Newcomer? Triangle Terms and Survival Guide (Raleigh, Fayetteville: live, military, metro)

[Francois]

Originally Posted by lovebrentwood

I have met plenty of people in the Triangle who were born here, and they have no discernible Southern accent.

Kids usually talk like their parents do, with influence from their friends and teachers and also, of course, TV. The (NC-born) children of Northern transplants will rarely have Southern accents, though also rarely will they have a pronounced accent from their parent's place of origin, if applicable (NYC or Boston, or another language, for example). I think generally that accents "tend toward the mean", the "mean" being standard American that's heard on TV.

We moved into a neighborhood full of "IBM Yankees" when I was 5 and had previously had a VERY "Eastern NC" accent. After a couple of months of my being around kids from Michigan and Wisconsin, my parents were alarmed that I was picking up a "Northern" accent--but it all washed over time. Now I talk like the person I'm speaking to, by and large; talking to Northerners, my accent is standard with a touch of Southern, but talking to Southerners, it's dripping in it. I used to work with the public all the time and people were constantly asking where I was from--often guessing Australia! Also, it must be said that when you have a Southern accent and people from elsewhere are constantly deriding it (as happens from SOME transplants), you learn to adjust it when around other accents, subconsciously, so as not to be judged.

The bottom line is, kids who grow up around a variety of accents will understand them all and slide between one and the other in at least some ways (most accents are all about the vowels, anyway) depending on their audience--this is the main reason that Northerners may not hear as many Southern accents: because the NC-born person they're talking to is mimicking their accent without realizing it! Put that same person on the phone with their grandmother, and you'd be shocked at the transformation...and the person in question isn't doing it consciously at all.

[VaNC]

A knit ski cap is known as a "tobaggan" in these parts.

Funny, I have lived in the south all my life and never heard a winter hat called a tobaggan. THought that was a northern or midwest expression (have never really heard anyone say it, come to think about it, only on TV). We always just called them hats or caps.

[CHTransplant]

Winter hats - in NC? I didn't know there was such a thing.

[bigdadytid]

we usually called them "watch caps"

[LONGISLAND2NC]

growing up in Australia (the deep, deep south), we called them "beanies". don't know why.

[RaleighLass]

Agree w/Francois, excellent job..esp for a transplant It takes one to know one, I've been here 35yrs and was a mere nipper when I moved from the UK. My problem is that I've never lived anywhere else in the US and so I'm not altogether certain if some of the differences i pick up are local, regional or countrywide. Some are obvious, many are not. So I love reading these kinds of posts..keep 'em coming!

Here's what I add to the discussion. When someone says---they really mean:

Pin and Pen - pronounced the same; wait for the visual aid to decipher which one they mean or add "a writing..."and let them finish the sentence.
Let me see that - don't take it literally and display it as though you are on QVC. It means give it to me asap!
Got any sauce - give me Texas Pete, and loads of it! The exception to this is if they are eating steak and they mean A1. Or, if you are in Johnston county, they mean a different kind of sauce
Hey shuuug - Hi sweetie, i don't know you & am trying to be nice, or I've forgotten your name .
How are you - always reply "fine, hope you are" OR, if time is of the essence, "and you?" This said as you are both walking in opposit directions and can barely hear each other. Remember, it's the formality that matters.
Got any nabs? - they usually mean the yellow cracker with peanut butter. It's an acquired taste and to be accompanied by a piiipsi.
Pepsi over Coke for locals - it's a NC invention. Watch it fizz even more when they drop in a few peanuts. Cool link about the origins HISTORY OF PEPSI COLA INVENTED BY CALEB BRADHAM PHARMACIST 1893 BEVERAGES: SOFT DRINKS
Daydee - they mean their dad, and so what if they are 50 yrs old and say this, it's sweet.
Goin to the Creek - nope, not a real creek, not fishin, otherwise they'd say, Crik. It's Walnut Creek Amphitheater (Raleigh)or whatever it's called this year! We just luv those rolling naming rights around here
While here, if you get a chance to have fried cornbread, give it a shot. It's like a fat mini pancake, yummy!
And you have to go "to the K&W" (cafeteria) in Cameron Village. You'll see local families, politicians, and business ppl wheelin and dealing over country style steak and greens, by the time they are on the banana pudding the deals are done and it's time to enjoy the company.

I love the culture and the people here. I don't measure it by London, Paris or NY. To me, its culture isn't defined by how many opera houses, museums, and theaters it has, but by the richness of its people and their culture. That might include neighborhood cookouts where you get to hear stories of how it used to be on the farm during the depression, or how they used everything from a hog but the squeal - love that saying! Or going to a local rodeo on someone's farm and witnessing their patriotism as a lone rider bears the flag, and children are introduced to the tradition. Or visiting the mountains or the beach and meeting locals. There are many opportunities here to experience local culture, including the theater and sports. Please try to resist the temptation to be critical of what it doesn't have and enjoy finding what it does have - you'll be glad you did!

[NC Geordies]

Originally Posted by RaleighLass

I love the culture and the people here. I don't measure it by London, Paris or NY. To me, its culture isn't defined by how many opera houses, museums, and theaters it has, but by the richness of its people and their culture. That might include neighborhood cookouts where you get to hear stories of how it used to be on the farm during the depression, or how they used everything from a hog but the squeal - love that saying! Or going to a local rodeo on someone's farm and witnessing their patriotism as a lone rider bears the flag, and children are introduced to the tradition. Or visiting the mountains or the beach and meeting locals. There are many opportunities here to experience local culture, including the theater and sports. Please try to resist the temptation to be critical of what it doesn't have and enjoy finding what it does have - you'll be glad you did!

Excellent post! Totally and completely agree. Having also lived in London, the culture we've found here in NC is a million times better

[RaleighLass]

Originally Posted by VaNC

Funny, I have lived in the south all my life and never heard a winter hat called a tobaggan. THought that was a northern or midwest expression (have never really heard anyone say it, come to think about it, only on TV). We always just called them hats or caps.

My ex is from Raleigh and pronounced it toe-boggan, he grew up in five points. Maybe it depends on which area of Raleigh you grew up?

[CHTransplant]

Originally Posted by RaleighLass

Hey shuuug - Hi sweetie, i don't know you & am trying to be nice, or I've forgotten your name.

Uh oh, my wife calls me those all the time. I'm gonna have to start wearing a name tag. I just hope it doesn't rip off too much chest hair.

[J_Lurk]

Originally Posted by VaNC

Funny, I have lived in the south all my life and never heard a winter hat called a tobaggan. THought that was a northern or midwest expression (have never really heard anyone say it, come to think about it, only on TV). We always just called them hats or caps.

I always said "hat" too, but I was certainly familiar with the usage. When I was in college and worked on the student newspaper, a story came over the wire describing the suspect in a crime, and it said he was wearing a "dark toboggan" My colleagues turned to me, the NC native, to translate, and it turned out they'd all pictured a guy running from the scene of the crime with a sled on his head.