Cakalacky
Page 2 of 2 | Previous page
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
74 comments on this post.
Search us!
Ask a Question!
Puzzled by Posh?
Confounded by Cattycorner?
Baffled by Balderdash?
Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
Perplexed by Pandemonium?
Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
Annoyed by Alliteration?
Don't be shy!
Send in your question!
Bonnie Taylor-Blake:
September 19th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Hi, Evan.
Thanks for your article on “Cackalacky” (and variants). I just thought I’d point out that we have a 1972 appearance of “Cackalacky,” which was used in a play. Also, “Calinky,” surely a close cousin, pops up in a 1974 work by James Michener. See below for more information. (I’m located still earlier forms of “Calinky” via Google Books, but — last time I checked — it was impossible to nail down precious bibliographic information.) — Bonnie
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0808C&L=ADS-L&P=R2679
Paul Jones:
September 24th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
One thing that Dr Eble and Bland Simpson and I were able to recall but not document is that during the mid-1960s both Bland, who was living in Coastal NC, and me, living in Charlotte, heard the term Cackalack used. Those who used the term in both cases were enlisted men — Marines from Jacksonville or Soldiers from Fayetteville — who were unhappy about being stuck down here in Cackalack.
I’ve seen no written evidence of this usage, but would love to hear/see anything anyone finds.
I love Page Skelton’s hot sauce, but I trust his etymologies for which he has offered no evidence ;->
David Whitson:
May 26th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
There is no “South” in Cackalacky.
Lizz Price:
July 18th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
In elementary school, we frequently watched an educational PBS show (1980’s) that referred to South Carolina as South Cackalacky. If memory serves it was a reference to a bird. At least that is what we were told.
Kathy McCord:
September 13th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
I was born in 1950 and my grandmother schoolteacher often referred to our state as North Cackalacky. I’m sure she probably told me why, but I don’t remember. You mentioned the Scots and the Germans. That doesn’t help me since her German ancestors came to NC’s western part of the state in the 1600s, and my grandfather’s, ancestors were part of the first Scots to come here in the 1700s.
The Real Paul Jones » Word Detective – Cackalacky:
December 9th, 2011 at 8:20 am
[…] alerts me that Word Detective is now on the case. Here. Dr. Connie Eble, Dr. Glenn Hinson, and in particular Bonnie Taylor-Blake offer good information […]
Kavey’s Cackalacky Roast Rib of Beef » Kavey Eats:
February 17th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
[…] With Google at my fingertips, I quickly learned that Cackalacky is a nickname for Carolina, USA and for many things originating in the two states, North and South, though the origins of the word are a mystery. […]
George Abruzzese:
July 28th, 2012 at 5:58 am
My family would take trips down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina when I was a kid in the 80’s. My dad always referred to it as North Cackalacky. I always thought it was one of his weird nicknames as he did that with everything. I was surprised to find out that this one at least was not invented by him! lol As my dad was born in 1941, I can only imagine that he heard it growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, as most of his pop culture references come from that time period.
Traci:
December 8th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
I don’t know why you say the Cherokee or Scottish language sources are implausible. We surely do have The Cherokee and the Scotch-Irish settled in our mountains, with many of us descended from them with other words and phrases enduring since then. Think “poke” for the word, bag. Don’t you think that is a possibility?
In any case, I grew up hearing my dad and grandfather using “North Cackalacky” as a synonym for North Carolina, often when trying to convey that we are in a remote, removed area from everyone else in the world. Still, it was always said with great warmth and pride.
As far as using it when describing South Carolina–well, they don’t count anyway. ;)
Traci:
December 8th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Agreed. They’re always trying to steal our thunder.
Michael Arrowood:
December 29th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
I’m a native Tar Heel (born 1961) and never heard this particular usage until about 10 years ago. I live in Western NC, and no one I knew ever referred to North or South Carolina by that term when I was growing up. I just assumed it was a recent slang invention… it would be very interesting if something more specific about its origins can be learned. Never heard of a native using it.
Andrew Davis:
February 11th, 2013 at 4:48 pm
I was born in NC in 1968, my family got to the Carolinas in 1697. I have never heard anyone ever use the term Cackalacty or any derivation of that word.
In my experience, it has always been used by Northerners, in a slightly but not always sneering manner. Right after they ask if I have guns or know how to make shine.
I do not believe it is a term which came from the Carolinas.
Ellis Green:
February 18th, 2013 at 9:07 pm
I’m from S.C., born in 1961. First hearing the term in the late 80’s/early 90’s, from well-known wrestler, The JunkYard Dog, who repeatedly used the phrase. People in my neighborhood thought he started it. Then I thought it was a young, hip-hop thing.
Rita:
April 8th, 2013 at 10:47 am
I lived in South Carolina just outside of Charleston for about six years in the nineties. Nearly everyone I knew used the term ‘South Cackalacky’ at least once. My mother has called North Carolina ‘North Cackalacky’ for as long as I can remember.
Heather:
April 9th, 2013 at 8:39 am
I’ve lived in NC for almost my entire life. My family has lived in NC since before the Revolution. My grandma used the term “Cackalacky”…but only in reference to NC, never SC. Then I heard it in a song & it became very popular.
Marc:
May 14th, 2013 at 5:19 pm
Let’s stop the Carolina’s battle. Maybe if we both got along we’d be able to combine and be a powerhouse. For the record, Cackylacky can be used to refer to either Carolina. North Carolina is not the only state with Carolina in its name and FYI, NC did secede from SC soooo uhhh who was first? I’ll leave it with Cackylacky is for both Carolinas to share…no need to be greedy
Randy:
June 3rd, 2013 at 11:00 pm
From a Union letter/story:
“Those North carolina boys carry so many possibles you and hear em clinkn’ a mile away.”
From all pans and equipment they carried.
Annie:
June 19th, 2013 at 7:35 pm
Three things:
1. I hate “cackalacky” with the flaming passion of a thousand white-hot suns. Worse than nails on the chalkboard.
2. I was born in NC (1966) and heard it from early childhood, usually in reference to SC, sometimes to NC. So, whatever its origins, they at least predate ’76 or so.
3. No, I REALLY hate that not-a-word word.
not a gator:
June 26th, 2013 at 11:18 pm
I thought that this word was associated with and spread by the US Armed Forces, specifically Marines, who referred to South Carolina as South Cackalacky.
The Cherokee connection seems plausible except that the oral histories given by other commenters point to a coastal origin, whereas the Cherokee lived inland.
Jeff White:
August 24th, 2013 at 12:12 pm
In 1710 the Carolina colony was divided, when Edward Hyde was appointed by the Lords Proprietors to be “…Governour for North Carolina Independent of the Governour of South Carolina.” The southern part was called South Carolina and the older, northern settlement North Carolina. This was when the nickname “Old North State” was born.
Note: “[…]older, northern settlement[…]” So you were saying?
Susan:
September 14th, 2013 at 1:33 pm
All I know is, I’ve lived in NC since 1962, and the first time I heard it was when the Carolina Panthers first arrived in Charlotte and the city welcomed them. I was watching it live on TV, and one of the players came out on the stage and said, “HELLO NORTH CAKALACKY!!!” Been using it ever since.
p3orion:
November 16th, 2013 at 9:42 pm
Although raised in both North and South Carolina, I never heard Cackalacky until I started meeting northerners in college; those from New Jersey seemed especially fond of the term. Given their general attitude about the south, I didn’t suspect that it was a positive or even neutral term, and to this day I’ve never heard a Carolina native use it. It’s probably similar to “Frisco” in reference to San Francisco, and should be used the same way: with knowledge that locals may find it somewhat offensive; you just have to decide whether you care or not.
shush..:
December 6th, 2013 at 2:28 am
We should ask Charlie Brown of the hip-hop group Leaders Of the New School. He uses the term “North Cakalaka” in a song called “Scenario” released by A Tribe Called Quest in 1991. Maybe he can tell us the origin.
Bill H.:
December 14th, 2013 at 9:06 am
I first remember hearing it used by golfers in S.C. in 1962. It was south cackalacy and north cacklacky.
Paul J. Stinson:
January 22nd, 2014 at 2:51 pm
I am a native of Durham and my family has been here for a few hundred years. I have always heard the term for both Carolinas. Although I like the idea of a bird or native american inspiration, if I had to take a guess, I would think that the word is an onomatopoeia representing the sound of the automated looms in the mill towns across the Carolinas. This would be similar to the rise of Charlie Poole’s banjo music that incorporated the same rhythm from the mill in Spray, North Carolina. It probably shared another nickname “lint head” describing the same. The automated sound is ” boom-caka-laka-laka-boom”.
Paul Jones:
January 23rd, 2014 at 12:09 pm
They are implausable as origins largely because of the complete lack of any documentation that would in any way link Cherokee or Gaelic to the word Cacklacky save Skelton’s imagination (something put to great use in his creation of food products, but less so in the area of linguistic research).
If the word had been coined or even in use pre-mid-20th century wouldn’t that word like say “poke” have been recorded at least once somewhere?
No one has been able to show a single instance of any version of Cacklacky pre-1950.
If you find such, do post here.
Danny O'Brian:
February 12th, 2014 at 10:14 pm
I was born and raised in NC. From a family of Tar Heels since 1700. Been a Sandlapper since 1972. First heard Cackalacky from my grandfather in the early 50s. It is just slang for Carolina. Dont know where it came from but certainly has no relationship to Yankees. Probably just redneck slang.
Tom Bland:
March 9th, 2014 at 7:23 am
A radio DJ in Greenville, NC has used North Cackalacky in his show since the late 70’s and early 80’s. John Moore has a great beach music and oldies show and is a native of eastern NC. I think he may have served in the military after high school, which would have been around 1970. Thus, it may add some fuel to the theory that servicemen stationed in NC originated the term.
melissa:
April 18th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
Michael, I was born in the early 60’s and lived both in the piedmont and costal areas. I heard it used both places as a child.
Bill Bowman:
May 21st, 2014 at 11:06 am
I was born in Winston-Salem in 1948, raised in Guilford County, and spent most of my life in NC. I never heard the term until today when a woman from Memphis told me I looked very Cackalacky because of my seersucker suit and bowtie. I can’t decide if the term is complimentary or derisive.
Cathy Evans:
June 26th, 2014 at 6:05 pm
For folks who love this sort of thing, my husband got me “Talkin’ Tarheel” for my birthday. “Cackalacky” is in there as well as “buddyrow”, “poke” and many, many, MANY words for “things askew”! http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/12509.html
North Cackalacky | By Robyn Sidersky, Journalist:
July 7th, 2014 at 9:46 pm
[…] sauce. He remarked that he had friend in the coast that used say she was from North Cackalacky. Here’s one explanation of where the word came […]
ray r.:
September 10th, 2014 at 10:37 am
Maybe it was someone who had some speech impediment when trying to pronounce “carolina”. Could have been pronounced “cackalina” back in the day???
EnArkhe:
September 30th, 2014 at 7:27 pm
I agree with Ray that the answer is simple: it is nothing more than a mispronunciation of “Carolina”. Reduplicating the first syllable of a weird is a very common error, especially with children. I bet somebody heard a child saying that, thought it was funny and then ” spread the word” so to speak.
Bill Robie:
October 13th, 2014 at 6:05 am
In the mid-1960s, the Famed Players Retreat pub frequently had a live singer/piano player who’s name was, I believe, Sammy Gay. (“Swing and Sway with Sammy Gay”) One of the songs that he sang was a modification of what I later learned to have been a 1920s tin-pan alley song called, “Nagasaki” (pronounced in the song, “nag-uh-SACK-key”). This fanciful and bawdy song, which referred to a pre-WWII Japanese city visited by American sailors, reflected no real knowledge of Japan or its culture–but such things were of little importance to the American music industry in the 1920s. It talked about amusing things that sounded Japanese to Americans, and that was sufficient back then.
Cab Calloway recorded this song, making it popular among early Jazz enthusiasts. My recollection is that Sammy Gay’s version adapted many of the same lyrics sung by Calloway, exchanging “Cackalacky” for “Nagasaki”.
Since some of the lyrics in the “Nagasaki” version of the song make little sense in a Japanese setting, but somewhat more sense in a Southern setting, one can’t help but wonder if the “Cacalacky” version was indeed the original.
In Sammy Gay’s version, part of the lyrics went:
Hot ginger and dynamite
There’s nothing but that at night back in Cackalacky
Where the men all chew tobaccy
And the women wicky wacky, woo
The way they can entertain
Would hurry a hurricane back in Cackalacky
Where the men all chew tobaccy
And the women wicky wacky, woo
Eric:
December 17th, 2014 at 11:10 pm
Earlier than Tribe Called Quest is this appearance in the ‘zine Samisdat that describes “a cultivated Nawth Kackalacky weed.”
Martin Mazur:
December 26th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
It was Sammy Kaye.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Kaye
Michael Durbin:
January 31st, 2015 at 8:37 am
Years back I read or heard somewhere it originated as a mildly teasing reference to poorer Carolinians who mispronounced Cadillac as Cackalack. But I can’t find the reference now.
Don Stanley:
March 19th, 2015 at 7:17 am
I’ve been from North Cakylacky since grade school. Mid-’60s. Don’t know where it came from but hear most often from older people. Might have originated in WW1 or WW11 era.
Don Stanley:
March 19th, 2015 at 8:11 pm
In the mid-60’s I had a girl ask me if I was from North Cackalacky. Most likely around 1967.
Don Stanley:
March 20th, 2015 at 5:09 pm
I have been researching for the origin of Cackylacky (this is the version of the word I use. It is phonetically spelled the way I 1st heard it) I have always heard it used for N and S Carolina since I was a kid. First heard it around 1966 or ’67. While growing up, I heard the term fairly often usually from older folk. Since older folk seem to be slower to take up new slang words I think the term pre-dates the ’60’s While I am still interested in tracking down it origin, i have been side-tracked a little.
I put a post on Asheville…the way it was (targeting the 50’s-the 80’s), Within a few hours I had comments coming fast and furious. Comments like ” I hate that word” “proud to be a North Cackylacky” “never heard that before but it sounds fun” “never heard that before but it makes my skin crawl” One of the page’s Administrators took offense and deleted the entire post! Well, I reposted offering an apology to anybody I might have offended and requesting from Admin a valid reason for the deletion of post. Boom! Here comes a flood of comments, this time basically in defense of the word Cackylacky and once again the post was deleted. I rec’d 2 PMs from the Head Administrator. The 1st stating “I don’t know why your 1st post was deleted, I was monitoring and thought it was interesting. No need to apologize. The 2nd stating “One of the other administrator deleted your post and we have a had complaints so your 2nd post has been deleted Do not post on this subject again!” WOW!
All I wanted was to see if anybody in the Asheville community had any info on the origins of the word CackyLacky. Maybe they don’t like my spelling. Now more that ever I would like to know the origin of the word. It seems to be a Power word. Any feedback would be appreciated!
nicole:
May 9th, 2015 at 11:32 pm
Any possible connect to scotland’s Craigellachie? Tge town’s small and quite far north but the pronunciation is very similar.
Robin Martinez:
June 22nd, 2015 at 9:47 pm
In 1986 there was a cartoon show called “Galaxy High,” an outer-space high school with aliens and two humans. The alien bully asked the human boy “Are you cackalack?”and then imitated a chicken clucking. I remember thinking the word was good onomatopoeia for “chicken” and immediately understandable in context, even without the sound effects.
In Portland, OR, the wife of the founder of Cackalack’s Hot Chicken Shack is from Asheville.
I wonder if the root word meant chicken, began as a scornful term, and then got turned into a source of affection and even pride for the Carolinas?
Judson Guerard:
September 22nd, 2015 at 12:32 pm
I was born in the old tar pit in 51. My grandmother taught school and edited a small poetry magazine for most of her life. Words were her bag. I’m sure I heard the term when I was a kid, but with no explanation. One thing is for sure about the south (and north kakalake in particular): simply because it’s new to you doesn’t mean it’s recent or new, and a simple explanation is probably inadequate.
Bob:
December 20th, 2015 at 4:56 pm
I went through boot camp at Parris Island, South Cackalacky and infantry training at Camp Lejeune, North Cackalacky in the late 60’s. . .When we got off the bus the Drill Instructors immediately referred to the State as South Cackalacky. . .no one knew the actual history of the word, but the Drill Instructor informed us that it had been a part of Marine Lingo since before WW2. . .he also said that the Army, in North Cackalacky, used the word, too.
Greg Gaines:
June 13th, 2016 at 12:41 pm
I agree with the assumption that the word came from the sound of the looms in the fabric mills. I grew up near Columbia Mills in Columbia SC and heard this term as far back as 1955.
Deborah (Hedrick) Prevatt:
June 25th, 2016 at 5:55 pm
I was born and raised in North Carolina in 1963. We lived in the rural area of Statesville, closer to Troutman and the Catawaba River than the town of Statesville, but always had a Statesville address. As a child I remember my Grandfather using North Cackalacky all the time and remember asking him what it meant but I don’t recall what his answer was. It’s one of those things I should have written down and regret not doing so.
Mary:
June 28th, 2016 at 7:41 pm
I was born in eastern NC in 1942 and attended college in Greensboro, NC. I lived in Florida for a good many years and spend a couple of years in Wisconsin.
I never heard the word Cackalacky until I moved to California and was working on a Navy base. I belive the man who used it had been in the Marines. I also hated the word. It was foreign to me and, for whatever reason, seemed insulting.
David Hines:
June 29th, 2016 at 7:47 am
I was born in Brevard NC in 54 and lived within sight of the Blue Ridge my entire childhood. Heard my father use this term many times referring to where we lived. He always seamed proud of the expression, but for some reason it offended me back then.
Jeremy Sapp:
July 25th, 2016 at 12:54 pm
I’m from the low country in Georgia, and I was always told that kakalaki was a Gullah (or Geechee) word for Carolina. I’m trying to substantiate that claim as I write this…
James O Parker Jr:
September 5th, 2016 at 10:48 pm
You should concider the military we used the term amongst homie back in 82
Was my first knowledge of the term
Dr. Ken Bradstock:
September 15th, 2016 at 8:50 pm
I thought the post about the word, “poke” as a paper bag was interesting since I grew up with it in the Appalachian Plateau near Pittsburgh. When we moved into Avery County in the 1960’s we discovered that many terms were the same as those I heard when I was a child. It must have been the influence of the Scots/Irish influence in the mountains. “Cackalacky” was not a word I heard used until we moved to the Piedmont in the ’70’s and it was used with affection not derision.
Mike Wann:
February 19th, 2017 at 1:30 am
Don’t know if this topic is moot due to lack of timeliness, but, I first heard the term “Cackalacky” in the late 60s-early 70s during formation roll call in the Marine Corps. Sergeants, bored with the tedium of calling roll every morning, would be somewhat creative…in their minds…in coming up with last names based on the geography (state info was listed along with full name) or ethnicity of the person whose name was being called. Anyone Slavic was always “Ski”, anyone from the Carolinas was always “Cackalacky”and there was something for Italians, which I can’t remember…maybe “Meatball”. I had never heard the term “Cackalacky” before then.
Lenore Carswell:
March 30th, 2017 at 11:27 pm
Cac – Scottish Gaelic word for the act or the description of excrement.
Lackey – Scottish Gaelic word for A footman, liveried male servant.
A fawning, servile follower; a lickspittle.
Ajani Bandele-Mason:
April 23rd, 2017 at 9:11 am
I have a view that there’re two words join together. The first being ‘khaki’ (a denim type Farm-worker/Military uniform) and the second word is ‘Lackey'(Servant, follower or Footman) …forming a very derogatory statement. Hence NOT surprising that there’s, now, a denial about the word…in the same way the “N” is now substituted for Ni88er
(I am From Barbados, Caribbean…the Carolina connection?)
Bill Robie:
August 9th, 2017 at 12:55 am
Martin Mazur –
Sammy Kaye is a good guess, and the “Swing and Sway” rhyme may have originated with him … but the fellow who played and sang at “The PR” in Raleigh was black.
Cora:
January 11th, 2018 at 11:12 am
I first heard it when I joined the Army in the early 80s. Born and raised in southeastern NC and had never heard it. I intensely dislike it, it always seemed to be used in a derogatory manner.
Henree Benton:
January 19th, 2018 at 3:44 am
I’m from Gawja & don’t have a dog in this fight. But I strongly concur with Andrew Davis’ comments, as his experience mirrors my own. I was born in 1960, & never heard the expression until I, like he, went North in the late 70s\early 80s. Besides, we Southerners seldom, if ever, deliberately mangle the pronunciation of our own point of origin, except when making a point, no matter how many syllables are involved, no matter which dialect or accent we use. Since military personnel are often the broadest-travelled in any country, that plus the post-40s be-bop influence seem the most reasonable deductions to me. I do not believe the term “Cackalacky” was ever in mainstream use until after the 1980s. SNL would’ve been delighted to apply it in a skit spoofing late Senator Ed Meese, if it had been.
Jerry Arnold:
January 26th, 2018 at 11:47 am
I first heard the word in the mid 70’s while serving in the US Navy
Daniel Madore:
July 1st, 2018 at 7:10 pm
I just heard Cackalacka on a Tribe Called Quest song called “Scenario” from the 90s, in the second verse.
‘East coast stomping, ripping and romping
New York, North Cak-a-laka, and Compton
Checka-checka-check it out,’
Nimrod Bodfish:
March 21st, 2019 at 11:46 am
I think it originates from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon.
Ree:
May 25th, 2019 at 11:24 am
I live in TheOld North State and have heard the term Cackalacky and just saw it as a car window decal. I am still at a complete loss for the meaning/origin and I thought you would know ?
Andrew H:
July 2nd, 2019 at 5:01 am
I first encountered the term in January 1986 in Columbia, SC, where I had just moved to attend the University of South Carolina after completing a hitch in the Marines. I had also just joined the local US Marine Reserve unit and was asked by one of it members–a young African-American Marine from elsewhere in the state–where I was from, because as he put it, “you sure ain’t from South Cackalacky.”
Heath Wentworth:
September 24th, 2019 at 7:02 pm
Just thought I would leave a note that in 1998 we were using that term when I was in high school.
James:
January 19th, 2020 at 3:42 pm
Well my Grandfather was born in 1918, lived in the eastern area of the state and moved from North Carolina to Concrete Washington around 1946. He often referred to North Carolina as Cackalacky. I remember it’s use for sure in the 1970s, but him having left NC in the 40s and never went back, I cannot suggest an origin for the word, but he thought of it as a common slang term for the Carolinas.
Cackalacky:
February 5th, 2020 at 8:01 am
This forum is nothing short of hilarious.
Mark Hetrick:
July 19th, 2020 at 12:56 pm
I remember Cackalacky from my time at Camp Lejeune, N.C. In 1963.
David Caudle:
August 29th, 2020 at 10:50 am
How about something relative to cackle (of chickens)?
Tom:
September 19th, 2020 at 5:46 pm
I grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee. I always thought it was just plain ole good-natured Southern slang for either North Cackalaky or South Cackalaky. I think it’s old mountain folk talk meant more as a term of endearment, or good-natured ribbing. I do believe it’s pretty old though, as my family goes back here many generations of dirt poor farmers.
Hammer Six:
January 30th, 2021 at 2:12 pm
I’m in Spokane, so I’m aware of Concrete. Nonetheless, my familiarity with Cackalacky comes from my 24 years in the Army. I’m inclined to attribute this colorful term to the military–well known for coining a term for sure! I would be interested in your Grandfather’s military service, as it might indicate his use of Cackalacky.
DebiBotteron:
June 3rd, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Good job!
rob:
June 19th, 2021 at 8:27 pm
Most definitely Junkyard Dog the wrestler used cackalacky a lot.
lyrics:
October 13th, 2021 at 3:42 am
I was brought into the world in the old tar pit in ’51. My grandma taught school and edited a little verse magazine for a large portion of her life. Words were her pack. I’m certain I heard the term when I was a child, however with no clarification. One thing is without a doubt about the south (and north kakalake specifically): basically in light of the fact that it’s unfamiliar to you doesn’t mean it’s new or new, and a straightforward clarification is likely lacking.
James Carroll:
November 6th, 2021 at 4:43 pm
Was raised in Nash County NC, and first heard the word cackalackey in the army at Fort Campbell, KY, when an NCO asked me if I was from Ole Cackalackey…