What Do We Mean by 'Directly' and 'Needs Washed'?

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This episode is about a word and a phrase that are still commonly used in the Appalachian region. First, I'll offer a little refresher on what makes up a dialect and how these words fit in. We'll talk about "directly" as in "I'll be there directly" and the phrase needs + a participle (like washed.) Who uses them and where? What's the history behind them? And how should teachers treat words and phrases like this if they appear in their students' writing?

Sources for this episode: The Yale Grammatical Diversity Project, the Dictionary of American Regional English, and Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community (Eds. Clark and Hayward, 2014).

Ivy Attic Co
Jewelry from coal, river glass, and discarded books handcrafted in the central Appalachian Mountains

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Steam Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain