News-Record.com

The North Carolina Piedmont Triad's top go-to source for News

a service of the News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina

» Home

The Editor's Log

« Jack Armstrong's death | Main | Lou Grant: 30 years ahead of his time »

Where, exactly, is Tobacco Road?

Andy Bechtel has a good post about the media's perpetuation of a cliche -- Tobacco Road.

Changing times aside, my main problem with "Tobacco Road" is that I have never heard it used in real life. In casual conversation, no one has ever asked me: "Did you see the game last night? That's how it goes on Tobacco Road." And believe me, the topic of "the game last night" comes up a lot.

I remember the first time I heard the reference, outside of the 1932 Erskine Caldwell novel. I was a reporter in Raleigh and an editor inserted it into the lead paragraph of an economy story I had written. Actually he rewrote the lead to refer to both Tobacco Road and King Cotton.

We can certainly grind a term into a cliche in no time.

I didn't save the clip.

Comments (2)

To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.

Bill Knight said:

Several years ago, while on a New England vacation, I had an opportunity to try and reach a friend from many years ago in the U. S. Coast Guard. His name was John Collins (there are many John Collins in Massachusetts) and after several phone attempts I gave up trying to find him. But on my last call for John Collins, the person on the other end had no difficulty picking up my southern accent. After telling me he was not the John Collins I was looking for he quipped, "how are things down south Johnny Reb?."

I guess names like Tobacco Road and Johhny Reb are fixed in the consiciences of certain parts of the country.

skeet club savage said:

To get to Tobacco Road, take a left at the light, then take the next right, right next to the Level Playing Field. You can't miss it.

If you're confused, ask Jesse.

Post a comment

Users who post comments to this blog tacitly agree to observe the News & Record Online Service Terms of Use and Content Submission Agreement. Comments which do not adhere to the terms of this agreement may be removed and the submitter may be banned from further participation. Please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page to report abuse of this feature.

ADVERTISEMENT

Search Jobs by Category

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Search

Channels
Font Size
Tools

submit feedback