Maine Lingo: Boiled Owls, Billdads & WazzatsJohn Gould's family first settled in Maine in 1618, so by the time he came along in the early 20th century, the Gould's were well steeped in the vernacular of the region, and his first inheritance was the turned-around, honed-down, and tuned-up language of his farming neighbors who seldom strayed beyond the village store. Maine Lingo was first compiled in 1975, when TV, radio, and other leveling media had begun to seriously erode regional speech distinctions, and this dictionary will furnish anyone interested in Maine or regional dialects with the terminologies of regular folks, from lobstermen to farmers to woodsmen. Altogether it is a fun and fascinating collection of lore, humor, and straight information that will have you able to tell your billdad from your wazzat in no time flat. |
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Common terms and phrases
applied asked bait became boat bring called camp carry choppers clam close coast coastal comes common consider cook County derives describe drive early East expression farm farmers fire fish French give hand handle haul head heard Hence hold hole horse important Island keep kind known lady Lake land live load lobster look lumber Maine Maine speech Mainers mark means meant move never once originated pass perhaps person piece poor pronounced reference river road rope round sail salt season seems sense ship shore side snow sometimes sound speak stand suggests summer term thing took town trap tree turn usage usually vessel weather West wind winter woods word