What is a term/phrase for a self-perpetuating conflict, war, feud, whose original cause
has been forgotten, or is not even currently significant?

I’ll have to work on that one.
Good question, though. The first one to come to mind is the just-ended civil strife in Sri Lanka.
I need to research.
Welcome to the agora, by the way.

Vendetta

using doug’s word (vendetta) and searching through the online dictionaries I have available, as well as the old paper type, this is the best word for what you search.

Blood feud is a possibility. Doesn’t have to be among family members. It just lasts a long time.

The Hatfields and the McCoys?  Were they from So.Carolina?

The historical Hatfields and the McCoys were from West Virginia and parts of Kentucky, where coal and conflict abound.

The Real McCoys were from Hollywood.

Isn’t West Virginia part of East Carolina or north Georgia where you all marry your cousins oncet removed???

The Southern Coastal states are actually divided into three or four regions: coastal, midlands, piedmont, and mountains. The Appalachian folk from Georgia have more in common with other Appalachian people that they do with people from their own state.

Dialects are similar, as are socioeconomic conditions: lots of poor folks in and around the hollers of the Appalachian range. Ask Loretta Lynn.

We’re a little better off in the Piedmont and usually marry out of the gene pool.

What gene pool? 
The ones down in them thar hollers?
You all from the Piedmont? What socio-economic conditions exist thar? Your half moon on the out-house door goes in a different direction or some such???

Glad you asked.

In Appalachia, you make liquor. In the Piedmont, you have to buy it at the store.
In Appalachia, overalls are worn every day. In the Piedmont, they’re work clothes only (or costumes, in my case.)
In Appalachia, a good legal defense for homicide is, “He needed killing.” In the Piedmont, you have to be a little more discrete.
In Appalachia, people work in coal mines. In the Piedmont, people work in cotton mills.
In Appalachia, spit is always mixed with tobacco juice. In the Piedmont, it can be but isn’t always.
In Appalachia, trucks have flat beds and wooden sides. In the Piedmont, they have metal beds, air conditioning, and CD players.
In Appalachia, you’re those people up on the hill in Deliverance In the Piedmont, you’re the ones in the canoes.

The real highbrows live in Charleston. Like the Chinese, they eat lots of rice and worship their ancestors.

Wow
Do I appreciate knowing the distinction (tho’ I see it as a very thin distinction in a couple cases.)
I’m not sure about the overalls worn every day, implying there are times when overalls are not worn at all?
With or without spit, tabaccy ain’t good for ya.
Appalacian flat beds are made out of what? Just because they are metal in Piedmont mean they aren’t metal in Apallacia? Wood? Corrugated steel? Bamboo from Charleston??
I thought Baptists did not buy likkur, at the store nor in Apalachia.

Are overalls worn every day?

Here, no. There, yes, if you’re a moonshiner. Preachers probably have other clothes, even if they’re moonshiners on the side.

Are times when overalls are not worn at all?

I don’t get that personal here, much less out of my home territory.

With or without spit, tabaccy ain’t good for ya.

No, but you can spit farther with a mouthful of Redman

Appalachian flat beds are made out of what?

The trucks are metal. It’s just the bed and the rails that are wood. 

I thought Baptists did not buy likkur, at the store nor in Appalachia.

Baptist just don’t speak to each other in the liquor store.

I thought you’d given up telling me about Appalacachoey vs. Peeingmont?
I cannot find any time when not wearing bibs is important in my redneck wiki.  Shore hope them applechewing folks wears some sorta undies.

I thought you’d given up telling me about Appalacachoey vs. Peeingmont?

This was an earlier post. I’m not here right now. I’m buying dog and birdfood and trading in my overalls to pay for it.

saparris - 25 May 2009 06:57 PM

I thought you’d given up telling me about Appalacachoey vs. Peeingmont?

This was an earlier post. I’m not here right now. I’m buying dog and birdfood and trading in my overalls to pay for it.

Certainly hope there is something under the overalls, not like the previous post where some Caroliners don’t wear them.