Turd Blossoms in Texas?

Tue Aug 14 02:13:42 UTC 2007

Atlanta, Texas, is "near Texarkana"?! How odd. I've always been under
the impression that both Atlanta and Texarkana are near Marshall. ;-)
The Sunshine Special (cf. Blind Lemon Jefferson) passed by or through
all three.

-Wilson

On 8/13/07, Darla Wells <dlw3208 at louisiana.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Darla Wells <dlw3208 at LOUISIANA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Turd Blossoms in Texas?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My stepmother is from Atlanta, Texas, near Texarkana and she called all of us
> kids "fartblossoms" growing up. That would have been in the late 60's or so,
> and she still uses the term.
> Darla
>
> With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince. With science, you can turn a
> frog into a Ph.D and you still have the frog you started with. (Terry Pratchett)
>
>
> ---------- Original Message -----------
> From: Bapopik at AOL.COM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 02:02:44 EDT
> Subject: Turd Blossoms in Texas?
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> > Subject:      Turd Blossoms in Texas?
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > If anyone (HDAS?) has turd blossoms, please send them over here. Is
>
> > this a  Texas term? ... ... ...
> > _http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/turd_blossom/_
>
> > (http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/turd_blossom/) ...
>
> >
> > Entry from August 13, 2007
> > Turd Blossom
> >
> > "Turd Blossom" was a nickname for George W. Bush's adviser, Karl
> > Rove. The  term was popularized in 2002.
> >
> > A "turd blossom" is supposedly a Texas  term for a flower that
> > grows from manure, but historical citations for this  alleged
> > regional definition are lacking.
> >
> > _Wikipedia: Turd Blossom_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turd_Blossom)
>
> >    Turd Blossom, according to partisans of Karl Rove and George W.
> > Bush,  is a Texan term for a flower which grows from a pile of cow
> > dung. The term has  gained notoriety in the United States, as
> > reportedly this is one of President  George W. Bush's terms of
> > endearment for his chief political advisor, Karl Rove.  Bush is also
> > reported to call Rove by the nickname "Boy Genius."
> >
> > Few, if  any, native Texans would recognize this definition of
> > 'turd blossom.' 'Turd  blossom' was used in 1960s Texas high
> > school slang to describe the spreading  smell of a fart, or the
> > spreading stain of a loose bowel movement. Neither Rove  nor George
> > W. Bush attended high school in Texas, and they may have been
> > unfamiliar with the original use of the word. 'Fart blossom' was
> > a common  variant.
> >
> > _Google  Groups: alt.usage.english_
> >
> >
> (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/browse_thread/thread/45d3bd0fb799e27/d34b040d6e48705a?lnk=st&q=&rnum=5
> > 0&hl=en#d34b040d6e48705a)
> > Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
> > From: Ben  Zimmer
>
> > Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 15:31:40 -0500
> > Local: Thurs, Jun 28 2001 4:31 pm
> > Subject: Re: Rove's nickname?
> >
> > Turd Blossom.
> >
> > Time Magazine had no qualms printing it:
> > _http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,107219,00.html_
> >
> >
>
> (http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php?URL=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1072
> 19,00.html)
> >
> > An explanation is given in "First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush
> >  Family Dynasty", by Bill Minutaglio:
>
> >
> > "Everybody must have a nickname,  and the spin doctor has a
> > quality nickname, Turd Blossom — as in  wherever-he-goes-something-
> > is-sure-to-pop-up."
> >
> > _Google  Books_
> >
> > (http://books.google.com/books?id=ChXd7GeqlToC&pg=RA1-
> >
> PA138&ots=zywGyJpcLW&dq="turd+blossom"&ei=tO6_RoWCFofI6wKtzY3qAg&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=Fnj
> BXRNDa-D14GvFIy3YJCpeISk)  Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the
> Remarkable  Political Triumph of George W. Bush by Carl M. Canoon, Lou Debose
> and  Jan Reid Public Affairs 2003 Pg. 138: Somewhere along the line,  after
> they moved to Washington together, Bush began alternating Rove's "Boy
> Genius" nickname with another, less flattering moniker: "Turd Blossom."
> It seems  fitting enough, given Rove's modest background (a turd blossom is
> a Texas  expression for a flower that grows out of a cowpie), but Rove shrugs
> in some  embarrassment when asked how Bush came up with this.
>
> >
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