This list
of definitions is not meant to be comprehensive but rather an aid to help
fiction writers make their character’s dialog sound “authentic”. Some are
occupational slang. Recording studio musicians for example detest “clams” (sour
notes). Others are basic terms. To a sailor a hold is where cargo is stowed
aboard a ship. To a gambler a hold is the percentage held back by a casino.
BOONTLING:
“Invented” in the 1880s in the
small Northern California town of Boonville ,
boontling is still heard today. Many of the thousand plus words have their
origins in the town’s history. A photograph for example is a charley walker
after an early photographer. How often a
fictional character might speak “boont” is, well, probably not often. But it is
such a fun thing it would be a shame not to find some use for it. So don’t be
feather-legged, hoist a horn of zeece and have a boll harp, even if you’re just
harping a slip!
Michael McKeever
borp: pork, a pig.
boll: good, wonderful.
boo: potatoes.
boshing harem: hunting
dog.
bright lighter: city person.
bucky walter: telephone.
cuttin’ buckeye: relaxing,
taking it easy.
dumplin dust: flour.
Easter: egg.
feather-legged: officious,
know-it-all person.
gorm: to eat.
greeley: journalist, writer.
harp: conversation.
harping a slip: making
small talk.
hedger: barber.
hedger region: barbershop.
horn of zeece: cup
of coffee.
kimmie: man,
male.
nook: home.
ottoins: job.
pike: drive
a car.
relf: rail
fence.
skipe: clergy.
tom bacon: mustache.
trash mover: storm.
tweed: child.
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