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miskatonic Jack 2's definitions

Appalachia

A mostly poor region, mostly of British ancestry (English and Scots-Irish primarily, which mostly date to the 18th century). However, multiple ethnic groups are represented in the gene pool, and people of Southern/Eastern European descent (Dating from the time of the industrial revolution) become much more common as one goes northeast
(Scottish and Cherokee in western North Carolina, the former since colonial times and the latter countless centuries before that) as well as Welsh in some areas, most notably Eastern Pensylvania, Dutch in the Catskills, and more recent arrivals of mexican, Puerto Rican, East Indian Chinese, Middle Eastern and other descent, coming from many other places in Asia, Latin America, and Africa (many of these settled there for a time at least, long ago, either employed in town labor or to work in the coal mines.) Prior to the U.S./C.S. civil war, many runaway slaves escaped into these mountains (see melungeons) making good use of their remoteness.

Coal mining has been a significant source of employment for some time, but for a generation or two, the human workforce, who still deal with deadly conditions in both the air they breathe, as well as the lingering hazard of a cave in, have largely been replaced by huge machines which destroy a topography that took hundreds of millions of years to develop. Most people are out of work and many have tried to suppliment their income by growing cannabis.

Much older than the Rockies, Andes, Alps or Himilayas, the Appalachian Mountains stretch from the foothills of the state of Mississippi's Northeast , through the northern 2/3rds of Alabama, northern and Northwest Georgia, the
northernmost and westernmost parts of South Carolina, Western North Carolina, most of Virginia to the west, the eastern 2/3rds of Tennessee, the majority of Kentucky to the east/southeast, pretty much all of West Virginia (once refered to as the State of Kanawha), the southeastern part of the state of Ohio, most of Pennsylvania, Western & northern Maryland, the northwest corner of the state of Delaware, Northwest New Jersey, most of the state of New York, New England, and into the Atlantic Provinces.
The Appalachian region, which is plagued by poverty, methmphetamine abuse, pollution from the coal mining that poisons the rivers and streams, mountaintop removal, a lack of economic activity, isolation (save for a number of metropolitan areas, which I'm not including for this definition) from most of the outside world (which has made it prey to many coal companies)
is in desperate need a renaisance.
by Miskatonic Jack 2 October 17, 2006
mugGet the Appalachiamug.

builder's special

Whenever a house is built in a subdivision for the momentary gain of the evil developers and "home builders", this is what the landscaping is refered to.
Often in place of a wooded area that contains irreplacable diversity in it's flora and fauna, The builder will select a generic assortment of bushes, trees, and other plants. These will typically include the short lived Bradford Pear, Red Maple, Pin oak (both native to marshy areas), Burning Bush, Japanese Barberry (both considered invasive), various Junipers & arborvites, Korean Boxwood, and whatever other generic plants they have to choose from at places like WAL-MART, Lowes, Home Depot, K Mart and Target.
This is even the case around 2 million dollar McMansions.

This is one of the reasons why suburban sprawl is so damaging and why it disrupts the delicate ecological balance.

The builders special can also be seen around commercial development.
What a waste of land, this was 100 acres of farmland plus another 50 acres that was forested, and now we have a generic sudivision with 2 acre lots, McManions and ranch houses set all the way to the back of their lots. And whatever varity of plants that was found in the wooded portion will be lost forever to be replaced by the builder's special.
by Miskatonic Jack 2 November 6, 2008
mugGet the builder's specialmug.

hamlet

smaller than a village - larger than a wide spot in the road, a hamlet usually has considerably less than 200 people and is usually tied to agriculture (although many housing subdivisions could loosely be described as hamlets, especially when incorpirated and containing a minimal number of people).
A hamlet can either be dispersed (particularly in the USA), or clustered (see urban).
It is often located at the crossing of two minor thouroughfares (at a crossroads). Most intentional communities, if not a village and and not tied into the fabric of a larger entity, could be described as hamlets.
The documentary film "Rabbit Hash - Center of the Universe" was about an old and remote river hamlet which contains a small art colony on the western end of the Kentucky portion of the Cincinnati Ohio metropolitan area (near another hamlet called Big Bone) that elected a dog for mayor, not once, but twice! The First dog was named Goofy.

Eucla is a hamlet of around 50 people that serves as a regional centre for the Nullarbor Plain of Australia.
by Miskatonic Jack 2 December 9, 2008
mugGet the hamletmug.

1900s

The period that started on January 1st 1900 and ended December 31st 1999. Often confused with the 20th century (which began and ended exactly 1 year later) as well as the 1st decade of the 1900s.
During the 1900s, many disenfranchised groups got a better life, but on the downside, the landscape was destroyed by the automobile (as well as the airplane) and all the things that followed.
by Miskatonic Jack 2 November 10, 2008
mugGet the 1900smug.

1900s

The period that started on January 1st 1900 and ended December 31st 1999. Often confused with the 20th century (which began and ended exactly 1 year later) as well as the 1st decade of the 1900s.
During the 1900s, many disenfranchised groups got a better life, but on the downside, the landscape was destroyed by the automobile (as well as the airplane) and all the things that followed.
by Miskatonic Jack 2 November 10, 2008
mugGet the 1900smug.

Little Saigon

Any neighborhood with a significant Vietnamese presence

e.g. the Southside neighborhood of Louisville KY & the Tenderloin District in San Francisco.

Many are a separate enclave within a larger, pre established Chinatown.
Texas, Northern and Southern California each have multiple cities containing one or more Little Saigon.
by Miskatonic Jack 2 June 30, 2010
mugGet the Little Saigonmug.

spread

The land which belongs to someone.
They had a 4 acre spread on the outskirts of "town" and a large gun collection. They were afraid of the government.
by Miskatonic Jack 2 November 23, 2010
mugGet the spreadmug.

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