I have an unabridged dictionary which has the following: haunt (or hant). the word hant has two little dots underneath the "a" and they show that this would have the same a sound as "fall", "paw", "awful", etc. The old timers without much education would probably interpret this as sounding like "ant" or "faint". I have heard the old timers use this pronounciation many times. I have listened to ghost stories by my aunts and uncles and they used the word "hant" as sounding like "ant". How it originated, I cannot say, but I thought this would give some insight as to how it may have started. Vernell Vantreese Texas too ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 12:00 PM Subject: ALHENRY-D Digest V03 #178 I was writing down things to include in a "biography" about my dad and remembered how he used to refer to ghosts as "hants". Dad was raised around the Headland, Newville area. My greatgrandparents lived out from Headland also and I remember spending time with them and them talking about "hants" also. Does anyone know the origin of this term? I was wondering if there was anything other than the obvious, a derivative of haunt/haunting. We grew up in TX and I don't think I've ever heard that term used other than when dad or his cousins used it. Thanks, Kathy