Doo Dacker

[Magicman]

Yup, I turned the doo dacker around so that she could scan it, and she asked what?  I said the doo dacker referring to the UPC (code).  She said that she had never heard that name before.  The lady in front of me quickly said that she knew what the doo dacker was. 

I have heard and also used that term forever describing something, anything, especially  when you can not think of the name.  This means that a doo dacker can describe anything.

Maybe it's a Southern thing, Mississippi thing, Redneck thing, Slang thing ??

I Googled it and got (no)thing.  Maybe they or I don't know how to spell it, or maybe there is no such thing as a doo dacker.

[SawyerTed]

Doo dacker aka doo hickey, thingamajig, what cha ma call it, thingamabob

As in that doo dacker is catywampus

Translated- that device is crooked

[beenthere]

Heard and used doo hickey, but first time hearing doo dacker. 

[aigheadish]

Never heard doo dacker! Have also heard doo hickey. My kids call everything thingy...

[WV Sawmiller]

   I think the correct spelling is "Thingee" 

   Isn't it a Chingaso in Spanish?

[rusticretreater]

Hee whack a doo!

I think folks confabulated things with this term doo dacker.

Dictionary.com - doo - noun - a Scot word for dove 1 pigeon 1
Dictionary.com - dacker - verb (used without object) - Scot. and North England.
to totter or stagger.  to waver or shake. to saunter; move slowly or idly. to vacillate; act irresolutely or indecisively.

Sooooooooo, doo dacker is a Scottish dove or a pigeon that totters or staggers?  Had a wee dram or two perhaps?

-----------------------------------------
Green's Dictionary of Slang

doowhacker n.
also dowhacker
[ety. unknown]
any nameless small object, typically some form of gadget.

1931 L. Pound 'American Indefinite Names' in AS VI:4 258: Indefinite names... Thingum [...] thingem-bob [...] doosenwhacker, doowhacker, doowhackie, doowhopper [...] dudenwhacker.

[Magicman]

I kinda doubt that there was any form of intelligence or research expended on a doo dacker. 

[Andries]

I haven't encountered a doo dacker up here on the High Plains of Canada.

There IS a metric version though: doo hickey.
A term used often when opening up a hydraulic valve control body or other baffling-ley complex machine.

[Resonator]

Is that similar to a doo-wacka-doo?

I hear tell you're doin' well
Good things come to you
I wish I had you're happiness
And you had a doo-wacka, doo-wacka, doo-wacka, doo-wacka, doo-wacka-doo.   
(Song by Roger Miller 1965) 

[WhitePineJunky]

Here the word would probably be "thingy majig" 

[barbender]

I thought it was a "thing-a-meter" in Canada?😁

It is interesting how far back peculiarities of speech often go. I think I've mentioned the book, "Albion's Seed"  in the "what are you reading?" thread. I found it a fascinating read, as it went into the 4 main English migration events into America, and the cultural background and speech of these very distinct groups. 

Seeing "dacker" originated in the Scottish/English border regions reminded me of that book. That region had distinctive language and customs, and provided the immigrants that populated the American "backcountry" (Appalachia). The "Borderers" as they were know in England, were used to living in a somewhat lawless state as they were in the region where the border fluctuated back and forth. Family and clan ties were paramount, with blood fueds used to settle scores as is common in places where there isn't really any government. 

That said, I wouldn't bee surprised if Magic's family and their "doo-whackers" came down off the far southwestern tail of them yonder Appalachian mountains? 😊

[Magicman]

I doubt that any of our colloquial words came from anywhere except maybe Redneckism.  If it has a catchy sound it will be repeated.  Us country folk loves ta butcher da King's English, although I do strive to use correct English in my forum replies but missed keystrokes and fat fingers don't count. 

[rusticretreater]

Knowing a lot of my family history, history of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, I think it probable the term is Scottish in origin.  Shenandoah County has towns of the name of Strasburg, Edinburg, Hamburg, Bayse to name a few.  It is interesting to see the definite demarcation of the boundary of the Scottish population and the beginning of the area of the German Lutherans in the county.

The children of the early people of the valley, who arrived in the 1740's-50's, are the ones who pushed through the gaps to Kentucky, Tennessee and settle what became West Virginia.

[barbender]

Now please those of you that descend from these migrations correct me if I'm wrong, but I read that most of the Scots that settled in the aforementioned areas were Scots English speaking (not highlander, Scots Gaelic)? The language in those border areas had more connections to Old English, it was the region that put out the most resistance to the Norman invasion and probably suffered the most for it (read about "the harrying of the North")

It is said there were more differences between the different regions of England, than there were between England and the rest of Europe. The dialects between areas and even neighboring towns could be nearly unintelligible to each other. Much of that has been lost in the last 100 years.

I used to be much more of a language snob. I liked to be able to speak "properly", whatever that is. A few examples of things that have knocked me off of my high horse- some words, that I thought were maybe examples of redneck ignorance, and the point I was trying to make to Magic, actually have roots back in the regional dialects where they originate. One is "learn", when used like, "I'll learn you a lesson". So, using "learn" where one should use, "teach". But back in some of the regional dialects of Old English, "larn" was a word in common use that meant, "to teach". So just because someone never got the memo that larnin' someone somethin' wasn't "proper speech", we now look down our noses at it🤷

I could give more examples, but what is language other than some sounds that we can agree on to communicate an idea? If we can get an idea across to each other, that's "proper" to me.

[SawyerTed]

Southern American English has its own inner regional differences.  English in Virginia is different than English in North Carolina.  Same is true for East to West in both states. 

In other threads I've mentioned the idiosyncrasies of the Ocracoke NC dialect.   The region from Tidewster Virginia to Carteret County (Morehead City, NC) still has remnants of "the King's English" in accent and vernacular.

The Hoi Toiders (High Tiders) accent is a real thing.  The native population and especially the older folks  can be really hard to understand.  The pace of their speech obscures the words for those not attuned to the language.  And the hold over words are a mystery to outsiders.

They still use words like mommick, an English word from the 1400 and 1500s that means harassed or bothered and more lately broken.  As in "Mama put a mommickin' on the child for acting up."  Or "The water is really mommicked this morning"   "The engine is completely mommicked." 

Linguists who have studied the dialect say the regional isolation preserved the dialect much like the Southern Appalachian region @barbender mentions above.  Remnants of the dialects of the original immigrants remain.

The Gulah dialect of the South Carolina Low Country is as distinct as the Cajun American English dialect.  Both are amalgamations of multiple languages unique to their regional immigrants.

Thus "Doo Dacker" is a regionalized evolution of  some other term.  More than likely it's an evolution of a school yard slang word out of Missouri in the 1920s not too far off from tallywacker.   

In context the term "doo dacker" is a benign substitute for a a more technical or precise word.  But could be less benign depending upon context.

In Southern American English there's no end to the various polite ways to refer to the more "earthy" components of human anatomy and bodily functions.  Everything from the functions of the outhouse to body parts to the idiosyncratic functions of women's reproductive systems.  See what I did there?

[Magicman]

Oh wow guys, (Burt & Ted) I needed that because I had never thought of such.  So what I simply thought was Redneckism could very possibly have descended from other whateverisms.

Without being racial, our Negro population came from many different African "tribes" and there are still very definite different dialects that are spoken by different family groups.  I am amazed that I can listen to two people talk, hear every word, and have absolutely no idea even what the conversation is about.  I am sure that much of my language is geared toward the Black family that I grew up with.  I could talk with and understand them and I am sure that I very often mimic their dialect even without realizing it.  I grew up with that family, sat on their front stoop (porch) for hours visiting and talking, and went skinny dipping with their grandsons after picking cotton.

[barbender]

Imminently interesting to me. Just like family history, language is also a living history lesson, if you can go back and learn where things come from.

Often, the only difference between "proper" versions of a language and what is considered the vulgar language is who is the dominant class. If things were different, we might be speaking Magic's southern redneck to be proper, and look down on how people on the news talk🤷

Magic, what you said about the black family you grew up with brought something else to mind. As I've mentioned elsewhere, my family has a highly varied background. My Grandpa comes from  Native tribes that came from the northeast Mohicans, Oniedas, and Pequots. These people became Christians in the "Great Awakening" revival that swept that area back in the mid 1700's. 

Those Indians lived in towns, and adopted European culture in many ways. They were known as "Praying Indians". 

So my Grandpa's family has 250-300 years of speaking English and having adopted many white customs. 

Now locally, we live on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. Natives here, and many others, have a distinct dialect of speech. Some characteristics is speaking in a halting, very stressed manner. Words like "yous". So, instead of asking, "where are the two of you going?" thread local dialect would be, "where's yous going?" or , "where's yous going, den (then)?" Or, "Ho-whah! That was just loud!" "Just" is used instead of "very". I'll include a clip of a local Native comedian who plays up the dialect/accent rather than trying to describe it more. 

Anyways, my wife has pointed out when I run into friends and family from the local native village, that I speak as they do. I didn't even realize I was doing it. Another thing I've noticed, my younger siblings will sometimes joke around and try to speak I  the Native accent, but they just don't sound legit😊 

I got thinking about it one day, why can I seamlessly speak in a completely convincing Native accent and they can't? Then I remembered one day, that I was a child of 4 and 5 I attended Head Start in the local village of Ball Club for 2 years. So I had a true "immersion" experience😊 So much like Magic, I was just in it, and I'm sure my regular speech is probably colored by that in ways I don't even realize. 

[barbender]

https://youtu.be/LAiLum_8ryc?feature=shared

[Magicman]

Anyways, my wife has pointed out when I run into friends and family from the local native village, that I speak as they do.

I completely understand because I sometime catch myself talking the talk.

In front of my children or grandchildren I will sometime drop into that "native talk" but I have to be careful because especially the younger ones might think that I am being derogatory or raciest when I am not.  It's just that I grew up with it and their minds can not even imagine how my life was 70+ years ago.

[barbender]

Ted, you mentioning the polite ways of speaking more "earthy" components...something else I've been kind of revising my thinking on is swearing, or what's considered swearing. When I was a young man, I cussed and swore like a sailor. But then I became a Christian, and thought I should clean up my speech. Swearing wasn't very important to me so it was one of those things that was simple enough to walk away from.

Now one thing that always grated on me, was some people's insistence that you use "proper" medical terms for parts of anatomy. Latin words. Well I don't speak Latin, why would I use words from a language I don't speak to describe something? Usually, it is because it is something people are uncomfortable talking about or mentioning in the first place. So how does using Latin change that? I refuse to do that now😊

Anyways, most English words for bodily functions, private anatomy and such are now considered swear words and are replaced by Latin words or stupid made up words like "bum-bum". I ain't playin' that game no mo'😊

Many place names from common English, and some examples of place names (now replaced) in the Appalachian region are considered "not polite" due to this.

[Magicman]

Forget the proper medical/bodily terms, just call it a Doo Dacker. 

I enjoyed hearing that weather report Burt.  It almost sounded like some very unexpected English dialects that we heard when we were traveling in some of the NE states in 2017, especially Maine.

[SawyerTed]

Over the years several O'cokers have become friends.  When they are with us only a measured amount of the accent and vernacular creep into their speech. 

When these guys are with other natives they still speak English but the accent and verbiage abound!   It's fun to listen to them speak.  I've gained and "ear" for their dialect.  Most of those guys are 10-20 years older than me.  Somewhere in my generation and younger the accent diminishes. 

BTW, it's rainy here so Emily and I are enjoying some old movies.  Grumpy Old Men has its own vocabulary!   

[barbender]

Doo dacker it is, Magic! 😂

[barbender]

That Rez Reporter is a local celebrity. I forget the reach that social media gives sometimes, and here's a story to illustrate the point. 

Now I've talked about my Dad's side of the family. But my Mom is from Buffalo, Wyoming. I was actually born in Sheridan myself. With a ton of family out there, and the beautiful mountain ooutdoors, Wyoming is my second home and I spend as much time out there as I possibly can. 

One time we were at the Johnson County Rodeo and Fair. I was sitting at my cousin's campsite with him and his friends (who I hadn't met before) in the evening. Cousin Alvy is a ranch manager down in Kaycee, Wyoming- a very small town about 50 miles south of Buffalo. It is also the home of Chris LeDoux. 

I was surrounded by button up pearl snap white shirts, cowboy hats and chaps. I'm pretty good at blending in wherever I'm at an making small talk, so soon the ice was broken as far as that goes. It didn't take them long to learn I was from Minnesota, and one of those cowboys asked me, "do you know that fella that does the weather reports back there?"😂

I didn't know the Rez Reporter personally, but I've since written him a note on FB letting him know that his reach has extended to the Johnson County Rodeo. He really got a kick out of it 😊