Jeezum crow, is it tough to find the origin of the phrase ‘jeezum crow’! Join us for our exploration into this quintessential Vermont saying, as we journey from folklore to linguistics to… crows.

Thanks to Sandra Bettis of Middlesex for the great question:

“Where did ‘jeezum crow’ come from and is it just a Vermont saying?”

Find the web version of this episode here.

This episode was reported by Mikaela Lefrak. It was produced and edited by Angela Evancie, Josh Crane, Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Ty Gibbons composed our theme music. Other music by Blue Dot Sessions and Banjo Dan.

Special thanks to Sophie Stephens, Laura Nakasaka, Jim Stanford, Martha Barnette, Grant Barrett and Mary Danko.

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

P.S.: An earlier version of this story said Vermont History is a magazine. The audio has been updated to reflect that it is a journal.