Cricker

A term that derived in Kirksville, Missouri, this was an actual place. My father remembers seeing a 1950's map displayed in the City Hall that labeled the creek ('crick') where the city sewer discharged as 'Shit Creek (Crick)'. This creek was located at the bottom of Osteopathy Hill just north of the hospital and drained generally westward into 'the holler'. Today this is a fairly upscale area but back then it was mostly unoccupied land except by the 5 poorest families in Kirksville. Most of these families lived in tarpaper shacks with galvanized tin roofs and dirt floors. So in the beginning it was an actual location. Example- "I saw a huge deer at Shit Crick the other night when we were out riding around and drinking beer." Later, it referred to those living in the vicinity. Example- "Yeah, I saw that So-and-So Cricker the other night at the Red Angus." It was soon shortened to just 'cricker'.

By the mid 60's/ early 70's, it was a very derogatory term. It was about the absolute worst insult one could use. It meant a low-down, worthless bum, worse than white-trash. A liar, thief, a druggie. An unprincipled, unreliable, irresponsible person who was uneducated and unwilling to better themselves.

This term was not known widely outside of Kirksville until sometime around 1990. In Memphis in the early 90's when I was apologizing for being filthy from the farm and "looking like a cricker". No one knew what it meant unless they had been employed or lived in Kirksville.

"I blew a tire at Shit Crick the other night." "You are such a Cricker! Why don't you get a job?" "We went to a party at Circle Drive the other night. You know- down in the Holler past Shit Crick." "You lost your license? How are you gonna get to work? I guess you're up Shit Crick now, huh?"

by KVTigers88 September 25, 2020