Extremely Local News
Feb 10 2010, 21:08 EST [updated Feb 10 2010, 21:21 EST]
Do you remember that scene in the movie Kingpin where "to pull a Munson" becomes a derogatory phrase attached to a person? Well the Lehigh Valley has a version of that. To be a "cudderman" is to be dirty, stupid, do a half assed job, or all of the above. The agreed etymology is that the Cutterman family was always held in disrepute (here is a longer exposition of the story that also implicates the Labars and Halsteads).
I find the whole thing intriguing mainly because the idea of families that are notable or notorious seems foreign and archaic. Well, not completely foreign: I have more cousins in the Lehigh Valley than I can count (reunions are a multi-keg affair); and upon learning that my Cambridge, MA bowling captain was from the LV we determined that I have been to some of his cousin's weddings (He's a Keener, and they are so populous that his father decided to change the spelling just to differentiate himself).