> > 20. If you decide to stay in the South and bear children, don't think we will accept them as southerners. After all, if the cat had kittens in the oven, we wouldn't call 'em biscuits.
>
> That exact line, "if the cat had kittens in the oven, we wouldn't call them biscuits," is part of a Tim Sample stand-up routine. Tim Sample is a "down east" humorist -- he's from Maine and has a slight Maine accent, but when he does stand-up, he puts on a THICK downeast accent. His humor is largely based on Maine culture. His predecessors, "Bert & I," very famous in Maine, did the same thing. I believe they're dead now. At any rate, Tim Sample is carrying on the tradition. I think he was associated with them at some point; at any rate, he uses some of their classic routines in his own performances.
>
> So the 'kittens in the oven' line may have been original to Tim Sample, or it may have been original to Bert & I -- I'm not sure, but I'm 99% sure it came from one or the other and originally referred to the attitudes of people from Maine toward people not from Maine. It was kind of surprising to see the line pop up about southerners. Anyone know more of the line's history?

What was surprising to me is that the line worked so well for both places. I've spent enough time in the Maine and the South to know that they are somewhat different. Now that's an overstated understatement if I ever heard one.
Howard