Alabama fans, does the term Bama bother you?

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First on the list is the word “bama.” In its most basic form, it’s an insult. A derivative of “Alabama,” there are certain applications that could be qualified as a term of endearment or as just a general term for a person. But if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t go throwing that around without expecting people to be offended.

Make no mistake, if someone calls you a bama, whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it wrong. There are derivations of said word, such as “bamafied” or bama used alone as an adjective. But for whatever reason, the spelling is up for debate.

I asked that question Tuesday on Twitter, and it was a starkly polarizing issue. Some prefer to write “bamma.” As someone who writes for a living, that makes me cringe. I don’t know why, it just looks wrong. As many said Tuesday, only bamas spell bama with two Ms.

The modern authority (well, not really) on such issues, Urban Dictionary, accepts both spellings. But we can’t have that. We don’t want people going around spelling crucial words however they like. The case for one M is obvious.

For street-slick citizens of the District, encountering someone of a more countryfied (from a place, like say, Alabama) flavor, style of dress and comportment was a regular situation back in the day. Hence the need for the insult, apparently. But the state is not “Alabamma.” Anything coming from the name of the Yellowhammer State should probably stick to the spelling, no?

The two most famous bama appearances I can recall involved D.C. radio personalities. On WPFW, Jerry Washington, a DJ, called his show “The Bama Hour” starting in the 1970s. In his 1994 obit, the New York Times quotes Washington’s description of the word, calling it “black slang word for a hayseed or rube.” Spot on. And, of course, there’s Huggy Low Down. For years, the comedian appeared on “The Donnie Simpson Show” with his “Bama of the Week, Week, Week” segment. Now you can hear his popular bit on Majic 102.3’s “Tom Joyner Morning Show.” And you’ll note: only one M.

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