Bobbasheely

A few years ago as I began perusing the first volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE–for short) 1985, I fell in love with the word “bobbasheely” meaning “a close friend.”  Just saying the word conjures up the comfort and easy rhythm between good friends.  Don’t get me wrong, I love words, but I don’t ordinarily spend my spare time flipping through the pages of dictionaries, but the DARE is different.  I was first introduced to DARE when I took a lexicography course with Audrey Duckert at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in the 1980s; she was helping to edit both the DARE and the OED.  I was fascinated by the story of dictionary field workers riding through the country in their “Word Wagons” collecting regional words and definitions.  It wasn’t until a few years ago, however, that DARE and all it’s magic wove its way into my daily life as it found itself a true character in the middle grade novel I was writing, Sweet Blueberry Pie!  Since then I’ve become an avid fan of their website where I can read about the fascinating stories behind the making of a 5 volume dictionary.  I especially enjoy reading their newsletter which is where I discovered that Joan Houston Hall’s favorite word is also bobbasheely!  Joan is the current editor of DARE (following in the notorious footsteps of the original editor Frederic G. Cassidy), and we’ve been in email contact a few times over the past few months, as she helps me find just the right word for my book and sharpen a few of the details about the making of the dictionary.  She’s been a true bobbasheely!                                            

Where did they find the word “bobbasheely”?  You can read about the story those at DARE took in discovering the definition and origin of the word in Joan’s words in the DARE 2004 Winter Newsletter.  In a nutshell, when people were asked for “expressions to say that people are very friendly toward each other” they discovered the word “bobbasheely” in several states: Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.  In further research, they discovered the word in Faulkner’s The Reivers.  Finally, digging deeply, they found what they determined to be the true origin of the word in the Choctaw culture growing out of the word itibapishili meaning “my brother with whom I was suckled.”  They also discovered that the word was used as a verb in some regions, meaning: to sashay or saunter.  Love that!  Ah, what a fascinating world, the world of words.

Feeling adventurous.  Try a quiz on words from DARE’s first three volumes.  Match up the terms in the two columns.

Click here to see the answers.  And check out the entries in the actual volumes.  Many of these terms have additional senses.