It’s no secret that, despite boasting the best city for engineers in the nation, a booming automotive industry, and some of the best restaurants in the world, Alabama has a less than flattering reputation among D.C. elites. Want proof? Look no further than a recent “slang map” compiled by Slate.
The notoriously liberal publication consulted linguists, their friends and colleagues, and polled readers on Facebook to build their list of slang words in each state + D.C..
“Ultimately,” the authors revealed, “we built up groupings of anywhere from five to 10 viable options for each state and then, well, argued a lot.”
Many of the entries are cutesy terms often heard in casual, playful conversation among locals. Alabama’s entry for example is “cattywampus,” meaning crooked, tipped over, sideways, crazy, or messed up.
“Who came up with this cattywampus campaign slogan?” is the sample sentence used.
But it’s when we scroll down to D.C.’s entry that things start looking dicey.
Among the “yinz,” “whirlygusts,” and “grabowskis,” is the only real insult on the list: the “bama.”
That’s right, the pretentious bigwigs in our nation’s capital, and particularly those at Slate, think so little of Alabamians they’ve apparently made an insult out of us.
Sure, we have some interesting folks down here in the Yellowhammer State, but to characterize an entire population as “losers” or “chumps” takes it a little far.
Make no mistake, Slate says their list is completely subjective, so they could have chosen a different term. One that didn’t, for example, perpetuate a negative caricature of 4.5 million people.
Now, no one in the Yellowhammer office, which is full of people who have spent time in D.C. working with lawmakers and think tanks, has ever heard of this term being used. So why was it the one chosen by Slate?
We’d love to hear your take on the term, so let us know your thoughts in the comment section on Facebook.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
