[Ads-l] Cackalacky

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

There is a discussion of Cackalacky in the following book. The book
has footnotes, but I have not yet determined the specific details for
the assertions in the two excerpts below. Maybe Bonnie is already
familiar with this book.

Date: 2014 Copyright
Book Title: Talkin' Tar Heel: How Our Voices Tell the Story of North Carolina
Author: Walt Wolfram and Jeffrey Reaser
Quote Page 6 and 8
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. North Carolina

[Begin excerpt page 6]
While the origin of Cackalacky is still uncertain, its history began
long before the sauce was created. At the very least, we can
definitively trace the term to 1937, when it was used in a popular
song. It is likely that Cackalacky's etymology runs much deeper than
this song, however, and there remains much popular speculation and
discussion about its possible origins.
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt page 8]
While we cannot be certain of the origin, the development of
Cackalacky demonstrates how terms of reference can change over their
life spans. Evidence from the 1940s suggests the term was used in a
somewhat derogatory way by outsiders; for example, servicemen assigned
to one of the rural bases in the state in the 1940s referred to their
environs as "Cackalacky," perhaps deriding the rural ways of native
North Carolinians. Though it may have been intended as an insult by
outsiders, it has now been embraced affectionately by native and
adoptive residents.
[End excerpt]

On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:18 AM Bonnie Taylor-Blake
<00001a89b77a7850-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> I've been collecting forms from 1972 (the earliest I've spotted this) into
> the early 2000s, when the use of "Cackalacky" blossomed in the popular
> press, mostly with references to the hip-hop world and products for
> condiment shelves.
>
> There's anecdotal evidence that it was used in the military post-war as a
> designation for the Carolinas, but not used by Carolinians themselves. I've
> found two pre-war nicknames for the Carolinas that bear some similarity to
> "Cackalacky" in U.S. Marine publications, but they're not great matches.
>
> Lots of guesses about its origin, but for me nothing very satisfying. I
> have a not-ready-for-primetime theory that it may have come from a bit of
> now-lost American slang popular ca. 1900 that once signified "stranger" or
> "foreign," but I'm not particularly satisfied with that one, either.
>
> -- Bonnie
>
> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:41 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> 00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> MSNOW: "South Carolina. South Cackalacky! "
> >
> > Many Google hits. Also "North Cackalacky." Both new to me.
> >
> > 1974 _Daily Press_ (Newport News, Va.) (March 6) 4 [N]: Cackalacky
> > (translated Carolina).
> >
> > Fascinatingly, the next N ex. isn't till 2002, with the introduction
> > of Skelton's Cackalacky Hot Sauce,
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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