So what do you call these things in TN? (Knoxville: home, YMCA)

[LauraC]

A few years ago, I found out that that when I went to restaurants around the country on work travel and ordered Coke (meaning Coca Cola), I might wind up with a Pepsi because in parts of the country, "coke" is used generically to mean soda. When I mentioned this in a forum I was posting to at the time, I also found out that some people call soda "pop" and I never heard anyone say they'd have pop so this was news to me. So, if I'm in a restaurant in East Tennessee and I order a Coke, will I get Coca Cola or do I have to add something to the request so they know I don't want Pepsi? How about if I stopped at a store? Am I looking for pop or soda aisle?

Also, when I first moved to MD from NY, I ordered a medium pie to go. Around the fourth visit to the pizzeria, the guy asked me if I was from NY. I confessed and asked if my accent was that strong. He said, no, but he and his family were from Brooklyn and no one who came into the pizzeria in Maryland called it a "medium pie" to go, they asked for a "medium pizza" to go. He figured since I always called it a "pie" I was from his old neck of the woods. What do you call it in East Tennessee?

Are they heroes, subs, hoagies or grinders or something else in East Tennessee? I always used to call it a hero. In New Hampshire the same sandwhich is a grinder. I know I have been someplace where it was called a hoagy (midwest maybe?) and where I live now, they call it a sub, so I stopped calling it a "chicken parm hero" and now use the term sub. What's it called in East TN?

Lastly, if I am having breakfast in a restaurant and I order tea, do I have to specify I want hot tea? When I was in Dallas for breakfast and ordered tea (at 7:30 in the morning), they brought me iced tea. While I like both kinds, I had never heard of iced tea at breakfast and never thought to specify "hot" tea, something I might have done at lunch or dinner. If you order "tea" at breakfast, when your dining mates are having coffee, will they bring you hot tea in Tennessee or is Iced tea, the default tea if you just say "tea please?"

I don't have a problem with any word changes, I just want to know so I can do the right thing in TN and not sound like a dweeb.

What do they call these things in your home state? Any good stories from those that have moved to different states?

[hiknapster]

I think soda is soda. If you order a coke, and Pepsi is only available, they will ask if that is okay, like anywhere else.

I think only New Yorkers call pizza "pie" but I could be wrong.

I would specify hot tea, just to be safe. It isn't "iced" tea anywhere in the south, as far as I know. It is either sweet tea or unsweet.

Of course, being from New England, I call them grinders. I think they are pretty much called subs here. I'm addicted to them, but have yet to find a decent one here. I like my subs loaded with stuff! Anyone knows of a place, PLEASE let me know. In the meantime, I've taken to making my own.

The only funny story I have is ordering food when I first moved to Orlando. My accent was so thick that I couldn't order at a drive-thru and getting out and going in didn't help much. No one could understand what I was saying! I eventually had to learn to pronounce my "r"s, or I would have gone hungry!

[phyll]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I think soda is soda. If you order a coke, and Pepsi is only available, they will ask if that is okay, like anywhere else.

I think only New Yorkers call pizza "pie" but I could be wrong.

I would specify hot tea, just to be safe. It isn't "iced" tea anywhere in the south, as far as I know. It is either sweet tea or unsweet.

Of course, being from New England, I call them grinders. I think they are pretty much called subs here. I'm addicted to them, but have yet to find a decent one here. I like my subs loaded with stuff! Anyone knows of a place, PLEASE let me know. In the meantime, I've taken to making my own.

The only funny story I have is ordering food when I first moved to Orlando. My accent was so thick that I couldn't order at a drive-thru and getting out and going in didn't help much. No one could understand what I was saying! I eventually had to learn to pronounce my "r"s, or I would have gone hungry!

I live in South Jersey, we also call pizza "pies" and heros or grinders are called a sub or a hero.

[Joss]

Pie in the South is pronounced "pah" and it's apple, pecan etc, not pizza.

Be very specific about your tea. "Default" for tea is iced and sweet, any time of the day or night. Get used to reminding the waitress at refill time too.

[akm4]

I order an unsweet. Iced tea , no sugar. If you like it hot, specify, even at breakfast! Soon you'll be drinking fruit tea. Trust me, go get one.

A grocery cart is a buggy.

Yes sir, no ma'am; VERY important! Don't worry, it quickly beomes habit.

"Bless your heart" has many meanings, much like aloha in Hawai'i.

Dumplings where I'm from were more like biscuits, but here they're more like homemade noodles. Intoxicating when done well, which is often.

Turnovers are fried pies.

Never heard of hot chicken until I moved here. Me like.

Instead of of asking, "Can you give me a ride?", my neighbor asked, "Can you carry me?" I was absolutely baffled

When school lets out at lunchtime, it was called a minimum day. No one here calls it that. It's early dismissal.

There are cheerleaders here with no teams. They cheer for the sake of cheering, a sport unto itself. These girls are not playing!! Serious business.

Did you know you can chicken-fry steak, chicken, venison, oh, lots of things! All with gravy, of course!

The YMCAs are some of the nicest gyms around, in stark contrast to their image on the West Coast.

Try the grits. Go on, try it!

Plural of y'all? ALL y'all!

Welcome!

[Turkey Creek Tom]

On your visits to Tennessee, when you stop at a country store for your chips, candy bars etc. don't be surprised when you get to the check out and the person behind the counter says, "Do you want a poke to put it in?"

[akm4]

I've been here for over 5 years and I've NEVER heard that. What is it?!?! A shopping bag?

[JMT]

Originally Posted by akm4

I order an unsweet. Iced tea , no sugar. If you like it hot, specify, even at breakfast! Soon you'll be drinking fruit tea. Trust me, go get one.

A grocery cart is a buggy.

Yes sir, no ma'am; VERY important! Don't worry, it quickly beomes habit.

"Bless your heart" has many meanings, much like aloha in Hawai'i.

Dumplings where I'm from were more like biscuits, but here they're more like homemade noodles. Intoxicating when done well, which is often.

Turnovers are fried pies.

Never heard of hot chicken until I moved here. Me like.

Instead of of asking, "Can you give me a ride?", my neighbor asked, "Can you carry me?" I was absolutely baffled

When school lets out at lunchtime, it was called a minimum day. No one here calls it that. It's early dismissal.

There are cheerleaders here with no teams. They cheer for the sake of cheering, a sport unto itself. These girls are not playing!! Serious business.

Did you know you can chicken-fry steak, chicken, venison, oh, lots of things! All with gravy, of course!

The YMCAs are some of the nicest gyms around, in stark contrast to their image on the West Coast.

Try the grits. Go on, try it!

Plural of y'all? ALL y'all!

Welcome!

Very thorough!

As for the "can you carry me to the store" I think it's perfectly logical. After all, if you want your neighbor to take you to the store, don't you ask her to "pick you up"? ("Can you pick me up at 6:30?")

I have never heard anyone call a shopping cart a "buggy." Even the sign in the Kroger parking lot says something like "return shopping carts here."

And grits really are good, especially with cheese!

[Turkey Creek Tom]

Originally Posted by akm4

I've been here for over 5 years and I've NEVER heard that. What is it?!?! A shopping bag?

Yep! used to be a little brown paper bag. Now they are plastic.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Turkey Creek Tom

On your visits to Tennessee, when you stop at a country store for your chips, candy bars etc. don't be surprised when you get to the check out and the person behind the counter says, "Do you want a poke to put it in?"

I've been here for 31 years and have never heard that.

LauraC, I had to laugh when I read your post. When I was a kid, I remember very well fast food restaurants advertising their meal deals saying something like "comes with a medium Coke." My parents wouldn't let me drink Coke when I was a kid because of the caffeine, so I remember I'd always ask "Can I get a Sprite instead of Coke?" and the cashiers would always just stare at me as if I'd just asked something obvious like if the sun was always hot. I quickly learned that "Coke" refers to any carbonated beverage. Even if it's a Pepsi vending machine, we always say "Coke machine."

Those long sandwiches filled with deli meats and cheeses are called subs. I know the Bellacino's chain has entered Tennessee and refers to their subs as "grinders" but I think everywhere else calls them subs.

But since you're going to Oak Ridge, you might find others around there who understand your Northern vernacular since a lot of Oak Ridgers are from elsewhere. But when you venture into Knoxville, a pizza is a pizza, not a pie.