“Don’t be such a dingbatter,” my grandmother used to say to my sisters and me. Another of her favorites was: “go to the store that’s katty-whompus from your house and get yourselves some penny candy.” We knew what she meant. We grew up with these words. A dingbatter was a silly or foolish person. Katty-whompus meant across the street diagonally. But they weren’t words commonly used by our friends, or anyone else we knew, for that matter. So imagine my surprise when I wandered into the Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum and found those exact same words on an educational display!

Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum. Photo courtesy of www.ncbeaches.com.

Ocracoke Island, an isolated 16-mile long strip of sand that is home to only 800 residents, is perhaps the most fascinating destination on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Historically a fishing and whaling village, this tiny island was so remote and isolated from the rest of civilization that native O’Cockers developed a unique manner of speaking.

The isolation of the island began changing a number of years ago when the State instituted a ferry service. Soon, tourists were flocking to Ocracoke and the old way of life began to disappear. Today there are only a few remaining O’Cockers who speak in the old brogue, and most of them refuse to speak to tourists. Indeed, when I lived on the Outer Banks, I frequently spent weekends on Ocracoke and often encountered O’Cockers who pretended to be deaf rather than speak to you. Fortunately, the O’Cocker language will be forever preserved through the efforts of the Ocracoke Museum. Continue reading →

You might also like: