# Who else has ever heard this "word"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838 "2009-09-12T18:24:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/1 "2009-09-12T18:24:20Z")
I was just thinking of this word my dad used to use, and it occurred to me that I have _never heard anybody else use this word_ in the ~40 years since I first heard my dad say it. That word is (and I’m just going to spell it phonetically, since I’ve obviously never seen it in writing), “peewadden”. In usage: “I knocked the peewadden outta that guy!” So it was used in the same sense as the more common “… knocked the stuffing out of …” Has anybody else _ever_ encountered this word? I wonder if it was local or regional slang that was simply already out of date by the time I was a kid. This was in western Washington state, where both my dad and I grew up (though I grew up in a different town than he did). He may have learned the word from his father or grandfather - his grandfather came from West Virginia. ETA: I’ve heard the word “wadding” used as a synonym for “stuffing”, so maybe “peewadden” is a bastardization of “wadding” … ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/2 "2009-09-12T18:49:06Z")
Google turns up 656 hits, but I can’t track down an origin. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/3 "2009-09-12T19:27:16Z")
How did he pronounce ‘pudding’? ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/4 "2009-09-13T03:41:10Z")
I always heard the word as “peewadd **L** in’.” Never understood where the word came from, but I knew what was meant by the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/5 "2009-09-13T03:51:08Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Google turns up 656 hits, but I can’t track down an origin. The first link is interesting in that the discussion of the term includes mostly other people from the Pacific Northwest, as well as a couple Southerners (including one from Arkansas - it’s worth noting that there are/were a lot of transplanted “Arkies” here in Washington. I notice that discussion refers to _scaring_ the peewadden out of somebody, rather than _knocking_ it out of them. I’ll add that my dad used the term to refer not only to knocking the peewadden out of somebody in a fight, but also in the sense of an electrical shock doing the knocking. > [@Quartz](#): > > How did he pronounce ‘pudding’? Just like it’s spelled, with the “g” on the end. Which is interesting, because his mom, my grandmother, always dropped the “g” from “-ing” words. She was a born and raised Southerner. ETA: I also just noticed that this thread is already the second link shown in the Google search. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/6 "2009-09-13T04:32:39Z")
I’ve heard this before. I believe the phrase is “pea waddin’” (pea wadding) which apparently was something used to stuff in muskets. I’m not certain about this, but I do have a vague recollection. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/7 "2009-09-13T05:01:04Z")
[Related thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=447952). ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/8 "2009-09-13T05:24:55Z")
I’ve heard that word a few times, both in "knocked the peawaddin’ " and "scared the peawaddin’ " out someone. I’m also in western Washington, so maybe it is largely regional. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/9 "2009-09-13T05:46:59Z")
Stepfather used to say it (born/raised in CA). Interestingly enough, he did a lot of black powder rifle shooting. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/10 "2009-09-13T15:54:02Z")
> [@](#): > > … few times, both in "knocked the peawaddin’ " and "scared the peawaddin’ " out someone. Similar recollection, down near the Arkansas border with Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/11 "2009-09-13T17:12:35Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > (including one from Arkansas - it’s worth noting that there are/were a lot of transplanted “Arkies” here in Washington. I’m from Arkansas, and have not heard the term. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/12 "2009-09-13T19:17:24Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > Stepfather used to say it (born/raised in CA). Interestingly enough, he did a lot of black powder rifle shooting. My dad is a black powder enthusiast himself, but he was using the word long before he took up the hobby. I wonder if the term was used as a sot of catchphrase by an early TV actor, or maybe by a radio show actor. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/13 "2009-09-13T19:24:28Z")
My dad was born in Nebraska, was a child in Colorado, and was a teen (I think) in Southern California. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/14 "2009-09-13T20:44:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My dad was born in Nebraska, was a child in Colorado, and was a teen . . . in Southern California. That’s freakin’ weird . . . is your dad my mom? ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/15 "2009-09-14T04:35:06Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’m from Arkansas, and have not heard the term. 🙂 Same area, even, and haven’t heard it. ::shrug:: ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/16 "2009-09-14T04:46:42Z")
I’ve heard old Mainers say it. The kind of old Mainer who says “joe-jeezly” and “bejesus” and calls amusing things a “corker.” ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/17 "2009-09-14T21:54:13Z")
Strangely, I have heard the term “peawad”, but not “peawadding”, and even used the same way, such as “I’m going to knock the peawad out of you.” Don’t have a clue where I have heard it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gesturing\_Mildly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@Gesturing\_Mildly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gesturing_Mildly)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-has-ever-heard-this-word/509838/18 "2009-09-15T16:32:49Z")
My mom used to say it occasionally, as in, “scared the peawaddin out of X.” My family is from the midwest, but they have a bunch of weird sayings that seem to be common in other regions.