Mar 12, 2005
State-Nicknamecraft as Soulcraft
[cross-posted at Austro-Athenian Empire]
Did you realize that the state of Alabama has no nickname?
No official nickname, that is. It's sometimes been called the Yellowhammer State, the Cotton State, or the Heart of Dixie, but apparently none of those ever received the approval of our elected Solons. (No doubt it's been called other things as well. I note that under medieval Icelandic law, it was illegal to call someone by a nickname he didn't like.)
Anyway, after years of languishing in forlorn nicknamelessness, some Alabamians have decided to start a political crusade to get the state a nickname. I gather there's a bill being sponsored in the state legislature; I haven't followed the story very closely. But my eye was caught by the latest manifesto on the subject, a letter by John S. Lucas IV in the March 9th Opelika-Auburn News. I hereby quote an excerpt. Note: I am not making this up.
Did you realize that the state of Alabama has no nickname?
No official nickname, that is. It's sometimes been called the Yellowhammer State, the Cotton State, or the Heart of Dixie, but apparently none of those ever received the approval of our elected Solons. (No doubt it's been called other things as well. I note that under medieval Icelandic law, it was illegal to call someone by a nickname he didn't like.)
Anyway, after years of languishing in forlorn nicknamelessness, some Alabamians have decided to start a political crusade to get the state a nickname. I gather there's a bill being sponsored in the state legislature; I haven't followed the story very closely. But my eye was caught by the latest manifesto on the subject, a letter by John S. Lucas IV in the March 9th Opelika-Auburn News. I hereby quote an excerpt. Note: I am not making this up.
It is my opinion that a colorful, clever and politically sensitive moniker can have a far-reaching impact on the collective psyche of this state's inhabitants. A proper nickname may actually serve as a means to unite Alabamians -- solidifying a common ground of state brotherhood as Alabamians encounter each other out of state.At first I thought (hoped?) the author was being satirical, but no such luck. (By the way, the author's suggestion was"the Rocketing River State." I'm not making that up either. No, there's no Rocketing River in Alabama, but we do have rockets in Huntsville, and rivers passim.)