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right smart

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right smart1   noun phrase Many, much, a good deal (of). [DARE labels this usage as "South, South Midland"]

1861 Shipman CW Letters (Oct 25) Wee hav A Right smart of Sick ness her. 1895 Edson and Fairchild TN Mts 372 There’s a right smart of hardness between them two boys. 1921 Weeks Speech of KY Mtneer 15 “A right smart” is a common unit of measure in the mountains, applied to all commodities from a man’s hillside acreage to his mental accumulations. 1939 Hall Coll (Waynesville NC) He has a right smart of an age on him. 1968 Ferrell Bear Tales 38 Right smart, like several, is boundless in its latitude, and can convey any given quantity in the speaker’s mind at the moment. 2013 Venable How to Tawlk 42 = large amount:  He owns a right smart of land in Sevier County.”

right smart2 adjective phrase Many, much, a good deal (of). [DARE labels this usage "South, South Midland"]

1863 Click CW Letters (Aug 11) you know that you have bin in the Army a wright smart while and if you go into it too strong at first you will be sure to inger your pretty little self. 1895 Edson and Fairchild TN Mts 374 I got a right smart little bit of roughness in for the beastis. 1939 Hall Coll (Cades Cove TN) His father lives a right smart piece from Bryson City. 1959 Pearsall Little Smoky 62 The War had a right smart effect around here. I’ve heard my mother talk about it. 1981 GSMNP-122:22 He’s been dead a right smart bit. 2008 McKinley Bear Mt 25 Gradually, the only way to the Bear Mountain house became one of the mile-long foot trails. As Grandpa said, “It’s a right smart piece,” so after a few years they reluctantly sold their homestead.

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