far
A long ways off. In mountain mouths, often sounds like fur.
Also called fur, a far piece, a fur piece.
Updated September 21, 2026
far pronunciation
/FAR (often FUR)/
Meaning
Means distant, same as standard English, but rural Southern and Appalachian talk wraps it in its own music. Plenty of speakers say fur for far, and stretch it into "a far piece" or "a fur piece" when the drive is longer than you want to walk. Ask "How fur is it?" and you already sound like porch directions, not a GPS.
How folks use it
- “That store ain't close. It's fur down the holler.”
- “Granny's place is a far piece from the blacktop.”
Origin and etymology
Plain Old English far (from feorr). The redneck stamp is pronunciation and habit: vowel shift to fur, plus set phrases like a far piece that DARE marks chiefly South and South Midland. Scotch-Irish and mountain speech kept those distance formulas alive. Side note for outsiders: in some Appalachian talk, fire also comes out near far, which is a different tangle.
Frequently asked questions
Is fur just a misspelling of far?
In print it looks that way. In the hills it is often how far actually sounds.