Why do people in KC call highway names weirdly? (St. Louis: tree, area)

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by 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.

Most of Missouri's dialects are classifiable though, and the majority of dialect maps out there lump most of Missouri outside of the Southern dialect region.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by RjRobb2

I'm sorry but this is a dumb conversation. Whether you call it 40, 40 highway, or highway 40 it all means the same thing. Why does it matter?

It doesn't matter, I was just curious as to whether it was a Kansas City thing or a larger, more regional thing. I'm not from here, I don't know. I just know that Kansas City is the only place I've ever heard this.

When I first moved here, I was doing legal work and had to take down clients' addresses exactly. When somebody would say "40 Highway," I didn't even know what the proper way was to record that data, or if it should even BE written that way, because where I'd previously lived, you would write, "State (or U.S, whatever) Route 40."

Didn't know if I was dealing with a regional colloquialism, or what. It was confusing, because it mattered for my job.

[stlguy1976]

the point is.....its natrual to say highway 40 or 40 or US 40....not 40 highway. its like saying im going to walk down the steps....but you say it...im going to down walk the steps...

[RjRobb2]

Originally Posted by stlguy1976

the point is.....its natrual to say highway 40 or 40 or US 40....not 40 highway. its like saying im going to walk down the steps....but you say it...im going to down walk the steps...

That is a ridiculous metaphor that makes no sense.It might be natural to you to say highway 40 or 40 while it might be natural to others to say 40 highway. There is no right or wrong. All three ways convey the same thing and that is all the matters.If you have nothing better to do than nitpick what people call a highway then you must have a pathetic, meager existence.

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

I find this whole conversation amusing. Why does it matter if its highway 40 or 40 highway? Even though it is out of the norm, it makes a bit more sense to put the 40 before highway, as in the English language we put the modifier before the noun.

To address a couple things brought up before:

Yes, there is an intersection of 1st and 1st in NYC. It is at 1st Street and 1st Avenue.

Cookout would be more correct than BBQ, as what most people call BBQ is actually grilling. Kansas Citians should know the difference.

I think the use of Hoosier is funny. The first time I heard someone from STL say that, I was confused and responded
"Oh, they were from Indiana?"
"No, they were Hoosiers, you know Hoosiers"
"People from Indiana?"

[RjRobb2]

Originally Posted by WiseOwlSaysHoot

I find this whole conversation amusing. Why does it matter if its highway 40 or 40 highway? Even though it is out of the norm, it makes a bit more sense to put the 40 before highway, as in the English language we put the modifier before the noun.

To address a couple things brought up before:

Yes, there is an intersection of 1st and 1st in NYC. It is at 1st Street and 1st Avenue.

Cookout would be more correct than BBQ, as what most people call BBQ is actually grilling. Kansas Citians should know the difference.

It doesnt always work that way. For example, if I live in an apartment, I would say I live in Apartment 7. That is even the official way the US Post Office addresses apartments. In the US, we also put the month before the date.

In regards to the cookout vs. BBQ, I have heard all kinds of people in all kinds of places refer to it as both. I have even heard people from England and Ireland refer to it as a BBQ. That isnt a KC thing. I know people in KC that call it a cookout that have lived here their whole lives. I also know people that call it a BBQ that are from all areas of the country. I dont call it either. I usually say I am having a get together and we will probably be throwing some meat on the grill.

[mdwstgrl]

When I moved to the KC area from StL I thought it was odd to hear people say "40 highway" instead of "highway 40." It's a regional thing. I still call it "Highway 40" because that's what sounds right to me. What gets me is how the street signs don't put "highway" after the number or letter either, yet the locals still say "40 highway." Interesting!

[Versatile]

Originally Posted by mdwstgrl

When I moved to the KC area from StL I thought it was odd to hear people say "40 highway" instead of "highway 40." It's a regional thing. I still call it "Highway 40" because that's what sounds right to me. What gets me is how the street signs don't put "highway" after the number or letter either, yet the locals still say "40 highway." Interesting!

I think you will notice a state highway by the shape of the sign.

[RjRobb2]

Originally Posted by mdwstgrl

When I moved to the KC area from StL I thought it was odd to hear people say "40 highway" instead of "highway 40." It's a regional thing. I still call it "Highway 40" because that's what sounds right to me. What gets me is how the street signs don't put "highway" after the number or letter either, yet the locals still say "40 highway." Interesting!

State highway signs dont have the word highway on them. None of the 50 states do. They are generally outlined with black with the shape of the state they are for and the number of the highway written in black in the middle.

[RichMonk]

I never really took note of this before...but come to think of it...I've always said 69 Highway for as long as I can remember. I think it is cool how people in different regions say the same things but completely differently. Just goes to show the wonderfully expansive diversity in our great nation.