[GCFL-discuss] You Know You're From or In Pennsylvania If...

[Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List]

I can't believe this. Jeanene is ASKING my to comment on a subject?
(Where are the emoticons so I can put a friendly smile here, accepting
the joke in good humor?) 

Siarlys

OK, here goes:

On Tue, 23 May 2006 16:11:18 -0700 "Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies
List" <gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net> writes:
Well, then, I want a little explanation of the following words as you
know them to be:

hex sign -- a colorful design painted on barns and homes in Pennsylvania
Deutsch (they aren't really Dutch, they're German) areas, believed to
ward off spells, hexes, evil eyes, and other such hazards. Also sold to
tourists to take home to other states as interesting decorations.

"state store" -- in some states, sale of alcohol, or at least of hard
liquor, is limited to state-owned, or a limited number of state-licensed
stores, called "state stores." Corner grocery stores, convenience stores,
etc. don't carry it, althought they may in some states be allowed to
carry beer, and separate wine stores may or may not be allowed.

"sticky buns" -- a yeast roll with a sticky caramel syrup poured over and
hardened, often baked with pecans or walnuts, sometimes with raisins.

Scrapple -- I don't recall the exact ingredients, but it is a gelatinous
food made from the hooves and some internal organs of slaughtered
animals. Considered a delicacy in times when meat was scarce and every
bit had to be used.

commonwealth -- the colonies of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania were
commonwealths, meaning to a limited extent that the government derived
from the common agreement of whatever minority of the population were
considered full citizens (generally requiring ownership of a certain
value of property). Pennsylvania was originally a proprietorship: the
personal jurisdiction of the Penn family, and became a commonwealth when
the Penns were displaced. New York was a royal dominion, New Jersey was
granted to a couple of nobility as their personal estate, Maryland was
initially the proprietorship of Lord Baltimore, but that didn't last
either. Virginia and South Carolina were crown colonies, ruled more or
less directly by the king. But being so far away, they did have their own
representative assemblies. And then, the people who lived in these places
got their own ideas about how to govern what, or some of them did. About
a third of the colonial population supported the revolution, another
third opposed, and the remaining third watched which way the wind was
blowing, while profitting from both sides at every opportunity.

townships
bouroughs

The meaning of both terms varies, and often overlaps. "County" was, in
Europe, the domain of a count, less than an earl, who was less than a
duke, who was less than a king. What we call county is in England called
a shire, which is the domain in which a shire-reeve (sheriff) is
responsible for law and order. Townships in New York are
semi-unincorporated areas, smaller than a county, larger than a city,
which in Wisconsin would be called a town. Except, in New York City,
which is made up of literally five counties, each county government is
called a burough. Burough can also mean an unincorporated rural area, or
be used in the sense that village is in other states: an incorporated
municipality smaller than a city. I think burough may be used in place of
county in some states, but I'm not sure. (I don't know everything).
 
I have always assumed that township, commonwealth and borough are the
same thing as county, but now that doesn't seem quite right...
 
Jeanene
 
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