In a message dated 3/3/2001 2:43:20 PM, flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU writes: << I'm familiar with "never said boo" usage from my childhood in Minnesota in the 40s and 50s; my (very white) mother said it all the time. >> Same here for Iowa in about the same time period. This is definitely not (just?) a southernism.