haymows and mowhays and hay hays

hey hay hay Molly!

I was tagging an Instagram photo the other day (find me there as @gypsy_farmgirl) when it suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea how to spell haymow... and then it occurred to me I also wasn't exactly sure how to pronounce the word, or even exactly what could be called a haymow (does it have to be a loft area of a barn?  Can it be the overhang on the back side of our machine shed full of hay?).

So I did what 99% of the world does today when in need of vital information such as the spelling and pronunciation and definitions of old Germanic and Norse words - I Googled it.

The result was this fascinating and entertaining explanation from The Word Detective.

And no wonder I was confused.  Not only are there two different versions of mow - one pronounced like "moe" and one like "cow," there are different ways to describe places to hold hay and other forages. 

Here's the quick and dirty run-down as per The Word Detective.  Feel free to visit the link above if none of this makes sense:

Mow - rhymes with moe - “to cut down grass or grain with a scythe or machine.”

Mow - rhymes with cow - “a heap or stack of hay, grain, corn, etc.” or “a place, especially a part of a barn, where hay or corn is heaped up and stored.”

So technically, haymow means any haystack. A haystack even still in the field is technically a "haymow."

A stack of round and square bales under the overhang of our machine shed is a "haymow."

{Whew! I've been calling it that for months!}

Can you see Molly?

A hayloft, however, comes from an old Norse word meaning "air or sky" or "upper room."  By this definition, a hayloft may also be a haymow but not every haymow is a hayloft.

Clearly confused yet?

Which reminds me of my current favorite joke:

"A man walks into a bar completely wrapped in Saran wrap.  He asks the bartender, "Bartender, do you think I'm crazy?"  The bartender looks at his clothing and replies, "Sir, I can clearly see you're nuts."

But I digress.  Back to haymows.

I read on a bit further and discovered a word that's even more confusing - a "mowhay."

In this case, mow still means stack of hay, grain, etc. but "hay" means fence or hedge.  A stack of hay enclosed by a fence or hedge.

Substituting "mow" (heap of hay, grain, etc.) with "hay" in mowhay and we end up with a...

hay hay.

Or like I like to greet my friends and family, "Hey, hay hay!"

Now at least I finally know what I'm talking about when I say this.

Cheers -