Date:    Mon, 9 Mar 1998 16:09:11 -0500
<br>From:    Gregory {Greg} Downing  downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU 
<br>Subject: Re: connecticut folk (revisited)
<br>
<br>At 12:01 AM 3/9/98 -0600, salovesh[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]niu.edu wrote:
<br>   Because the CT state nickname is "the Nutmeg State." (Cf. Ohio as "the
<br>   Buckeye State.")
<br>  
<br>   Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu
<br> 
<br> Historically minded folks may recall the source of that label.
<br> 
<br> People from Connecticut (gee, I wonder if there's a single word for
<br> that?) were called "nutmeggers" because some of them were heavily
<br> involved in the spice trade.
<br> 
<br> Calling them nutmeggers was an insulting reference to the sly ways of
<br> Connecticut traders.  They had the reputation of spending their time
<br> carving imitation nutmeg out of scrub trees -- then building fortunes by
<br> mixing their worthless carvings into shipments of genuine nutmeg.
<br> 
<br> A "nutmegger" was a seller of adulterated merchandise.
<br> 
<br> So when you say "Nutmeg State", you'd better smile, pardner.
<br> 
<br>
<br>One does hear "Nutmeg State" from time to time in the media here in the NYC
<br>area. It has never had a pejorative connotation as far as I can tell, in the
<br>15+ years I have lived here. Assuming the term was pejorative in the distant
<br>past, I suspect that this negative connotation is gone, in everyday usage
<br>anyway. It's usually a "colorful" alternative to "CT," often in contexts
<br>such as politics or sports.
<br>
<br>Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu
<br>