So what do you call these things in TN? (Knoxville: homes, buy)

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by GrannyLois

I remember the first time my parents came to visit us in TN, we went to McDonald's one day. They could not understand one word that the person taking their order said to them. Not one word! (They hadn't been out of SE Wisconsin very much in their lives, though.)

LOL!!! My Dad had the same problem!!! When my folks moved here (about 4 years after we did) they had a bit of a time "communicating with the locals" hahahahaha. We had great neighbors who basically became family. They have a little girl ( I say she is the only daughter I will ever have , but she was 11 at the time) who talks fast, well add the southern accent, southern words and phrases in and my poor folks couldn't understand anything she said for almost a year ahahhaahha My Dad would always stop her and say " Slow down, I hear slow".
They have been here for over 5 years now and not only do they not have a problem understanding folks, I caught mom saying "Y'all" a while back and now Dad calls those things at the grocery stores "buggies" and Dad said he drove over the "crick" the other day.
The dialect and phrases are catchy. I am bad and "pick up" accents even if I don't want to.
However, my native hubby has phrases and words for things that kinda drive me crazy. He will say to our son " You left your socks "in" the floor again" To me, it is "on" the floor, not "in". The other (which I always tease him about) is "Cut that light off (or on)?" I always ask him if he wants a pair of scissors hehehehhehe

[beachbyrd]

That map is great! I find it most interesting when most of a state or region is one color and you have a little pocket of a different one....Makes me wonder where the influence came from that is so different from the rest!

In Rochester, many things are pronounced in a "different" kind a way! For example:
If you eat it, it is chili (short i, e sound on the end like most places) but, If you live in the town or on the street, it is Chili (long i's, both of them).

The town of Charlotte in Rochester is not pronounced like the one in the Carolinas, it is pronounced: SHULOT (short u, emphasis on lot)

And though it is in NY, Rochester people have a decidedly midwest kind of accent, though it is very unique to western NY. I am really glad I left at thirteen, because I can never get used to it when I go back.

I know it has nothing to do with TN, but this is all interesting stuff to me.

And how did two little pockets of TN get into the pop thing?

[Tek_Freek]

in Iowa (right of center below middle), draw a line from that rectangle to the eastern edge of Wisconsin. Visit Pella, Iowa during the Tulip festival and you'll hear why. Don't forget to stop and by some "letters" at Jarsmaa's.

http://www.jaarsmabakery.com/

Walk in there and you'll want to buy at least one of everything. And you'll gain a few pounds. It just doesn't get any better.

Good friends and ex neighbors say "whatnot" as a generic for "everything" or as a throwaway for an indefinite group of things. They are from Wisconsin, eh.

This thread has wandered from TN, but it is a fascinating subject no matter where you live.

Pronounce roof for me. Odds are you say it differently than I do unless you're from around here.

[houselady]

Originally Posted by akm4

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

I'm guessing that poke was in a really, really rural area, cause I hear bag, or maybe sack, whereever I go. You know what's really hilarious, when you get two locals together and THEY don't even understand each other. LOL.

I liked your list by the way, especially the plural of y'all... LOL. Sounds like you have a fondness for this locale.

My ex, a local boy, use to say "eat place" for restaurant. Had me scratching my head. LOL

[amyevansmom]

I about cracked-up!

My son was playing with his friend (they are 5) and it had just snowed and they were running around the yard and the boy said to me, "I'm trying to find Aaahce" (like open your mouth and say Aaah with and s on the end)

I looked at him and asked him to repeat it. Which he did--about 6x. I looked at him dumfounded.

He repeated it once more and my 5 year old said, "Mom, he's looking for ICE".

Boy did I feel stupid....but I had a good laugh!

[Milo Bloom]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Pronounce roof for me. Odds are you say it differently than I do unless you're from around here.

I'm a native West Tennesseean, and I would say it "rewf" (rhymes with "tooth").

We always got a Coke from the Coke Machine, or pulled it out of the Coke Box at my grandmother's store. Even if it was a Barq's or a Peach Nehi.

We bought groceries at the supermarket (Piggly Wiggly), collected them in a buggy, and carried them home in a sack.

I'm sure there's more regional words I can pull out, but that's it for now.

[Kerry322]

I call carb. beverages Soda(I am from Michigan, where they are pop), I recognize all of the above. Add to it "having your picture made" where I am from, we "take" pictures. Things are different all over.

[insanesmooch]

Originally Posted by houselady

I'm guessing that poke was in a really, really rural area, cause I hear bag, or maybe sack, whereever I go. You know what's really hilarious, when you get two locals together and THEY don't even understand each other. LOL.

The only person I have actually heard say 'poke' for a bag is my grandmother. She's in her late 70's and lived pretty much her whole life in Knoxville. Maybe it phased out in the cities. Though her parents were from Greene and Jefferson counties.

[hiknapster]

By the way, we call a water fountain in New England a bubbler, too.

[Augusta4]

Originally Posted by artemis

Pop is a Midwest thing for soda. Yup, I get some funny looks when I call it that. I think hoagies are a Pennsylvania name, in Tennessee they're called subs.

And Bless Your Heart does have several meanings. Depending who is saying it, it could be sarcasm. :-)

In "my neck of the woods" any carbonated beverage is referred to as a COKE.
Also, Bless Your Heart is a polite way of telling someone, "I don't give a crap."