Missouri...Southern or Midwestern? (St. Louis, Springfield: architecture, architect, counties)

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by JohnKing67

I've tried to correct my Dad before as I'm from Ohio and always say "Missouree" and he's from Missouri and says "Missourah". There's no way to convince him that he's wrong though.

Missourah is the way residents of the states generally pronounce it. Has nothing to do with South or North. it actually can be traced back to the French settlers who settled the place.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by daisymae19

While South of the Missouri River is southern..the Ozarks (which includes Springfield btw) are Southern Hill...not plain ol' southern...very similar to the Appalachians..the accent, the word usage (y'uns instead of yall, drownded instead of drowned..the collequisms, etc) along with the weather(ice in the winter and hot humid summers), etc all line up very closely with the towns and people in Appalachia...when we moved to Cola SC for 5 yrs I didn't really notice much difference in the summer weather except for it lasting longer..but lord were those winters nice out there and as for accents..they knew my dh was midwestern (from the Hannibal area) but most placed me as being from Tennesee....

Tennessee...wow...I have no clue how they could've done that. I've been to Hannibal numerous times and it sounds pretty Midwestern to me, as does, btw, St. Louis, where I have resided for 20 plus years. Tennessee or any of the South for that matter is about the last place I'd think of to group people with Hannibal and St. louis and all of Northern Missouri for that matter. These areas definitely are the Midwest.

[JohnKing67]

Originally Posted by ajf131

St. Louis is very Southern ROFLMFAO! St. Louis is Midwestern to the core. You would honestly group St. Louis in with Louisville before you'd group it in with KC, Cincy, and Indy? I've never found the Southern half of Missouri to be very Southern for the most part. The Southern quarter of Southern Missouri is southern. Springfield is Southern i will agree there and Rolla could be considered semi-Southern. But Dixie dominates only the southern quarter of Missouri.

I've been to St. Louis a few times and it seemed very midwestern to me. The people didn't have any noticable accent either as I remember.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by JohnKing67

I have a grandmother in northern Missouri who calls Iowa, "Ioway". I'm not sure how common that is though.

Ioway....not common at all from my experience...in fact I'm not sure any of the South even pronounces Iowa like that.....most people I know from the South pronounce IOwa like "Ah-o-wuh."

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by daisymae19

after growing up in the Ozarks and then moving to Columbia SC I would completely disagree. St. Louis and South of the Missouri River are extremely southern in culture and mindset.

St. Louis is not the South. You have no clue what you are talking about. This city isn't laid back. it is part of the rust belt and is alive with business. It's heavily industrial. There is no sweet tea here. The weather here isn't Southern. This city is very liberal. The South feels completely foreign to me compared to the Midwest. Compare St. Louis to Cape Girardeau. When you can prove the political mindsets and speech patterns and culture are identical then i'll believe you. St. Louis isn't Southern. I'm sorry. It's just not. I have nothing against the South, I just know for a fact that there is nothing Southern about this city.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by daisymae19

obviously you have a great need not to see Missouri as southern, care to share why the dislike of the south?

Wrong again. I have nothing against the South. I just don't agree that the Missouri River is a good way to divide the Midwest and Dixie. I'm presenting what I believe to be the facts from both my experience and my father's experience growing up in Missouri. Most of Southern Missouri is more of a transition area between the Midwest and Dixie than it is one or the other. St. Louis is also nothing like the Ozarks. Also, compare the trees and foliage of just about all of Missouri. That is a case you can make for most of Missouri not being southern. Missouri is mostly oak and hickory and spruce trees and most of it is also part of the corn belt.

[da jammer]

Missouri...Southern or Midwestern? geez ajf131 you sure seem wound up over this topic. Frankly I don't care if it's considered midwestern, eastern, southern, northern or frikkin Martian...as long as it isn't considered Californian! Heck I just love it here!! Just kiddin' man...thought I'd throw a wrench in your thread and chill it out a bit. PEACE!

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by da jammer

Missouri...Southern or Midwestern? geez ajf131 you sure seem wound up over this topic. Frankly I don't care if it's considered midwestern, eastern, southern, northern or frikkin Martian...as long as it isn't considered Californian! Heck I just love it here!! Just kiddin' man...thought I'd throw a wrench in your thread and chill it out a bit. PEACE!

Well initially I was, that's why I started the thread in the first place, to see what other people thought. But i received enough replies to it awhile back for me to make a reasonable conclusion in my own mind. Be assured, lol, it's nothing like California, though sometimes I wish it were

[rollagirl]

Originally Posted by daisymae19

that often happens with foreign words...another Missouri example of this is Rolla...it was supposed to be Raleigh...and of couse the pronunciations of the Missouri towns of Versailles, Milan, Haiti, Cairo, Nevada, Lebanon...and don't forget Maries County...

My understanding is that the name of Rolla(where i live) was first name by the settlers here who came from Raleigh, NC. Because they wanted to honor the old town, but wanted to spell it different.....Rolla is what you get. Most people who don't know, pronounce it as .....ROW-LOW.

Maries County??? I dont get it.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by daisymae19

after growing up in the Ozarks and then moving to Columbia SC I would completely disagree. St. Louis and South of the Missouri River are extremely southern in culture and mindset.

I've been to Columbia, SC and it seemed nothing like any part of Missouri that I've ever been to. Missouri and South Carolina for the most part are two entirely different states in every single sense. The Ozarks to me are only semi-Southern when taking the whole amount of area they occupy into account. The parts around Arkansas and Springfield are definitely Southern. Lebanon and Rolla and Sullivan, MO are what I'd call semi-Southern. THe lower half of the Ozark region is definitely Southern. The upper half is something in between Southern and Midwestern, coming from many I know that live there. I honestly see the Ozark region as being one more unique to itself than to any particular region of the country. The Ozarks are a truly blended and distinct region to me, and in fact are featured that way as well.