Oklahoma Dialogue Trivia

[Manmade954]

"Robert G. Koch" <fish...@top.monad.net> wrote:
>>Can anybody tell me what a "shike-poke" is?

Having grown up in Oklahoma, I've heard the slang phrase "shike poke" all my
life, but I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out how to explain it.

I guess the easiest way to describe it is "nerd". and a feeble minded shike
poke would be a way of calling someone a simpleton.

hope this helps.

[London]

A 'shike-poke' is a bird. The name refers to the bird's habit of disposing of its droppings by pushing them away with its beak.    

Robert G. Koch wrote in message <7dpc52$pq6$1...@news.monad.net>...

Hi

 

I'm playing Ali Hakim in a production of Oklahoma!   In the second act, "Andrew Carnes" calls me a "a feeble-minded shike-poke".  Many have looked it up in various sources but to no avail.  Can anybody tell me what a "shike-poke" is?

 

Rob Koch

Actors' Circle Theatre

Peterborough, NH

[Abfou]

manma...@aol.com (Manmade954) wrote:

> "Robert G. Koch" <fish...@top.monad.net> wrote:

>>>Can anybody tell me what a "shike-poke" is?
>

>Having grown up in Oklahoma, I've heard the slang phrase "shike poke" all my
>life, but I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out how to explain it.

>I guess the easiest way to describe it is "nerd". and a feeble minded shike
>poke would be a way of calling someone a simpleton.

____________

According to my brother the country mouse, a shikepoke is a regional
name for the green heron. He says the name was originally "shitepoke,"
from the bird's habit of defecating when startled. A human "shikepoke"
is a coward, a nervous nellie -- think Don Knotts -- and generally a
worthless creature.

Abfou

[spike....@yahoo.com]

There is a little bit of truth in several of these responses.
A shike-poke is the name used by old timer's for the green heron(we called them Missouri Cranes).

It translates literally "shit-bag" or "bag of shit". It was derived from the German scheisse(shit), and poke(bag). It comes from the practice of these large birds defecating as they took off to lighten the load.

My grandfather(born 1901) knew no other name for these birds. I didnt know the origin of the name until recently when I spoke of this term to a historian who informed me of the rest. Though I had heard Grampa talk about Shike-Pokes many times, I had no idea what one was.

Dennis Starks

[John W Kennedy]

You are responding to messages that were posted in the last century.


--
John W. Kennedy
"The blind rulers of Logres
Nourished the land on a fallacy of rational virtue."
-- Charles Williams. "Taliessin through Logres: Prelude"