Dixie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Dixie (disambiguation).
Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States.
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[edit] Origin of Dixie
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origins of this nickname remain obscure. According to A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles (1951), by Mitford M. Mathews, three theories most commonly attempt to explain the term:
- The word "Dixie" refers to a privately issued currency from banks in Louisiana. These banks issued ten-dollar notes, labeled "Dix" (French for "ten") on the reverse side. These notes are now highly sought-after for their numismatic value. The notes were known as "Dixies" by English-speaking southerners, and the area around New Orleans and the Cajun-speaking parts of Louisiana came to be known as "Dixieland". Eventually, usage of the term broadened to refer to most of the Southern States.
- The word preserves the name of a kind slave owner on Manhattan Island, a Mr. Dixy. (Slavery was legal in New York until 1827.) His rule was so kindly that "Dixy's Land" became famed far and wide as an Elysium abounding in material comforts.
- "Dixie" derives somehow from Jeremiah Dixon of the Mason-Dixon line defining the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania (the northern boundary of Dixie).
The Mason-Dixon theory is the most popularly known, but few lexicographers give it much weight.
[edit] I Wish I Was in Dixie
- Main article: "Dixie (song)"
"I Wish I Was in Dixie" is a popular song about the South. It was written by composer Daniel Emmett, a Northerner, and published in 1859. A blackface minstrel-show troupe debuted the song that same year in New York City. As with other minstrel show numbers, the song was performed in blackface and in exaggerated Black English Vernacular. The song proved extremely popular and became widely known simply as "Dixie". The song has also been published as "Dixie's Land".
The song became the unofficial anthem of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. This and the tune's minstrel-show origins have created a strong association of "Dixie" with the Old South. As a result, some today view the song as offensive and racist.
On The Dukes of Hazzard, the horn of the General Lee played the first 12 notes of the melody from "Dixie."
The term "whistling 'Dixie' " is a slang expression analogous to idleness or nonsense. Examples: "Don't just sit there whistling 'Dixie!'" (as a reprimand against inaction); "You ain't just whistling 'Dixie!' " (in support of an argument).
- "Dixie" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- 1916 rendition of Dixie by the Metropolitan Mixed Chorus, with Frank Stanley, Ada Jones, and Billy Murray
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.
[edit] Business
Many businesses in the South contain "Dixie" in their name as an identifier, e.g. "Dixie Produce." One of the more famous is supermarket chain Winn-Dixie.
