# I get why they call the South "Dixie"... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 24, 2018, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013 "2018-11-24T16:32:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/1 "2018-11-24T16:32:08Z")
It’s because of the Mason- **Dix** on Line. So why don’t we call the North **Mas** onie? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/2 "2018-11-24T16:55:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > So why don’t we call the North **Mas** onie? Because it sounds like “Masons”, and everyone knows they were/are an evil secret society intent on world domination. Union troops used to sing “Dixie” on the march, which goes to show you something. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/3 "2018-11-24T16:58:23Z")
> **[Dixie | History, Definition, Meaning, Map, & Facts](https://www.britannica.com/place/Dixie-region)** > > Dixie, the Southern U.S. states, especially those that belonged to the Confederate States of America (1860–65). The origins of the name are debated, but it was popularized by the song ‘Dixie,’ composed in 1859 by Daniel Decatur Emmett. The tune was... > [@](#): > > According to the most common explanation of the name, $10 notes issued before 1860 by the Citizens’ Bank of New Orleans and used largely by French-speaking residents were imprinted with dix (French: “ten”) on the reverse side; hence the land of Dixies, or Dixie Land, which applied to Louisiana and eventually the whole South. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/4 "2018-11-24T17:42:16Z")
Northerners used to be called “Masonites”, but ran afoul of trademark laws. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/5 "2018-11-24T20:04:35Z")
if you look for Dixie State Univ. in the South you won’t find it there. [Utah Tech University - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_State_University) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/6 "2018-11-24T20:05:37Z")
Northerners are called ‘Yankees’ in these here parts. Now figure that one out. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/7 "2018-11-24T20:10:03Z")
My dog is called Dixie because the other one is called Doxie. Make sense? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/8 "2018-11-24T20:58:32Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > My dog is called Dixie because the other one is called Doxie. > > Make sense? That makes perfect sense. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/9 "2018-11-24T23:20:31Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Northerners are called ‘Yankees’ in these here parts. > Now figure that one out. > **[Yankee | Etymology of the name Yankee by etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/Yankee)** > > "Little John," diminutive of common personal name Jan; or it may be from Jan Kes familiar… See origin and meaning of yankee. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/10 "2018-11-24T23:35:32Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > My dog is called Dixie because the other one is called Doxie. > > Make sense? If you take it out at night you could call it [Dexy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVxcwe7EcaY). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/11 "2018-11-25T05:25:58Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > That makes perfect sense. I knew _you_ would understand. And it completely explains Trixie. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2018, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/12 "2018-11-25T06:11:18Z")
#3. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/13 "2018-11-25T22:27:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Dixie | History, Definition, Meaning, Map, & Facts | Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Dixie-region) To expand on this, according to a sketch published in B.A. Botkin’s 1939 _Treasury of Southern Folklore_, the reputation of the Banque des Citoyennes de la Nouvelle Orleans was so strong that its “dixie” notes were accepted up and down the Mississippi valley; but the word was associated with Louisiana, the “dixie’s land”. Some time in the early 1850s - there’s no certain date - the Ohio musician Daniel Emmit wrote “Dixie’s Land”, which spread the nickname to the whole South. In other words, “Dixie” has nothing to do with the Mason-Dixon Line. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/14 "2018-11-25T23:47:22Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > if you look for Dixie State Univ. in the South you won’t find it there. But you will find it in Southern Utah, which was settled by Mormons from the South. People in Southern Utah speak with a different accent than people from the rest of the state. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/15 "2018-11-26T21:08:52Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > #3. That never occurred to me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/16 "2018-11-26T21:42:27Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > but the word was associated with Louisiana, the “dixie’s land”. So I guess my state is frontin’ by calling itself the ‘Heart of Dixie’. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/17 "2018-11-27T16:45:38Z")
Dolly Parton has a music place that used to be called Dixie Stampede but she changed the name to Dolly Parton’s Stampede partly because she did not want to offend people. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-why-they-call-the-south-dixie/825013/18 "2018-11-27T21:45:21Z")
When I was in college, my school was a member of the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In 2003, after my alma mater had left, the league rebadged itself as the USA South Athletic Conference.