[Ads-l] Kackalack (1923) (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill CIV (US)]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

I can't help directly, but can add that I used to rent a room from a lady who referred to a Cadillac as a "Cadiddle-ack".

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On 
> Behalf Of Bonnie Taylor-Blake
> Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 11:53 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Kackalack (1923)
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header 
> ---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bonnie Taylor-Blake <b.taylorblake at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Kackalack (1923)
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> -
> --------
> 
> I sometimes search for early sightings of "Cackalacky" (and variants), 
> a slang moniker for Carolina (as in North Cackalacky).  The earliest 
> I've found dates to 1972, but I recently stumbled on a mysterious 
> "Kackalack," the meaning of which isn't entirely clear to me.  But 
> it's interesting.
> 
> The following passage appeared in a long column by "Colonel J.O.
> Midnight," the pen name (one of several) of Charles Stewart (1868?- 
> 1925), a well-known African-American journalist in the early 1900s [1].
> I've supplemented the text below with some additional information (in
> brackets) contained elsewhere in the article, just for clarification.
> 
> -----------------------------------
> 
> The meeting [of the Rising Sons and Daughters of Protection] was 
> great, and I had a record breaking time.  Mr. Mitchell toted me around 
> in his Kackalack.  I had the pleasure of seeing many friends in that 
> city [Birmingham, Alabama] and then was for another part of the world 
> headed before the close of the week.  [From "J.O. Don't Think Much of 
> Some People in Arkansas; Bishop Wallace Treated Inhumanly," The Kansas 
> City [Kansas] Advocate, 8 June 1923; Pages 1, 3.  This excerpt appears on p.
> 3.  Via genealogybank.com.]
> 
> -----------------------------------
> 
> Stewart, in his "J.O. Midnight" persona, wrote in a folksy way, so it 
> had occurred to me that "Kackalack" may be just a humorous way of 
> saying "Cadillac."  (Earlier in the article Mr. Mitchell had been 
> introduced as a professor, so it seems unlikely that this conveyance 
> was something, for example, horse-drawn.)
> 
> But I've just now noticed that earlier this year Michael Durbin posted 
> the following in reply to Evan Morris's Word Detective post on 
> "Cakalacky" [2].
> 
> -----------------------------------
> 
> January 31, 2015 at 8:37 am
> Years back I read or heard somewhere it originated as a mildly teasing 
> reference to poorer Carolinians who mispronounced Cadillac as 
> Cackalack. But I can=E2=80=99t find the reference now.
> 
> -----------------------------------
> 
> Anyone familiar with a historical usage of "Kackalack," perhaps for a 
> Cadil= lac?
> 
> And any thoughts on Mr. Durbin's comment?
> 
> -- Bonnie
> 
> 
> [1] See http://tinyurl.com/kcsd3jf.  Mitch Kachun, a professor of 
> history at Western Michigan University who is researching Stewart, 
> agrees that "J.O. Midnight" was likely using "Kackalack" for 
> "Cadillac."
> 
> [2] http://www.word-detective.com/2010/09/cakalacky/.
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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