Regional Traditions

[alex9179]

My DD, the same one that I have to nag at to shower, to brush her hair or heaven forbid wear something other than a t-shirt and jeans has made it very clear she wants and expects a mum next year just like all the other girls. DH made some comment about decorating the wheelbarrow for her to schlepp it around in all day - that comment was not met with amusement! I started saving last year........

Here is one I just thought of - Oregonians don't pump their own gas! We used to live near the interstate that many would use to come to Nevada from Oregon and it was always funny to see the Oregonians trying to figure out the gas pumps. There is no self serve in NV and in Oregon there is no Self pump

 

[sunshinehighway]

Yeah I meant North East but just got ahead of myself. This wasn't a large group; it was just a normal family. And I understand about a different accent seeming louder, but I haven't noticed people from up north or the deep south sounding louder than other groups.

I agreed with the poster that said you probably notice it because you aren't as used to it. I've noticed loud people with southern accents in Disney. I think it just stands out to you more so you think its louder.

 

[alex9179]

My mother was from central Virginia and they also pronounced it that way (the word "about" was like that as well).
!

The narrator on "The Waltons" had that accent. I remember pointing it out when I was little ('cause John Boy didn't speak like that on the show), and my dad told me that it was a true Virginian accent.

 

[Momvic5]

My DD, the same one that I have to nag at to shower, to brush her hair or heaven forbid wear something other than a t-shirt and jeans has made it very clear she wants and expects a mum next year just like all the other girls. DH made some comment about decorating the wheelbarrow for her to schlepp it around in all day - that comment was not met with amusement! I started saving last year........

Here is one I just thought of - Oregonians don't pump their own gas! We used to live near the interstate that many would use to come to Nevada from Oregon and it was always funny to see the Oregonians trying to figure out the gas pumps. There is no self serve in NV and in Oregon there is no Self pump

Your dh is foreseeing the future! They just keep getting bigger and bigger!

 

[MinnesotaMouse]

This is a fascinating thread! I wanted to add some thoughts from my area of Minnesota (small, rural farming communities): (SORRY this ended up to be so long!)

It can be really cold up here, from October – April. But that doesn’t matter, because we “grill out” – whether it’s steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, corn-on-the-cob, etc. We would invite our neighbors because “we’re going to grill out.”

To me, a “barbeque” is a sandwich on a bun, which I make with hamburger fried w/onion, salt & pepper, then add tomato soup, ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. Delicious! I suppose this is the same type of thing as a “Manwich”—but I don’t like that stuff. )

When a group (such as a 4-H group, scout group, church group, etc.) serves a fundraiser lunch at an event, the typical menu would include barbeques, hot dogs, coney dogs (simply a hot dog with barbeque meat on top), potato chips, bars, coffee, water, and pop. Yes, it’s called “pop” here. So when you order pop, you tell them you want Mountain Dew, Coke, Pepsi, 7-Up, Root Beer, Orange, etc.

Our daily meals consist of breakfast, dinner, and supper. If you’re on a farm, “lunch” is something served at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., and sometimes it is served out in the field where the farmers are working. “Lunch” consists of sandwiches, something sweet (bars, cookies, or cake), and lots of cold lemonade.

Church dinners are very popular! Each local church seems to have its own specialty. We have the roast beef dinner, the ham dinner, the turkey dinner, the meatball & lutefisk dinner, etc. “Potlucks” are also extremely popular. Everyone brings a dish to pass, which could include hot dish (you may know it as a casserole), a salad (jello salad with fruit & cool whip on top, or potato salad, or cole slaw, maybe a lettuce salad), meatballs or sliced ham, cheesy potatoes, calico beans (does everybody know what that is?) and of course any and all types of sweets. The potluck meal would also be served with Kool-Aid and coffee.

When we order pizza, we order a cheese pizza, a pepperoni pizza, etc. Pie here is probably apple, pumpkin, strawberry, banana cream….you get the picture. Ice cream is very likely Schwan’s ice cream, whose corporate headquarters are right down the road from where I live.

Even though most of us are “Minnesota Nice,” we don’t generally use the “Miss” prefix with a name, and we don’t often say “Yes Sir” or “Yes Maam.” If someone said “Yes Maam” to me, I would think the same as a couple of the previous posters….that I must be getting old! And if I didn’t hear what was said, I would say “what?” Which simply means, please repeat what you said. If I said “Excuse me?” it would probably be meant sarcastically, and that I heard them the first time but simply didn’t like what was said. )

Our local area small towns also have their “celebrations.” In my area we have the following: Aebelskiver Days (Danish settlement); Polska Kielbasa Days (Polish settlement); Belgian-American Days (self-explanatory); Syttendemai Celebration (Norwegian settlement); and others not necessarily named for ethnicity (Old Sod Days, Boxcar Days, Boxelder Bug Days, etc.) These celebrations usually run about three days and include the crowning of a queen, lots of different food stands, softball and golf tournaments, beer gardens and live music, local vendors, and a parade. Of course, almost all of the local celebrations are held in the spring, summer, or fall—when the weather is decent. An additional note—many of these communities fly the American flag AND the flag of their native land. Or should I say, the flag of those who settled their community. So the Norwegian flag flies, or the Danish flag flies, along with the American.

Brides often have more than one bridal shower, with the “big one” usually held at her home church. Sometimes wedding dances are open to the public, BYOB with set-ups available. Traditional songs (most often played by the DJ instead of a live band) would include YMCA, the Chicken Dance, the Hokey Pokey, some line dances, etc. There is usually a “dollar dance,” and an auction for the bride’s garter is also held sometime during the evening. High school graduation parties are large, open-house events, and almost always held on graduation day. Sometimes we are invited to 12-15 of these celebrations and just go from place to place, visiting, eating, and drinking into the night.

4-H is huge in my area. It’s not just for the country kids, as we have lots and lots of town kids also enrolled. So when it’s county fair time, that is a big deal. And if you are good enough to get a Champion or Reserve Champion Ribbon on your 4-H project, then you win a trip to THE GREAT MINNESOTA GET-TOGETHER, a/k/a the Minnesota State Fair! We are proud of our State Fair! The State Fair is held “in the cities.” That’s another thing we say….if we are from “outstate Minnesota” we must “head into the cities” for the State Fair or a Gophers game, a Vikings game, or a Twins game. Of course that means to Minneapolis, St. Paul, or really any of the suburbs.

One more thing----on the weekends, lots and lots of people “go to the lake”—when the weather is decent. We have so many lakes here, so that could mean ANY lake—it’s just a general statement. And if you don’t have a lake cabin, you probably have friends or family who have a lake cabin you can visit, or you have a camper that you park at a local campground or State Park. Or sometimes we will say, “We’re going up north” for the weekend. “Up north” just means that we are headed to Northern Minnesota. To us, we’re “headed south” if we’re going to Iowa!

 

[deserrai]

I'm not trying to be insulting. I'm seriously asking what that phrase is supposed to mean and threw a little joke in there to try and lighten the mood.

It means I come from a long line of people from the deep south and it is ingrained in us from birth that you say ma'am and sir or you are being disrespectful. Just a figure of speech really. Although I now understand that the entire country does not agree, it is very difficult for me to hear a child/teen answer a question with "What?" and not hear it as disrespectful even if it is not meant that way.

 

[deserrai]

Actually, the correct response is: "Pardon me?"

We were just taught to say "Ma'am?" when we don't understand what someone is saying. But, that really isn't a question or a statement.

Excuse me or pardon me is the correct thing to say. See. I am learning

I will rephrase, the correct response to me from my child is "Ma'am?" if they do not understand what I said and would like me to repeat.

 

[deserrai]

I'm sorry, but how is her not saying Ma'am rude? She probably never heard that response before in her life. If she spoke a different language, would you still think she was rude? Now, I prefer "excuse me?", but "what" is used SO much here. Obviously, she wasn't intending on insulting you, so why would you think her to be rude? The correct response in NY is certainly not ma'am!

I think you missed my point. I heard it as rude because I had never heard that everyone does not say ma'am and sir. When my daughter explained it to me, I understood, but I still have a hard time hearing it. I now understand she was not being rude, but in our culture it still sounds rude. Does that make sense?

 

[BearcatsFan]

We either say, "Excuse me?" or "I'm sorry?" if we need someone to repeat themselves. I've had people ask me, "What are you sorry for?" when we're out of town.

 

[mjkacmom]

I think you missed my point. I heard it as rude because I had never heard that everyone does not say ma'am and sir. When my daughter explained it to me, I understood, but I still have a hard time hearing it. I now understand she was not being rude, but in our culture it still sounds rude. Does that make sense?

Yes. I read your post as stating that the child WAS being rude - thank you for clarifying.

 

[NotUrsula]

...
My husband's family is transplanted from St. Louis and he has a lot of extended family in St. Louis whom we visit. It's easier for me to pick out "St. Louis things" that aren't common around here. (And some of these might be more common to DH's family than all-over St. Louis. I'm not really sure.)
...
-- they serve baked mostaccoli at every large gathering (I love that.)
...

The mostaccioli thing is specific to the South Side of St. Louis. (Traditionally working-class, heavily Italian, Irish and German, and almost all either Catholic or Lutheran.) The joke here is that you are not legally married if there was no mostaciolli served at your wedding reception. BTW, mostaciolli is baked ziti in marinara sauce, sometimes with loose salsiccia added, sometimes not.)

Now as to this one, not so cute.

...
-- if they think someone's being uneducated, has poor manners, etc. they'll call them "a hoosier." As in, "Don't listen to those kids. They're hoosiers!" I'd never heard that before. To me, Hoosiers are a basketball team.

Anyone from Indiana is a Hoosier, so it's just a state rivalry thing. I'm a Hoosier.

No, it isn't a state rivalry thing at all. In the St. Louis area, "hoosier" has a completely different meaning and has absolutely nothing to do with Indiana. (I'm not from St. Louis, and when I first heard someone referred to that way I assumed that it was a reference to someone from Indiana -- and when I asked what was funny about people from Indiana, I was met with very puzzled looks; they had no idea what I was talking about.)

In St. Louis (and a good chunk of the surrounding area, really), "hoosier" is is the local equivalent term to the Southern expression "white trash", and means nearly the same thing. It means someone with no taste, little education, poor manners, and like as not, uncut grass and an old car up on blocks in the yard. (And I'd like to emphasize again, there is NO implication that this description is about people from Indiana; people in St. Louis really don't connect the term to Indiana at all.)

The local alternative weekly paper in St. Louis, the Riverfront Times, did a major article on the local use of the word about a decade ago: here it is (WARNING: the article contains some very raw quoted profanity; if you would rather not read that, don't go there.)
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2003-03-26/feature/hoosiers/

 

[Turn the Page]

This is a fascinating thread! I wanted to add some thoughts from my area of Minnesota (small, rural farming communities): (SORRY this ended up to be so long!)

It can be really cold up here, from October April. But that doesnt matter, because we grill out whether its steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, corn-on-the-cob, etc. We would invite our neighbors because were going to grill out. Yes, we do that. Even with three feet of snow on the ground in January my dad has the grill fired up in the garage. He leaves the garage door up about 2 feet for proper ventilation.

To me, a barbeque is a sandwich on a bun, which I make with hamburger fried w/onion, salt & pepper, then add tomato soup, ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. Delicious! I suppose this is the same type of thing as a Manwichbut I dont like that stuff. ) We call those sloppy joe's around here.

When a group (such as a 4-H group, scout group, church group, etc.) serves a fundraiser lunch at an event, the typical menu would include barbeques, hot dogs, coney dogs (simply a hot dog with barbeque meat on top), potato chips, bars, coffee, water, and pop. Yes, its called pop here. So when you order pop, you tell them you want Mountain Dew, Coke, Pepsi, 7-Up, Root Beer, Orange, etc. Yes, also called pop here.

Our daily meals consist of breakfast, dinner, and supper. If youre on a farm, lunch is something served at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., and sometimes it is served out in the field where the farmers are working. Lunch consists of sandwiches, something sweet (bars, cookies, or cake), and lots of cold lemonade. Our meals are breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The terms supper and dinner are interchangeable.

Church dinners are very popular! Each local church seems to have its own specialty. We have the roast beef dinner, the ham dinner, the turkey dinner, the meatball & lutefisk dinner, etc. Potlucks are also extremely popular. Everyone brings a dish to pass, which could include hot dish (you may know it as a casserole), a salad (jello salad with fruit & cool whip on top, or potato salad, or cole slaw, maybe a lettuce salad), meatballs or sliced ham, cheesy potatoes, calico beans (does everybody know what that is?) and of course any and all types of sweets. The potluck meal would also be served with Kool-Aid and coffee. Potlucks are common.

When we order pizza, we order a cheese pizza, a pepperoni pizza, etc. Pie here is probably apple, pumpkin, strawberry, banana cream&.you get the picture. Ice cream is very likely Schwans ice cream, whose corporate headquarters are right down the road from where I live.

Even though most of us are Minnesota Nice, we dont generally use the Miss prefix with a name, and we dont often say Yes Sir or Yes Maam. If someone said Yes Maam to me, I would think the same as a couple of the previous posters&.that I must be getting old! And if I didnt hear what was said, I would say what? Which simply means, please repeat what you said. If I said Excuse me? it would probably be meant sarcastically, and that I heard them the first time but simply didnt like what was said. )

This. I forgot to mention that if I do ever say "excuse me" it's normally when someone said something I considered really rude or insulting in some way. You hear parents saying that to their children a lot.

Our local area small towns also have their celebrations. In my area we have the following: Aebelskiver Days (Danish settlement); Polska Kielbasa Days (Polish settlement); Belgian-American Days (self-explanatory); Syttendemai Celebration (Norwegian settlement); and others not necessarily named for ethnicity (Old Sod Days, Boxcar Days, Boxelder Bug Days, etc.) These celebrations usually run about three days and include the crowning of a queen, lots of different food stands, softball and golf tournaments, beer gardens and live music, local vendors, and a parade. Of course, almost all of the local celebrations are held in the spring, summer, or fallwhen the weather is decent. An additional notemany of these communities fly the American flag AND the flag of their native land. Or should I say, the flag of those who settled their community. So the Norwegian flag flies, or the Danish flag flies, along with the American.

This is a tourist area so every town has a festival. Let's see, in no particular order every summer there is Mushroom Festival, Venetian Festival, Polish Festival, Bliss Fest, Festival on the Bay, Riverfest, Alpenfest, Cherry Festival, Petoskey Stone Festival (ironically not held in Petoskey), Hemingway Festival, Beer and Brat Festival...well you get the picture. There are a lot more. Even in the winter. You have to do something to break up the monotony in January. Every February in Marquette they go out and chop a hole in the ice on Lake Superior and jump in. Any takers? I hear it's a hoot.


One more thing----on the weekends, lots and lots of people go to the lakewhen the weather is decent. We have so many lakes here, so that could mean ANY lakeits just a general statement. And if you dont have a lake cabin, you probably have friends or family who have a lake cabin you can visit, or you have a camper that you park at a local campground or State Park. Or sometimes we will say, Were going up north for the weekend. Up north just means that we are headed to Northern Minnesota. To us, were headed south if were going to Iowa!

This is the area where everyone from southern Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and lots of other places come in the summer when it's hot. The population often triples in the summer.

Another thing I keep forgetting to mention is pop cans. We have a 10 cent bottle deposit on just about every aluminum, plastic, and glass bottle. If you see someone screeching "don't throw that out" while furiously digging through a garbage can it's probably a Michigander looking for the ten cents a fudgie threw out. It's a common fundraiser up here. Kids will go on pop can drives to earn money for various things. When my brother was in college he and his housemates threw a party at their house every weekend. BYOB, no cover but people had to leave the empties. They had so many empties left every week that it paid for their alcohol for the next party. That's a lot of empties lol.

 

[Turn the Page]

It means I come from a long line of people from the deep south and it is ingrained in us from birth that you say ma'am and sir or you are being disrespectful. Just a figure of speech really. Although I now understand that the entire country does not agree, it is very difficult for me to hear a child/teen answer a question with "What?" and not hear it as disrespectful even if it is not meant that way.

I was referring to the comment about southern breeding not whether or not responding with "What?" when you didn't hear or understand something is rude.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Maybe something like loudness has less to do with north vs south than it does whether someone lives in the city, works around loud machinery, has issues with hearing, etc. It's not just a regional thing, I don't think. (Although I do understand the stereotypes.)

I've taken care of people from not just all over the country, but all over the world, in the hospital. It all boils down to: people are people. Some are nice, and some aren't. Some are loud, and some are quiet. Some are outgoing, and some are shy. Some want to talk, and some don't. Some are rude, and some are polite, etc.

I can generally sense someone's personality just from their eyes and facial expressions - even if we don't speak the same language, or come from the same part of the world. It's pretty cool to communicate with someone at the most basic human level, and understand and appreciate eachother that way.

I mean, I "get" rudeness. But I don't get rudeness just because someone uses different language or customs.

 

[Skip2MyLou]

I didn't see this...any Michiganders remember Boblo Island? You had to ride a ferry to get there. One of my favorite childhood memories....


One of the hardest things to get used to when I moved to TN was having to go to a different store to buy alcohol. You can purchase beer in the grocery store or gas station but liquor & Wine can only be purchased at the liquor store.

 

[khertz]

The ones I have thought of have already been mentioned except for one. I'm originally from the New Orleans area, and everyone I know uses Mardi Gras cups to drink out of at home. They are plastic cups caught at parades that promote different Mardi Gras krewes, businesses, TV stations, etc. I often wondered as a kid what other people drank out of that didn't "celebrate" Mardi Gras! Then I went to school in North Louisiana and learned that people buy sets of drinking glasses. Just thought of this as I was emptying the dishwasher. We have a couple sets of nicer glasses, a set of plastic Mickey glasses from Target, and Mardi Gras cups in stacks!

Also, red beans & rice, always on Monday!

And there are no counties in Louisiana, but parishes, something that they get wrong in movies and tv shows more than you would think. Also terrible in movies and tv shows...a New Orleans accent!! They NEVER get it right! People from New Orleans don't say N'awlins like Hollywood would have you think! And we can tell the tourists because they say New Or-leens.

A lot of people also say they are making groceries when they are going food shopping (never say that myself, but I've heard it a lot!).

Moving just two hours west, I have noticed a LOT of differences between New Orleans and Lafayette where we live now (pronounced Laffy-ette, by the way, not Lah-fy-ette!). Here there is an even stronger Cajun French influence, with many kids in French Immersion schools and French words/phrases used a lot in everyday conversations. A popular one here is to use the word "sha" to describe something as cute or sweet. It evolved from the French word "cher." Hollywood would have you think they use that all the time in New Orleans, but I never heard it until I moved here. "Aw, sha!" means cute, and a cute baby will be called "sha baby."

Well, I thought I only had one, looks like I thought of a few more!

 

[IheartMickey]

When I was little I always used to think my Grandma and her brother were arguing. It took me awhile to realize they just spoke loud. My entire family does. I've occasionally been shushed at times because I didn't realize I was getting loud.

 

[EMom]

It means I come from a long line of people from the deep south and it is ingrained in us from birth that you say ma'am and sir or you are being disrespectful. Just a figure of speech really. Although I now understand that the entire country does not agree, it is very difficult for me to hear a child/teen answer a question with "What?" and not hear it as disrespectful even if it is not meant that way.

My child occasionally makes the mistake of asking, "What?" In response, DH or I will say, "Don't what me." "What?" does come off as rude and is not welcomed in Texas. The proper response would be a ma'am, sir, excuse me, pardon me, I'm sorry.......but not "What?" It's just so curt and abrupt.

 

[alex9179]

When I was little I always used to think my Grandma and her brother were arguing. It took me awhile to realize they just spoke loud. My entire family does. I've occasionally been shushed at times because I didn't realize I was getting loud.

Maybe it's a big family thing. Lots of kids or generations together, shouting to be heard over the din of conversation! My husband is from a big family and they are LOUD. They happen to come from the Pennsylvania and Ohio areas (haven't lived there in decades), but I think they're loud because all 7 kids like to talk at the same time. It's worse on the phone! I have to hold the receiver away from my ear.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The mostaccioli thing is specific to the South Side of St. Louis. (Traditionally working-class, heavily Italian, Irish and German, and almost all either Catholic or Lutheran.) The joke here is that you are not legally married if there was no mostaciolli served at your wedding reception. BTW, mostaciolli is baked ziti in marinara sauce, sometimes with loose salsiccia added, sometimes not.)

Now as to this one, not so cute.





No, it isn't a state rivalry thing at all. In the St. Louis area, "hoosier" has a completely different meaning and has absolutely nothing to do with Indiana. (I'm not from St. Louis, and when I first heard someone referred to that way I assumed that it was a reference to someone from Indiana -- and when I asked what was funny about people from Indiana, I was met with very puzzled looks; they had no idea what I was talking about.)

In St. Louis (and a good chunk of the surrounding area, really), "hoosier" is is the local equivalent term to the Southern expression "white trash", and means nearly the same thing. It means someone with no taste, little education, poor manners, and like as not, uncut grass and an old car up on blocks in the yard. (And I'd like to emphasize again, there is NO implication that this description is about people from Indiana; people in St. Louis really don't connect the term to Indiana at all.)

The local alternative weekly paper in St. Louis, the Riverfront Times, did a major article on the local use of the word about a decade ago: here it is (WARNING: the article contains some very raw quoted profanity; if you would rather not read that, don't go there.)
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2003-03-26/feature/hoosiers/

The sauce is almost always a darker sauce than marinara. Your description of how "Hoosier" is used in MO is spot on