Word History: In some regional dialects of the American South, the term loblolly is used to refer to a mire or mudhole. The word is a combination of lob, probably an onomatopoeic word suggesting the thick heavy bubbling of cooking porridge, and lolly, an old British dialect word meaning "broth, soup, or any other food boiled in a pot." Thus, loblolly originally denoted thick porridge or gruel, especially that eaten by sailors onboard ship. The meaning of the word in American dialects of the South makes allusion to the consistency of such porridge. The name loblolly has become associated with several varieties of trees as well, all of which favor wet bottomlands or swamps in the Gulf and South Atlantic states. Among these is the loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), whose strong wood is used as lumber and for paper pulp.