The mouse

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:23 PM -0400 7/24/04, Wilson Gray wrote:
>On Jul 24, 2004, at 9:05 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>Subject:      Re: The mouse
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>East Tennesseans commonly talk about "picking up the room" meaning
>>picking things up off the floor, mainly.
>>
>>JL
>
>Yes, it also means that in East Texas, too. "'T' for Texas and 'T' for
>Tennessee," as the traditional blues line says.
>
>-Wilson Gray
>
Isn't that from Jimmie Rodgers (The Singin' Brakeman)?  ("...T for
Thelma, the gal who made a wreck out of me")   Or did he borrow it
from someone earlier?

larry