[at-l] Southern Speak OT

[lubitz@alumni.fdu.edu (lubitz@alumni.fdu.edu)]

My first introduction to "southern Speak" was at the reception center at Ft
Knox, KY in December 1969.  Having gone to school in Indiana, I was used to
references to grocery sacks and pop, but was not ready for the "true" south.
(Some might argue that KY is not "true" south but military posts all over have
southerners.)

Each evening, around dusk, an announcement would come over the PA system to
"turn on all far lights".  We were in WW2 vintage wooden barracks with a door
at either end.  The far light was the outside porch light over each of the two
doors.  Knowing the Army's habit of naming things in an unusual manner, I
thought they were named far lights because they were on the far ends of the
building.  It wasn't until I saw it in writing that I realized that they were
FIRE lights, the purpose of which, in case of fire, allowed the doors to be
easily identified and found.

Rich
(born in the Bronx & raised in NJ

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