Date: Mon, 23 May 1994 22:24:37 CST

From: Luanne von Schneidemesser lvonschn[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FACSTAFF.WISC.EDU

Subject: pop/soda + queries



John McGalliard used to tell the story of coming up north, I

believe to Chicago, fresh from North Carolina after graduating

there in the 1920's and asking in the drugstore for a dope. He

soon -- very soon -- learned that dope was a regional term.

A very obscure reference to the question of

soda/pop/tonic/dope is by David Vander Meulen in the Calvin

Spark, 1983, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 12-14 (= Calvin College Alumni

magazine) in a short article on DARE and Calvin's contributions

to it. The maps probably won't xerox, since the dots are red.

To summarize briefly, DARE found: pop is the main term in the

Inland North, North Central, Upper Midwest, and West (DARE's

definitions), although it is scattered throughout the US; soda is

used most heavily in the Northeast; tonic is reported from

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine; and dope is given from

South Carolina especially, with scattered reports from nearby

states (see DARE, vol. 2).

A few questions for all of you, to help us clarify a few

concepts or terms -- can you help us?

What is the meaning of "meat fisherman"?

Also (and I think I queried this before but got no

responses), who or what do you consider to be responsible for the

leaves turning red or yellow in the fall? As a kid, long before

the scientific explanation was made clear to me, I had a name for

or notion of this. Am I the only one?

And what do you call it when a bunch of kids pile on top of

each other?

Thanks.

Luanne



!



Luanne von Schneidemesser, 608-263-2748

DARE, 6129 Helen C. White Hall, 600 North Park, Madison, WI 53706