Barrelhouse Words: A Blues Dialect DictionaryThis fascinating compendium explains the most unusual, obscure, and curious words and expressions from vintage blues music. Utilizing both documentary evidence and invaluable interviews with a number of now-deceased musicians from the 1920s and '30s, blues scholar Stephen Calt unravels the nuances of more than twelve hundred idioms and proper or place names found on oft-overlooked "race records" recorded between 1923 and 1949. From "aggravatin' papa" to "yas-yas-yas" and everything in between, this truly unique, racy, and compelling resource decodes a neglected speech for general readers and researchers alike, offering invaluable information about black language and American slang. |
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Common terms and phrases
19th-century ain’t American an’I an’the appears applied baby Barbecue Bob barrelhouse black catchphrase black colloquialism black idiom black speech black term Blind Blake Blind Lemon Jefferson Blind Willie McTell blues singers blues song Bo Carter boogie Born in Slavery brown brownskin century Charlie Patton connotation couplet daddy dance DARE dating in print dialect Dictionary don’tyou door expression female Furry Lewis Georgia gonna gota Hambone Henry Thomas House Idon’t Ifyou Igot Igota Kokomo Arnold Lighter Lord low-down Lucille Bogan lyric male mama man’s meaning Memphis Minnie Mississippi nigger night numbers obsolete one’s origin Papa Charlie Jackson Partridge phrase quoted in Born race recording reference RobertJohnson roll sexual intercourse shake that thing Shimmy Skip James Son House Southern colloquialism standard English Street sweet There’s town variant vintage whiskey Woman Blues women woogie Zora Neale Hurston’s