Dakota Diction
In the little town where I grew up,
instead of “yes,” we all said, “Yup!”
When we removed a soda top,
what we drank was called a “pop.”
When we drove off the road a bit,
we went into the “barrow pit.”
The mud was “gumbo”–rich and thick––
and every creek was called a “crick.”
Breakfast was never labeled brunch,
and “dinner” was what we called lunch.
Therefore, at night, our picker-upper
was never dinner. It was “supper.”
Highway patrolmen were all “cops,”
and their cars were “cherry tops.”
On movie nights, we saw the “show”
for just ten cents–which we called “dough.”
We told stray dogs that they should “git,”
and when they scampered off a bit,
the place where they commenced to wander
was what we labeled “over yonder.”
I fear it’s not spectacular,
this prairie states vernacular;
and because our listeners never balked,
we thought it was how all folks talked!
The NaPoWriMo prompt: a poem based in sound. You could use a regional or local phrase from your hometown that you don’t hear elsewhere. (From an earlier posting 3 years ago.)




Wow…liked it a lot…mine too was a call that belongs to my city only…
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Fabulous. What fun! A joy to read out loud
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Isn’t it how all folks talk?!= 🙂 I think the barrow pit and the cherry tops are the only ones I haven’t heard before. Love the idea of cherry tops!
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Rhymes with cops.
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But it makes even more sense than that, with the red lights on top (or is there more to it than that?)!!
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Nope.. that’s all.
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I love all local dialects, especially worked into a delightful poem!
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Very good – made me smile.
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I love dialects and how they can transport you in time. For me, as a non-native speaker, it’s all quite tricky. This is Dakota talking then, good to know. 🙂
My poem is a cento, I’ve learned, a collage of other people’s song lyrics on the subject of green and yellow because these two fight in nature around me right now:
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