sight
A whole lot; a big amount of something.
Also called a sight of.
Updated September 24, 2026
sight pronunciation
/SITE/
Meaning
In redneck and Appalachian talk, sight means a large number or a great deal. Folks say "a sight of" before almost anything countable: timber, taters, money, people. It can also mark something remarkable, as in "that's a sight," when what you see stops you cold. Same word as regular English "sight," just put to heavier work.
How folks use it
- “They cut a sight of timber out of that holler.”
- “Jim grew a sight of taters this year.”
Origin and etymology
Older English and Scots-Irish talk already used sight for a large amount. Mountain speakers kept it alive, and Horace Kephart noted it in Southern Highland speech in 1913. The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English records plenty of farm and logging examples from North Carolina and Tennessee.
Frequently asked questions
Does sight just mean something you look at?
It can. In this slang sense, though, it usually means "a lot of." Context tells you which one somebody means.