On the “Cackalacky” derivation: I’m in NC, and have never heard this used in a derivative manner. Mostly in an affectionate manner. The Cherokee (very present still in NC) word for their own people (and a proud bit of my blood) is (ani)- Tsalaki, pronounced Cha-Lak-ee, so that might be the origin of the term.
elelle, please don’t think I’m trying to say derivative things about you, but you might want to pour yourself a cup of coffee, and look up the following three words:
Man, Kaylasdad, I knew that promptly after the final post, and wondered how I missed it upon posting: Derogatory it is; and so, would love to hear your opinions on the topic, since you’re here.
They’re pretty much along the same lines as yours, I’d say. An affectionate term used by Carolinians to refer to the home of their hearts. My first encounter with the term was a wistful reference to barbecue, in a restaurant review written by a homesick-sounding Carolinian in the OC Weekly (the commie rag of record, where I live).
Too funny, Kaylasdad: I am a fourth generation Californian, youth spent in OC Cali, now in Orange Co, NC, and in the South since 13 annies. Life goes around, don’t it?
Someone should point out* to these yokels that South Carolina is only 65.6% “racially pure” (assuming Hispanics wouldn’t be counted as “Aryans”). If they chose North Dakota, they’d have a whole lot less “ethnic cleansing” to do–91.1% white non-Hispanic-- plus they’d have nuclear weapons.
*Well, actually, we probably shouldn’t.
What are we? The GWB of states? How did Florida get into this? I like the constitution and the rest of the states just fine, don’t kick me out! (although if you could shave Florida like a potato and get those fringe parts (coastal cities) off that would be fabulous. Although I am a one-woman crusade to go to Miami Beach and rescue Epicure (fabulous bakery with fresh fruit tarts to die for) and the Villa Deli (Oh, what a pastrami!) before the fall.
FWIW, the Cuban-Americans are here in Tampa too. It is getting increasingly difficult to go anywhere and hear english being spoken, or get help from someone in english.
I know… I’ve always wondered about that… in 10th grade American history class, reading about John C. Calhoun gave me the creeps. His face in the daguerrotype scared me too.
I once went to a conference at USC in Columbia. There’s a big historical plaque at the entrance to the quad. It said as soon as the war began in 1861 the ENTIRE student body signed up for the Confederate Army immediately. (There were no women allowed in either universities or the army in those days, of course.) Scary and sad to think of all those promising young lives thrown away for the wrong cause. Then look at the ignorance and economic decline that beset the South after the war and no wonder, when their intelligentsia had gone and and gotten themselves killt in a frankly not very intelligent manner.
Would you believe, I have a Negro next door and three Jews in the backyard? I’m obviously in the wrong state!
It should be, perhaps, mentioned that nobody in South Carolina has seen or heard of these guys except in that kind of News of the Weird story.
And re: the proud palmetto tree, South Calackalacky school children are taught that when they built Fort Moultrie out of the available palmetto logs, they found the cannonballs bounced off of them instead of breaking them, and that is why the palmetto is our state tree. The palmetto bugs are just a nice way of saying cockroach. Other people are filthy and have cockroaches in their houses; we, on the other hand, on accident have palmetto bugs. We are unaware of any candy bars. (Agree on the “calackalacky” being a term of endearment.)
There’s been a large Cuban presence in Tampa for longer than you and I have been around here – probably longer than your family’s been here too. Who do you think’s responsible for Ybor City? In any instance, the current Hispanic population is less than 20% of the overall population of Tampa proper. Moreover, I’ve never had any problems finding someone in a service position who speaks English well enough to help me, unless I’ve been in a restaurant or grocery store specifically targeted to a certain ethnic group.
And as a resident of a coastal city, I kinda resent the idea of removing the edges of the state. There are many different parts of Florida, all with their own personalities and histories. If Tampa’s so awful and full of people who don’t speak English ( :rolleyes: ), why don’t you live in another area? I suggest Nassau County – they’re only 1.51% Hispanic up there, the lowest of any county in Florida.
I’d move back to South Florida if they’d kick about 99% of the population out. My grandpa was born in Miami in 1898. He used to tell me about a waterfall on the Miami River, and how his family got their drinking water from the river and took baths in it.
By the time I was growing up there, the river had been dredged into a canal and the water in it was so polluted that if you fell in you’d get sick. Gross green stuff would run from your nose and a trip to the doctor was required.
Air conditioners and mosquito control should have been banned in Florida before they were invented. If they had, the place might still be fit to live in.
Indeed. Palmetto, to the Carolinians. In Florida, we call this a sabal or cabbage palm. When one of us says “palmetto”, we usually mean either this or the giant cockroaches that inhabit this kind of palm.
