oneasy - From Ulster to America
Source: From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English
Author: Michael Montgomery
Comments: From Ulster to America recounts the lasting impact eighteenth-century settlers from Ulster have made on the development of the English language of the United States. The book documents over 500 vocabulary items contributed to American English by these ‘Scotch-Irish’ settlers. Each ‘shared’ term with its meaning is authenticated by quotations from both sides of the Atlantic. This searchable online version of his book takes its text from the dictionary part of the second edition published by the Ullans Press in 2017.
oneasy, onaisey, onaisy adj Uneasy, worried.
Ulst.:
1860 Patterson Belfast Provincialisms 8 oneasy = uneasy.
1925 McKay Mourne Folk 92 It’s meself that’s gettin’ oneasy, for he ought to be home by now.
1930 McCurry Ulster Village 106 The docthor says there’s nothin’ to be onaisy about.
1936 White Mrs Murphy 247 Jacob says you needn’t be onaisy about the thatch takin’ fire. He says there’s no danger at all and he bid me sleep in peace.
1965 Braidwood Ulster Dial Dict 13 Och, she’s like a layin’ hen, more onaisey than seek (more hippish than ill).
U.S.:
1929 (in 1952 Mathes Tall Tales 132) I’m oneasy they’ll git Davy’s feet in the miry clay.
