In this week’s “Savage Love” a reader asks me to come up with a definition for “clam digging” and “clam diggers.” My suggestion is suitably and predictably gross. But it turns out there’s a Seattle-specific definition for “clam digger” that’s both local and historical:
Mr. Savage,
I never thought I’d have the occasion to write to you, but your last column was hilariously pertinent to me. I am the dramaturg (in-house historian) for a new show called Skid Road, opening this Friday at Unexpected Productions in Pike Place Market. It is an improv show set in frontier Seattle during the 1860s. Several times we have referenced “clamdiggers,” which was actually the affectionate term pioneer Seattleites used for their children. (In spite of our more demure use of the word, I promise you the rest of the show is as funny and filthy as your definition.) I thought you’d be interested in knowing such a Seattle-specific, alternative definition of the word. Enjoy this nice weather!
Kira Mountjoy-Pepka
www.unexpectedproductions.org