The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-25

How They Ussd 60 Tsih In ot-eeo Cou,,-
and Probably SIN DO.

How They Used 60 Taik In Otseno tour,.
and Probably StII DO.
To THE EDITOR OF THE suN-Sir: Whom :
was n younGster mp in otscgo county. y. Y.
where I was born and raised" | learned "a
use some odd words and phrases that | hsv.r,,
heard elsewhere, and through the columns ~
THE Sun I would like to add a mite to ,hs
American Dialect S~oCiety's collection. p,,
family Of my acquaintance used the puccr word
"catouse" very often. To make n great "c,.
touse" was the same as making n fuss" n
"rumpus," or n "huilabalOo.' A boy who stol,
his mothers preserves" and got caught a, /
looked "meecking." az did also a cat tLa,
was "ketchcd" in the act Of tapping cran,,
from a milk pan. Some women called every
sticky, substance, "gaumy,' while Others
A thing that was badly or carelessly MIXED w,;
all "muxed up" Many q farmer called iii,
her husband her man" TO" Gegfetcii" meant n"qi1
to !" begrud ge," and they said !" hadn't ort tew'
s H%GsItew G1sh"' TO- s sGi red f""s Sf a su fis"Dssd n,c %Ts
10 get rid !" OF 1t. A smitch meant a vSTS
small 4 mda.i quantity IL yic Sense ons w c} %,nct pl&"y ysa ~ =
very old man invariably said sen" when hs
meant :, since. BIRDS that nestled in chin:
in social affairs recall the following
SisG a%gal" "spE Tsed up and sdi|!s soy S Sp WIN
b II her };gb parents en- sn %Sthsr e rGS%S from nO, " sarIyy
aaf fsIisl's s sRS I Rs5s R SslleRsr" ths f5f FL 5 ysS".
o. forward person was fs%bangiious, and :
sss9Ssriq 1s%l AND S at ado ssSSs ' S parties A' fS sPf Il.
dominic the young people PLAYED button.
%S SSsSnx%n and E roll IL the tFencher,"7 ''V When n's sS
''uruhin,' got his feet wet, his mother said they
S sS5o ; x v% wsts as :. 'op Gold rn nd /. T ffss. his feet wsF.
The school moms kept" school she peye.
ought a., The .PTp ari, mete ,r sssolsrs;" and
amples.' The school NOM knew how to
make pen: out Of goose 9uillls' and che set
the forenoon and afternoon, and she kept"
Of SSn1 tRe eE "dssestpictS school the sassy" It'll.
"brats' recited the following ali the way homes
Good Good B. 3. ; sssSSsT4S sS2S ~ ia ;sfsf SSi.
Naughty boys hooked" apples, and other
the COW when he sat down to milk her. and X
she didn't stand still he exclaimed so, bosi'
from the pasture BY singing out, Come. Sos,"
q, "eo; bos;, to them II "KShdsy. buhday|cr
b hnnh on th eu don5i;e q SlGSshi Horses s@s s1 we're co fss
by whistling. In driving contrary hogs ste.
boy, was shouted out the same as sic EN-"
being driven, and Shoot" was used to make
sheep bee g. !. st sa Nh .hnnt.a An 4 T Ugly IRAN ram nsys.
killed or tried to kill every snake they saw. and
the following was often quoted:
IL you break the nrst brake and XIII the nrst snake,
You'll conquer all the enemies you ever undertake.
A person rs5, VIII who ~, vas % restless =, at might night and conldn't
him n powerful sight o. good" "Suspendcrs"
were always ".galluses." AZ "protracted meet.
ins %se raes his one nfsIl iisq' o qIa farmer .a fsllsd ya ahs
jaw" were familiar parental commands. The
children In a neighboring farmers household
were wont to keep one another away from the
pork p Platter A. s, sS singing out; Dads forbid sop
Boys said. "let 'er swlzzle" for "let It 60"
ana a lad who had been fooled " or "euchred"
had got Smoked in" We never played "mar-
bles." but we did play ball" barn BALL,
three old cat and -four old cat" NJ spy"
was one Of the village games. and the boys bad
way Of counting out began. "Intry, min,ry.
ickery. an; - another. Monkey. wunkey. oar'l
o. beer and still another. Zone zaw, two zaw,
hill on his stomach rodS "belIygut." I never
any of the midland counties OF the Empire state,
In the summer the farmers "swiggcd"
"switchel" and "metheRlin" when the cider
barrel got empty, A scrawny animal was called
plug A small load Of. hay. straw. wood. {" or
+ Rr aWfa Ta srsnR se@s' " Ra ,maSss"na wn1e pc a,S,e was
ginseng was % jingshang," "hollyhock +" was
d" hollyhauk.' "spikenard ' was spignet." and
{. "SS iIs.s was %s% slSTSyss v was a m AS6olI" % ga,
low " was a - ~foller.' and taller" candles were
Just as necessary before kerosene oil came In use
Many more odd words which l cannot now re-
S Sood Te hsp IN S9 dngs'% use in old otseES iP co sSoy-
SCRANTON, Pa, Nov. 81,