Obama warns of the "old okey-doke"

[Wilson Gray]

Is "in the Midwest" code for "among white people"? The phrase isn't
peculiar to South Carolina or even to the South in general. I know the
phrase from Los Angeles, though that's, unfortunately, not the only
place where I've gone for the okey-doke.

BTW, Obama himself clearly felt a need for clarification, given that
he defined "okey-doke" as "the same old stuff," wherein "stuff"
obviously replaces "(bull)shit." Now, that was a smooth move. He used
a phrase that showed that he was down with us senior citizens, but his
defining of it for the younger generation demonstrated that he wasn't
some square who thought that using some formerly-cool phrase from the
dark ages was going to make him seem hip.

-Wilson

On 1/24/08, Scot LaFaive <scotlafaive at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Scot LaFaive <scotlafaive at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Obama warns of the "old okey-doke"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >I don't get it, Ben. Why is this worthy of note?
>
> I seems worthy to me as it shows him attempting to connect with that
> particular population through a phrase, a phrase which wouldn't work so well
> here in the Midwest I believe. Just my opinion.
>
> Scot
>
> On Jan 23, 2008 10:05 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Obama warns of the "old okey-doke"
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I don't get it, Ben. Why is this worthy of note? Now, if he'd said,
> > "It's the same old shit" or even, "It's the same old confidence game"
> > ...
> >
> > FWIW, I myself went for the okey-doke a time or two, in my lost youth.
> >
> > -Wilson
> >
> > On 1/23/08, Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> > > Subject:      Obama warns of the "old okey-doke"
> > >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > From Sumter, SC...
> > >
> > > ---
> > >
> > http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/01/when_obama_call.html
> > >  Obama used the friendly setting to urge voters not to be fooled by
> > > what he said were untruths coming from Hillary Clinton's campaign.
> > > "They're trying to bamboozle you. It's the same old okey-doke," he
> > > said, using a slang phrase for a con. "Y'all know about okey-doke,
> > > right? It's the same old stuff."
> > > ---
> > >
> > > --Ben Zimmer
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > -----
> >                                              -Sam'l Clemens
> >
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>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org