"Adirondacks" or "Dacks"?

[Whiskey Jack]

As someone who has used the term 'Dacks for the last 20 years or so (and having friends who do as well), I'm dismayed to see the largely negative reactions its received. So for now on its going to be "I'm going North, but on Southern fringes of the Laurentian Plateau".

[adkmountainangel]

Having been born and raised in the "Adirondacks", I also wince at it being referred to as the dacks. I agree, Adirondack is a beautiful word. I just refer to it as home.

[fallingwaters]

Originally Posted by ADKHUNTER

Welcome aboard FW.

ED

Hey Ed thanks for welcoming me to the forum! Plan on spending every chance I get in the Adirondacks!

[pico23]

Originally Posted by adkmountainangel

Having been born and raised in the "Adirondacks", I also wince at it being referred to as the dacks. I agree, Adirondack is a beautiful word. I just refer to it as home.

But yet you like the abbreviation ADKS?

Seen in both your name and in your location.

Very odd!!

ADK is the name of a club? Or one of those stupid european style international ovals that are common on cars on the wrong side of the pond.

So I guess we all can be a bit angry at stupid abbreviations for me it's ADK!!!

[Judgeh]

This thread has been an eye opener...no more "Daks" for me!

Now...about the term "flatlander"....

[Neil]

In speech I use Adirondacks. In French however, I will often affectionately use, "les Addies", with a very short D and the accent on the 2nd syllable.

Typing on the net I either use ADK's, Dacks or Dax. One could take it one more step and use dx. It's kinda like using Pete instead of Peter, or Betty, Beth or Liz for Elizabeth. As in, "my name is Elizabeth but my friends call me Beth".

[adkmountainangel]

to pico23.....

First of all I never said dacks was "stupid", I just said it made me wince. I used the ADK abbreviation because it is the abbreviation of the Adirondacks also. (there are bumper sticker all over up here with a circle and just ADK on them) I never said I didn't like that. It also keeps my user name from being a mile long..LOL As far as I stand, used what you like, but please don't call what others say stupid, I never did that. Sorry if I offended anyone. adkmountainangel signing OFF.

[ALGonquin Bob]

and I didn't think there would be many posts on this thread....

[Little Rickie]

Originally Posted by ALGonquin

and I didn't think there would be many posts on this thread....

Just wait we haven't hit 100 post yet. Flame on!

[colden46]

Originally Posted by pico23

But yet you like the abbreviation ADKS?

Seen in both your name and in your location.

Very odd!!

ADK is the name of a club? Or one of those stupid european style international ovals that are common on cars on the wrong side of the pond.

So I guess we all can be a bit angry at stupid abbreviations for me it's ADK!!!

I'm surprised you'd be annoyed at ADK, since it's just an un-pronounceable abbreviation of Adirondack, kind of like USA. The only time I've ever heard it used in speech is in reference to the club, and the letters are always sounded out separately, as in A-D-K. Now if someone tried to say it as a word it would probably really annoy me (like if someone tried to say USA as a word), but the three letters by themselves strike me as pretty neutral. I think people use it here just to save some keystrokes, just as a lot of people say they use Dacks/Daks/Dax. I have heard Dacks used in speech though.

As for the club, sure, it's the initials of the Adirondack Mountain Club, but only because AMC was already taken. They chose ADK precisely because it's a shortening of Adirondack. Same thing with those bumper stickers. Neither has a trademark on the abbreviation. (Edit: the club actually used to, from 1990 to 2001, according to the USPTO. The registration is listed as "Cancelled". Anyone have any idea why they gave it up?)

[colden46]

To answer my own question, I agree with the others above that say Dacks makes them cringe. I also agree with others that my initial feeling about the word was that it conveyed disrespect to the Adirondacks. Maybe disrespect is too strong a word, but it certainly made me think the user was out to "conquer" the mountains/lakes/whatever rather than just go climb/hike/paddle. At the risk of reviving an old flamewar, kind of like how some people view the word peakbagger.

The reason I had this impression was probably because the first time I heard the word was in my college outing club, and like a lot of college students the users of the word really did seem out to "conquer" the mountains. This may have permanently tainted my view of the word. Now that I've been frequenting these forums, I see a lot of people using it that clearly aren't the conquering type.

The sound of the word itself still makes me cringe though, and I doubt I'll ever get over that. After seeing the responses here, I now know I'm not the only one!

Thanks for the interesting thread so far! Only 27 posts left for Little Rickie

[1894]

26 and counting .........

[Little Rickie]

Originally Posted by colden46

Only 27 posts left for Little Rickie

I'm not going to make it to 100 posts. Where is hawk when I need him?

24 to go

[1894]

No where near Hawks ability but trying to help . I'll see what I can do

[1894]

Is NOT synonymous with The Adirondacks

[pico23]

Originally Posted by colden46

The sound of the word itself still makes me cringe though, and I doubt I'll ever get over that. After seeing the responses here, I now know I'm not the only one!

Thanks for the interesting thread so far! Only 27 posts left for Little Rickie

As Neil said, it's a nickname. My wifes name is Aimee, I only call her Aimee when steam is coming out of my ears and I want to divorce her (oh, and when I introduce her to someone), 99% of our 10 year life together she's been Aim.

Maybe today when we get home I'll start calling her Aimee so she doesn't think I'm out to conquer her...sorry, i just find this whole disrespect thing hilarious and thats where I'm having the biggest problem.

I also didn't realize this board was filled with linguist. How wonderful, I never really found the beauty in spoken words the way linguist do by breaking down the patterns of sounds. For instance they'll break down a name like Juliane and note how it has no plosives and call it beautiful. Not to say it's not a nice name but all I can say is what an interesting profession. My thoughts are who cares!!!

So in summary:

1) I find it almost ridiculous to say nicknaming something is akin to conquering it.

2) I find it funny that we must pronounce the whole word in both writing and speech because it's "beautiful"

3) I realize why we are unable to solve basic problems in this country and on planet earth, people simply spend too much time worrying about the most nonsensical things.

[Willie]

Originally Posted by pico23

I also didn't realize this board was filled with linguist.

Dacks, in Australian colloquialism, means pants or trousers.

[DuctTape]

What if we had someone build a twig chair with the back spelling Dacks and left it at a shelter?

[colden46]

Originally Posted by pico23

1) I find it almost ridiculous to say nicknaming something is akin to conquering it.

2) I find it funny that we must pronounce the whole word in both writing and speech because it's "beautiful"

3) I realize why we are unable to solve basic problems in this country and on planet earth, people simply spend too much time worrying about the most nonsensical things.

I don't think anyone here is spending time worrying about anything. I know I certainly don't sit up at night thinking about my feelings towards the word Dacks. It's just a topic of conversation, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I respect everyone's right to call the region by whatever they want, I just choose not to call it the Dacks. I expressed my opinion as to why that is, and I'm sorry you feel that it's ridiculous, hilarious, or stupid. If you read my post more carefully, I also explained that since I've seen the term used here by many people that obviously don't fit my initial stereotype, I've stopped making that assumption. My complaint is also not with nicknames in general, just that one in particular. I can't explain it, sorry.

As for your belief that this is nonsensical, everyone holds beliefs that someone in the world will find nonsensical. Everyone has their pet cause that is important to them -- no, mine is not eliminating usage of the word Dacks -- and people need to respect that. With all due respect, I would say that the reason we can't solve problems in this country is not because people worry about nonsensical things, but because people can't respect or understand the viewpoints of others and simply dismiss them as nonsensical.

I apologize if this came across as rude, because it wasn't meant to

[Little Rickie]

Originally Posted by DuctTape

What if we had someone build a twig chair with the back spelling Dacks and left it at a shelter?

I'd burn it anyway as a nonconforming structure that has no place in the wilderness and is "tying" up carbon.

Thanks for the post you're breathing new life into to me. I'm not real busy at work today.

18 to go.