[Boonie]

I’ve heard people accuse southern Appalachians as saying “crik” for creek...I’ve lived in the Tennessee mountains (not even 3 miles from the Smokey Mtns Nat’l Park)
for 63 years...I’ve NEVER heard a person born and raised here say “crik or crick”...It’s always creek...

We say a crik is what you get in your neck...a creek is where you go ‘a-fishin’....

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Chattanooga and environs are some of my favorite places to visit.

[Semper Mark]

I'm from around the same area and I never heard anyone use “crik” unless they were joking, and that includes the ol’ timey mountain folk.

[Genoa]

“Crik” is a typical Northeastern U.S. pronunciation of “creek.” I suspect that large numbers of New England settlers came from parts of England where that was the usual pronunciation.

[LatinaGOP]

I’ve heard people accuse southern Appalachians as saying “crik” for creek...I’ve lived in the Tennessee mountains (not even 3 miles from the Smokey Mtns Nat’l Park) for 63 years...I’ve NEVER heard a person born and raised here say “crik or crick”...It’s always creek...

My husband is from Michigan and his whole family says "crick" for creek. In fact, there's a crick that runs along the western boundary line of their property.

[ErnBatavia]

My brother in law (mid 70's) grew up in smalltown Iowa and says "Crick" all the time - they lived for years in Walnut Creek, CA, so we were hearing it often.

He also pronounces his home state with a hard "a".....Ioway.

PS to Jay.....love your blog.

[Salamander]

Here, in Hillbilly Heaven, you are instantly identified as an outlander if you say “creek”.

In 48 years of life, I’ve never heard any native *not* say crick.

[and we get’em in our necks, too]....:)

[driftless2]

"creek"

Around my parts, western Wisconsin, you'll hear both pronunciations. Saying crick for creek is very, very common.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I’m from central Illinois, and it was always “crick.” I still say it that way. Lick Creek ran just outside of town, so it was Lick Crick. The one that I’ve managed to lose to avoid sounding like a hick was “worsh.” My grandma would always talk about her new worsher and dryer.

[gitmo]

In NC mountains it’s usually a branch or a creek.