12 sayings only people from California will understand (Los Angeles, San Jose: 2013, live in)

[aboveordinary]

California is known by many as the land of beautiful celebrities, packed freeways, and perpetual summer.
But the nation's third-largest state also has a huge variety of people with very distinct ways of speaking, from valley girl speak to surfer lingo to slang inspired by Bay Area hip hop.

The people of the Golden State speak a dialect distinct enough to warrant its own name: California English.

Read more: California Sayings - Business Insider

Do you agree with this list? Would you add anything to it? Would you take anything off the list?

[nightlysparrow]

Agree with this one, and so do many posters here:

12. Whatever you do, definitely don't say "Cali."

[savoytruffle]

Is the writer from California?? By saying "the Bay Area" is cold and foggy in the winter, she is implying that the entire area is like that. There is a difference between San Francisco, "the city," and the rest of the Bay. So she's basically saying San Jose is cold and foggy in the winter...except it's one of the sunniest places on average in the area and regularly gets to 85 degree weather in the summer.

In-n-Out is indeed bomb.

[OwlKaMyst]

I'm a native Californian who says 'Cali'. No one (except for here) has ever batted an eye, let alone shuddered when I spoke it.

And a surfin' burrito from Natcho Mama is the bomb, they are hella good!
I normally don't use such slang though.

As goes timing for how long it takes to get some place- I don't agree with the author.
'20 minutes' is how long it takes, and yes it depends on traffic. However, without traffic it IS 20 minutes.

There is a standing joke at my house. We live in a sort of far away place. Someone asked how far to San Francisco, I said 5 hours. Someone asked, how far to Sacramento, I said 5 hours. Someone asked how far to the Oregon boarder, I said, 5 hours.
I'm not guessing, I know this because I have driven it.
So now when someone asks, 'how far to....' my husband who is from TX says '5 hours'.

[Calix]

Originally Posted by OwlKaMyst

I'm a native Californian who says 'Cali'. No one (except for here) has ever batted an eye, let alone shuddered when I spoke it.

There is a standing joke at my house. We live in a sort of far away place. Someone asked how far to San Francisco, I said 5 hours. Someone asked, how far to Sacramento, I said 5 hours. Someone asked how far to the Oregon boarder, I said, 5 hours.
I'm not guessing, I know this because I have driven it.
So now when someone asks, 'how far to....' my husband who is from TX says '5 hours'.

As long as you are using that word to describe a city in Columbia, then that would be ok. Otherwise, not so much....

Your remote location may explain why you are able to get away with using the unfortunate slang term "Cali" when referring to the Golden State. Remember, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it.

While I'm puzzled why anyone would actually want to use that kind of language, you may be in a community that is technically "California" by political boundaries, but culturally, shares little with what most know as California. This may help describe why no one "batted an eye" when you rolled out that vulgarity.

You seem like a nice person, don't sully yourself, friends don't let friends use "Cali".

[Ghengis]

sitting at a light I glanced over to see and hear the guy next to me carry on a loud conversation with himself something along the lines of...

Bugga-bugga-bugga
eek, eek, eek
me brain is melting
me brain is melting
gotta get to the pier by one!!!

he sees me watching him and gives me one of these
to which I say... "have a nice day, but stay off the gas"

I then drove off and made my left, but I just know he was probably thinking; "did he say stay off the gas, or stay off the grass?" I just love driving here.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Calix

friends don't let friends use "Cali".

LOL! The truth.

[futbol]

Originally Posted by Calix

As long as you are using that word to describe a city in Columbia, then that would be ok. Otherwise, not so much....

Your remote location may explain why you are able to get away with using the unfortunate slang term "Cali" when referring to the Golden State. Remember, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it.

While I'm puzzled why anyone would actually want to use that kind of language, you may be in a community that is technically "California" by political boundaries, but culturally, shares little with what most know as California. This may help describe why no one "batted an eye" when you rolled out that vulgarity.

You seem like a nice person, don't sully yourself, friends don't let friends use "Cali".

Several well-known songs use the word 'Cali' to refer to California.

I hear it all the time and don't really think much of it.

It's also said that many people from Los Angeles don't like it when people refer to the city as 'LA', but people say LA all the time.

[CarawayDJ]

[911 Operator] Hello, what is the nature of your emergency.
[Caller] I just want to report someone saying Cali.
[911 Operator] Uh, is that a problem? Isn't Cali a logical shortening of California?
[Caller] Duh... Of course it's a problem. That's the name of a city in Columbia!
[911 Operator] Santa Rosa is the name of a city in Argentina. So is San Rafael. There is a city in Chile named Los Angeles. El Cerrito is also a city in Columbia. Same for Fresno.
[Caller] It's not a problem when you use the whole name. It's only a problem if the short name is identical to a city somewhere else.
[911 Operator] Then there shouldn't be a problem because Cali is actually just the short name for Santiago de Cali. So the short name for California is the same as the short name for Santiago de Cali.
[Caller] No! You just aren't getting it. It's OK for cities to use the same proper or short names as cities in other countries, but you can't have a short name for a state be the same as the short name for a city in Columbia. That's so wrong.
[911 Operator] Sir, psychiatric personnel are enroute to your location.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by futbol

Several well-known songs use the word 'Cali' to refer to California.

Maybe it's both the kiddies who use the term and the crappy songs that torment the ears with this malfeasance that combine to produce nails-to-the-chalkboard.