Regional Differences

[Imzadi]

I'm not! I really wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and they looked at me like I was on crack! They said "You can see it from the bridge on the way out." Well yeah, you can. It looks about two inches tall. And my husband, being one of them, just said "See? See it over there?" as we were leaving. Yeah, I see it. STHU.

Come back! I'll take you myself.

 

[spacemountainmom]

Where is that tag fairy when I need her?

No kidding!

Well, anyhow.....howdy former neighbor! I am a south sider as well. I went to Bellaire, Sunrise, Central, MARINER, White Bear North and finally White Bear South. I am guessing that you might have gone to St. Pius?

If you are at all interested, someone recently started a FB page....You know you grew up in White Bear...........it's really been a trip to remember stuff that I had long ago forgotten about.

 

[Michelle67]

Come back! I'll take you myself.

I'm so posting next time I go. I'll meet you at the bridge.

 

[tink_lover]

No kidding!

Well, anyhow.....howdy former neighbor! I am a south sider as well. I went to Bellaire, Sunrise, Central, MARINER, White Bear North and finally White Bear South. I am guessing that you might have gone to St. Pius?

If you are at all interested, someone recently started a FB page....You know you grew up in White Bear...........it's really been a trip to remember stuff that I had long ago forgotten about.

Well if you attended Mariner, we may be close in age. I'm Golfview, Sunrise (swam for Mariner while there), then switch to Hill. My parents are still there, visited them today. I get cravings for Donatelli's dunkers.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I read this whole thread yesterday, and I'm sure it was mentioned and I just overlooked it. It's come up many times. Surely Handbag Lady brought it up here. . .

Anyway, I never knew there was such a difference in what people in various parts of the country call their purse/handbag/pocketbook/bag. It's always been "purse" to me. But I've learned that to some people, "purse" sounds old-timey or just means a coin purse. And before I had DIS friends in Massachusetts, I always thought people were talking about their checkbook when they talked about their pocketbook. That seems to be mostly a Massachusetts/New England thing.

I also never knew that basements were so common. I've learned that from the DIS and from HGTV shows. A basement here is VERY rare because of the soil and ground water. It's a shame since Texas and Oklahoma have a lot of tornadoes.

MIL was born and raised in GA she called it a pocketbook, I call it a purse.
In GA we had a basement but up here we call it a cellar, well my dad does, I don't.

Here is a big regional difference my kids noticed for the first time last week. When we were headed to Nashville we stopped to get gas and the lady pumping next to us started asking me questions about the RV, how much it cost to fill? did we like traveling in it? etc, just to make conversation. Anyway, my kids were fascinated by it! I got the 5th degree when I got back in the RV. Did you know her? who was she? why was she talking to you?
I told the kids it's a southern thing, you sit down at the bus stop and you know the persons life story in about 5 minutes. They had never seen that before except for MIL, they just thought it was a Nanny thing. By the time we left Nashville, they understood it! LOL

 

[Lassie Lynne]

Another thing my DH noticed on our trip South was car honking. In our neck of the woods, it usually means, "get moving, you #$#$%&&". In Louisiana most times it means "Hi"...like you honk at your friends, neghbors, etc as you ride down the road, not usually at someone to move.

I was in New Orleans on St. Charles street and there were two stop lights right close to each other (ramps off of a highway). Somehow not being familiar with the area, I stopped in the middle of the intersection, thinking I was stopping for the first redlight. It wasn't untill after the light turned green, that DH and I noticed what I had done, yet NO ONE honked at me....I had held up over 5 cars, but they just waited until the light turned for me to proceed through the rest of the intersection. I had a Mississppi plated rental car.....those nice people probably said "oh...look at that crazy Mississippi lady, she can't tell red from green, bless her heart"

 

[SookieStackhouse]

This one might have already been mentioned... I came in way late on this thread. I am used to pushing a shopping cart up and down the aisles at Walmart...but there was this one girl (I am thinking she was from FL) kept calling it a buggy. I have also heard a lot of people in KY calling that a buggy too.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I am surprised by the areas of the country where etiquette appears to be extinct!

Mostly centered around greed - bridal showers, baby showers etc. Where the bride or mom to be do not care about what is proper.

 

[Magpie]

I don't know where you are besides Canada. Do you mean people in your area of Canada do those pronunciations, or most Canadians? I've never noticed Canadians doing that, but if that's what you mean I will notice now! I've mostly only noticed that a lot of vowels in words are pronounced differently in the Canada than in most of the U.S., but I've never noticed the consonants.

I'm in Ontario. There's different accents across Canada, so I don't know how widespread the DR/JR and TR/CH thing is... Someone else mentioned a collegue saying "schtreet" instead of "street" and I've heard that, too.

Mainly I've noticed it because the teaching materials I use are from the US, and it's actually quite difficult for me to pronounce the words the way they indicate I should.

Oh... and yes sometimes we do disagree on the sounds vowels make.

 

[snapppyd]

I wonder if those of you with really early business hours have lots of dealings with the East coast for work? We get into work at 9am and have to wait 3 hours before we can even call the West coast. The earlier you guys start your business, the better for us on the East coast.




Note to self: Get invited over to snapppyd's for dinner.

Invite snapppyd to my wedding.

You are welcome anytime! (and I'd love to dance at your wedding )

 

[spacemountainmom]

Well if you attended Mariner, we may be close in age. I'm Golfview, Sunrise (swam for Mariner while there), then switch to Hill. My parents are still there, visited them today. I get cravings for Donatelli's dunkers.

Me too! Heartburn deluxe pizza as well. My parents still live in good old WBL and I live a few miles south of them so I enjoy Donatelli's fairly often. It's been a couple months, so I will have to suggest that to DH!!!


I went to Sunrise for 7th and then it closed. I went to Mariner for 9th grade and they combined the schools. I graduated with the infamous class that got kicked around. My dh started out at Bellaire and then they moved across town and he went to Lincoln, Central and White Bear.

 

[Minnesota!]

Yeah, I will have to concur about the weird people who only feed their family. You host an overnight and don't feed anyone but your own family??? Very odddddddddd!!!

When I invite people over, they will only leave hungry if it is their choice....not because I didn't have enough food. My kids' friends love me because I always have snacks and pop for their gatherings and if I am caught short.....I order some pizza!

I drove 94 from St. Paul to the Hwy 120 exit for 6 years and what should have been a 10 minute drive took 20-30 almost every day. The last few years I worked, I started taking the back roads. It would still take me 20 minutes, but I kept moving.

You must have worked at 3M?

I dunno, but we do it. Although we pronounce it "tennie shoes", and usually just shorten that to "tennies". And almost nobody means actual tennis shoes...they are almost always cross-trainers, runners, or hikers.

Why sneakers, anyhow? Who ya sneakin up on over there?

Fortunately my kids are "bi-lingual." They know what to do whether I say "go grab your tennies" or my husband says "get your sneakers." LOL

We call them Tenna-shoes, too. Sneakers sounds...geeky...to me!

How funny! I'm a Pioneer, but grew up a couple blocks from (what I still call) Mariner.

I'm a Pioneer, too

Well if you attended Mariner, we may be close in age. I'm Golfview, Sunrise (swam for Mariner while there), then switch to Hill. My parents are still there, visited them today. I get cravings for Donatelli's dunkers.

I lived right by Golfview when I lived in WB. And I LOOOOOOOOVE Donatelli's....the dunkers are the best!

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

Gravy - so weird! Even though I know now that some people call spaghetti sauce gravy, I still picture brown gravy poured over noodles.

That people have graduation parties when people complete a grade, not graduate. We only have graduation parties when you finnish/graduate 12th grade and college, not for eight grade, which is a big one I have seen on here.

I say pop. I love sweet tea and think McDonalds has some of the best. They still brew it here not that crappy Neslee stuff from the machine.

I have also said sneakers, and tennies and tennis shoes. I have also heard white canvas shoes (cheap ones) called bisquits (like the food).

Gravy is for your potatoes, not noodles, unless you are having beef, noodles and brown gravy. I am laughing at a picture painted in my head on one of the first pages of someone pouring brown gravy on spagetti noodles. Yes bisquits and sausage gravy are good (Bob Evans is the best!). I also call beef with mashed potatoes and gravy on bread hot shots.

I am a SAHM and I think I am going to put a roast in the crockpot so I can have hot shots. When I did work I was required to take a lunch break, unpaid either 30 min or 1 hr.

I cannot belive what some of you get/give for weddings. We were excited when someone gave us $100.

We can turn right on red and pull over for funeral processions. I can be in at least 4 other towns in 20 min. Horses can be seen driving through the country on people's land.

BTW I have never seen or rode a subway, but I have ate at the resturaunt.

Hardly anyone is 4 when they start K, most are 5 some are 6, therefore almost everyone has to turn 6 in K, while some may turn 7.

 

[4greatboys]

Just moved from the North to the South. The one thing that drives me CRAZY: southerners are always late!! After working at Disney where we'd get points against us for clocking in at 8:31 for an 8:30 shift, I am very accustomed to being early "just in case". My official start time here is 8:30, but most don't show up until close to 9. I've started relaxing and arriving at, oh.. 8:35 but it kills me to be late!!!

Being late is an individual thing, not a regional one. I'm from the south and I hate being late. The majority of the people I know do not arrive to events late. Some do but it's anything close to the majority.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Most of the regional differences I notice involve vocabulary, gifting/hosting, the pace and of course climate.

Calling all soda Coke was the strangest one for me since Coke doesn't even begin to cover all the flavors available. It's not a brand with one meaning like Q-tips.

I say...
Sneakers, not tennis shoes.
Hero or sandwich, not sub or hoagie.
Soda, not pop or coke.

Every wedding I have been to served alcohol and a meal. I have only been to one wedding had a cash bar in CA (I live in NYC). I give a gift at wedding showers and a check at weddings.

NYC is very crowded and people move fast and with purpose. Some people are aggressive, some are rude but most are just trying to get to where they want to go with as much ease as possible. I know I get into a zone sometimes and I just want to get to where I need to go that I could walk by a long time friend because I am just focused on my path. Think Disney crowds almost all the time...people slowing down, blocking doors & steps, randomly stopping. On vacation it's annoying but it's a way of life here and it takes a toll. It's nice when I visit my mother in Florida and people make eye contact and smile.

Climate is what it is. People in CA can laugh about NYers being a little freaked about an earthquake but we can handle a several inches of snow without much of hiccough when a half an inch of snow in the south shuts down the town.

The differences make the world go around!

 

[Robinrs]

Most of the regional differences I notice involve vocabulary, gifting/hosting, the pace and of course climate.

Calling all soda Coke was the strangest one for me since Coke doesn't even begin to cover all the flavors available. It's not a brand with one meaning like Q-tips.

I say...
Sneakers, not tennis shoes.
Hero or sandwich, not sub or hoagie.
Soda, not pop or coke.

Every wedding I have been to served alcohol and a meal. I have only been to one wedding had a cash bar in CA (I live in NYC). I give a gift at wedding showers and a check at weddings.

NYC is very crowded and people move fast and with purpose. Some people are aggressive, some are rude but most are just trying to get to where they want to go with as much ease as possible. I know I get into a zone sometimes and I just want to get to where I need to go that I could walk by a long time friend because I am just focused on my path. Think Disney crowds almost all the time...people slowing down, blocking doors & steps, randomly stopping. On vacation it's annoying but it's a way of life here and it takes a toll. It's nice when I visit my mother in Florida and people make eye contact and smile.

Climate is what it is. People in CA can laugh about NYers being a little freaked about an earthquake but we can handle a several inches of snow without much of hiccough when a half an inch of snow in the south shuts down the town.

The differences make the world go around!

I just read your third paragraph and KNEW you were from NYC!

 

[mjkacmom]

Gravy is for your potatoes, not noodles, unless you are having beef, noodles and brown gravy. I am laughing at a picture painted in my head on one of the first pages of someone pouring brown gravy on spagetti noodles. Yes bisquits and sausage gravy are good (Bob Evans is the best!). I also call beef with mashed potatoes and gravy on bread hot shots.
.

I can assure you, that in areas that call tomato sauce gravy, they don't pour it on "noodles," or "spagetti noodles!" It's called pasta or macaroni - noodles are egg noodles, or soup noodles.

We also pour (brown) gravy on our potatoes and noodles (not to be confused with pasta). Not a lot of bisquits going on (because our bakery bread is fabulous - actually flew a bunch from NJ to Hawaii once).

 

[mjkacmom]

Add some cheese to that gravy on your fries and you've got poutine!

Also, you can give a misbehaving child or pet a "pichenotte" (a little flick on the head or ear) when they're bad.

That corner store is also called a dépanneur.

By the way, these are words that Anglos use, even though they're French in origin.

And fascinatingly, according to an Egyptian friend of mine, they also use the word toque! It's a farmer's hat, over there. Maybe they got it from the French, back when Napoleon was in Egypt.

Cheese and gravy on fries is called "disco fries," and you will find it on every diner menu. We have tons of corner stores (on corners), and corner deli's. A winter hat is called a goobalini (sp). We have highways, not freeways.

 

[golfgal]

Yeah, I will have to concur about the weird people who only feed their family. You host an overnight and don't feed anyone but your own family??? Very odddddddddd!!!

When I invite people over, they will only leave hungry if it is their choice....not because I didn't have enough food. My kids' friends love me because I always have snacks and pop for their gatherings and if I am caught short.....I order some pizza!

I drove 94 from St. Paul to the Hwy 120 exit for 6 years and what should have been a 10 minute drive took 20-30 almost every day. The last few years I worked, I started taking the back roads. It would still take me 20 minutes, but I kept moving.

Exactly my point a 10 mile drive taking 20 minutes.... My parents lived in California for a while. My Dad was 20 miles from his office. If he left by 5:00 AM to get to work it took him 90 minutes to make that drive. If he left after 5:00 AM, it would another 30 minutes or more longer. On the way home it was 2 hours, minimum to drive 20 miles. Here, "rush hour" adds maybe 10-15 MINUTES...

 

[Liberty Belle]

In Michigan a tobbogan is a sled. Here in Kentucky, it is a winter hat (knit cap).

ETA:

I remember when we first moved down here we were watching the news and someone had robbed a bank. The newscaster said, "the suspect was wearing a tobboggan on his head." We about died laughing. Couldn't figure out why he was running around with a tobbogan balanced on top of his head (and why he would rob a bank that way!).