Ferhoodled

Me and my dolly felt ferhoodled, I think.

What? You don’t know what that means? Well, it means confused or mixed up. Ferhoodled (the “hoodle” part rhymes with noodle) is Pennsylvania Dutch. I heard it when I was growing up in SW Pennsylvania.

Today I was thinking about the different states where my husband and I have lived and the different words and accents of each area. If you’ve ever been to SW Pennsylvania, you know there are some things we say differently. Like we “red” up the house when we clean it up. Or we “warsh” clothes - you know, “wash” clothes. And there’s the plural for “you,” which is “yous” or “younses,” depending on who you talk to.

In New York state, where we lived for five years, we made casseroles for potluck dinners. Imagine my surprise when we moved to Minnesota and someone asked me to bring a “hot dish” to a potluck. My first thought was, “Why on earth do you want a hot dish? Shouldn’t there be something in it?” Now I confuse my relatives in Pennsylvania when I say I made a hot dish for a potluck.

And then there’s the Minnesota expression, “Uff da!” I can still remember the first time I heard that come out of the mouth of a little neighbor girl. So I asked for the meaning, and she told me that it’s like saying, “Oh my goodness!”

After 35 years of living in Minnesota, I’ve lost much of my Pennsylvania accent. I now wash clothes and clean up the house instead of redding it up. I only say you, no matter if it’s singular or plural.

But my brother gets a kick out of it when I say “Minnesooooota.” I didn’t even think I had an accent! Uff da! Guess I’m just ferhoodled, not?