Date:  Mon, 6 Oct 1997 14:17:51 EDT
From:  Michael Montgomery <N270053[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]VM.SC.EDU>
Subject: Etymology of _Hoosier_

Mitford Mathews cracked this etymological nut on page 830 of his
_Dictionary of Americanisms_, wherein he indicates its most probable
source as _hoozer, "very large" in the dialect of Cumberland, northern
England.

DARE attests the term quite widely and early outside Indiana. Indeed,
until the mid-20th century, mountaineers in Tennessee and North Carolina
were called _hoosiers_. How the term has come to be associated with
Indianans is a more recent but intriguing story.

Michael Montgomery
Dept of English
Univ of South Carolina
Columbia SC 29208