Q 01/05

In Appalachian English, a 'toboggan', a sled to most Americans, is usually which piece of winter clothing?

A) A knit hat

B) A wool scarf

C) A heavy coat

D) Fur mittens

Answer · why

A) A knit hat

A knit hat is the usual meaning of 'toboggan' across Appalachia, where the word is only rarely used for a sled. Canadians call the same cap a tuque.

Q 02/05

An Appalachian shopper who asks for a 'poke', the word in the old warning about buying a pig, wants what?

A) A cold soda

B) A free sample

C) A paper bag

D) A cash refund

Answer · why

C) A paper bag

A paper bag is a 'poke' in the mountains, and the proverb's pig went to market tied up in a cloth one. The same French root gave English 'pocket' and ...

Q 03/05

People from southern Appalachia pronounce the region's name with a third syllable that sounds like which word?

A) Lay

B) Latch

C) Launch

D) Lake

Answer · why

B) Latch

Latch is the sound locals use, so the name comes out roughly as 'apple-atcha'. People who live outside the dialect area, or at its outer edges, tend t...

Q 04/05

Which animal do Appalachian speakers call a 'whistle pig', after the shrill alarm call it gives when frightened?

A) Raccoon

B) Opossum

C) Porcupine

D) Groundhog

Answer · why

D) Groundhog

Groundhog is the animal behind the nickname: when alarmed it whistles a high-pitched warning to the rest of its colony. Its other folk names include w...

Q 05/05

In Appalachian speech, what is a 'haint', the being that pale 'haint blue' porch ceilings were painted to keep away?

A) A snake

B) A bear

C) A thief

D) A ghost

Answer · why

D) A ghost

A ghost or restless spirit is a haint, a word that began as a variant of 'haunt'. The blue ceiling custom started among the Gullah people of Georgia a...