meriny skin like browned-egg-white meringue; a complexion color.
Middle Georgy the middle of the state of Georgia.
a mink skin . . . a coon hide one thing looks pretty much like something else until both can be studied carefully. No one can understand what Janie's life was like with Tea Cake or with Joe until each is examined carefully.
money and insurance papers This is further evidence that Tea Cake is a responsible man, even though he ignores the storm warnings and will be stubborn about not seeing a doctor.
monstropolous hyperbole invented by Hurston; perhaps an extension of monstrous.
motherless chile Tea Cake is out of his element. He feels as though he doesn't belong to anyone, like a child in slavery sold away from its mother. The song "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" is often included in collections of spirituals.
Mouth-Almighty someone who talks too much.
mulatto rice a concoction of cooked rice, chopped and browned onions, crisp bacon bits, and some chopped tomatoes.
never hit us a lick amiss never beat or spanked the children when they didn't deserve it.
No Matt Bonner with plow lines Plow lines control an animal. Now that the mule is dead, he will no longer be hitched to the plow.
