[Ads-l] Cackalacky

[Jonathan Lighter]

I'd like to see this evidence.

Neither I nor Google AI can find any popular song from the 1930s (or
any time before Bonnie's date of 1972)  containing "Cackalacky,"
"Kakalaki," or "Cacka-lacka."

A 1928 gospel song allegedly included the repeated rhythmical phrase
"Clank a Lanka," but, if so, it had nothing to do with the Carolinas.


JL





On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 10:27 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



--
"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