Americana: Americana: Oct. 3, 1983

Thaddledo All Around

As the "gubment," or government, of Arkansas begins an upcoming legislative "spatial" (special) session called by Governor Bill Clinton, observers unfamiliar with Southern political dialect will have available the next best thing to simultaneous translation: a just published paperback of 35 uproarious pages titled The Southern Legislative Dictionary.

This guide to the speech of Southern politicians was written by Arkansas Gazette Columnist Richard Allin. Sometimes, the dictionary shows, the natives' language is formed by the omission of syllables: a "sherf' is "a county law officer," "t'mar" is "the day following...