At some point in the distant past, I may have talked here about my curiosity as to the origin of a phrase my Alabama grandmother used when I was overly inquisitive. As in: "What's in the box?" I might ask and if she didn't want to tell me she'd say "Laroes to catch meddlers."
I got the intent of what she was saying but I never saw the words spelled out and never heard the phrase used by anyone else.
When the internet came into being, I began to search for this phrase and ran into the word medlar which led me down a number of rabbit holes and made me imagine that a laroe might be a kind of net to catch the falling fruit.
Too complicated. An internet search now reveals that laroes or lay rows derive from layovers--a pit trap with branches laid over it. And meddlers aren't bletted fruit but nosy little girls (or others.) The saying is tagged as chiefly southern. The article is a good read HERE.
I think I'll start using this phrase so as to give Josie something ponder in her later life.
