1904: dixie Mar 2, 2020

‘Dixie’, from ‘Dixiecrat’ to ‘Dixieland’ and more, crops up fairly often as an informal term for southern US states. However, no one knows where it comes from for sure. One idea is that it originated with reference to the Mason-Dixon line, where the south is officially separated from the northern states. Another idea, is that it comes from the slang for the historical Louisiana $10 bill when it was a French colony, from the French word 'dix' ('ten'). Support Word Facts on patreon.com/worfacts