Daddy had a saying, I always thought he made up. He’d say, “that’s down right larrapin!” Larrapin, what’s that? I wasn’t exactly sure but I knew it meant something good, really really good. Is it possible that larrapin is a regional term? Had anyone else ever heard of it? What language might it have derived from? Over the years I’ve discovered that there are actually other instances of the use of such a term. Like the billboard in Illinois proudly proclaiming Larrapin good food. Yes, finally proof of Larrapin’s existence in the real world. But, where did it come from, what was it’s origin. I had to know.
First, I had to get all the different spellings and start looking. So here’s what I found: larrapin, larruping, larapin, laraping,larruping, larrupin, larrup, and larpen.
The verb larrup, as it's usually spelled, is a fairly common regionalism. The meaning of the base form is 'to strike; thrash', and is in use across the country. While this sense is found primarily in rural language, it can't be placed in any specific part of the country.
The verbal adjective larruping 'extremely; exceptionally', is usually found in the construction larruping good. This is usually used in reference to food, so "larruping" by itself often means 'delicious'. The form tad-larruping is also seen. According to the records of the Dictionary of American Regional English, this culinary sense of "larruping" is found chiefly in the West Midlands (which includes Akansas and and most of Illinois), Texas, and Oklahoma. Daddy did have a grandmother from Arkansas.
Larrup is first found in the United States in the early nineteenth century. Should be also be noted that larrapin is a Mid Western & Southern term commonly used to describe tasty po' folk foods, not drink.
Its etymology is uncertain, although it may come from a Dutch word larpen, which means 'to thresh'.
(Adjective) Larapin is an Adjective, describing a noun...peach cobbler, ribs, gravey & biscuits. Over the top in delectable flavor, seasoning, and texture., Superior taste in the food, sauce, drink, or dessert.. A Memorable meal. Usage: That sausage gravey made those biscuts larrapin. The vanilla icecream was larrapin on the peach cobbler.
Not a verb, a verb shows action.Well, unless by my difinition and you use it like this “Pass me some more of 'dat larapin gravey n' biscuits.” There would definitely be some action verbage in that! tee hee!
50 comments:
My dad, who was from Tennessee, circa 1900, said larrapin whenever something tasted good. Also heard it on Gunsmoke once when Festus Haggen says larrapin about victuals served him at a stage coach station. "Mmm! Smells larrapin," he says.
My Grandfather is from Eastern Kentucky and uses this word to describe really good food. I love it! I also heard it on a Andy Griffith episode once.
In my family, which is Texas- Okla by way of Mississippi and Tennessee, Larrapin is a common word associated with lip-smacking, tummy rubbing good!
My step-father, also from Tennessee, used this term as well but I assume he got it from Gunsmoke.
I used larrapin in my novel "For the Heart's Treasure." My male protagonist Jack is from Tennessee and uses the word a lot. You might want to read my novel, available at amazon.com as print and Kindle versions, or at smashwords.com in a variety of e-platforms. It's free at smashwords, hint, hint, hint.
The way I've always heard it used was when something crappy happens they say"That's just larrapin'." My grandma said it a lot and was born in arkansas and lived there until she was about 18. It's like saying that's just great. At least that's what she said.
This is all making me laugh out loud! Our Grandma, who just passed, used the word larapin often. She usually used it to describe someone else's dessert at Bridge Club. She was born and raised in Kansas during the Great Depression. The Grandkids used to chide her for her use of the word, as no dictionary could confirm that it was actually a word. She is laughing down from heaven. "See -- told you!" Thanks!
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for doing the research on this. My brother and I thought OUR dad made it up. I had already decided to include the word in a story set in southern Illinois (where he was from) and now I'm feeling really smug because I know it is the perfect word for the character.
I grew up with my father saying, "that's larraping good", or, "it's not just good, it's larraping good" -- both used always in the context of food. Obviously the context is that larraping means "really" or "exceedingly" or "incredibly", or something similar. When i looked it up, there's an old English meaning of larraping that means, "a severe beating". So then, the use of it as an adjective to mean something really good is exactly the same as other words that literally mean something bad or awful, such as "wicked" (used in the northeast), or "bad, or "sick" -- used as slang, these all mean something really good. So the use of larraping is right up that same alley. By the way, my dad grew up in southern missouri, very close to arkansas, and he used all kinds of arcane hillbilly sayings that i loved and tried to remember so that i could say them too.
My grandmother used larrapin' to indicate a whipping was possible. "You want a larrapin'?" she'd ask me. She was from Illinois on the same line as Vincennes, IN. The old English term could survive in the hoots and hollers of rural America.
Yes, use of larrapin' to reference a whipping is right up the alley with the old dutch meaning (to thresh (wheat) which uses a whipping or slapping or beating action) or old english meaning of severe beating. Obviously it has been "americanized" into slang to actually mean some thing really good, as have other words like "bad", "wicked", "sick", and "dope". When my hillbilly father was warning us that a spanking may be coming, he'd say "I'm gonna get in yer meat-house". Ha ha, as kids we didn't know what the hell that meant , except that it meant a "good" spankin', but it also sounded scary too.
my mom was from Yorkshire and she used the word a lot to mean good food. She had a saying that I can't remember about the meal being larrapin and she was now ramsified . . .
I just heard it on the rifleman the sheriff told Lucas his pa gave him a larrapin for stealing apples. That's why I googled it.
Heard it used on the Beverly Hollbillies
My father was from Dunmore WVA, and that's where I heard the expression larrapin...it's used by the folk in that area.
I'm 61, from KS. I grew up hearing and using this, in the context of food, meaning something was really good. My mom was from MO, my dad KS. We're all college graduates; just appreciate good colloquialisms. I remember hearing it on the Beverly Hillbillies (one of the all time greatest shows for its uniqueness).
thanks for the help i'm glad i could decipher my midwestern great aunts facebook comment..Lol
My dad used the term a lot — central Florida. Just saw that a local Florida resident has used the word to brand his BBQ rub— its Larrapin good, i hear.
I'm from OK and have relatives in AR, KS, and TX. We all know that if something is "larapin" it both tasted amazingly delicious and really hit the spot! Btw, biscuits and gravy are usually always larapin...and usually referred to in that order (biscuits first). Reading it as "gravey and biscuits" made me think you have perhaps been woefully deprived in the biscuit and gravy department! Lol! I agree larapin is a rather backwoods, pioneer term, but I love to pull it out every now and then...especially if there are youngsters around who haven't had the privilege of meeting Festus, Uncle Jed, or Jethro!
Yes, it is critically important that this word be kept in circulation and thus alive!!
I've heard this a few times here in Oklahoma & just heard it on TV in an episode of "Twilight Zone" 1962 entitled: "Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" he used it to describe his mothers home cooked meal
Had to get on social media & try & find how to spell it, if it is a real word or not & its
meaning
Thank You I've found it!!!
Regards, MIji
PS Did not know it had so many different spellings
Luv this thread..it is delightful...no way this word should die out...we must use this word...we must!!!
Thanks again, Miji
It only has one correct spelling as per the dictionary.
My grandmother used to say something was Larrapin good. Only person I ever heard use that. She was born in Kansas but her dad was from Pennsylvania and I think her mom was from Oklahoma.
My aunt used the word once in a while. It was somehow so delightful to hear her exclaim, "Larripin!" which I interpreted to be an equivalent of "groovy!" from her youth. She was from East Texas, born around 1910.
My Dad -- who was born and raised in rural central Missouri and Southern Illinois -- still uses "larrupin'"... usually to describe something that my Mom cooked. I always thought it was a word that he made up (Dad does that). But I just heard it in use in an episode of the Dukes of Hazzard (spoken by Roscoe regarding lunch. Gotta love Amazon Prime!). I am a professional business writer and a true word geek, so I had to look up the word ... and I found your blog! Thank you for your research and for confirming that it is actually a word, or at least a colloquialism. Dad probably picked up that word use from his father, who was from rural Missouri, of German descent. And Grandma was also a great cook!
HAHAHA... "gravy and biscuits"!!! "You ain't from around here!" LOL. That reverse order just sounds weird. Or does that indicate that the gravy is more important, and the biscuits are just a vehicle to deliver the gravy?!
This is quite an old thread but I am glad it’s still active. I am also a fan of The Twilight Zone and I’m at the moment watching The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank and he just had his first meal after rising from the dead...tells his Ma that was “ a larrupin’ good breakfast.” Rod Serling hinted about the setting of the story being the southernmost part of the Midwest...sounds like the Ozarks maybe. Or maybe he meant Tennessee. Anyway it brought to mind the very first time I EVER heard this word, it was on an ep of Bonanza where Hoss exclaimed in delight over a meal ...and fans of Bonanza remember how Hoss loved to eat... Now, back to the TZ!
In 1965 Gunsmoke episode "Outlaw's Woman", Festus described vittles as larapin while sitting around campfire.
Just had the discussion about this word with our middle daughter (age 21)who “had never heard it.” We use it often, but being southern kids are often not at the same table as the adults at family gatherings, so maybe she hadn’t. She said she hadn’t when our oldest daughter now 25 used it. The next day, so did my brother. Nice to hear others use it too. What about the phrase,”june around.” It also is used by my family, but few even in area near where I was raised have heard it.
My mother-in-law used larrapin to describe especially tasty food. She was born and raised in Central Louisiana and her family lived in Northeast Louisiana coming by way of Alabama and Georgia. My husband used this term last night which caused me to research the origin.
I grew up in the backwoods of the deep southern Ozarks in Missouri. If my memory serves me correctly, there was a television commercial for some particular food whose motto says that it's larrapin' good! mmmmmmmmm But I cannot for the life of me place the product. But many members of our extended family and neighbors reserved the use this word to describe over the top local fare. Granny was the best cook in three counties and I remember Grandad frequently using the phrase, "Babe, that was larrapin' good", and with good cause. Granny could lay down some mighty fine vittles.
Southern for sure. People in the south, know what it means.
I'm a born/bred Kentuckian and I've heard this all my life but didn't know how to spell it. I said it just now after eating dinner. Decided to see if I could find it. Google, youve never failed me yet. Thanks for the research and all the comments. I can almost hear my daddy laughing from Heaven. My friends and family here in California will get a kick outta this. They love my southern colloquialisms.
My dad used the word larrapin to describe food he thought was delicious. We're from east Texas also. He was the only person I heard say that. I say it now to my grandchildren to help keep his memories alive. Love all the comments.
My Dad was from Alabama and Mom was from East Texas. I love these words and grateful you are keeping them alive.
Fetus of gun smoke is where I first herd it
Conversation during lunch:
“Me-"Mom, how does your new knee brace feel?"
Mom-"Pretty good. I love it! I just can't believe how expensive it was...$68! Holy Larapin.."
Me-"um, Mom, you may want to look at that receipt again...."
Mom- "Wha...six hundred and eighty six dollars !?!? #!!%[]*€! ( rest is not fit for print!)
Scratch The Silo off our list of dining options!”
I had always assumed my mother made up that phrase! I’m thinking she didn’t mean anything positive when she said it...She only ever used
it in reference to situations that had an element of shock/surprise/unpleasantness.
Holy larapin (or, larrupin/larrapin) , you learn something new every day!
Larapin, I think, has many uses, depending on where one comes from.
Maybe, but I've never heard it used the way 'Mama Hula' uses it. Larapin = delicious.
Just heard this on The Twilight Zone episode, "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank". Jeff used it to describe his mothers cooking as delicious. I had never heard this word before and had to google it even though I understood its meaning from the context.
Yeah, Festis(sp?) on Gunsmoke said it whenever food was served to him.
nothing to do with gambling. It is a Southern expression of pleasure at something that taste's very good.
From Gloria T.:
I love this thread, the comments brought back happy memories of aunts and uncles using larrapin to describe delicious food. Their parents (my grandparents) came to the Shreveport, La., area by way of Montgomery,Alabama, to southern Arkansas and finally northwest Louisiana. I never heard larrapin used outside of my family,and thought they had coined it! Thanks for all the comments. I enjoy learning about the regional differences in our American English.
May 29, 2022
My dad passed last year and loved pie. We made his favorite on Father's Day and my sister say (just as he would have) "That looks larrupin!" We laughed out loud and it is so good to know that is is actually a word. My dad had lots of funny sayings. Guess they all have roots.
I just saw an episode of Gunsmoke where Festus Haggen used "Larrupin" in reference to food cooked by a Black friend of his named, Jessie, who was a Camp Cook for a Trail Boss named Carpenter. As Jessie is dying from being shot, he's telling Festus about the last Stew that he had just cooked for Festus earlier in the episode, before being shot by a money hungry Hotel Clerk. As Jessie died in Festus' arms, he said to Jessie: "Sounds plumb larrupin!"
The above "Larrupin" reference in Gunsmoke was from Season 18, Episode 22, called "JESSE". It stared Brock Peters as Jesse Dillard and Jim Davis, as Trail Boss Dave Carpenter. As Jesse was dying in Festus' arms, he told Festus: "You old grubworm you, you never got to taste my best.....my Stew with Pigs Feet, Hogs Ears, Prunes, Skull Cakes."
Then, as Jesse dies, Festus finishes it with, "Goat Meat.... Sounds plumb larrupin!"
My mom (who was born in Kentucky in 1925) told me that her older brother made up that word! I just heard it spoken in a Twilight Zone episode "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank."
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