Cross Creek Speak: A Glossary of Florida Vocabulary

Allamanda: Any of the several tropical American evergreen shrubs of the genus Allamanda, grown in warm regions for their showy yellow or purple trumpet-shaped flowers.

Biggety: A southern expression meaning conceited or self-important.

Chitlings: The small intestines of pigs, especially when cooked and eaten as food.

Collards: The leaves of kale (the edible plant Brassica oleracea in the mustard family) used as a vegetable. They are also called collard greens.

Cornbread, cornpone, and hoecake: Types of bread made from cornmeal. In general, cornbread refers to any bread made from cornmeal, but Cross Creek's inhabitants restrict this usage to the most common form of cornmeal bread, which they also simply call bread. To them, cornpone means cornmeal bread made without milk or eggs, usually shaped into a flat cake, and baked or fried on a griddle; it is also called corn pone, pone, or light bread. Hoecake is a thin, usually unleavened, cake of cornmeal, water, and salt, originally baked on the blade of a hoe over an open fire. In the chapter, "Our Daily Bread," Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings further distinguishes between cornbread, cornpone, and hoecake. In all cases, prescribed cornmeal color, batter consistency, cake size, and cooking methods vary from region to region.

Cracker: (1) A nickname, often used disparagingly today, that designates a poor white person in some parts of the southern United States. Associations include terms, such as "rustic," "countrified," and "backwoods." (2) A Floridian cow hunter who uses whips and dogs to control a cow's movements in thick scrub. The whips' sharp cracks may account for the term.

Dutch oven: (1) A large, heavy pot or kettle, usually of cast iron, with a tight lid, used for slow cooking. (2) A metal utensil open on one side and equipped with shelves, placed before an open fire for baking or roasting food.

Hammock: A tract of forested land that rises above an adjacent marsh. It is also called hamaca (in Spanish).

Hush puppies: Small, round cakes of cornmeal fried in deep fat. The name originated from the practice of feeding the cakes to dogs, which would then be quiet as people ate.

Hyacinth: A bulbous, funnel-shaped plant (Hyacinthus orientalis), having narrow leaves and variously colored, usually fragrant, flowers. The hyacinth is fabled to have sprung from the blood of Hyacinthus, a beautiful Laconian youth who was accidentally slain by his love, Apollo. It is also called jacinth.

Palmetto: A name given to palms of several genera and species growing in the West Indies and the southern United States. In the United States, the name especially applies to the Sabal Palmetto, the cabbage tree of Florida and the Carolinas.

Passion vine: Any of the various chiefly tropical American vines bearing edible fruit. It is also called passionflower vine.

Pokeweed: A tall North American plant (Phytolacca americana), having small white flowers, drooping clusters of blackish-red berries, and a poisonous root. It is also called poke, pokeberry, or pokeroot.

Pound Party: An open house to which everyone invited brings a pound or more of food, such as sugar, flour, other baking ingredients, seasonings, fresh fruits or vegetables, or canned goods.

Primitive Baptists: Members of the Primitive sect of the Baptist Church. These Baptists differ from others by practicing foot washing as an ordinance. In most cases, they embrace Calvinism, which is a more Protestant than Baptist doctrine. They are also called Foot-washing or Hardshell Baptists.

Sandspur: Any of the several grasses of the genus Cenchrus, especially C. tribuloides, of the eastern United States and tropical America, having spiny burlike envelopes that surround several one-grained spikelets.

Scrub: (1) A unique plant community dominated by woody shrubs and herbaceous perennials that occurs in small, scattered patches. (2) Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand.

Varmint: (1) Any wild animal considered undesirable or unprofitable. The term ranges from annoying or messy creatures, such as the skunk or raccoon, to dangerous predators, such as the cougar or bear. However, it does not include animals, such as the cow or hog, which act as sources of food and income. (2) An irritating or obnoxious person.

The War for Freedom: The American Civil War. It is also called The War of Northern Aggression (by United States Southerners) or The War Between the States.

Whippoorwill: The insect-eating, nocturnal North American bird Caprimulgus vociferus of the goatsucker family. It has spotted brown feathers that blend with the woodlands.

White bacon: A layer of fat, often with some streaks of lean, which is cut from a pig's belly and sides. It is so named because it must be blanched to extract excess salt before being used. It is also called meat (by Cross Creek's inhabitants) or salt pork.

Zinnia: Any of the various plants of the genus Zinnia, native to tropical America, especially Z. elegans, widely cultivated for its showy, rayed, variously colored flower heads. It is also called old maid or old maid flower.

--Alan LaCerra