The intensifier pure-d or puredee is a euphemism for pure damned or pure damn. It’s also sometimes rendered as pure-t, and used most often in the Southern United States and South Midlands. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Pure D, Pure T”
Hello, welcome to A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Rick from New Bern, North Carolina.
What can we do for you, Rick?
Well, I had a question concerning a term I’ve heard my entire life around here, usually now just from older people. Pure D or pure T.
And I’ve heard both, and I’ve asked, you know, people who use it, I said, what are you using? Pure D or pure T, you know, as an intensifier. And I’ve heard explanations for both. The pure D folks have said, well, the D is short for damn. We don’t want to say damn, so we say pure D.
And I said, okay, what about the pure T folks? And they said, well, it means pure truth. And I was wondering if there’s any truth to either of those or where exactly that expression came from.
Yep, that’s pretty consistent with what we know. So how would you use it in a sentence? That is pure D wonderful, or she is pure D out of her mind.
Okay. All right. And how do you spell it? In two words, P-U-R-E, and then just the letter D. Because I don’t use the pure T one because it just didn’t make as much sense to me.
And I was wondering if there was a foundation for this term somewhere or if I’m even on the right track. You are absolutely on the right track, Rick, because as far as we can tell, the pure D, there is pure dam or pure damned. My mother, the Southern Baptist, would never say pure damned, but she would definitely say pure D all the time.
So I grew up hearing that from my Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher mom. But so the original and the far more common version is pure D and it goes back to the early 1900s or so. But you can see how it might also be altered to be pure T and that people might understand it to be pure truth.
But the pure D truth is that it’s pure D. And it’s spelled lots of different ways. The way you spelled it, or just all one word, P-U-R-E-D-E-E, or P-U-R-E hyphen D. There are different versions of it, but yeah, it means exactly what you’re saying, and you’re right about its origin.
I have not heard it outside the South. I’m wondering, is it peculiar to the Southern part of the United States?
Yes. I mean, is it used all over? Pretty much the South and South Midland, you know, kind of all across.
Well, that’s interesting, Dan. I’m a teacher, and I don’t hear young folks use it, but sometimes their grandparents, I will hear that. It seems to be falling out of favor with the younger folks. But I was just wondering, because I have always heard it from especially older people in the South.
Well, I purely thank you for the explanation.
All right. Thank you very much, Rick. We’re purely happy to have you.
Thank you.
All right. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Well, call us with your language question, 877-929-9673, or send it to us in email. The address is words@waywordradio.org.
