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I'm from Long Island originally and moved to Rock Hill, SC during my Junior year in high school, talk about an ADJUSTMENT . The first time one of my teachers looked at me and told me to "Put my book up" I sat and looked at him with a blank stare and thought he was crazy. After he got mad because I had no earthly idea what he meant, he finally re-phrased and asked me to "put the book away". To this day it still makes me laugh.
Other things I had to learn:
"Coke" is a general term for all types of carbonated beverage. i.e. "What type of Coke would you like?"
There is no such thing as sneakers down here....they're all "Tennis Shoes". I got made fun off non stop the day I spilled SODA on my SNEAKERS and made it known throught the cafeteria in school.
It was all maddening at the time, but I am pretty well adjusted now. Now the only time I get made fun of is when I go to Long Island and people ask me where I'm from and I tell them Long Island!!!
I'm from Long Island originally and moved to Rock Hill, SC during my Junior year in high school, talk about an ADJUSTMENT . The first time one of my teachers looked at me and told me to "Put my book up" I sat and looked at him with a blank stare and thought he was crazy. After he got mad because I had no earthly idea what he meant, he finally re-phrased and asked me to "put the book away". To this day it still makes me laugh.
Other things I had to learn:
"Coke" is a general term for all types of carbonated beverage. i.e. "What type of Coke would you like?"
There is no such thing as sneakers down here....they're all "Tennis Shoes". I got made fun off non stop the day I spilled SODA on my SNEAKERS and made it known throught the cafeteria in school.
It was all maddening at the time, but I am pretty well adjusted now. Now the only time I get made fun of is when I go to Long Island and people ask me where I'm from and I tell them Long Island!!!
I agree that whole "tennis shoe" thing is going to be an adjustment. I asked one of my children's teachers what they needed to bring for gym (it's called PE, here!) and she said: "just tennis shoes." I thought Tennis shoes??? Why on earth would six year olds be learning to play tennis in gym??? LOL!
Also "recess" is called "commons"...what is that?
To all participants - what a delightful thread! I am blessed to have lived in 7 states & traveled to all but 12. One of my favorite elements are the "regionalisms" that I encounter. Folks have a tough time pinpointing where I am from as my speech tends to be a blend of all the places I've been. I can be "totally stoked" (CA) about the "wicked" (ME) cold weather thats causes the tourists to "pahk their cawh" (MA) & head indoors while me & Brender(read - Brenda) stand in the door-yard (a Maine driveway) & talk about Cuber (all of NE-think Kennedys) , AYUH! (ME again). So brudda, you stay going with me? (HI-pidgin) Are ya'll comin' along? (TX). Mahalo (HI again) for your time!
I hope NO area loses its local language, however silly it may sound to others!
BTW - as a native Texan, I will never lose the "ya'll" or the "Ma'am" & "Sir"
LONG LIVE LOCAL COLOR!
Last edited by Aulani; 04-02-2007 at 04:57 PM..
Reason: clarification of comment
I find the "NC slang" quite endearing....I love to hear locals speak thier language and often find when I'm up in the area for a while I naturally pick it up...... If you can't accept how the "locals" speak then you shouldn't be here.....Now, I'll chat with ya'll later.....
I find the "NC slang" quite endearing....I love to hear locals speak thier language and often find when I'm up in the area for a while I naturally pick it up...... If you can't accept how the "locals" speak then you shouldn't be here.....Now, I'll chat with ya'll later.....
My funniest "slang" memory comes from my, at the time, Jr. High school daughter when she moved from So. Cal ("like, TOTALLY!") to MA with me. She came home from school telling me how all the kids said things were
re-taaaaaahded" (yes, the very un-PC term - "retarded") - but didn't understand why they thought she sounded weird!
If my job transfer happens as planned, I truly look forward to learning the local lingo, but I still predict that I will confuse people about my background!
"Coke" is a general term for all types of carbonated beverage. i.e. "What type of Coke would you like?"
There is no such thing as sneakers down here....they're all "Tennis Shoes". I got made fun off non stop the day I spilled SODA on my SNEAKERS and made it known throught the cafeteria in school.
That's hilarious...I had the opposite problem! I grew up in Louisville, KY (now I live in Phoenix), and we used the "coke" and "tennis shoes" slang there, too. After college, I moved out west (first CA, now AZ), and if I was running into a convenience store for a group of people (or something similar), people would look at me cross-eyed when I'd ask them what kind of Coke they'd want. They'd say things like, "I didn't know there's more than one kind of Coke." I was thinking, "Huh? These people have never heard of Sprite or Dr. Pepper or anything?" It was sooo confusing for a while! He he.
Also, my parents are originally from New York, so when I was a kid and they would say, "sneakers" in front of my friends, I would get soooo embarrassed, because all of my buddies would always make fun of my parents for calling tennis shoes "sneakers." LOL
Another regional slang...I went to college in Indiana, and there were a lot of people from Illinois and Wisconsin there. In parts of IL and WI, they call water fountains "bubblers" and they call Coke "pop." Those took me a little while to figure out...
Another regional slang...I went to college in Indiana, and there were a lot of people from Illinois and Wisconsin there. In parts of IL and WI, they call water fountains "bubblers" and they call Coke "pop." Those took me a little while to figure out...
HEY! I have a BUBBLER in my house! And I'm not from IL or WI! I actually heard that term used by someone in NJ and found it so fitting for a watercooler, that I continue to use the word!
Don't worry if your children go to CMS they will learn the slang.. just wait until one comes home and tells you to "mash the button". The slang and stupidity is here you just have to shut up and listen for it. I find it truely entertaining.
Would you like to reveal where you're from so we can discuss that? Apparently, they don't educate people there on the proper spelling of the word "truly."
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Real World Experience
. The first time one of my teachers looked at me and told me to "Put my book up" I sat and looked at him with a blank stare and thought he was crazy. After he got mad because I had no earthly idea what he meant, he finally re-phrased and asked me to "put the book away". To this day it still makes me laugh.
If you can't accept how the "locals" speak then you shouldn't be here.....Now, I'll chat with ya'll later.....
