vault backup: 2026-05-13 16:57:04

miller_1982_potlikker.md

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+---
+title: Pot Liquor or Potlikker?
+tags:
+  - exclude-from-word-count
+  - type/media/article
+authors:
+  - Zell Miller
+journal: New York Times
+pages: "18"
+source: _New York Times_, Section A, Page 18, February 23, 1982
+url: https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/23/us/pot-liquor-or-potlikker.html
+year: 1982
+---
+# Pot Liquor or Potlikker?
+
+In an article on Senate debates on food
+that ran on this page Feb. 10,
+mention was made of a 1935 filibuster
+in which Huey Long lectured his colleagues on the merits of potlikker.
+Due to an unfortunate consultation with a dictionary,
+that great Southern delicacy was referred to as ''pot liquor,''
+prompting the following communication
+from a regional authority on the subject:
+
+Dear Sir:
+
+I always thought The New York Times knew everything,
+but obviously your editor knows as little about spelling
+as he or she does about Appalachian cooking and soul food.
+
+Only a culinarily-illiterate damnyankee (one word)
+who can't tell the difference between beans and greens
+would call the liquid left in the pot after cooking greens "pot liquor" (two words)
+instead of "potlikker" (one word) as yours did.
+And don't cite Webster as a defense
+because he didn't know any better either.
+
+Sincerely, \
+ZELL MILLER \
+Lieutenant Governor \
+State of Georgia