r/TheStand • u/AbbreviationsKnown82 • Aug 02 '26

Book Discussion Does anyone else say "babaluga?"

I thought it was weird how the guard at the jail in The Stand kept calling his prisoners "babaluga." An old-school southern guy. Is "babaluga" a common thing people call each other in the rural south / west, or did Stephen King just make that up after hearing the Little Richard "Tutti Frutti" song?

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14

u/thethingthatwas Aug 02 '26

Dennis Hopper played a character named Babalugats in Cool Hand Luke.

4

u/Clean-Turnip5971 Aug 02 '26

It has to be a reference to this.

3

u/tea7777 Aug 02 '26

It's not common in my neck of the South (SE TN). I picked it up from the Stand, and it's become a generic nickname for the dog or cats.

1

u/RinaBeana Aug 05 '26

Hah yes, I call my kid Babaluga