Regional Differences

[Michelle67]

How about traffic signals? In MN they are vertical, but in WI they are horizontal. I often wonder why.

In MN we have drinking fountains, I knnow that in parts of WI they are called bubblers.

Vertical. However, in Seattle some of them are on posts on the corners instead of on cables overhead of the intersection. HATE those!!!!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Vertical. However, in Seattle some of them are on posts on the corners instead of on cables overhead of the intersection. HATE those!!!!

Our vertical ones are on the corners like that, but most of our intersections are small and they can easily be seen.

 

[disykat]

Not just my town, lots of neighboring towns (towns are pretty small here). I live within 5 miles of homes worth millions of dollars, and public housing. We have city buses, so people who work those jobs typically don't own homes here. I have never come across another parent working at the retail shops here, although many own their own businesses, and work blue collar (landscapers, contractors, mechanics).

I feel sorry for people who went from their parents' homes to their married homes. A chapter of life was missed.[/QUOTE]


Ahhh, there's one of the differences I found so interesting in the past. Getting married in your 20s is not unusual at all around here, but maybe that's because we aren't located in a "movers and shakers" capital of the world...

I married at 22, a month out of college and my parent's home. Honestly, I don't get the difference between marrying him and just living with him. It would have amounted to the same thing, really. We were still both establishing ourselves in our careers, still did all the fun things young 20s like to to. What did we miss?? Married or not, I would not have traveled the world. I never had any intention of leaving my little corner of Indiana. And my husband had already seen more of the world than he ever wished to. He was thrilled to be home.

We had our first child two years later at 24. Because we were ready for that next step. By 49, we'll be empty nesters. I am glad, this is the timing and tempo of life that suited me. I have friends who didn't marry until their mid 30s and had their first child at 40. They are thrilled and have no regrets.

It's silly to say you feel sorry for people who live a different lifestyle than you. We are perfectly happy with our choices and our lifestyle. They are perfectly happy with theirs. Just because someone lives life a bit differently than you doesn't mean there is something to pity.

Another difference maybe? I also "feel sorry" for people who didn't have single life fun in their 20's because I had so much fun then. Others probably "feel sorry" for me to still have kids in my home at 50. To me, feel sorry is not the same as pity.

 

[KristaTX]

We have vertical and horizontal stoplights here. I much prefer the vertical ones. They seem safer. Besides the color of the light, there's something about the changing of the light up and down that catches my attention more than it does if it's just left to right.

 

[golfgal]

I just realized that I call a regular 3-seater chair a "couch", but if it has a bed in it it's a "sofa bed"! Weird that I don't call it a "sofa" normally.

I have been known to call the semi-outdoor area at the front or back of a house a porch, verandah, patio, gallery or deck - I use them all almost interchangeably, except that I usually think of a deck as being made of wood and the others as concrete/tiled.

They are couches here too, other places they are a sofa, davan, davenport. If it has a bed in it it is a "hide-a-bed couch" here.

Porch or deck, porch is on the front of a house (or front and sides if it wraps around) deck is on the back of a house. No verandas or galleries here.

 

[Strawberry's mom&dad]

We usually call it spaghetti sauce no matter what we put it on.
We differentiate gravy by its color , thickness. and or contents
You can have thick or thin brown gravy, hamburger or chicken gravy, even mushroom or onion gravy. The biscuits and gravy gravy is usually hamburger or sausage gravy. (affectionately known as SOS)

 

[U2_rocks!]

We usually call it spaghetti sauce no matter what we put it on.
We differentiate gravy by its color , thickness. and or contents
You can have thick or thin brown gravy, hamburger or chicken gravy, even mushroom or onion gravy. The biscuits and gravy gravy is usually hamburger or sausage gravy. (affectionately known as SOS)

Gravy here is made from the juices of whatever meat you're cooking - so if you're roasting a chicken, you'll have chicken gravy. If you want it a bit jazzed up, you'll remove some of the juices and put in a saucepan on the stove with the chicken bits (neck etc.), onions, seasonings etc. Sauce is something not made with a meat base usually - like a garlic butter sauce, or honey mustard sauce. Spaghetti sauce is a tomato-based sauce made to put on spaghetti pasta, though it can be poured onto any kind of pasta really. Meat sauce is when the spaghetti sauce has mince in it as well (mince being ground beef).

 

[Strawberry's mom&dad]

I've seen this one come up a lot of times. We use both terms. "Freeways" are interstates, eg. I-5, I-90, etc. They connect/run through more than one state. "Highways" are "state roads", eg. SR-16. They run between towns, but not between states. Physically they may run into the next state, but they will change name/designation when they do. They may also change designation within the state. Freeways don't do that. I-5 remains I-5 from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.

The terms are still used interchangeably, somewhat. The road I live on (a two lane highway) will never be referred to by anybody around here as a freeway, but the more "formal", multi-lane, complete with overpasses and marked exits, SR-16 is often referred to as a "freeway" by locals.

I've heard the term "expressway" other places, and have no idea if it refers to what we would call a highway or a freeway...or both. We don't have them here. We also don't have toll roads, although we do have a few toll bridges.



Awesome, thanks for sharing that image!!! Gave me a huge smile. We don't use the term tobbaggan at all, but I recognize it only as a sled and would have thought the same thing.

We usually call your road hwy 16 or just 16 like we would call US 101 just 101. We use interstate and freeway interchangeably. We almost always say I-5 but lots of times just say 405 even though it is an interstate also.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

Love hoagies, sneakers and jimmies!

U turns and jughandles!!!!!! Why oh why cant I make a left turn in your state...I hate driving in NJ.

At some intersections you can and others you can't. I have no idea why but I am accustomed to it that way. I can't drive in Philly. Honestly my brain falls out as soon as I cross the bridge and I lose all sense of direction and most of my common sense. Last time I was there I got rear ended on Kelly Drive.

 

[cornflake]

Oh!

"Toll road."

I'd never heard that one until I drove cross country and then in some states, I'd ask which way to like 'interstate whatever,' or '90' or 'I90' or whichever way I was phrasing the very specific question and get 'do you mean the toll road?'

It took me a while to figure out what they meant and even then it wasn't helpful because how the heck do I know which of your roads have tolls?! Just the specific one I'm asking for, people!

 

[Michelle67]

No verandahs or galleries here either. The way people use the terms here, a porch is usually small, and a deck is large(er). A friend of mine has a deck with more square footage than her house has. I have two decks...one in front and one in back. Decks generally are made of wood, as another poster said, but sometimes made out of recycled plastic planking here too. Porches might be made of wood on older houses, but are more commonly poured concrete.

I know some people who lived at home until they were married...not all of them from this state. Some of them are first-generation, so in their individual cases I'm going with it being a cultural norm from the "old country." With others it is simply the economically sane thing to do while you're going to school, etc.

 

[Michelle67]

We usually call your road hwy 16 or just 16 like we would call US 101 just 101. We use interstate and freeway interchangeably. We almost always say I-5 but lots of times just say 405 even though it is an interstate also.

We do the same. I will say "take 16" but if I'm, say, calling home to let my husband know my ETA I might say "I just got off the freeway." Or I might say highway. They really are pretty interchangeable. I usually refer to 405 by the numbers only, except that there is often a foul word attached to the front because 405 is HORRID!!!

 

[goodeats]

I didn't learn this on the DIS, but Homecoming Mumms! I was literally blown away by this custom. It sounds fun, but man are they so ugly! We definitely don't have them in Southern California. And actually I've never even thought of Mumms as an Autumn plant, but that's probably a climate difference more than anything.

 

[golfgal]

I didn't learn this on the DIS, but Homecoming Mumms! I was literally blown away by this custom. It sounds fun, but man are they so ugly! We definitely don't have them in Southern California. And actually I've never even thought of Mumms as an Autumn plant, but that's probably a climate difference more than anything.

Oh, good one. I had never heard of them until DIS either.

 

[SaraJayne]

How about traffic signals? In MN they are vertical, but in WI they are horizontal. I often wonder why.

In MN we have drinking fountains, I knnow that in parts of WI they are called bubblers.

In WI, stop lights are both vertical and horizontal.

 

[golfgal]

How about traffic signals? In MN they are vertical, but in WI they are horizontal. I often wonder why.

In MN we have drinking fountains, I knnow that in parts of WI they are called bubblers.

Even just road signs are different from state to state. I am used to having a mile or more warning before an exit but that isn't the case everywhere. The shape of signs are different too so that gets interesting as well. Then there are places that have signs that say things like "runaway semi ramp in .5 miles:

 

[spacemountainmom]

I didn't learn this on the DIS, but Homecoming Mumms! I was literally blown away by this custom. It sounds fun, but man are they so ugly! We definitely don't have them in Southern California. And actually I've never even thought of Mumms as an Autumn plant, but that's probably a climate difference more than anything.

Ok, I have no idea what you're talking about. Can someone explain, please.

 

[malibuconlee]

Tacky? I'm not sure I'd go *that* far.

For a formal dinner party, I would probably put everything in serving bowls. But for every night dinner, I serve from pots to plates. (Our kitchen table is small and it means fewer dishes for me.)

Everybody doesn't line up with their plates at the stove, though. I assemble plates for everyone on the counter, then carry the plates to the table. (Think "restaurant" not "cafeteria line.")

Yep, I'm not washing more dishes for the three of us just to put the food on the table. Didn't do it when we had friends over either. Of course it was three kids and two sets of parents, we were going to dish up most of the plates anyway, why dirty more dishes? Or try to carry everything into the dining room.

Oh and for family holidays no one has a table big enough for everyone, so we stand in line with our paper plates and dish up ourselves out of the buffet line. Guess we're one tacky bunch and I'm fine with that! LOL

I've also never been to one of these big fancy weddings where we have an open bar. People are generally poor where we come from!

The cover your plate thing was news to me. We give a gift off the registry for the shower, then another or a check in an envelope at the wedding. No one gives anywhere NEAR the amounts I've seen listed on these boards for weddings either.

Now to read the rest of the thread.

 

[Minnesota!]

Hi Neighbor!!!

At night I can see the glow of the red 3M from my kitchen window.

Man....I hated driving on the Lafayette Bridge! I was really glad when we moved. I preferred the longer drive to being on the stupid bridge. Now, I just freak out when I hear about how bad it is, especially since 35W went down. My girlfriend lost her brother in the accident.

I hate that bridge, too. DH would cut through downtown, though...he refused to drive on it because of traffic.

I 'grew up' right off 3rd and White Bear....my babysitter lived right down from St. Pascal's. My house was further north off White Bear! We hit Davanni's in Sun Ray quite often - I have a bit of an obsession with them!!

We usually call it spaghetti sauce no matter what we put it on.
We differentiate gravy by its color , thickness. and or contents
You can have thick or thin brown gravy, hamburger or chicken gravy, even mushroom or onion gravy. The biscuits and gravy gravy is usually hamburger or sausage gravy. (affectionately known as SOS)

SOS (to me) is creamed chip beef on toast....one of my mom's favorites

Ok, I have no idea what you're talking about. Can someone explain, please.

I am clueless, as well..

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Even just road signs are different from state to state. I am used to having a mile or more warning before an exit but that isn't the case everywhere. The shape of signs are different too so that gets interesting as well. Then there are places that have signs that say things like "runaway semi ramp in .5 miles:

Those freaked me out a little when I first moved to Colorado. But better to have them than not!