How To Talk Like a South Dakotian By Alice Laird Rapport

The next time you head across the crick to yer old stompin' grounds, lookin' for a hot dish and some pop fer supper, stop spittin' seeds, go to the biffy, warsh yer hands, say yer grace, fill yer white plate with white bread (slathered with salad dressing, never mayo), white potatoes, white cauliflower, and a white chicken breast — and don't call it dinner if yer at the neighbors who live kitty corner cuz they're feathers are pertnear ruffled already. 

If you go hog wild and bust up the place, leave a hunnert on the couch on yer way back to yer neck o' the woods. Ya sher, you betcha, that's the god's honest truth.

By Alice Laird Rapport

Not long after I started working in Washington, D.C., I announced to my coworkers that I was going to the snack bar for a "pop." 

Well, that got me several questioning looks. So, that was the start of my learning to speak in East coast terms, albeit begrudgingly. I found that sometimes it's the words themselves and sometimes it's the pronunciation. And, sometimes it's a phrase or expression.

Carole Tonigan and I have been having fun compiling the following examples of some of the very local-Aberdeen words and expressions that we all grew up saying.

Please add to our list in the comments section and please keep talking the South Dakota way, wherever you may be.

Our Words

Pop, not soda

Filling station, not gas station

Hot dish, not casserole

Kitty corner, not catty corner

Supper, not dinner? When is supper, anyway?

You betcha, just because we say it — and sometimes after, Yah, shur.
Okey-dokey, not just okay

Drouth, not drought

Pertnear, not pretty near

Couch, not sofa

Biffy (where did this come from?), rather than restroom

Yeah and/or ya--another just because we say it

Our Pronunciations

Creek, pronounced "crick"

Roof and root, we say them with a "short u," not a "long u"

For, sounds like fer, as in, We bought that bike fer about a hunnert bucks.
Hundred, pronounced hunnert

Wash, usually has an "r", as in warsh

Coyote, any USD person knows the e on the end is silent

Our Expressions
My old stomping grounds

Our neck of the woods

In a jiffy

If I had my druthers

Slow as molasses in January

Knee high to a grasshopper

Ruffle your feathers

Come with

Hog wild

Spittin' seeds, as in sunflower seeds

Another 50th Reunion! By Alice Laird Rapport

1966 was a great year to graduate from Aberdeen’s Central High School and it was a great year for the Aberdeen Pheasant's Major League Baseball affiliate, the Baltimore Orioles.  In 1966, the Orioles won baseball’s World Series in a stunning upset over Sandy Koufax’s Los Angeles' Dodgers.  In that championship series, several former Pheasant players made important contributions.

Growing up in Aberdeen, especially during our high school years, left many of our Class of '66 with captured memories, including spending Summer evenings at the former Pheasants’ Municipal Ball Park.  We saw some good baseball as well as having fun being with our friends.  As players moved up through the Orioles farm system, we followed their progress and felt connected when they made the majors.

Recently, on July 8, 2016, prior to a home game, the Orioles honored members of their 1966 championship team by celebrating the 50^th anniversary of that 1966 World Series Victory.  How lucky was I to attend another 50^th reunion one month following the 50th reunion of our Class of '66?

1964 Northern League Champions - Aberdeen Pheasants

There were seven former Pheasant players on the 1966 Oriole team, although only two were at the anniversary game, Jim Palmer and Eddie Watt.  Both players were star pitchers of the 1964 Northern League Champion Pheasants.  Palmer starred for the Orioles over 16 years and was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1990.  Eddie Watt was the star pitcher for the ’64 Pheasants with a 14-1 win-loss record and spent 10 years in the majors.  The remaining former Pheasants on the 1966 Oriole team included Steve Barber, Mark Belanger, Frank Bertaina, Andy Etchebarren and Tom Phoebus.

Jim Palmer's 1966 Rookie Card

Eddie Watt's 1966 Rookie Card

Enjoy the pictures of these memorable Pheasants, and the 50th anniversary of their World Series championship.  Please share your baseball memories, 
and please don't forget..Let's Go O's

 

The CHS Class of '66 Honors Alice and Dennis Disbrow for Creating a Reunion Culture

Class of '66 Honors Alice & Diz

 At its’ 50^th Reunion, Aberdeen CHS Class of ’66 recognized Alice and Dennis Disbrow for their long-standing contribution in creating and keeping our class culture alive.  Carole Tonigan and Alice Laird Rapport presented Alice and Diz with a special plaque acknowledging the Class of ’66 appreciations for being The Glue and The Heart in sustaining our class unity since graduation.  We can only imagine the effort required, beginning 40 years ago, in organizing and coordinating a class reunion, using paper mailings and telephone callings to connect and respond to all the classmates.  Their ground work was essential in positioning us in our current station where we can now use a variety of digital tools found on the Internet's global network.  Even though much of this collaborating has passed onto the current committee, Alice and Diz will always remain our reunion “Founding Parents.”