Obama warns of the "old okey-doke"

[Scot LaFaive]

>Is "in the Midwest" code for "among white people"?

No, it's code for "in the Midwest." When we were speaking about Obama using
it in South Carolina, I thought he was using it to identify with
Southerners, not blacks. So I thought it was a Southern "thing."

Scot

On Jan 24, 2008 12:08 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> 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"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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"
> >
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> >
> > >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"
> > > >
> > >
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> > > >
> > > > 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
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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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