Date: Wed, 13 Mar 1996 14:16:26 -0600

From: Elizabeth Gregory WPODOM1.AGCOM.egregory[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]WPO-SMTP-GATE.TAMU.EDU

Subject: Clabber milk -Reply



Here's a little Texas information on soured milk--



In _The Regional Vocabulary of Texas_ (1962), Bagby Atwood says:



To designate milk that has turned sour and thick, the almost

universal Texas word is 'clabber', while only a few informants give

'clabber(ed) milk'. (p.62)





In _From Blinky to Bluejohn: A Word Atlas of Northeast Texas_ (1970),

Fred Tarpley reports that 82 percent of his respondents described

"milk that has soured and thickened" as 'clabber(ed) milk'--he does

not report any instances of 'clabber' alone.



Blinky and bluejohn, two other Texas terms used to refer to

less-than-fresh milk, are another story.



Elizabeth Gregory

Texas A&M University



P.S. I do remember the terms 'clabber' and 'clabbered milk' from my

own childhood, mostly used by older people (Caucasian and

African-American). I was born in 1962 in Montgomery, Alabama.