heared
Heard, the old country way of saying it.
Also called heered, heerd.
Updated September 24, 2026
heared pronunciation
/HEER-d/
Meaning
Heared is the past tense of hear in Appalachian and rural Southern talk. Same meaning as heard, just the form older mountain speakers kept. Shows up a lot in porch gossip and story-telling: I heared she quit, I heared tell of a big fish. Not a mistake in that register. It's the dialect doing its job.
How folks use it
- “I heared they sold the old place last week.”
- “She heared the dogs barkin' long before daylight.”
Origin and etymology
Documented in Southern Appalachian English from the early 1800s as the past tense and past participle of hear. Related spellings include heered and heerd. Dialect surveys found it strongest among older rural speakers from Pennsylvania southwest into the mountains. It follows older English patterns and stuck in Scotch-Irish influenced mountain speech.
Frequently asked questions
What does I heared tell mean?
It means I heard about it, usually secondhand. Same idea as they say, but with more porch flavor.