Saturday, July 25, 2009

The Fabulous Humor of Kentucky Folklore




In the hilly parts of Kentucky, people often use funny expressions to talk about how hilly and poor the land is. A man might joke that his farm is "so steep I can look down the chimly and see what my old lady's fixin' fur supper." Another farmer might say, "My land's so hilly I'm askeered a fallin' out-a my field and breakin' my neck." Hill farmers joke that "land's so pore it wouldn't raise a fight" or "so pore a rabbit's gotta carry his dinner when he goes acrosst it."

Many Kentuckians from rural areas are tall and skinny, so there are a number of skinny comparison jokes. "I'm so skinny I can take shelter under a clothesline when it rains and not get wet." Or even better, "I'm so skinny I just turn sideways to hide from my wife."

An old Kentucky funeral custom is to put coins on the dead person's eyes. This custom is thousands of years old. Back then people believed that the dead person's soul had to cross a river. The money was to pay for the ferry ride to the other side.

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