Browse:(6) "DANG 'UM DUST" = "DAMN THEM DUST" (Volume 4, entries 9040)
(6) "DANG 'UM DUST" = "DAMN THEM DUST"
Volume 4, entries 9040. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → COURT CASES. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 9040
Yo' kin take dat - yo' go tuh de graveyard cert'in hours at night an' yo' kin dig down dere an' git dat dirt. An', jes' lak dey goin' have me fo' trial - ah done killed somebody, see. Well, dey might bon' [bond] me out. Ah'll go tuh de graveyard a certain time of night an' ah'll run mah han' down an' git a cert'in class of dat dirt. An' ah take dat dirt an' jes' when dey goin' have co't dat mawnin', ah git in wit de jon'ter [janitor] of de co't; yo' know, de fellah whut cleans up. Well, when ah git dere wit 'im ah'm gwine jes' - ah'm goin' he'p 'im clean up. Well, fast as we sweep up an' clean up, ah've got dat li'le graveyard dirt, ah jes' git roun' dere an' sprinkle it all roun' de judge stand, all roun' de haid jury- man stan'. See. Ah done he'p 'im clean up an' den throw mah li'le dang 'um dust dey calls it.
(What kind of dust?)
Dey call it de li'le dang 'um dust. [Dang used to mean damn. This is God daorn 'em dust!] So ah be done throw dat aroun' dere. Well, now, when de co't come off, ah'm not uneasy, 'cuz ah know de judge can't do nuthin wit me.
The informant describes a hypothetical trial and calls the grave dirt 'dang 'um dust'. '[bond]' and '[janitor]' are editorial glosses; Hyatt's following explanation of the dust's name is distinct from the speech.