My mother, a West Virginia hillbilly, had a lot of colorful expressions. One was "sigodlin" (not sure of the spelling), which was used to describe a crooked or teetering structure. Anyone ever heard of that word?
My boss spent some time in her youth in West Va. I'll give her an ask. Which syllable is the accent on?
What I want to know is who's They?
Well, yeah -- and who's We?
>who's They
why They is "our American ancestors". you can add to the collection yourownself. this will lend additional credence to the collection, no doubt.
>who's We?
The Gene Pool
Getting back to the original query -- does anyone have a clue about the derivation of "sigodlin?" Many of the the original settlers of that area of West Virginia were Scots, Irish, or a blend, if that helps.
Well, I googled and googled but no joy. I did find a book of poetry titled 'Sigodlin' written by a Professor Robert Morgan. He is currently teaching at Cornell University. I have emailed him to ask for his help thinking he might be our best bet. Here's hoping he is as helpful as the guys at MIT, who always find time to answer my questions ( YAY for MIT, god love em
).
although the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) doesn't go into great detail on origin, as its focus is on area of usage, it has a wealth of interesting stuff (complete with crossthreads) on this word:
sigodlin - adj, adv
Also sidegadling, sidegarlin' sidegodlin, siebegodlin, si-godlin
esp. Appalachians Cf. anti-godlin, si-antigodlin, si-gogglin, si-waddlin
askew, lopsided, uneven; cater-cornered, diagonal(ly)
slantindicular
"You sawed that off a little si-godlin."
something that has got out of proper shape: [aside: gone all pear-shaped?]
"That house is all sigodlin."
Appalachian Journal (1976): Four terms suggest something out of line or out of plumb:
catty-cornered, cattywampus, slaunchways, or sigodlin
btw. i love college professors, they always have time for strangers asking stranger questions even if they can't help much.
From:
Robert Morgan <****@cornell.edu>
Subject:
Sigodlin
Date:
Thu, 11 Sep 2003 17:09:24 -0400
To:
<dodyskin@**************>
As best I could find out sigodlin is a contraction of "side goggling," very
common in the Southern Appalachians in the 19th and 20th centuries. Robert
Morgan
Wow. I'm impressed. Not only is he a Cornell prof but also a famous author:
http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/rrm4/Among his novels is
Gap Creek which was on the *gulp* Oprah list a few years ago.
How exciting! I read Gap Creek and loved it. And how great to know that my inquiry was finally resolved by a native of my beloved state of NC. I'm printing out the thread for my sisters to read. Thanks for the help!
beanie, don't forget to give tsuwm a little credit too, even if he *isn't from North Carolina.
thanx, ASp -- I was beginning to feel like unchopped hominy here.
Most humble apologies, tsuwm. Guess I was got up in a bit of celebrity ga-ga. I really appreciate the research you did (and in fact all posters on AWADtalk). Wish I had more time to spend here. And thanks to AnnaStrophic for the gentle wrist slap. Are we all in hominy now?
beanie, you bet your sweet grits we are!
Are we all in hominy now? Gro-ann-nn!
beanie, this word has driven me crazy since you started this thread, because WV is a border state to where I live, and I've never heard that expression, that I can recall. If my mother were still alive, I could ask her--she was raised in eastern Kentucky.
I tried a couple of on-line Gaelic dictionaries and had no luck. Just now I looked in my Pocket Scots Dictionary and found, not sigodlin, but close:
sidlin(s), sidlings adverb 1 sideways, side on, to one side.
2 of speech or look indirectly.
adjective 1 sidelong, moving or glancing sideways.
2 sloping, on a slope.
noun a sloping piece of ground, a hillside.
And what's Oprah's book list, Jackie, the menu at Sol's Deli?
> adjective 1 sidelong
sidelong
se+g+o+d+lin
sigodlin
not exactly an anagram but?
And what's Oprah's book list, Jackie, the menu at Sol's Deli? Erm, sorry, you lost me.
I think he's making some kinda abstrupid® reference to chopped liver, Jackie. Ignore it! Just cause a Cornell perverter says sumptin' don't make it so without evidence.
a Cornell perverterThat's
a Cornell preverter to you, young man!
My dear mom had a number of colorful expressions. If you fidgeted in church, you were "like a worm in hot ashes." A heavy snowstorm was a "fanny dragger." A greasy mess was a "mommick."
I think the word mommick was in the book, "Christy". I think one of the characters used it while attempting to give a dose of medicine that didn't make it down. (The book takes place in the mountains of...NC, I think, or TN.)
Sigodlin is a regional expression. Antigodlin is its equivalent in the South and West.
Origin and Etymology of antigodlin according to Merriam-Webster:
anti- + -godlin, -goglin, probably variants of goggling, present participle of “goggle” (in the now archaic sense “look obliquely, (of the eyes) take an oblique position”)