And, he adds, there are all kinds of words for places, both negative and positive, that get detached from their original meaning: Shangri-La, for instance, or Xanadu: "Words have interesting histories. Podunk was the "Lake Wobegon" of the 1840s. What woodwind & brass instruments are most air efficient? It denoted both the Podunk people and marshy locations, particularly the people's winter village site on the border of present-day East Hartford and South Windsor, Connecticut. The origin of America's favorite name for hicksville. It was first used in the early 1900s in the U.S. and means sitting cross-legged, but is rarely used in schools anymore, experts said. In 1981, someone took The New York Times to task for publishing a Podunk-bashing cartoon. Hi Forum Members!I bought MRR DVD: in the October 1940 Issue, on page #562 (Train Makeup & Switching), the author mentionned a "Podunk Sleeper"; what is that? "Wagon" naturally refers to a vehicle. The word podunk is of Algonquian origin.It denoted both the Podunk people and marshy locations, particularly the people's winter village site on the border of present-day East Hartford and South Windsor, Connecticut. The Connecticut Podunk is well-known (OK, not that well-known) for an annual bluegrass festival. Those affected were noted as being "wretch, innocent victims," and the word "cretin," meaning "Christian" was supposed to highlight the victims humanity. said Janice Agrios, chairwoman of the board of directors. It's a depressing place: bleak, empty, isolated. (little sense as far as I can see). Where do yokels, bumpkins, and hayseeds come from? Small, but menacing-looking rodents scurry across the road. ", See podunk, poughkeepsie, pough town, rural, backwater, small town. Common areas/landmarks in Podunk: Podunk Cemetary, High Rocks, Lake Lashaway, Devil's Kitchen, Hayden Lodge, Union Chapel. Therefore "derogatory" may be badmouthing or depreciating a person or group, but "offensive" may be a breach against societal or human sensibilities. The word plantation appeared in English in the 1400s originally meaning "plant," according to Kelly. Similarly, people might not realize that the term "uppity," nowadays used generally to refer to a stuck-up or arrogant person, was commonly used to describe Black people that "didn't know their socioeconomic place.". Their one-horse, backwater burg may be a quintessential American everytown, but over the centuries it's been given a name, and that name is "Podunk." as well as other partner offers and accept our, Anwar Hussein / Contributor / Getty Images, Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images, "Land And Sea Tales For Scouts And Guides. But that kid from Podunk, now unloading freight at the big-box store, is a universe away from Oxford and a Capuchin friar buddy. By subscribing to our newsletter(s) you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. To discredit or denigrate (derogatory) someone is likely to be offensive, but so is not saying "thank you", and it's not derogatory, it's simply offensive for another reason. Actually I would think in 1940 pretty much any sleeping car would be a Pullman. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. No, 'Snowflake' as a Slang Term Did Not Derogatory. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/derogatory. It's awesome to see how things that would seem gross or weird to guys in the dorm seem perfectly okay to them. The fascinating story behind many people's favori Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz! Dictionary Entries Near Podunk A correspondent asked that question of the editors of the Buffalo, New York, Daily National Pilot in 1846, then answered himself: "It is in the world, sir; and more than that, is a little world of itself." Isuspectitwould be a sleeping car going to (or from) "Podunk", i.e., a small relatively insignificant rural townas opposed to a sleepertravelling between sayNew York and Chicago. (Good luck getting as much from ELU.SE). hide caption. The town of Poughkeepsie and city has now become less rural and more developed. Is it possible to control it remotely? But when a Black person hears that word, it evokes a past of slavery.". It's very hard for me to explain. Why do we use the words "vulgar", "offensive" and "derogatory"? Learn a new word every day. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced searchad free! This nameless comic left behind only his or her initials"R.P. "Is its use doing more harm than good? VASPKIT and SeeK-path recommend different paths. *.. 1. Is this the correct usage of a vulgar and offensive phrase? Mumbo jumbo was first used in the 1700s in West Africa by travel writer Francis Moore in his book "Travels In The Interior Districts of Africa," who described Mumbo Jumbo as a masked dancer who was involved in certain religious ceremonies. an imaginary rural town where everything and everyone is backward, old fashioned, and inferior. He goes to Podunk all decorated up in geraniums and the rest of his life is a 'college man. The fascinating story behind many people's favori Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz! For example, what about 'batty boy' (homosexual term) compared to 'idiot'? According to Lydia Sears in an article written by Peggy Gallagher, "it was a rough, tough crossroads." Located on Bolter Creek, it was a small manufacturing community and at its peak had a population of about 100 people. The phrase "criss-cross apple sauce" is used in place of the phrase. Vulgar and obscene are similar in their suggestion of indelicacy or indecency. "We need to dig deeper and understand where the phrases and words we use come from because if we don't we are being complicit in perpetuating the racist systems that are embedded in our language.". Brunch Query: What Does It Really Mean To 'Go Dutch'? The word podunk is of Algonquian origin. Here are 12 popular phrases that you may want to rethink using in everyday conversation. "The phrase has very offensive roots as the Native American's who were found 'off the reservation' were killed," Kelly explained. "OH DEAR GOD! It is listed in the oldest Webster's Dictionary as such, (plus, I'm from there!!) But with a lot of others, he says, "We don't really have any hope of figuring them out. My opinion is in some cases those three might mean exactly the same thing. "Somebody had seen this place name out the window of their bus or someplace where they spent their summers or something and it just became a funny word to them. Surrounding towns have all been overcrowded by many people coming from the suburbs of NYC due to the ripple effect. For When 'Lowdown Crook' Isn't Specific Enough. Originally, the term started within the Black community, but the racists adopted it pretty quickly. The result looks like the.. Going forward, we want the focus to be on the work we do in the community and our team's excellence on the field as the CFL's most successful franchise." However, you obviously want to know about "vulgar" to mean to swear or say something off-colour, and how it differs from the other two words. The earliest citation in the Dictionary of American Regional English is from Samuel Griswold Goodrich's 1840 book The Politician of Podunk: Solomon Waxtend was a shoemaker of Podunk, a small village of New York some forty years ago. ", The other thing people likely don't know? In college writing, "little kids" are "children;" "totally cool . I have no idea what it would mean in railroad terms. Narragansett, Mohegan, and Podunk tribes and ended with their virtual destruction, opening southern New England to unimpeded colonial . My phone's touchscreen is damaged. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. So, "vulgar" and its derivatives all kind of mean the same, right? An area of northwestern Rhode Island 3 miles (4.8km) WNW of Pascoag, An alternative spelling; "Podonque" is found as a name on a road leading into a settlement area (intersection of County roads 23 and 243) which is still sparsely populated, believed to having been established in the 1800s as: Podonque, Town of. I don't think anybody knows that," he said. Podunkers can get huffy when you question their existence. ", Wolvengrey says there are obviously words that "reflect a racist attitude towards indigenous people" but Podunk doesn't seem to be one of them. The popular term "peanut gallery," for example, was once used to refer to people mostly Black people who were sitting in the "cheap" seats in Vaudeville theaters. Can you give links? ", I asked Goddard if he thought it was offensive that people were using an Algonquian word to describe places they thought of as insignificant. [After Podunk, name of two New England towns, of southern New England Algonquian origin .] That is of course, unless people found that tradesmen talking to each other in this way was offensive. "but the articles cemented Podunk in the American imagination as the go-to name for a rural hicksville. From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet. That writer may have introduced America to the concept of Podunk as an insignificant Anywhere, U.S.A., town, but the place isn't just imaginary; towns with that name have actually existed in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Iowa (and probably elsewhere) over the years. The aroma of wine made from Concord grapes is often described as "foxy," a wine term as, In Powell's memoir, Lemann points out, terms like "expert" and "academic" are clearly, Unfortunately, the codes were badly explained and ham-handedly enforced. Here are 12 popular phrases that you may want to rethink using in everyday conversation. What are the differences between them? He hadn't known that Podunk was an Algonquian word before we got in touch, but he said he didn't think there was anything particularly sinister about its use. ", the term didn't originate as a racist phrase. But vulgar points more to a lack of refinement or good taste while obscene suggests a preoccupation with the pornographic: [examples omitted]. That is the context in which I understand the word - a small place, significant only to those who live there. The proverbial podunk town is perfectly named, so perfectly that if Podunk didn't exist, we would be forced to invent it. To save this word, you'll need to log in. I could say that right in front of my family, friends and colleagues. "It's used without a lot of thought about its literal meaning, and I'm sure that there are people who, if reminded how predatory it sounds, would tee-hee rather than blush," Conor continued. First of all, if you look up "derogatory" in dictionaries you'll get something like the following: adj. That's why vulgar can mean related to the masses of people, or "common". [2], The word podunk is of Algonquian origin. ", Guy 1: "Neighboring towns keep the word alive. The last I heard he had moved to some podunk little town in the middle of nowhere. ", "South Windsor Creates 2.5-Mile Trail System Through Wapping Park", "Podonque Cemetery Town of Rushford, Allegany County, NY", "Podunk Pond Fishing near Dixfield, Maine", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Podunk&oldid=1137232740, Podunk, Connecticut, an area of the town of, Three places, over 100 miles (160km) apart, in, Podunk, Michigan, a community on Podunk Lake in, Podunk, Michigan, an alternative name for. Glenn Beck even defended him, citing the first lady's love of arugula. Link It became a derogatory way to refer to natural hair texture of non-white people throughout Africa, Cedric Burrows, author of "Rhetorical Crossover: The Black Rhetorical Presence in White Culture," told ABC News. Elmira, where Twain had lived earlier, is within 30 miles (48km) of Podunk, New York, so it is not clear to which village Twain was referring. I still don't understand how anything can be profane or bad language. It was not until the 1600's that the word was defined as estates where the enslaved labored in bondage and were forced to grow such crops as cotton and tobacco. First, Podunk is the name of a few real towns. Etymologists have traced the name back to an Algonquian word for a "marshy meadow," and colonial towns named Podunk popped up in Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. William Lloyd Garrison. Here are some commonly used terms that actually have racist origins. I don't want a job in Podunk. Short story about swapping bodies as a job; the person who hires the main character misuses his body. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider According to linguistics experts, the origin of this phrase derives from the late 1800s Vaudeville era, a popular style of entertainment that included jugglers, comedians, singers and more. Hayakawa, Choose the Right Word: A Modern Guide to Synonyms (1968) doesn't discuss derogatory, but it too parks vulgar and offensive in separate word groups: obnoxious, hateful, odious, offensive The words in this list are applied to a person or thing which arouses dislike, distaste, hostility, or opposition. A racially segregated audience sits for a concert at the Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Ill., July 16, 1943. This is clearly a shade of meaning to be recognised. Both derogatory, yet not vulgar or "offensive". People could take a local train coming down the branch to Podunk and board the sleeper, which would be picked up by an overnight trainand taken to a larger town down the line. In American discourse, the term podunk came into general colloquial use through the wide national readership of the "Letters from Podunk" of 1846, in the Daily National Pilot of Buffalo, New York. Thank you! It has wide application and can be used to characterize anyone or anything that is unpleasant or disagreeable [examples omitted]. Don't believe any of it. Urban Dictionary: Po-dunk Po-dunk Adj. Want to improve this question? It is very confusing why the language in their statistics they've chosen is very selective. Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox! Either way, when we refer to an entire group of people by their perceived behaviors, we trivialize their existence and culture. [1][2][3] Podunk was first defined in an American national dictionary in 1934, as an imaginary small town considered typical of placid dullness and lack of contact with the progress of the world.[4]. "@peterbayley @ThatsLife_19 @EadesLore @lizlibra1009 There's a difference between voicing an opinion and calling someone derogatory names. It is located six miles west of Arnett, OK, at the intersection of U.S. 60 and U.S. 283. Countless times in the movie, they used slang phrases such as "podunk" or "pough town" to describe the area. Business disputes naturally arose, and the masses started thinking of Romani as swindlers. In his book, "Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases From Our Lively and Splendid Past," he writes, "Peanut gallery was in use in the 1880s, as a synonym for n----- gallery (1840s) or n----- heaven (1870s), the upper balcony where blacks sat, as in segregated theaters.". An 1875 description said: Sometimes the newest State, or the youngest county or town of a State is nicknamed "Old Podunk," or whatever it may be, by its affectionate inhabitants, as though their home was an ancient figure in national history.[6]. I don't think "Podunk sleeper" is an actual railroadterm. When 1930s radio broadcaster Lowell Thomas told his listeners that there was "no such place as Podunk," he was immediately corrected by a resident of Podunk, New York, outside of Ithaca, who told him that this was like saying "there is no Santa Claus!". One of the most famous people to refer to Podunk was Mark Twain, who in 1869 wrote that a certain fact was known even "in Podunk, wherever that may be. Please assume good faith. Kimonos were also worn by geishas -- highly trained hostesses who throughout history have been inaccurately depicted as concubines in various films and books. Ghetto in a sense that it's utterly shitty in every way. Those languages. Also, Slovakian is a nationality whereas Slovak is an ethnicity and language. A website for the property says, "Oak Alley as a sugar plantation was built by and relied on enslaved men, women and children.". 2: . The answer is yesbut maybe not for long. The Oak Alley plantation in Vacherie, La., was built in the 1830s. ', He also had other holdings "neer Podunk," and "on ye highway leading to Farmington.". "The idea of 'paddy' is a police car that comes around to grab up Irish people who are no good drunk criminals, so it deals with a historical stereotype of Irish people as low lives, Kelly told ABC News. His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project. (Sometimes "Pullman" could be on both ends.). Alternatively, others believe that the term didn't originate as a racist phrase, but instead evolved to have racist usage. [1] Podunk. Checks and balances in a 3 branch market economy. This phrase started appearing in London newspapers around 1898. Podunk got its name from the way the rushing waters of Bolter Creek descended on a . It's 90 miles to the nearest motel. A minor scale definition: am I missing something? Today, the phrase is a way of talking about revealing corporate information. A common implication of Podunk is that it's a place so dreary and remote that it's not even worth situating on a map. ", (I did, in fact, find some definitions the most plausible being from the Nipmuc Indian Association of Connecticut's quarterly newsletter: "Podunk or Pautunke, means 'where you sink in mire', a boggy place, in the Nipmuc dialect. But how did "Podunk" come to stand in for any tiny, forgotten whistle-stop of a town? The answer is yesbut maybe not for long. Many common terms and phrases are actually rooted in racist, sexist, or generally distasteful language. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates? These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'derogatory.' [7] The term gained currency as standing for a fictional place. Too many people work in the city and live just outside of it, so they move a little bit farther out to escape the high density living. Apparently, Wiktionary added 'sockpuppet' to the derogatory category. But a side comment on Wiktionary - ", University researchers in philosophy, sociology and other fields have spent years trying to figure this out. how many valence electrons in cl2o7, smoking mulungu bark,
1997 5 Levels Of Cultural Awareness Conducted By Who,
Shooting In Chatham Today,
Is Marlo Morgan Still Alive,
Articles I
