Implementater.

My wife and I were talking about work over lunch, and she casually mentioned a class of workers known as implementers, those whose job is to begin and enforce new policy. In the breezy matter of conversation she called them implementaters by mistake, and we both started to laugh.

I don't know if it's an Americanism, but calling a potato tater goes back to at least 1759, according to Merriam-Webster's. It has always come across as a creation of the rural South, but if the word goes back that far I don't think it is. Of course, in New England people were always more formal. After all, Mr. Potato Head -- not just Potato Head, much less Tater Head -- was born of Hasbro, a company originally from Providence, Rhode Island. They are still headquartered in the state, and they still refer to Mr. Head as Mr. Potato Head.

As for the tater, we all know about Ron "Tater Salad" White, the comedian from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, not to mention the old "Common Tater" joke. All of these crossed our minds as we wondered about the nefarious doings of the implementaters.

And speaking of nefarious doings, I thought of a book as well, a classic from the late Georgia boy Lew Grizzard, from 1988:

It also seems that taters have ears! There's a band called the Taters from Virginia, and not one but at least two country legends who went by the nickname Tater -- Little Jimmy Dickens, who got the name Tater from Hank Williams himself, and blues man Foster Wiley, called Tater. the Music Maker.

And taters are athletic! The term tater for home run appears to go back as far as the 1960s, and possibly farther, according to this brief and entertaining article from the 6-4-3 Putout blog.

Them taters is busy!

One way or another, folks, we'd best be careful. It looks like them taters cain't allus be trusted. And I say that with firm conviction, and a real phony Southern accent.