(go͞oˈbər)
noun Chiefly Southern U.S. Regional Note: Most Southerners recognize the terms
goober and
goober pea as other names for the peanut.
Goober is related to Kongo or Kimbundu
n-guba, “peanut.” The word is especially interesting as one of a small stock of African language borrowings brought over by slaves. Most of these words have to do with the food items imported from Africa for the slaves to eat. In this category are
gumbo, “okra,” which is of Bantu origin, and
yam, which is of West African origin. The noun
cooter is related to the Mandingo word
kuta and the Tshiluba word
nkudu, both meaning “turtle.”
Cooter is still used in South Carolina, Georgia, and the Gulf states to denote the edible freshwater turtle of the genus
Chrysemys and, by extension, other turtles and tortoises.
