Not good for the state’s image

Maybe I’m being a bit too much of a snooty Yankee, but I’m sort of disappointed that there even is a town in Florida with this name.

10 comments

  1. Ah… but is there a Yeehaw Junction Alabama?
    How would you like to be the Postmaster of Yeehaw Junction?

  2. “A bit of a snooty yankee” is an impossibility, rather like being “kind of pregnant”.
    Blame Standard Oil for the name. It was Jackass Crossing until the turnpike came through. So named because it was a major center for the purchase of mules in that part of Florida. But I can understand the modern yankee’s disdain for anything that even smacks of honest, earthy work.
    And no, there is no Yeehaw Junction, AL. In fact, I doubt we have anything down here that would compare with Belchertown, MA.

  3. What does “Yeehaw” have to do with work? I don’t get that. Maybe I’m too deracinated, despite having relatives in Mobile.
    Anyway, “Jackass Crossing” was better: it’s intelligible and now it’s ‘historic’. I usually think of “Yeehaw” as something uttered by human jackasses.

  4. Yeehaw is an onomatopoeia for a mule’s bray, more commonly rendered “heehaw”. The name is derived from the location’s prime function. Its relation to work would be, well, I hope I don’t have to explain the link between mules and farming.
    As for human jackasses, it would seem to me that those who get their jollies ridiculing the terms and customs of another culture, on little more than aesthetic grounds, would stand as chief candidates.
    But to show myself a sport willing to join you in the mud, I always thought most human jackasses said things like “I think I’ll have a bottle of pop” and “Where can we find Big Jim’s Reptile Farm?”

  5. Just to continue the cultural sharing, the “yeehaw” you refer to is a yankee rendering of the “rebel yell” which sounds nothing like “yee-haw” when properly given. It is a battle cry descending from the traditional Cherokee war cry (sort of a shrill turkey gobble) with just a hint of Scottish rage.
    But I suppose we half-breed hillbillies should expect, and indeed must deserve, such ridicule from our “betters”.

  6. Oh, dear. My brother Franklin, I’ve caused you some annoyance, so I do apologize. It seems I’ve reminded you of people who have prejudices about the South. This is a painful misunderstanding, so at this point, the best I can do is express my regrets.

  8. No need; it was only fitting of you to raise an eyebrow when someone (I don’t remember who) spoke slightingly of the dear Heart of Dixie.

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