Why do people in KC call highway names weirdly? (Kansas City: apartments, legal)

[aragx6]

The St. Louis accent has nothing to do with being a hillbilly per se, but those folks do have very blue collar roots -- just like the "da Bears" guys in Chicago and that Brooklyn accent? Oh my, that's strong.

I don't hear too many people with the St. Louis accent unless I'm around my family with more blue collar roots. If anyone doesn't know what it sounds like, just listen to Mike Shannon announce the Cards games on 550 KTRS and you'll definitely hear it come out.

I've never heard anyone in St. Louis say 40 highway -- it's definitely a western half of the state thing.

I think it's weird that some of you are so up in arms about the conversation. Yes, the guy who posted it is a clear troll, but I still think colloquial differences regionally are really interesting. If you don't, then don't post in this thread.

[mhouse2001]

I'm still waiting for a city to name its numbered streets "Street 12" instead of "12th Street". Where do you live? Oh, I'm at 614 Street 12. That sounds cooler than 614 12th Street.

I know there was a Seinfeld episode where Kramer claimed he was at the corner of 1st and 1st, referring to it as the nexus of the universe or something. Does NYC have such a location? I know Menominee MI has numbered streets and avenues that intersect. Dumb idea. What if you forget which is which and end up at 12th Ave and 9th St instead of 9th Ave and 12th St?

Oh well, carry on... I'm just interested in city design.

[northbayeric]

Right you are--you'll never hear anyone from STL say "40 Highway," and you'll never hear anyone from there refer to it as I-64 or Highway 64 either.

It did take me for a bit of a surprise when I found out the Mid-Continent Public Library is located on "24 Highway" in Independence. Different? Yes. Weird? Naaahhhh.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by stlguy1976

actually we call it 40. We dont use "highway" and yes people from South St. Louis talk with a southern twang. what do you expect they are hill billies.

No they're not are you kidding me? Hillbillies? They are the farthest thing from there. I know several old timers from South St. Louis and yes there are a few twanged words here or there but it's still a very far cry from a Southern accent. Generally it doesn't get any more twanged than "farty" or "farty-far" when referring to the local highways, as an example. Visit Louisville, Nashville, and Memphis and you should realize immediately that what you are hearing is Midwestern dialect with a bit of Southern influence to it, very typical for the Lower Midwest. People from South St. Louis have very flat accents when compared to these three cities. For me generally, I've only heard the twang come from a very limited number of people in the area. More often than not, I've heard accents that are completely twang-free in South St. Louis...I've spent lots of time in that part of the city given my best friend since childhood has lived there his whole life. As to the hillbilly reference, they not only sound nothing like hillbillies nor do they look like them, they're not. They're typically lower class white people, and that's a BIG difference. My best friend and his family are the farthest thing from that. So are their neighbors.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by northbayeric

Right you are--you'll never hear anyone from STL say "40 Highway," and you'll never hear anyone from there refer to it as I-64 or Highway 64 either.

It did take me for a bit of a surprise when I found out the Mid-Continent Public Library is located on "24 Highway" in Independence. Different? Yes. Weird? Naaahhhh.

Hehe, you're wrong about the I-64 thing. It's starting to become more commonplace actually now that the title has been so heavily promoted due to the fact that it's in the process of being upgraded from a U.S. Highway to a true interstate. I actually use the term "64" far more often than I do "40"...I have to make a conscious decision usually to say "40" instead of "64", and it's becoming more and more known as "64" overtime, especially among younger generations. Over the years I think all the publicity and references from the media are the cause of this, not to mention the fact it is becoming interstate grade makes it harder and harder to call "40".I certainly know that when I was a little kid nobody called it "64" as it had only been extended into Missouri for not even several years. Everyone called it "40." That has definitely changed, and I think overtime as the older generations die out "64" will become a more and more accepted term. Car companies however are getting things very mixed up...occasionally the news media will go back to 40 and show 40 with an interstate symbol, and that is a huge mistake on their part. Interstate 40 misses St. Louis by about 300 miles too far south. I think the term 64 needs to be adopted because eventually it's going to cause a lot of confusion, especially if you live in a state that Interstate 40 passes through.

[kcmo]

I assume he is referring to the far south areas of the county, not the city. It does get much more redneck or even hillbilly out that way, especially around Arnold.

I lived in StL for a while, so I still call most highways “highway whatever”. But I tend to mix it up for some reason. One day I will say 40 highway and the next I will say Highway 40.

Who really cares?

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I assume he is referring to the far south areas of the county, not the city. It does get much more redneck or even hillbilly out that way, especially around Arnold.

I lived in StL for a while, so I still call most highways “highway whatever”. But I tend to mix it up for some reason. One day I will say 40 highway and the next I will say Highway 40.

Who really cares?

Maybe somewhat, but not incredibly. In any case, a twang is all that is usually present...it's not a true Southern accent. Southern dialects don't become the dominant form of dialect in most of Missouri until you get to the far southern parts of the state.

[KCRichard]

Thanks Northbound, it is not a southern accent, but a dialect unique to South County. Missouri has one of the most diverse groups of dialects in the entire country, with over a 150 different and distinct dialects, reflecting the diversity of the settlers and regions of the state. Mizz-our-ee, Mizz-our-a, you all, y'all, youin's, soda/pop, creek/crick, branch/stream, washed/worshed, fish/feesh, the variations are endless. Again, this is interesting, not weird. Anyway, who gives a flyin' **** about how we refer to our highways? NYC has numbered avenues and streets, so I suppose you could be at the corner of 7th and 7th. As a rule,the numbered streets in KCMO and Johnson County, Kansas run east/west, named streets north/south, but Wyandote County, Kansas(Johnson County's neighbor to the north) has their numbered streets running north/south and named streets running east/west, so you can be at the corner of 47th st. and 47th St. when you are on County Line Road.

[aragx6]

There are some big time hoosiers in Arnold to be sure kcmo, but I suggest hanging out in the Southwest MO forums -- there are some very proud hillbiliies down there. Hillman posted some of the funniest pictures of himself a while back -- I think it's great that he's happy with who he is, but I've definitely never seen anyone like that in Arnold.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by aragx6

There are some big time hoosiers in Arnold to be sure kcmo, but I suggest hanging out in the Southwest MO forums -- there are some very proud hillbiliies down there. Hillman posted some of the funniest pictures of himself a while back -- I think it's great that he's happy with who he is, but I've definitely never seen anyone like that in Arnold.

When I think of "hoosiers" around St. Louis, I don't think of the kind from Arkansas. I know a couple of guys from Arnold and while you might classify them as hoosiers in some respects, they are a far cry from the kinds in Arkansas and Southwest Missouri. I tend to think of "white trash" when I hear the term hoosier around here...as far as Southwest Missouri goes, I don't doubt the existence of hillbillies, to dispute that would be foolish, but my dad growing up there is definitely the farthest thing from a hillbilly. Hillman appears to be a self-proclaimed Southerner, so that's fine for him, but hillbilly does not necessarily=southern. You can find hillbillies as far north as Upstate New York. In any case, people from Arnold in general do not have a twanged accent. You don't start hearing that accent in numerous quantities until you are south of Farmington and around Cape Girardeau and that area. As to whoever said the thing about dialects, I made a post in the "Southern Missouri...in what ways is it Southern and in what ways is it not" section containing 8 different dialect maps of the state...the majority of maps out there tell the same story.