Finding America

Me and Tarah

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Contrary to popular belief, American English is replete with words so satisfying on the tongue you’d be mistaken for thinking they were the work of Dickens. Words that endlessly gratify; words that give you the feeling of that first sip of coffee in the morning; words of such majesty the United States didn’t want to share them with anyone else. Except maybe Canada. That’s right; here are five brilliant English words coined in America that only North Americans use.





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.

4 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. I 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!

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  3. In middle Tennessee, pronounced orn'ry. I understand it to mean irritable, peeved. It is used in the Appalachian Christmas carol
    "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."

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  4. 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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