Sprankle
In Southern and Appalachian speech, sprankle means to lightly scatter or apply something - such as water, salt, sugar, flour, or even bits of food. It’s a rustic regional variant of "sprinkle" still used across rural areas and among older speakers.
'Sprankle' is one you'd normally hear from folks out in the country. Like 'watch out for that sprankler, you'll be soppin' wet!' 'Sprankle' is one you'd normally hear from folks out in the country. Like 'watch out for that sprankler, you'll be soppin' wet!' Pronunciation
/ˈspræŋkəl/
Meaning & Usage
- To lightly scatter or apply something (verb)
Sprankle a little bacon on them taters - don’t drown ‘em.Got it, Granny. Just a light spranklin’.Origin and Etymology
A Southern and Appalachian variant of the English verb "sprinkle." The vowel change ("i" → "a") and the nasal quality ("spran-") reflect Scots-Irish influence and long-standing regional pronunciation patterns. Recorded in Appalachian speech since at least the late 1800s, "sprankle" has endured as a mark of rural dialect.
Usage Notes
"Sprankle" can describe scattering nearly any small substance - from flour to feed to raindrops. The word’s charm lies in its sound: lively, practical, and down-to-earth. It reflects the flexibility of Southern English, where phonetic shifts often turn standard words into local treasures.