Laurence Brown is a British writer and YouTuber who somehow convinced the city of Chicago to let him in. He is an English Language graduate from Lancaster University and a passionate word etymologist, with a particular interest in British and American neologisms. Since moving to the United States, he has become increasingly curious about Britain's historical influence on American culture and about America in general.
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Distant WordsEnglish wordsNorth Americavideo
5 Brilliant English Words Only Used in North America | Distant Words
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Southeast Kansas/Southwest Missouri. Ornery is pronounced “onn’ry” here. And it’s very difficult to convince the natives it is spelled o-r-n-e-r-y.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in SW Pennsylvania and have known ornery (actually all these words) my whole life. I have always understood ornery to suggest bad-tempered, uncooperative, unpleasant to deal with. One expression: He's as ornery as a hungover skunk!
ReplyDeleteIn middle Tennessee, pronounced orn'ry. I understand it to mean irritable, peeved. It is used in the Appalachian Christmas carol
ReplyDelete"I Wonder as I Wander" ...
"I wonder as I wander Out under the sky
How Jesus the Savio(u)r did come for to die
For poor ornery people like you and like I
I wonder as I wander Out under the sky."
yes ornery is used in Alabama to mean being in a very bad mood. Sometimes it is used more commonly for the elderly when they are in a particularly bad mood.
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