Kentucky slang: regional words, sayings, and how locals talk.
This page collects regional vocabulary from Kentucky: slang you'll hear in conversation, sayings that travel through families, and pronunciations that mark a person as a local. Pick a city to narrow the list, or keep "All cities" to see the full Kentucky picture.
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Over there (often pointing).
Crooked, askew, sideways.
A considerable amount; quite a bit.
Kentucky speaks an Upland South dialect, with eastern Kentucky firmly in Appalachia and the rest in the South Midland. You will hear "y'all", "yonder", "might could", and "fixin' to", plus the mountain "holler" for a valley. The pop-versus-coke line runs through the state. A knit winter cap is a "toboggan", to "carry" someone is to give them a ride, and locals say Louisville as "LOO-uh-vul". Bourbon, horses, and basketball each bring their own vocabulary to Kentucky English.
Kentucky slang reflects its Upland South and Appalachian roots: "y'all", "yonder", "might could", "holler" (a small valley), "toboggan" (a knit cap), and "carry" meaning to give someone a ride. Eastern Kentucky shares Appalachian vocabulary.
In Kentucky and much of the South, a "toboggan" is a knit winter hat — what others call a beanie or stocking cap — not the sled the word means elsewhere.
Kentuckians typically say "LOO-uh-vul" — softened and clipped — rather than the spelled-out "Louie-ville" that outsiders often use.
