still

still pronunciation

/STILL/

Meaning

In redneck and mountain talk, a still is the cooker and coil that turn mash into whiskey. Somebody "runs a still" or "has a still up the holler." The word can also mean "anyway" or "even so" in plain English, but when folks lower their voice on the porch, they usually mean the copper kind the law used to chase.

How folks use it

• “They busted his still back behind the tobacco barn.”
• “Granddaddy swore he never ran a still, but the mash smell said otherwise.”

Origin and etymology

Short for a distilling apparatus. English speakers used still that way for centuries. In Southern and Appalachian country it got tight with illicit whiskey: blockaders, revenue men, and shine cooked off the books. The adverb sense ("still, I reckon") is ordinary English and not the slang load this word carries in moonshine country.

Frequently asked questions