[Ads-l] Runs, trots, and other maladies

[Jonathan Lighter]

I knew a girl from Chattanooga in the 1970s whose term was "Hershey
squirts."

JL

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 12:29 PM, Joan H. Hall <jdhall at wisc.edu> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joan H. Hall" <jdhall at WISC.EDU>
> Subject:      Runs, trots, and other maladies
>
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>
> DARE show that "trots" is widespread throughout the US. "Runs" is
> somewhat more limited, with a distribution we call "chiefly North, North
> Midland, West." The latter is somewhat more frequent than expected among
> young speakers (as of 1965-70) and urban people. In the South and South
> Midland,"squirts" is common, whereas in PA, MD, WV and OH, the
> preference is for "skitters."
>
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