apparently I'm a bigoted hypocrite (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

The joke appears in Terry Southern's oft-reprinted essay, "Twirling at Ole
Miss" (Esquire, February, 1963).

As I recall it, "Southern" appears in Oxford looking for directions to the
university.  He sees a bunch of old guys whittlin'.  Not wanting them to
realize he's a pointy-headed Yankee journalist, he deliberately reverts to
the rural speech of his Texas youth and asks, "Whur the school?"

The unfriendly reply is, "Reckon you mean, 'Whur the school _at_,
stranger!'"

JL

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 10:22 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

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> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: apparently I'm a bigoted hypocrite (UNCLASSIFIED)
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> > Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: apparently I'm a bigoted hypocrite (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
> > -
> >
> > For the past 30 years, I've heard the exact same anecdote with the
> exact same
> > punchline, but with Harvard in place of Vanderbuilt (and a suitable
> location
> > substitution for the target of the directions question). There is
> every
> > indication, that the joke has been around at least another 30 years
> before
> > that. I would be surprised to find that Stanford and Chicago don't
> have their
> > own suitably modified versions.
> >
> >      VS-)
>
> No doubt.
>
>
>
>
> >
> > On 9/28/2012 10:04 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
> > > I grew up in Nashville, home of Vanderbilt Univ. In the circles I
> ran
> > > in, Vandy was thought of as snooty, and was perceived as presenting
> > > itself as a Southern Ivy League school full of students from
> old-money
> > > families. (all stereotypes, and I didn't have anywhere near enough
> > > personal knowledge of the school to say that they were based in
> > > reality or not). Thus, the following anecdote (which isn't true, but
> > > was repeated as if it were): I was at Vandy's campus, looking for
> the
> > > Sarratt Center (student union building) where a movie was being
> shown
> > > that I wanted to see. I didn't know the campus, so I asked a student
> > > walking by, "Excuse me, can you tell me where the Sarratt Center is
> > > at?" "Sir, you are at Vanderbilt University, and at Vanderbilt, we
> > > don't end a sentence with a preposition." (Previous sentence
> > > pronounced with full Grey Poupon/Thurston Howell III snootiness.)
> "Oh.
> > > Well then, can you tell me where the Sarratt Center is at, asshole?"
> > > When we were juniors in high school, this was really funny.
> >
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