SK and the use of the word, "hoss"....

[unclelouie]

This thread should be a little bit more light-hearted than the "N" word thread

So I've noticed over the years, SK has a propensity for the "H" word as well as the "N" word. I find this hilarious for two reasons. One is that I grew up in the South, and remember my grandfather, and other old-timers using this word. Mainly it was a term that old Southern men used. Sometimes they used it as a term of endearment (sorta like Bubba). Also, it was a term that older rednecks used, when talking down to (or attempting to talk down to) city folk and college boys (ie non rednecks... sort of like calling a tall person, "Shorty").

The humor is that yes, my granpa used to call people Hoss all the time, and it tickled me,. and secondly, SK is a New Englander. I wonder where and when that word became a part of his writing vernacular. Its just a word that Ive never heard anyone outside of southern rednecks use, and SK is the furthest thing from that!

In Low Men in Yellow Coats, one of the Low Men calls Ted Brautigan, "Hoss", when they catch him outside the pool hall. He says something to the effect of, "time to go back, Hoss".

In The Stand, Stu Redman probably calls Tom Cullem "ol' Hoss" about 100 times.

Ive seen the term pop up in Under the Dome, and a couple others. I just think the word is funny. And SK using it would be like Lewis Grizzard having used a term such as "ayuh".

[Walter Oobleck]

Don't believe I noticed the use of the word Hoss as much as another phrase or two I'd heard while I was just a da--- Yankee way down in the South...in Duma Key, I thought...seemed like he used the phrase "right cheer"...spelled a bit differently, to mimic the dialect. Wish I could find the use in the story...as it might have been one of the other multitude in use down there...like Imone...Imone be on you like white on rice, boy. Man I worked for down there liked the word deacon...he'd tell me to get in the Baptist way of churching, if I knew what was good for me, deacon. Was reading Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel, and the protag's mother...his name Eugene, as I recall...used the phrase, boy, I tell you what! I only heard that about a million times in Alachu-aye County.

[unclelouie]

Don't believe I noticed the use of the word Hoss as much as another phrase or two I'd heard while I was just a da--- Yankee way down in the South...in Duma Key, I thought...seemed like he used the phrase "right cheer"...spelled a bit differently, to mimic the dialect. Wish I could find the use in the story...as it might have been one of the other multitude in use down there...like Imone...Imone be on you like white on rice, boy. Man I worked for down there liked the word deacon...he'd tell me to get in the Baptist way of churching, if I knew what was good for me, deacon. Was reading Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel, and the protag's mother...his name Eugene, as I recall...used the phrase, boy, I tell you what! I only heard that about a million times in Alachu-aye County.

Mawnin.....I got yer bacon and grits ready, hoss, they right cheer on the table.

You know another term Southerns use is "chap", which is only a term I've heard used by African-American Southerners, in more rural areas. Of course, Suze from the Dark Tower uses it, but she is oddly from New York.. but then again, it's not reallllly Suze using the term ,

[Walter Oobleck]

I thought da South had the monopoly on reckon until I heard my neighbor in Florida, lady from England working on her post-doc, use the expression. She set me straight. Lately, I been worrying about the fate of the infinitive. Divide and conquer seems to be the motto. Just read another one split while visiting w/Jim. Someone from Korea had to turn me onto that business. How about honey? Jim in Huck Finn calls Huck and maybe others honey and I've seen the use in other stories.

[GNTLGNT]

...can't help it...everytime I hear the word "Hoss"..this mug comes to mind...

[unclelouie]

I thought da South had the monopoly on reckon until I heard my neighbor in Florida, lady from England working on her post-doc, use the expression. She set me straight. Lately, I been worrying about the fate of the infinitive. Divide and conquer seems to be the motto. Just read another one split while visiting w/Jim. Someone from Korea had to turn me onto that business. How about honey? Jim in Huck Finn calls Huck and maybe others honey and I've seen the use in other stories.

Male Southerners typically do not call other males "honey", but some older ones do. My uncle actually used to call his sons, "honey", and I think he still does, albeit my "honey" cousins are 30-somethings now. Now, a greater percentage of Southern males call women, "honey", all the time... waitresses, flight attendants, bank tellers, ertc. Many women are offended by it (a random man calling them "honey"), some not.

Reckon' is definitely a Southern term, and even I use it from time to time.

Another odd thing us Southerners do is use plural pronouns when they should be singular. A common example, is Southerner #1 telling Southerner #2, "see yall later". Or, "we'll be seeing ya". I try hard not to do this, but I catch myself doing it every once in a while.

[Spideyman]

...can't help it...everytime I hear the word "Hoss"..this mug comes to mind...

That was my first reaction, too.

[carrie's younger brother]

...can't help it...everytime I hear the word "Hoss"..this mug comes to mind...

My first answer was going to be that "hoss" made it into the vernacular with the advent and popularity of the TV show Bonanza, which SK might have watched as a kid. He would have been 12 years old when the show premiered in 1959. Often, words and phrases from televisions shows we watched in our youth make it into our adult vocabulary.

[GNTLGNT]

...or possum burritos...the term Hoss gives me a hankerin' for them too....