Regional Traditions

[afnaechiquita]

Thank you. That is all I was trying to say. Not that all southerners were idiots or anything like that. Although I do disagree with your opinion of the Confederate battle flag. It does give me major pause whenever I see it whether the person displaying it understands it or not.

Understandable, it should make anyone pause.

 

[Turn the Page]

Understandable, it should make anyone pause.

Well I would think but apparently in a large portion of the country people still display it with pride. Pride in what I'm not exactly sure but pride nonetheless.

 

[tvguy]

Did all the other Metro Detroiters here drink Vernors as kids when you had an upset stomach? My mom always gave me some to "settle my tummy." That fizzy goodness still has a comforting aspect to it for me, even to this day.

Funny how different products are distributed and how what is familiar to some if foreign to others.

I grew up with Canada Dry Ginger Ale. I mean, to the point that Canada Dry was part of the name of all Ginger Ales (sort of like all gelatin is Jello). Around here 7-11 and other mini-marts tend to carry less common brands, that's the first time I saw Vernors.
Doing a quick search, Vernors is the oldest brand of soda around (1886).

As a kid in the 60's, you didn't see Mountain Dew many places either. That was always a treat. But I grew up with Shasta Sodas, which is kind of an off brand brand name but it goes back to 1889, so like VErnors it's been around longer than Coke and Pepsi..

 

[North of Mouse]

This made me laugh. Touchy? Yes we are. Proof above by twinboysmom

I am from the south and honestly, I agree with what Turn The Page wrote.

The older I get, I realize we aren’t really that polite. We are taught to smile and agree to your face. But we will talk about you behind your back. Then we will turn around and be as sweet as pie to you the next day. It’s a game. Not manners. Our grandmothers were masters of this

I think this is what people are saying when they say that what is considered being polite in one regions may seem rude in other regions.

As for traditions, I remember doing cakewalks at church festivals as a child.

I don't know where in the south you were raised, but we weren't taught to be two faced where I grew up (south LA). To this day, it's the same in our area.

We also strike up a conversation when shopping (any kind of shopping) with whoever we might be next to in the store/line. We moved with my dh's work to MD (near DC) for a few years, and found out quick it's not the thing to do there. We got short answers, then back to the business at hand.

 

[Turn the Page]

We have Canadian Dry here too but Vernor's is always preferred.

 

[mjkacmom]

DH and I born and raised in north jersey as well. Currently living in south jersey it is like 2 different states.

They still are sprinkles!
Taylor ham vs pork roll
Down the shore vs to the beach
Bagels vs begels
A phillies mets game is a must phillies Yankees even better if you can get tkts for inter league play.
Circles are long gone in north Jersry. Finally getting rid of them down here

I agree they are like two different states. There is a traffic circle 2 miles from my home! There are still some left. ETA, yes, we pronounce some food items different here, and drop some vowels (ie - cavatelli is gavadeel, capicola (sp) is gabagool), and we have no Italian bakeries (because 99% of all bakeries are Italian - think Cake Boss without the fancy cakes).

And we have real diners - open 24/7, all year long, with menus weighing 20 pounds. If you want a roast beef dinner or greek salad at 3 am - you got it!

 

[sunshinehighway]

I agree they are like two different state. There is a traffic circle 2 miles from my home! There are still some left.

We called them rotaries. We just had a new one put in at a formerly ridiculous 3 way intersection. It's so much better now.

 

[shoney]

Thank you. That is all I was trying to say. Not that all southerners were idiots or anything like that. Although I do disagree with your opinion of the Confederate battle flag. It does give me major pause whenever I see it whether the person displaying it understands it or not.

ETA: Actually it gives me more pause when they actually do understand what it means. Typically when I see a Confederate flag displayed I generally assume the person displaying it has no idea what it means or is a racist redneck. Being from the north, that is probably because I wasn't raised around them. While musical artists of the southern rock genre, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kid Rock, have begun using the rebel flag in their concerts and merchandise I often wonder why. Whenever I see it all I think of is the Civil War and slavery and can't understand why anyone would want to portray that.

We saw Lynrd Skynyrd during the summer of 2011 here on Long Island. They kept trying to get the crowd cheering by waving the confederate flag. There was a weird silence! They really didn't put on a good show at all! Just didn't relate well with the audience on many levels.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Holy cow! Last night I left this thread with people happily discussing funny aspects of living in different part of the country. I come back this morning to find the Civil War (or The War of Northern Aggression) is still being fought.

We do tailgating here too, mainly for college football events. I know you folks down south dress up and everything, but our tailgating is pretty impressive too. We fit 100,000+ in my home stadium every weekend in the fall, and almost all of those folks are out grilling by their cars before the start of the game.

 

[Turn the Page]

Holy cow! Last night I left this thread with people happily discussing funny aspects of living in different part of the country. I come back this morning to find the Civil War (or The War of Northern Aggression) is still being fought.

We do tailgating here too, mainly for college football events. I know you folks down south dress up and everything, but our tailgating is pretty impressive too. We fit 100,000+ in my home stadium every weekend in the fall, and almost all of those folks are out grilling by their cars before the start of the game.

U of M football is a thing of beauty. Recent years notwithstanding of course. I went to a home game once when I was a kid. I would dearly love to go to another one. We shall see.

My undergraduate adviser actually went to Ohio State. I sat down with her one day to discuss which grad schools I should apply to. I could see the thought bubble forming in her head to put in a plug for her alma mater but I stopped her and said "don't say Ohio State, I can't go to Ohio State, if I even applied there I am pretty sure I would be disowned and cut out of my grandfather's will." She laughed but I wasn't totally kidding.

 

[alex9179]

We saw Lynrd Skynyrd during the summer of 2011 here on Long Island. They kept trying to get the crowd cheering by waving the confederate flag. There was a weird silence! They really didn't put on a good show at all! Just didn't relate well with the audience on many levels.

That's just doesn't sound right. In my mind, that band was lost 35 years ago.

 

[IheartMickey]

That is a misconception. Most Italians (from Italy) pronounce it as a four-syllable word -- just the "ee" sound at the end is gentle, like the second t is a part of it. This "man-a-goat" three-syllable thing is an Italian-American Sopranos wannabe thing here, or Sicilian/southern Italian pronunciation. Not the majority of the country. Visit Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan -- you will not hear mana-goat, pro-shoot, etc.

But hey, I am a NY/NJ girl at heart and I appreciate fast talking. You want to leave off that final syllable so you can speak faster, go for it.

I know. I have visited Rome and didn't dare pronounce them they way I normally would. They already weren't that friendly because of us being American.

 

[shoney]

That's just doesn't sound right. In my mind, that band was lost 35 years ago.

The doobie brothers opened for them!!! They were actually good, though!

Tickets were $10 and it was a great night at the beach.

 

[IheartMickey]

The doobie brothers opened for them!!! They were actually good, though!

Tickets were $10 and it was a great night at the beach.

Lemme guess, Jones Beach theater? Loved going there.

 

[Minnesota!]

I call mozzerella "mutsa-rehl" and people never know what I mean. Also, the first time I ordered pizza out here (now in the midwest from NYC--and my husband grew up in Astoria) we called and ask for a large pie--and were told they didn't sell pie.

I also ordered coffee "very light" and they only put a drop of creamer in it. I kept saying "I said very light"...and they just stared at me. Finally someone explained what I meant! =)

Nobody out here eats hotdogs with mustard and kraut.....but they should!

I learned fast not to bother ordered "bagel and a schmear".....

Now that we live in Ohio, my children are raised on their own traditions:
If anyone says "O, H" they call back "I, O".....

Enlighten me, please - what is "very light" coffee? My DH eats his hot dogs with kraut and mustard

This made me laugh. Touchy? Yes we are. Proof above by twinboysmom

I am from the south and honestly, I agree with what Turn The Page wrote.

The older I get, I realize we aren’t really that polite. We are taught to smile and agree to your face. But we will talk about you behind your back. Then we will turn around and be as sweet as pie to you the next day. It’s a game. Not manners. Our grandmothers were masters of this

I think this is what people are saying when they say that what is considered being polite in one regions may seem rude in other regions.

As for traditions, I remember doing cakewalks at church festivals as a child.

Cakewalks are big around here. Still are - at any school or church festival.

As a Northern Kentucky girl.. I can contribute the following..


1. We use the word fix as a verb. Example: I am fixin to make dinner.

2. All fizzy drinks are cokes. No matter what it really is..

3. Up north means somewhere in Ohio.

4. We are addicted to a drink called ale-8.

5. We eat things such as Goetta, 3 ways and 4 ways.

6. We have cookouts, not bbq's.

7. We add an "s" to the end of almost everything. Walmart is walmarts. Kroger is krogers.

8. Fine Italian dining is heading to larosas with your buddy card.

9. We have a water tower that says ya'll on it.

10. A hoagy here is a piece of cube steak with mushroom or pizza sauce on it.

What is an ale-8 and, my apologies, the hoagy sounds nasty, lol!

Someone a few pages back mentioned cake walks. Yes here in Texas (growing up at least, I don't know if they still do it anymore), any school carnival/festival or even town festival had a cake walk.

Other traditions:
bridal showers are most often held in someone's home.
You bring a gift to the shower AND to the wedding. ON that note, all weddings have a gift table. Most weddings in this area have a buffet style dinner.

High School homecoming mums.

Minus the mums - sounds about right for MN, too!

Funny how different products are distributed and how what is familiar to some if foreign to others.

I grew up with Canada Dry Ginger Ale. I mean, to the point that Canada Dry was part of the name of all Ginger Ales (sort of like all gelatin is Jello). Around here 7-11 and other mini-marts tend to carry less common brands, that's the first time I saw Vernors.
Doing a quick search, Vernors is the oldest brand of soda around (1886).

As a kid in the 60's, you didn't see Mountain Dew many places either. That was always a treat. But I grew up with Shasta Sodas, which is kind of an off brand brand name but it goes back to 1889, so like VErnors it's been around longer than Coke and Pepsi..

Yep, we drank Canada Dry and Schwep's when our stomachs were upset. And Shasta.

 

[shoney]

Lemme guess, Jones Beach theater? Loved going there.

Yes! Love going there on summer nights!

 

[acourtwdw]

Another MI memory- Town Club pop and Belle Isle.

 

[mjkacmom]

I did not find this out until I had a friend of my daughter's spend the night when she was in middle school. The girl's mother was from New York and when I asked her a question her response was "What?" I was very annoyed because the correct response is "Ma'am?" When I spoke to my daughter about it, she told me that it is insulting up north to say sir and ma'am. However, I consider her response rude. Even after my daughter told me that, I still find it rude. Just my southern breeding and I can't get beyond it.

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!

 

[design_mom]

I'm from Columbus, Ohio and have lived here all my life. I can't think of any Columbus-specific things that don't revolve around Ohio State (and I'm sure every university town has their own traditions.) We do get some "spill over" from surrounding areas. We have Graeter's ice cream and Cincinnati-style chili. You can find packzi here, but you have to look for it, etc.

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 do like Pork Steaks there... and I'd never heard of them. MIL/FIL have finally found a butcher here who will cut them to order.
-- to me, barbecue involves stuff with barbecue sauce on it. They claim to barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs (no sauce). To me, that's "grilling" or "cooking out."
-- they serve baked mostaccoli at every large gathering (I love that.)
-- they also serve toasted ravioli a lot (I'm not a fan).
-- they will make disparaging remarks about ice cream (even Graeters!) because it's not frozen custard
-- they claim Vess ginger ale is better than Vernor's. (I am not a good judge. My mother used to give me Vernor's when I was sick as a kid and now I can't stand *any* ginger ale.)
-- they call it soda, not pop. (I've picked that up). And any clear soda like 7-up, Sprite, or Sierra Mist is "white soda."
-- 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.

 

[IheartMickey]

Yes! Love going there on summer nights!

I wonder if other states charge you to get into the beach! I've only been to Melbourne Beach here in FL and no charge. What's that beach in Suffolk that charges $45 for non residents? Does it start with a G? I never went because that was way too expensive! I have spent the money to go to Fire Island though.