{"id":87869,"date":"2015-07-16T15:38:04","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T19:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=87869"},"modified":"2015-07-16T17:09:54","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T21:09:54","slug":"rout-the-kimmie-in-the-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/16\/rout-the-kimmie-in-the-boat\/","title":{"rendered":"Rout the Kimmie in the Boat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>A glossary of Boontling.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_87875\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/william-wallach-duff-home-instrimental-in-boontling.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-87875\" class=\"wp-image-87875\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/william-wallach-duff-home-instrimental-in-boontling.jpg\" alt=\"William-Wallach-Duff-Home-instrimental-in-boontling\" width=\"600\" height=\"344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/william-wallach-duff-home-instrimental-in-boontling.jpg 2839w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/william-wallach-duff-home-instrimental-in-boontling-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/william-wallach-duff-home-instrimental-in-boontling-1024x586.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-87875\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The William Wallach Duff home, whose residents, per local lore, were instrumental in developing Boontling.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Between 1880 and 1920, the residents of a relatively isolated Northern California town called Boonville spoke a secret language. Boontling, as the locals called it, was an elaborate jargon developed either by the men working the hop fields who wished to keep their conversations private, or by women who wanted to gossip unobtrusively about a young lady who had found herself <em>kaishbook <\/em>(pregnant). Whatever its origins, the language soon spread through the small community, who\u00a0used it to confuse outsiders. The lexicon included phonologically changed words borrowed from regional Appalachian dialect, Spanish, and the local Pomo Indian language; it later expanded to include invented figures of speech, nouns turned into verbs, onomatopoeia, and other neologisms.<\/p>\n<p>In 1971, Charles C. Adams, who was widely recognized as an authority on the dialect, published <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Boontling-American-Lingo-With-Dictionary\/dp\/0939665050\"><em>Boontling: An American Lingo<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em>a linguistic and historical study on the slang, which came complete with a dictionary. Here are a few of our favorites: <!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>almittey<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A burp, esp. a loud one; one who burps loudly. {This was the name of a local woman who distinguished herself for her habitual noisy belching.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>apple-head<\/strong>: <em>n. <\/em>A girl, esp. one\u2019s girl friend. {This is rooted in an incident in which someone used the term derisively to refers to a Boonter\u2019s girl friend who allegedly had a noticeably small head.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>backdated chuck<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A backward, ill-informed person\u2014naive and stupid {A combination of <em>backdated <\/em>(outmoded, behind-the-times) and <em>chuck<\/em> (a dull person).}\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>bahl<\/strong>: <em>mod<\/em>. Good; of excellent quality. One of the most commonly used Boontling words. {An old Boonter of Scotch ancestry is said to have made a judgment of high quality in any product by saying, \u201cThat\u2019s<em> bahl<\/em>.\u201d Some informants say the base is \u201cball\u201d (though all agree the pronunciation was, and should be the \u201cbroad a\u201d {ah}) and that the allusion was to Ball Band shoes originally}<\/p>\n<p><strong>barl<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To shoot a gun. Also occurs as <em>keebarl.<\/em> {Informants insist that this is imitative of the sound of a rifle report.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>barney<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To embrace or hug; to kiss; to \u201csmooch.\u201d {An affectionate Boonter named Barney addressed women he knew with such names as \u201cdarling\u2018\u201d and often kissed them in greeting them and in saying goodbye.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>bat<\/strong>:<em> v<\/em>. To masturbate. {Possibly back formation from <em>batter<\/em> (bachelor), based on an assumption about males living in solitude.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>beljeek<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A rabbit; esp. a black-tailed jack rabbit. {Phonemic reshaping (including coalescence) of a combination of <em>Belgian<\/em> (Belgian hare) and <em>jack<\/em> (jack rabbit).}<\/p>\n<p><strong>blooch<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To chatter aimlessly. {Phonemic reshaping of <em>blue jay<\/em>, probably through intermediate form <em>blooje<\/em>.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>boo<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. Potato. {Borrowed from Pomo Indian <em>bu<\/em>.} Example: The dehigged kimmie gormed boos \u2019n weel bomtooks: The poor man ate potatoes and wild grapes<\/p>\n<p><strong>breggo<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A sheep. {Borrowed from Spanish <em>borrego<\/em>, which specifically refers to a yearling lamb, one not two years old.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>briney<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. The ocean; the coastal area.<\/p>\n<p><strong>briney glimmer<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A lighthouse on the coast. {Combination of <em>briney<\/em> (ocean, coast) and <em>glimmer<\/em> (lantern).}<\/p>\n<p><strong>buckey walter<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A pay telephone {Combination of <em>buckey <\/em>(nickel) and \u201cWalter.\u201d A man named Walter Levi owned the first phone in the valley; as a result <em>walter levi<\/em> is a telephone. Early pay phone required only a nickel.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>burlap<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To have sexual intercourse; to engage another in intercourse. {Anecdotal. A young Boonter is said to have surprised a store clerk having intercourse with a girl lying on a bale of burlap bags in the storeroom. He emerged exclaiming to his companions, \u201cThey\u2019re\u00a0<em>burlapin\u2019<\/em> in there.\u201d}<\/p>\n<p><strong>charl<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To milk a cow. {Probably imitative of the sound of a jet of milk from a hand-milked cow striking the bottom of an empty or nearly empty bucket. Perhaps related to dialectal <em>char<\/em> \u201cchore.\u201d}<\/p>\n<p><strong>chimpmunk<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To hoard; to store up. {Allusion to the habit of the rodent named to store food for winter.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>cock<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>.<em>t<\/em>. To become angry. {Some informants relate this to the cocking of a gun and to the belligerent behavior of male fowl. Probably related to the dialectal verb meaning \u201cto fight, wrangle, quarrel.\u201d}<\/p>\n<p><strong>cock a fister on<\/strong>.:\u00a0<em>v<\/em>. To get into a fight; to start a fight. {Unusual combination of merged verb <em>cock on<\/em> (see <em>cock<\/em>) and <em>fister<\/em> (a fist-fight).}<\/p>\n<p><strong>deeblin\u2019-\u2019n-deetlin\u2019<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A work session in which lambs are castrated and have their tail docked {Combination of sound-alike phonemically reshaped line terms for <em>de-balling<\/em> and <em>de-tailing<\/em>.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>deek<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To look; to examine (esp. with <em>on<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p><strong>doolsey<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. Candy; sweets; sugar. {Borrowed from Spanish <em>dulce<\/em>, perhaps indirectly through Pomo Indian.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>doolsey boo<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. Sweet potato {Combination of <em>doolsey<\/em> (sweet) and <em>boo<\/em> (potato) See both components.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>ear-settin\u2019<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A scolding; a reprimand. {An adaption of the expression \u201cto set an ear,\u201d the lingo verb for \u201cscold.\u201d It is an allusion to the method of punishing sheep dogs for misconduct by twisting their ears. The transference to verbal assault on the ears is an interesting figurative shift.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>eeble<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>.<em>t<\/em>. To scrutinize; to look over thoroughly; to look at. {Functional shift of the noun <em>eeble<\/em>, like the conversion of English <em>eyeball<\/em>.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>fence-jumpin\u2019<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. Adultery; acts of marital infidelity. {Allusion to one\u2019s leaving his own pasture to graze somewhere else.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>fratty shams<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. Grapevines. {Combination of <em>fratty<\/em> (wine) and <em>shams<\/em> (brush).}<\/p>\n<p><strong>ganno<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. An apple of any variety; specially a small red apple of inferior overall quality, but suitable for drying. {Said to be Spanish, but this has not been verified. Professional pomologists say strain names are almost impossible to trace.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>golden eagles<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. Women\u2019s garments, esp. panties {Golden Eagle was a popular brand of flour; the sacks were often used for making clothing, esp. underclothing. Other brand-name sacks were used, too.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>gorm<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To eat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>hair buryin\u2019<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A shivaree. {An allusion to the pubic area and the sexual aspects of the wedding night.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>harp<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To talk; esp. to talk Boontling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>heefus<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. and <em>mod<\/em>. A person who does not act responsibly; characterized by incompetence. {Phonemically reshaped <em>half-ass<\/em>, related as a modifier to <em>half-assed<\/em>.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>kaishbook<\/strong>: <em>mod<\/em>. Pregnant. {Pomo Indian.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>kilockety<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To travel by train. {Imitative of the sounds of metal wheels on rails.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>kiloppety<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To travel by horse-drawn vehicle or on horseback. {Imitative of the sound of shod hooves on a roadway.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>kimmie; kimmey<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A man; a male visitor. {Combination of the phonemically altered form of <em>come<\/em> and noun suffix-y. Local informants suggest that the base word was noun <em>come-along<\/em>\u2014a term for any man passing a home of homestead. The probable base is Scotch <em>kimmer<\/em>, a form of <em>comer<\/em>.} This is one of the most common lingo words.<\/p>\n<p><strong>mate gormin\u2019<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. The practice of oral-genital contacts, either <em>cunnilingus<\/em> or\u00a0<em>fellatio<\/em>. {Combination of <em>mate<\/em> (pudendum) and <em>gormin\u2019<\/em> (eating).}<\/p>\n<p><strong>moldunes<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. Female breasts, esp. very large. {One local <em>moldune<\/em> (large woman) had noteworthy mammary development.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>rookyto<\/strong>: <em>n<\/em>. A California valley quail. {Imitative of one of the calls made by this bird.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>rout the kimmie in the boat<\/strong>: An expression meaning to get a female pregnant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>squirrel-ribby<\/strong>: <em>mod<\/em>. Of or pertaining to the erect phallus. {Analogy between veins on referent and rib ridges on a squirrel\u2019s body.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>taigey<\/strong>: <em>mod<\/em>. Manic; severally emotionally disturbed. {A man nicknamed Taig (short for <em>tiger<\/em>) had to be committed because he became wildly irrational.}<\/p>\n<p><strong>wess<\/strong>: <em>v<\/em>. To fib; to exaggerate. {A Boonter named Wes often\u00a0\u201cstretched\u201d the truth, esp. in telling stories.}<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Jeffery Gleaves is digital manager of <\/em>The Paris Review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A glossary of Boontling. Between 1880 and 1920, the residents of a relatively isolated Northern California town called Boonville spoke a secret language. Boontling, as the locals called it, was an elaborate jargon developed either by the men working the hop fields who wished to keep their conversations private, or by women who wanted to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":784,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[684],"tags":[18815,18811,775,18812,18814,12983,3010,18813,14550,2393],"class_list":["post-87869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-language","tag-boontling","tag-boonville","tag-california","tag-charles-c-adams","tag-glossary","tag-jargon","tag-lexicon","tag-lingo","tag-twentieth-century","tag-words"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Glossary of Boontling, the Strange Jargon of Boonvile, CA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Welcome to a world where to \u201crout the kimmie in the boat\u201d means to get a woman pregnant.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/16\/rout-the-kimmie-in-the-boat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rout the Kimmie in the Boat by Jeffery Gleaves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"July 16, 2015 \u2013 A glossary of Boontling.Between 1880 and 1920, the residents of a relatively isolated Northern California town called Boonville spoke a secret language.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/16\/rout-the-kimmie-in-the-boat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-16T19:38:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-16T21:09:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/william-wallach-duff-home-instrimental-in-boontling.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2839\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1626\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffery Gleaves\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JefferyNGleaves\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffery Gleaves\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/16\/rout-the-kimmie-in-the-boat\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/16\/rout-the-kimmie-in-the-boat\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeffery Gleaves\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/937e87c6171f204f32ae30db2dbe02ca\"},\"headline\":\"Rout the Kimmie in the Boat\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-16T19:38:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-16T21:09:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/16\/rout-the-kimmie-in-the-boat\/\"},\"wordCount\":1259,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/16\/rout-the-kimmie-in-the-boat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/william-wallach-duff-home-instrimental-in-boontling.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"boontling\",\"Boonville\",\"California\",\"Charles C. 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