# I do not like To Kill A Mockingbird.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-like-to-kill-a-mockingbird/76809>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 17, 2001, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-like-to-kill-a-mockingbird/76809 "2001-08-17T21:27:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\
**Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-like-to-kill-a-mockingbird/76809/41 "2001-08-20T00:32:05Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by demanton \*  
> \*\*
> 
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \*  
> > \*\*Peeps-what exactly IS a morphodite? \*\*
> 
> According to [this](http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/tkm/vocb8.html):
> 
> “morphodite (n.): Scout has misheard Miss Maudie, who would actually have said the word hermaphrodite. Technically, a hermaphrodite is an animal or plant that has both female and male reproductive organs. Of course, the children’s snowman is not really a hermaphrodite, but it does have both male and female characteristics.”
> 
> I remember that Scout called Jem a morphodite at one point as well… \*\*

Actually, I’m not sure Scout “misheard.” It’s more likely that Miss Maudie mispronounced. “Morphodite” is (or was) a common Southern mispronunciation of hermaphrodite. I remember that my mother (who grew up in the Depression-era South) used to talk about the “morphodite” who lived in her rural community.

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-like-to-kill-a-mockingbird/76809/42 "2001-08-20T02:48:56Z")

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And would just like to add 2¢:

There was a TV movie written by Dan Curtis, supposedly based on his childhood, which is eerily similar to TKAM. The name of that movie was “When Every Day Was the Fourth of July.”

The “Boo Radley” type character in this movie was named “Albert ‘The Snowman’ Cavanaugh,” ably portrayed by Geoffrey Lewis, dad of Juliette.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-do-not-like-to-kill-a-mockingbird/76809/43 "2001-08-21T03:06:13Z")

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Thanks, Scout! Er, Daowajan. I’d forgotten how well written it is.  
If it makes you feel better, the copy I found hadn’t been checked out since 1988.

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