Delawarisms

by Karl Kurtz

Body Parts People. A collection of organizations like the heart association, lung association and cancer society that join forces to lobby for health measures, such as the smoking ban. Their selling point is their virtuousness, which is second only to Mom and apple pie.

Leg Hall. Legislative Hall [photo], the center of Delaware's political universe in Dover. Its shorthand name is pronounced the way the Body Parts People would.

These are two of the delightful legislative localisms you can learn about by reading Delaware Grapevine's "Legislative Lingo."  Many of the terms in this article, like "just housekeeping," "player" or "wired," are not localisms but part of legislative parlance everywhere.  But many others like "body parts people," "Big Head," or "Thurman's office" are unique to legislative life in Dover.  We're delighted to add these to our own collection of legislative localisms.

We continue to welcome readers' contributions of their own legislative lingo.

Comments

[From Pennsylvania]

Love this feature. "Body parts people" is also a common term in Pennsylvania's Capitol.

[Karl Kurtz]

From Anne Dunn in Louisiana comes this contribution of an extensive glossary of legislative terms: http://house.louisiana.gov/OG/Index_Glossary08.htm. Most, but not all, of these are legislative terms in general use, rather than localisms (Louisiana-isms?). If you're looking for a good glossary of legislative terms, this is it. Thanks, Anne!