Back in April, I wrote a Back of the Book essay titled “North Idaho nomenclature” that explored the wild and wooly sayings we often hear in our neck of the woods.
After pontificating at length about such terms as “half rack” and “whipping shitties,” I asked locals and old-timers to weigh in with some of their own witticisms. As is usually the case, our readers did not disappoint.
Rick Price wrote to include a bit he worked up years ago while teaching Idaho history to fourth-graders.
“Boise is the seat of Ada County not Boise County,” Price wrote. “The county seat of Boise County is Idaho City, which shouldn’t be confused with Idaho County, Idaho Falls, Idaho Springs (which is in Colorado) or Idaho.
The Westmond schoolhouse, where the author was raised. Photo by Ben Olson
“It’s also important to know that while the county seat of Lewis County is Nezperce, the county seat of Nez Perce (two words) County is Lewiston,” he continued. “Also, while Jerome, Payette, Twin Falls and Gooding all have the same name for both their county and county seat, Shoshone is the county seat of Lincoln County, not Shoshone, and Bonners Ferry is the County seat of Boundary County, not Bonner.
“And while Lemhi is in Lemhi County, and Franklin is in Franklin County, Kootenai is not in Kootenai County and Teton is not in Teton County, though Tetonia is,” Price wrote. “Lastly, besides being in Europe, you can find Paris in southeast Idaho and Moscow in north-central Idaho. Oh yeah, and there are no mountains near Mountain Home.”
Reader columnist Brenden Bobby also shared some of his own local colloquialisms.
“My grandfather specifically used to take me to Harold’s to get JoJos,” Bobby wrote. “Every time I’ve traveled and had a hankerin’ for some JoJos, I have to clarify ‘potato wedges’ because nobody outside of here knows what a JoJo is.”
Bobby continued: “I use ‘hexadecimal transjiggamarig’ but I think that is a uniquely Brenden Bobby thing,” he wrote. “It’s really fun to say, and if you say it with full confidence in the right context, everyone will believe you. ‘What’s that hanging off the bottom of your car?’ ‘Oh, that’s the hexadecimal transjiggamarig.’ ‘Oh, OK.’”
Our very own Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey — formerly a reporter with the Reader and now serving as editor emeritus and our official bookkeeper — shared a few insights into how her family refers to neighboring villages.
Growing up in Hope, Kiebert-Carey wrote that her family classifies the phrase “I’m going to the store” to mean going to Clark Fork. When she uses “I’m going to town” it means she’s going to Sandpoint. “I’m going to the big city” means driving to Coeur d’Alene or Spokane.
“This is still the language used in my house/my parents’ house,” Kiebert-Carey wrote. “I would argue it’s the same for my Priest River in-laws, who would mean Mitchell’s in PR if they said ‘store,’ Sandpoint if they said ‘town.’”
Other east Bonner County entries from Kiebert-Carey include:
• “If I say I’m ‘going to the beach,’ I don’t mean City Beach. If I say ‘City Beach,’ I mean City Beach.”
• “‘Going for a drive’ on the weekend is a whole event, possibly the only thing we have planned, and there’s no saying if we mean up in the woods or to a restaurant up in Bonners.”
• “Related to ‘town’: If a rural kid who got their license in the last year tells you they’re going to town, they are (in no particular order) going through the Taco Bell drive-thru, walking around Walmart and driving a loop around City Beach to people-watch other teenagers.”
Growing up outside of Westmond, I can relate to many of these. Since I was born and raised in North Idaho during the 1980s-’90s and had very little parental supervision, when I announced to my mom that I was “going to the store” it meant I would either walk or ride my bike the mile down to Westmond Store along the highway to purchase Laffy Taffy and other junk food. If I said I was “going to town” it would elicit a quick, “OK, honey,” before she paused and poked her head out of the kitchen to tell me I couldn’t ride my bike all the way into Sandpoint. I suppose even feral 1980s kids had their limitations.
Want to support independent local journalism?
The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned and operated by people who were born and raised in Sandpoint. The Reader is owned by Publisher Ben Olson, Editor-in-Chief Zach Hagadone and Senior Writer Soncirey Mitchell. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.
TIMBER WARS: Six-part series, February-November 2022. GO READ IT»
WHERE ARE THE WORKERS?: Five-part series, September-October 2021. GO READ IT»
THE AMERICAN REDOUBT: Seven-part series, November-December 2017. GO READ IT»
STANDOFF AT RUBY RIDGE: 25 Years Later. Five-part series, August-September 2017. GO READ IT»
Curious about what media the locals use? Check our 2018 Local Media Survey. GO SEE »
Sandpoint in Pictures
Filmmaker Jimmy Matlosz of the Idaho Film Company has made a series of mini documentaries about influential Sandpoint locals, including the late Dann Hall and Erik Daarstad as well as icons Diane Michaels and Dan Shook. He is currently working on a series of interviews connected to the history of the Panida Theater. Jimmy is a 30-year veteran filmmaker who's work can be seen at dpmatlosz.com.
Meet the Reader
Ever wonder who makes the Reader happen? Here's a behind-the-scenes look pieced together by summer 2017 intern McCalee Cain in which Ben, Cameron and Lyndsie explain what exactly about the Reader keeps them coming back to their shabby (but well-loved) office each week.
