[PW] "The Great State of . . ."

[Nichael Cramer]

Peter Underwood wrote:
> >From time-to-time one hears of politicians in the United States 
> referring to "The Great State of . . .", (Georgia, for 
> example).  Is this a rhetorical flourish or part of the official 
> name of the jurisdiction?  If the former, at what period did this 
> affectation begin?

I can only answer part of the question; i.e. no, this is not an 
official/formal part of the name
of the state (can't help with the question as to when this formula 
began to be used).

However, as an aside, my favorite variant of this occurred during the 
(I believe) 1972
Democratic National Convention when the speaker for the state's delegation rose
and proclaimed that "The Almost Heaven State of West Virginia[*] casts its
sixty votes for [CandidateX]".

N
[* For those who might not recognize this, the phrase is from the song "Country
Roads", by the pop singer John Denver, which had been very popular in the US
at the time.  It's also interesting to note that the quote above almost scans
properly against the melody.  But, alas, the speaker didn't try to sing it.]
--
Nichael Cramer
Guilford VT
nichael at sover.net
http://www.sover.net/~nichael/