word usage - What does “on’ry” mean in “I Wonder As I Wander”?


During a running debate or whether I Wonder as I Wander qualifies as a Christmas Carol, I looked up the lyrics. The first verse:



I wonder as I wander out under the sky


How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die


For poor on'ry people like you and like I...


I wonder as I wander out under the sky.



I was surprised to hear that a fragmentary version of the song was heard in 1933 in North Carolina, and then transcribed by John Jacob Niles (who paid $1.75 in silver quarters).


(Lyrics and history from A Kentucky Christmas.)


I'm curious about the contraction on'ry in line three. Since it originates in the US, I'm inclined to believe it means ornery (stubborn). (This would require the deletion of the post-vocalic r as well as the unstressed vowel in the second syllable.)


A definition of ornery traces it back to "ordinary."


There are not many references to the contraction, but a 1973 Waylon Jennings album is entitled Lonesome, On'ry, and Mean. I believe that this usage, also, is pointing toward ornery.


So, are you and I ornery, ordinary, or something else? If we're ornery, has the meaning shifted between Niles's usage in 1933 and Waylon Jennings' usage forty years later?



Answer



In the most literal sense, the two previous answers are correct: "on'ry" here is almost certainly meant to be a contraction for "ordinary".


However, I think an important piece of background is being missed here. If you read the story of that song, it was transcribed from a song sung by the daughter of an itinerant preacher in far west North Carolina. If we can assume this preacher (and his daughter) would have tried to stick to his own dialect area, this song was almost certainly written by an Appalachian English speaker, and intended for an audience of fellow Appalachian English speakers.


Given this, I don't think "ornery" should be dismissed. This is an important word in Appalachian culture. According to the etymologies I've been able to dig up, it originated as a contraction for "ordinary", just like you see here in this 1933 song.


What this means is that at some point (presumably back when it was merely a contraction), they were in fact the same word. One nuance a lot of folks miss is that "ornery" is typically used affectionately. People of Appalachian heritage will use it for themselves or their relatives with pride. One could argue that being ornery is an important part of Appalachian self image. So if you take "ordinary" to mean "ordinary Appalachian", the meanings aren't really all that separated even today. In simple terms, an "ordinary" person is supposed to be "ornery".


So it is quite possible that both words were intended.


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