd go to the?
863:  Library.
Interviewer:  And to mail a package?
863:  To the post office.
Interviewer:  And you'd stay overnight in a strange town at a?
863:  A motel or hotel.
Interviewer:  And you'd see a play or a movie at a?
863:  Theater.
Interviewer:  And if you had to have an operation you'd go into the?
863:  Hospital.
Interviewer:  And the woman that'd, that would look after you?
863:  Would be a nurse.
Interviewer:  And you'd catch train at the?
863:  The depot.
Interviewer:  Or you could
863:  Or the train station, the railroad station depending really a lot on the, on the size of the thing. We always used to refer to the railroad station, and the depot, and we meaning the same place but sometimes separate places the, the smaller railroad station in town, there were three,
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  We nearly always called it the depot and we, then we would refer to the one which was the main one, the Southern Pacific was the railroad station but they also called it the Southern Pacific depot so it could be either one.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Say, if you had a
863:  But I don't think I would've called Grand Central Station a depot. I'll put it that way, just me.
Interviewer:  And, say, if you had a piece of furniture that didn't fit exactly in the corner and maybe you have it so that there's a, diagonally so there's this space the
863:  Catty-cornered.
Interviewer:  Huh?
863:  Catty-cornered.
Interviewer:  How do you use catty-cornered?
863:  As being across the corner. Also, uh, the person who lives on the block diagonally across me when there's a four way crossing.
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 They was # Catty-cornered from me.
Interviewer:  And, before they had buses in town they used to have?
863:  Street cars.
Interviewer:  And you'd tell the bus driver, this next corner is where I?
863:  Get off.
Interviewer:  And, in this county, Beaumont is the?
863:  County seat.
Interviewer:  And if you were a postmaster you'd be working for the?
863:  Government.
Interviewer:  Huh?
863:  Government. {NW}
Interviewer:  And, the police in town are supposed to maintain?
863:  Order. Law.
Interviewer:  What, talking about both of those together?
863:  Law and order would law would come first, mm-hmm.
Interviewer:  And, before they had the electric chair, murderers were?
863:  Hung.
Interviewer:  You say the man went out and?
863:  Hanged himself.
Interviewer:  And, the fight between the North and the South was called the?
863:  The Civil War. A lot of places they always called it The War Between the States but I think it's just the Civil War.
Interviewer:  You don't make any distinction between those two terms?
863:  And I hear it called the late unpleasantness and so forth
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  No, I don't make any distinction between the terms at all.
Interviewer:  Who would call it the late unpleasantness?
863:  Hmm?
Interviewer:  Is that just a sort of a joking?
863:  I think it's something that, uh, yes I think it's partially a joke and usually a fairly literary one, you know, among those who write, but but, uh, it's the Civil War, as far as I'm concerned.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Say, if someone ask you to go with them somewhere and you're not sure you want to, you'd say I don't know?
863:  I don't know if I want to go or not.
Interviewer:  And if you want someone to go with you, you'd say well I won't go?
863:  Unless you go.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say I had a choice of two things, and I was going to do this but then I decided I'd do that
863:  Instead.
Interviewer:  And, one of the largest,um, protestant churches or protestant denominations in the south would be?
863:  Baptist.
Interviewer:  And if two people become members, you'd say they?
863:  They're Baptists.
Interviewer:  But last week they? What the church?
863:  Joined.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. And you go to church to pray to the?
863:  God.
Interviewer:  And the preacher preaches a?
863:  Sermon.
Interviewer:  And the choir and the organist provide the?
863:  Music.
Interviewer:  And if you really like the music, you'd say the music was just?
863:  Beautiful.
Interviewer:  And, say, if you had to change a flat tire on the way to church on Sunday, you'd say, well, church will be over?
863:  Before I get there.
Interviewer:  And the enemy of God is called a?
863:  Satan.
Interviewer:  Or the?
863:  The Devil, uh-huh.
Interviewer:  Any other names?
863:  Oh yes, Lucifer, Beelzebub, uh, there's some more, Old Scratch.
Interviewer:  What did you tell children was gonna come get them? If they didn't behave?
863:  Well, I wouldn't do it but I presume it would be the devil. The devil's gonna get you if you don't watch out.
Interviewer:  What about the Boooger man?
863:  Oh, I've heard Booger man but we never we never used it.
Interviewer:  Is that the same as the Devil?
863:  Not necessarily.
Interviewer:  What
863:  Could have been any bad, scary man
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  That could come and get you.
Interviewer:  And what did people think they'd see around a graveyard at night?
863:  Ghosts,
Interviewer:  And a house that people are scared to go in?
863:  Haunted.
Interviewer:  And, you'd tell someone, you better put a sweater on, it's getting?
863:  Cool.
Interviewer:  Or?
863:  Cooler or cold.
Interviewer:  Or it's not really cold but it's getting?
863:  Cooler.
Interviewer:  Or?
863:  Chilly.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay.
863:  Mm-hmm.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say, well I'll go with you if you really want me to but I'd?
863:  Prefer not to.
Interviewer:  I'd
863:  Or I'd rather not to. I'd rather not.
Interviewer:  And, say, if you hadn't seen a good friend of yours in a longtime when you saw ''em you might say I'm?
863:  So glad to see you.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. Do you ever say proud to see you?
863:  No.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say,um,
863:  And I haven't said I'm proud to meet anyone or anything like that except when I'm writing it.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  That way but, uh, I know that this is said so often, I've heard it and twice when a new secretary came to apply for a job for my father, he said, well, he said I got a nice girl today but she says, oh Mr. McFadden, I'm so proud to meet you and but she's been a wonderful secretary and the same thing happened when I went to meet one of my children's English teachers and she said I'm so proud to make your acquaintance and I nearly died.
Interviewer:  Did you associate that with being uneducated or country?
863:  Country. We have a saying here that all of the people who grew up in Beaumont and went to college go to teach in Houston and Dallas and Austin and all the people who grew up in Buna and Kirbyville
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  and Selsby come to Beaumont to teach.
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  And it's true.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. Say if, um, What about this big, thicket, country around here, is that? Is that very close to here?
863:  Oh yes, if you're in the big thicket when you're up here about ten miles.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. What's that area like?
863:  Well, it's a good country area, it's slowly becoming a bedroom area for Beaumont. People are going up there and building homes and they commute every day and work here but it has been a good country area. The big thicket was a lot larger than it is now and it was made up of people, who were, were, sort of died in the will country people, and a lot of them are what we sort of call rednecks. They were people whose family have lived there for generations and began or they, they moved in when it was still part of the, uh, no man's land. There was a time when, uh, between Texas and, rather, between the Spanish and the Americans after they had bought Louisiana this, there was a border dispute so there was sort of a no man's land in there that neither one really owned, both sort of claimed, and a lot of people came in and lived in that just beyond the border, #1 and just #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  beyond the reach of authorities. One or two jumps ahead of the sheriff as we say #1 now. #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  And these people were very independent, and they didn't like authority and they lived mostly by hunting and fishing maybe raising a little garden, and, uh, before a REA program without any of what we now call the necessities of life. And they didn't want anyone bothering them and they don't like you up there and they don't like summer people up there, and they burn homes, and they steal, and they, they're very independent and we have a very bad reputation up there for killing lawmen. Especially, uh, the people who come from Parks and Wildlife and try to
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  keep them from shooting the deer.
Interviewer:  Isn't that a, a national, um?
863:  Well, not yet but very soon. They passed the bill and the President signed it but now they have to come in and they have to buy the land so it will be a national preserve.
Interviewer:  And the people there are really?
863:  A lot of them are quite opposed to it some are not. And some of them don't understand it. They have been they, you know, it's very easy to whip people up and bring their suspicions up,
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  And I was talking to one of proponents, proponents of the bill, and I said why don't you go to the courthouse, and put up a map saying exactly what you're going to take and you're not going to take because I said a lot of these people who are up there opposing you tooth and nail, good phrase,
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Aren't even going to be included in this but they've been told their homes are going to be taken. Well, the whole problem is that nowhere have they ever defined exactly what they are going to take in are not going to take and so when they say what are you going to take, they say, well, we can't tell you exactly, and of course they're #1 suspicious #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  that means they're really going to take me. They're not going to say they're going to but they are, you know, {NS} people are very suspicious when it comes to the government
Interviewer:  Is that, so that's a pretty old settlement around in the big thicket? It's been
863:  Some of the settlements are old and some aren't, a lot of what they're planning to take is owned by the large lumber companies,
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Who do not want them to take it because that's the way they make their living is cutting the timber. And, uh, and I think some of the agitation has been done. I think they've talked on both sides of their mouth out #1 there. #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  They've talked on one side of the government, oh yes, you're going to pay us, and we think a certain amount of this is good, and on the other side they're out there rousing up the
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  People #1 don't oppose it. #
Interviewer:  #2 What are some, # What are some of the older settlements in there?
863:  In there? Saratoga and Batson, the Batson prairie out there is quite an old uh, settlement. Early settlers were out there and, uh, let's see, it starts really East of, uh, I mean west of Kountze in that area but Saratoga and Batson. Honey Allen, uh, Sour Lake all of those have been there a long time. And they've had settlers that have been there many generations, and of course they don't want their homes taken.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Or their land either.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. And I know there's
863:  And I have a certain amount of sympathy with them, I really do. Uh, I think that it can be managed if it could be done on an individual basis where if you take someone's land you not only pay ''em a good market value but let them live there as long as they want to. Most of these people, who want to keep it, and want to leave it to their children, are dreaming their children are going to go live in the city. This is happening all over, you know, the younger people move into the city, very few of the stay on the farm, #1 stay in the country. #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  And I think that the government could keep it, and keep it from being timbered, keep it from being, uh, you know, cut over and damaged and still let the people live on it and give them a lifetime right to live on it but not a right to ever destroy #1 or change. #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. # They wouldn't be allowed to hunt or anything there?
863:  {NW} I suspect that would be a very ticklish point to decide with those people who are used to hunting all those years. But I, but they are not the ones who do the most damage the ones that go out and hunt for pleasure and really aren't interested in that deer for meat
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  are the ones who do more damage and they say this and I, I really agree with them
Interviewer:  Do people who come up from Beaumont
863:  {NW}
Interviewer:  to
863:  People will go out and hunt
Interviewer:  season
863:  And the thing about it is that I think that they would never shoot out all the deer and that you could always restock.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  Or call the moratorium one year. But I don't think the people who live there are the ones who are depleting the deer. I think it's the hunters that go in.
Interviewer:  {X} Shoot each other too? {NW}
863:  They do that too.
Interviewer:  Um, say, if someone intensely disliked to go someplace you'd say he?
863:  Hates to go there, he
Interviewer:  Do you ever say he plumb hated it or?
863:  No.
Interviewer:  #1 Purely hated it. #
863:  #2 Plumb wouldn't # Plumb and purely, I, I really don't think I'd use. They're good country terms.
Interviewer:  And, you say it wasn't just a little cold this morning it was?
863:  Really cold.
Interviewer:  And, say, if a man was hammering and he hit his thumb what exclamations might he have?
863:  Beside ouch? Well any of the expletives
Interviewer:  What about say what exclamations might you have say, if someone told you something that surprised you?
863:  Oh, I'd probably say you're kidding!
Interviewer:  Do you ever say land sakes or anything like that?
863:  No. Those are good country terms.
Interviewer:  What about if you are disgusted with yourself you had done something stupid?
863:  Oh, I could kill myself or, oh, I'm so disgusted with myself I'm furious with myself or that is the dumbest thing I've ever done.
Interviewer:  #1 Do you ever say #
863:  #2 How could I # be so stupid?
Interviewer:  say shucks or anything like that?
863:  Might. But probably not Oh, occasionally.
Interviewer:  How would you use
863:  But, that would, again, probably be more in a joking way. Oh, shucks, you don't really want to do or you don't really mean
Interviewer:  #1 Uh-huh. #
863:  #2 you know. #
Interviewer:  And someone said something you kind of resented them saying it, you might say well, the very?
863:  The very idea of it.
Interviewer:  And, if a friend of yours says good morning, what might you ask them then? About their health, you'd say?
863:  How are you, is probably what I'd say.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. What about when you introduce to a stranger?
863:  Hello, how are you?
Interviewer:  And, if some people were leaving your house after a visit you'd say well I hope y'all come back?
863:  Soon.
Interviewer:  Or I hope I see you?
863:  Hope I see you soon.
Interviewer:  Or a
863:  Or anytime, you know, come back soon.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay.
863:  Soon, mostly.
Interviewer:  And how would you greet someone around December twenty fifth?
863:  Merry Christmas.
Interviewer:  And on the first?
863:  Seasons' greetings.
Interviewer:  The first?
863:  A Happy New Year.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. Do you ever hear people say a Christmas gift to each other?
863:  Christmas gift was something that was supposed to have been said every morning, the first person to greet you was supposed to say Christmas gift and this was particularly true of negroes who worked for you. They'd run in and wake you up and say Christmas gift, Christmas gift.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  But it isn't anything that we ever said to each other. It was nothing I say but I know, I've heard it said.
Interviewer:  Is it was done in your household?
863:  No. No, I don't think anyone ever ran around to us but, but I know that it has been done.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh.
863:  Uh, I've seen other households where it's done.
Interviewer:  When the person says Christmas gift are you supposed to give them something then?
863:  I suspect that since the connotation or the, the impression that I have of it is that this was what and this is a word I hadn't thought until just this very minute when you asked me what I called negroes. They were called darkies, too.
Interviewer:  {NW}
863:  And I was going to say just now this is what darkies did probably hoping they'd get Christmas gifts.
Interviewer:  #1 Mm-hmm. #
863:  #2 Waking you up # Christmas gift, Christmas gift.
Interviewer:  And, the biggest city in the country is in?
863:  New York.
Interviewer:  And Annapolis is the capital of?
863:  Maryland.
Interviewer:  And the biggest city there?
863:  Baltimore.
Interviewer:  And Richmond's the capital of?
863:  Virginia.
Interviewer:  And Boston?
863:  Massachusetts?
Interviewer:  And the states from to Connecticut are called the?
863:  From Maine, oh the New England states.
Interviewer:  What are some of the states in the south?
863:  Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas.
Interviewer:  And, the state above Arkansas?
863:  Louisiana, did I mention Louisiana?
Interviewer:  Okay, the state
863:  Above Arkansas, what's it? Kansas?
Interviewer:  Or starts with an m?
863:  Oh, Missouri.
Interviewer:  And the biggest city there?
863:  Probably St. Louis.
Interviewer:  And, Tulsa is in?
863:  Oklahoma.
Interviewer:  And, the Bluegrass State?
863:  Kentucky.
Interviewer:  And the biggest city there?
863:  Lexington
Interviewer:  Or another one?
863:  Louisville.
Interviewer:  And the capital of the United States?
863:  You mean Washington D.C.? And, the biggest city in Illinois? Chicago.
Interviewer:  And what are some of the cities, um, in Alabama?
863:  Birmingham. Um, Oh, for goodness sake, I can't everything I can think is probably in Mississippi. {NW] Birmingham, may Mobile.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. What about the capitol?
863:  Oh, I can't think what the capital of Alabama is?
Interviewer:  What was the name of that county in Tennessee where?
863:  Montgomery. Oh, Montgomery, Alabama, of course.
Interviewer:  And, the old city in, um, South Carolina? Old historical city?
863:  Savannah. Charleston. Charleston. Savannah is in Georgia, Charleston is in South Carolina.
Interviewer:  And the city up in the mountains in North Carolina?
863:  Up in the mountains. North Carolina. Asheville?
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. What are some of the cities in Tennessee?.
863:  Well, Knoxville, course M-, Memphis, beside uh, Nashville.
Interviewer:  And Lookout Mountain's at?
863:  Chattanooga.
Interviewer:  And, some of the cities in Georgia? Atlanta. Augusta. Milledgeville. {NW}
863:  #1 You don't know, think I know about Millidgeville. #
Interviewer:  #2 What about #
863:  Columbia.
Interviewer:  #1 What about #
863:  #2 Or # Columbus it is. Columbus, mm-hmm.
Interviewer:  The city in the middle of Georgia? Just south of Atlanta?
863:  Just south of Atlanta?
Interviewer:  Starts with an M?
863:  Macon.
Interviewer:  And, the biggest city in southern Ohio?
863:  Not Cairo or something like that, what's in Southern Ohio? Cincinnati.
Interviewer:  Mm-kay. And some of the cities in Louisiana?
863:  Oh, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lake Charles, Alexandria.
Interviewer:  And, Belfast is in?
863:  Ireland. {NW}
Interviewer:  Huh?
863:  {NW} Ireland, but I don't know where it is in the United States.
Interviewer:  And, well that's, that's where I meant, the country, um, And Paris is in?
863:  France. Also Texas.
Interviewer:  {NW} Moscow is in?
863:  U.S.S.R. or Russia.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say I have to go downtown to do some?
863:  Shopping.
Interviewer:  And say, if you bought something, you'd say the storekeeper took out a piece of paper and?
863:  Wrapped it?
Interviewer:  And when I got home I?
863:  Opened it.
Interviewer:  Or?
863:  Unwrapped it.
Interviewer:  And if you had to sell something for two dollars that you'd paid three dollars for, you'd be selling it?
863:  At a loss.
Interviewer:  And if you like something but don't have enough money for it you'd say, well, I like it but it?
863:  Is too expensive.
Interviewer:  Or it? What too much?
863:  Cost too much.
Interviewer:  And, on the first of the month your bill is?
863:  Paid.
Interviewer:  Or it's time to pay it, it's?
863:  Time to pat it, my bill is due.
Interviewer:  And, if you belong to a club you have to pay your?
863:  Dues.
Interviewer:  And if you don't have any money you could go to the bank and try to?
863:  Borrow some.
Interviewer:  And you say, in the thirties money was?
863:  Scarce.
Interviewer:  And some places, if you buy something or pay your bill from storekeepers will give you a little present a little extra, and they'll call that?
863:  Probably, a lagniappe.
Interviewer:  Was that term used around here?
863:  Yes, I think it was, I've I've heard lagniappe. I guess, all my life but you know it is a French term, and we do have a lot of French and I don't know whether #1 that's #
Interviewer:  #2 Mm-hmm. #
863:  just something that was here or just that Uh, I just have heard lagniappe.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Be about like Bayou, or?
863:  Yeah, I think that there are some things that, uh, that I don't know whether they're from the Acadian French
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  influence or whether it was just, uh, I really don't know why I have always heard it but I know I've had a lagniappe. And I don't remember when I learned it.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. Have you ever heard of, um, pea lawn?
863:  #1 No. #
Interviewer:  #2 Meaning the same thing. # And, what does a baby do before it is able to walk?
863:  Crawl.
Interviewer:  And, say if you were tired you might say I think I'll go over to the sofa and?
863:  Take a nap.
Interviewer:  Or, what, down?
863:  Lay down.
Interviewer:  And you say, he was really sick he couldn't even sit up all morning, he would just? What, bed, he just?
863:  He just lay in bed.
Interviewer:  And, talking about something that you saw in your sleep, you'd say this is what I?
863:  Dreamed.
Interviewer:  And often when I go to sleep I?
863:  I dream.
Interviewer:  But, I can't always remember what I have?
863:  Dreamed.
Interviewer:  I dreamed I was falling but just when I about to hit the ground I
863:  Woke up.
Interviewer:  And, if you bring your foot down heavy on the floor?
863:  You stomp. You stamp or stomp.
Interviewer:  #1 Which would you call it? #
863:  #2 {NW} # Stamp is what we, you oughta say but stomp is just a, I don't know it's just a, a sort of a word you use quickly and, and you know it's wrong you don't care.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. And you'd say she walked up to the altar and she? What down?
863:  Knelt down.
Interviewer:  And, if you saw a friend of yours walking home alone and you had your car, you'd say can I?
863:  Give you a lift.
Interviewer:  Or can I?
863:  Or give you a ride.
Interviewer:  #1 What #
863:  #2 Pick you up. #
Interviewer:  What you home tonight?
863:  Drive you home.
Interviewer:  Do you ever say carry you or take you home?
863:  No, I've heard carry a lot but, uh, it's just not one of the things I happen to use. It's a little country.
Interviewer:  And to get something to come towards you, you take hold of it and?
863:  Pull it.
Interviewer:  And the other way?
863:  Push.
Interviewer:  And if you had a sack of groceries and didn't have your car, you'd say you picked it up and?
863:  Carried it.
Interviewer:  Any other expressions?
863:  No. I mean, I mean I've heard tote and this sort of thing but it wouldn't be tote, really, is what I think colored people usually use.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm.
863:  And I've noticed it's on of the little drive-ins will be pick and tote and that sort of thing but it wouldn't be anything I'd use.
Interviewer:  Mm-hmm. Do you ever, what would you if it was something that was very, well, maybe not so much heavy but very bulky to hold on to and very inconvenient to carry? You'd say I had to? What, that heavy suitcase, I had to?
863:  Might have had to drag it, or, or struggle, I don't
Interviewer:  Do you ever say lug it or pack it?
863:  Well, I might but I mean they've, they're terms familiar with but, uh, I might use it.
Interviewer:  Which would you?
863:  Probably, If I had a suitcase I had to lug that heavy suitcase around I might, I might use that.
Interviewer:  And you'd tell a child, now that stove is very hot, so?
863:  Don't touch it.
Interviewer:  And if you needed a hammer you'd tell someone and go?
863:  Get me my hammer.
Interviewer:  And, A game that children play where one child will be it and the others will hide?
863:  Hide and seek.
Interviewer:  And, the tree you can touch and be safe?
863:  Home base.
Interviewer:  And, In football, you run toward the?
863:  Goal.
Interviewer:  And, if you were about to punish a child, he might ask you not to punish him just give me one more?
863:  Chance.
Interviewer:  And, if we were planning to meet somewhere I'd say, well, if I get there first I'll?
863:  Wait for you.
Interviewer:  And, someone who always catches on to a joke, he's got a good sense of?
863:  Humor.
Interviewer:  And, you'd say, well, we've got termites now but I sure the exterminating company will?
863:  Get rid of them.
Interviewer:  Do you ever say get shed of them?
863:  No.
Interviewer:  And, say if a child left a pencil on the desk and came back and didn't find it there she'd say, I bet somebody?
863:  Took it.
Interviewer:  Anything else you'd say?
863:  Stole it.
Interviewer:  And if you wanted to brighten up your room for a party and you had a lot of things growing out in your yard, you'd go out and?
863:  Pick some flowers.
Interviewer:  And, {NS} something that a child plays with you'd call a?
863:  Toy.
Interviewer:  Any other names?
863:  Well, whatever the toy was, a ball, plaything.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear it called a play pretty?
863:  Yes, but it isn't anything that, uh, I would use.
Interviewer:  How did you hear that used?
863:  Babysitter.
Interviewer:  Uh-huh. She'd call it a?
863:  Uh-huh, she used to call my children's toys play pretties.
Interviewer:  Would
863:  Mm-hmm. That's where I, that's the only thing, only place I think I've ever heard it.
Interviewer:  Would? Do you associate play pretties as g just any kind of toy or toy for a small child?
863:  Probably a toy for a small child.
Interviewer:  And, if a child learned something new and you wanted to know where he learned it, you'd ask him, who?
863:  Who taught you that?
Interviewer:  And you'd say I have just, what, him a letter?
863:  Written him a letter.
Interviewer:  And yesterday he?
863:  Wrote me.
Interviewer:  And tomorrow I'll?
863:  Write him.
Interviewer:  And you say I wrote it and it was time I was getting a?
863:  A letter back.
Interviewer:  Or an?
863:  Answer.
Interviewer:  And you put the letter in the envelope then you take your pen and you?
863:  Address it.
Interviewer:  And you'd say well I was going to write him but I didn't know his?
863:  Address.
Interviewer:  Do you ever hear an old-fashioned name an old-fashioned way of saying address? A letter? Do you ever hear?
863:  Not that I recall. {NS}