Is Delaware in the souuuuuth? (Seaford, New Castle: live in, restaurant, license plates)

[doctorjef]

I think if you will read C20 American writers prior to WWII or casting their scenes in pre-WWII Baltimore you will find the city described as Southern, though obviously not in the same sense as the Deep South. I'm sorry that I can't give you a citation off the top of my head but I have definitely read American fiction of the mid- to early 20th Century that emphasised the perceived Southerness of Baltimore. I don't think prior to WWII the city could be culturally compared to Philly at all. So much of this damn thread seems to be about people's prejudices rather than objective, informed historical and cultural assessment.

[doctorjef]

Here is an interesting historical cultural assessment of Baltimore in the late C19/early C20: The Duchess of Windsor: The Uncommon ... - Google Book Search

[cpterp]

Interesting link, but that is one author and his opinion (not that I'm discrediting it). He is right though, many Baltimoreans attacked Union soldiers changing trains during the Civil War. So, I'll revise my statement by saying that during the last 50 years Baltimore is more widely regarded as Northeast.


Take a look at this: The Mid-Atlantic Dialects

[doctorjef]

Interesting article, cpterp. I would be thrilled to hear anyone in the Delmarva use "mongst-ye". I can't imagine hearing it except possibly somewhere in the MD Tidewater. As to Baltimore, I tend to take as the historic norm my childhood experience of an old, rather patrician Baltimore family of my acquaintance who had a peculiar MD accent that wasn't at all Philly-like, except perhaps for something like the "youse" pronomial form. These folks were of two generations, the older born around the turn of the C20 and the younger born in the mid- to late 1920's.

As to the broader issue of regional identity, over on the Maryland forum, there is an extremely long discussion about whether MD is Southern or Northern, which was finally closed because it had become so snippety. It's interesting to look at as a comparison to the similar discussion on this forum.

[MimzyMusic]

I think rural MD and DE are Southern, but since they're urban states, it would make sense to put the entire states into the NE today.

[CosmicWizard]

Many years ago when I regularly drove the I-95 corridor as a student in Florida and a resident of Pennsylvania, Richmond-VA was where I made a distinction between North and South. The only stops I ever made were for gas, so admittedly my North / South distinction is based on superficial impressions. However, Delaware has never made a southern impression on me, even in the southern part of the state on US 13.

[Bluzman]

Mimzy just curious are you saying that a prerequisite for being considered southern is how rural an area is? I know areas in the northeast that are certainly more rural then Sussex County DE and they are far from being southern. There is nothing in Delaware including the urban-ness that would make them part of the Northeast. We do not have the same type of annual snowfall and other climatic conditions, or geological makeup that is inherent to the northeast such as mountains and rocky coastlines.

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

Many years ago when I regularly drove the I-95 corridor as a student in Florida and a resident of Pennsylvania, Richmond-VA was where I made a distinction between North and South. The only stops I ever made were for gas, so admittedly my North / South distinction is based on superficial impressions. However, Delaware has never made a southern impression on me, even in the southern part of the state on US 13.

I have a cousin from Winston-Salem, NC who regularly travels I-95 for work and says that once you pass Fredericksburg, you're in the North.

[CosmicWizard]

Yeah there is a vibrational change around Richmond-Fredericksburg. Can't put my finger on it, but something changes.

[doctorjef]

Desperately I ask, has anyone here actually heard anyone use the expression "mongst-ye" as a second person plural pronoun?