What things you assumed to be universally true, but were specific to your area?

[crashbot]

I recognize some of those words, but they are common all over western PA, at least the 50 or 60 miles to the north where we lived.

I guess living in the big cities, I am missing something. Must be that most of these places are full of "non natives", so its just a homogeneous blob of everyman/everywoman. I mean, I hear the same slang all over the place, just with different accents and I can get sweet or unsweet tea anywhere Ive been.

I really only notice differences in cuisine, but not things like salt on watermelon, I've seen people do that all over the US.

Now, from my home town of Crossmaglen Ireland, I travel east 480 miles and a lorry is a camion and a bit further is a lastwagen

[Becky10]

(As an aside, I'm puzzled by the general disdain held for "Tex-Mex", which I consider to be a misnomer anyways.  I've been to plenty of Mexican restaraunts in San Antonio which most people would dub "Tex-Mex".  The thing is, all the staff are Mexican, most of the people eating there are Mexican, if you can't speak Spanish you can only order by pointing at the menu (which is in Spanish), the bloody cash register reciept's in Spanish, and saying you're from INS will empty the place out quicker than a bomb threat.  Granted, they're not serving Yucatan peninsula-style moles, but how could that "Tex-Mex" food possibly be any more Mexican?)

We must have gone to the worst mexican restaurants in all of Texas(Boston's was way worse as far as taste though).
They mispronounced EVERYTHING (we couldnt figure out what she was saying when she said chile rellenos for a good 5 minutes) the "tacky-tues" had lettuce in them, IN them, and like nothing had any seasoning. It was awful but fun lol.It was in the Longview area.
I live in SoCal near LA and the Mexican food here is really great! Anyone who says otherwise has gone to a really bad place or has really bad taste! I've had it both at restaurants and traditional made by my friends families and at some places it tastes so authentic. A good 1/3 of the local stores are Mexican stores and everything is in spanish, usually they have like a little food court inside and they always have the best tamales. One of the main reasons i love it here.


So here in SoCal it seems the first thing you do at a red light is look at everyone in the car next to you till they turn and look back at you. As odd as that sound i thought it was fairly normal but my sisters boyfriend from Virginia swears no other state does this and it really freaked him out. Does any other state do that?

[RenStarr]

I believe in the great state of BBQ and Tex-Mex. I believe in the Taco Stand outside of the club when you're wasted. I believe in roadside tamales. I believe in Luby's Cafeteria and their LuAnn Platters. I believe in buffalo burgers, and steaks that are hot off the prairie. I believe in Certified Angus Beef, and Blue Bell Ice Cream.

I believe in TEXAS! WEWT!

*oh, and Rani, I also eat peanut butter and syrup on toast*

Amen Amen Amen.  Another believer in the promised land!! 

And I've been know to eat a peanut butter and honey sandwhich.  Good stuff!!

If you are indeed a Yankee, please don't say "That dog is not right for that"
when you are trying to remember to say "That dog just won't hunt"

Good One!!
Lots of regional stuff in regards to language. 
Such as.........."I'm fixing to eat me some Tex-Mex with lots of hot sauce on it".
Fixing to = you are about to do something
Hot Sauce:  if you say Salsa, you ain't from around here and that proves it.

[Rani Zemirah]

Ok, I had to go back two pages to read everything I missed, and the grits/Cream of Wheat/Malt-o-Meal debate was driving me nuts!!!  They're all made of different things, but they are made basically in the same way, and they do have similar textures, so it would be easy to confuse them if they were all served on the same plate...  But I see that all that has been dealt with, so I can move on now!  LOLOL  

Blue, I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows about the yummy goodness of peanut butter and syrup!  It's just too delicious to describe, but only in small amounts, or it gets a bit overwhelming... and I do know people who eat it with honey, as well.  

The salt on melons, apples or other sweet things I never understood, but some of my family does it, also, and so do some people almost everywhere I've been, so that's not really very regional, I guess.  

I've been to every state in the Union except Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Hawaii, at least traveling through, and most of the differences I've noticed are in the accents, phrases and word choices.  The way people say things can tell a lot about where they're from, and picking up on the differences and using them can help a newcomer fit in faster...  Of course, it's easier if you've got an ear for accents, as well!  

Fun thread, btw!!!

[will paisley]

I think of Tex Mex as being very Americanized Mexican. To American tastes and a style you probably wouldn't find in Mexico itself, but has become common here. Like the combo platter with melty cheese all over the top. I might be way off base here.

Thing is, you can get a combo plate like that in San Antonio (enchiladas and tacos with refried beans and Spanish rice) that was made by Mexicans, for Mexicans.  I thoroughly get that there's all kinds of Mexican food that doesn't fit that description, but I guess my pet peeve is that they're perceived as being totally separate, rather than one being a subset of the other.  If they referred to the Mexican made-and-consumed food items that have names identical to some of the stuff served at the likes of Taco Hell or ChiChis (enchiladas, tamales, tacos, etc) as "Northern Mexican" or something, my inner pedant wouldn't complain.

Speaking of phrases, when I lived up in Maine, everyone said "wicked good". Is thst just a Maine thing? I never heard it when I lived in the NYC area.

New England thing (meaning it's not a New York thing  Especially popular/prevalent around Boston.

[Hausfrau Monica]

Yup...had to catch up reading two pages to enjoy everything...excellent thread.

It is indeed a "Pitttsburg" rare steak that I saw the reference for not Phillidelphia.  We would call it "blue" here.

I am sure that our "BBQ" and "Mexican" are so wishy washy compared to the real thing.

Yes, they do clink glasses here for the bride and groom to kiss..or some other combination of the wedding party.

Apple pie with cheddar cheese anyone?

[Lady Kett]

Words commom to The "Burgh:
chipped ham...thinly sliced ham
dippy...as in you can dip something into it
grinnie...chipmunk
gumband...rubber band
jumbo...lbologna lunch meat
nebby...prying into affairs of others
redd up...clean up
slippy...slippery
city chicken...baked pork on a stick
jagger...thorn or biars
yinz...plural for you

and we have the Picksburg Stillers...

The most memorable from the 'Burgh is "yinz" or "youns". It still makes me cringe after all these years! I had to run away from Pittsburgh at a young age to get away from it, LOL!

My cousin always called me "his cousint". Drove me batty!

As a kid, in the Pittsburgh area, we always had a pork roast, sauerkraut and dumplings for NYD. When we moved south, it really freaked a lot of friends and neighbors out!

I remember weddings have the money dance for the bride, and clinking glasses. And I swear every wedding I went to as a child had Hava Nagila on the dance list. No one outside of Pgh. has EVER heard of that (I keep asking!), and no one we knew was Jewish or Hebrew, it was just "that song" that was always played at a wedding reception!

[will paisley]

I remember weddings have the money dance for the bride, and clinking glasses. And I swear every wedding I went to as a child had Hava Nagila on the dance list. No one outside of Pgh. has EVER heard of that (I keep asking!), and no one we knew was Jewish or Hebrew, it was just "that song" that was always played at a wedding reception!

In San Antonio it was La Bamba - long before the movie came out, regardless of the ethnicity of the couple.

[Blue66669]

BLUE STEAK?!?!?!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!

[arbcoind]

Lady Kett, you crack me up!  I've lived 20 miles east of Pittsburgh all my life, yoi and double yoi!

I thought of a phrase:

Question:  Jeet yet?
Answer:  No, jew?

Translation...did you eat yet?  No, did you?

[Mairte]

In a very small area growing up, we lived on a road called Hogsback....to the locals anyway. It wasnt until I was a little older that I found out to everyone else it was Wells Creek Trail.
Also, growing up in this area, I took the bluffs for granted. I laughed and laughed when my flatlander cousins arrived and considered them mountains.

[Lady Kett]

Arbcoind - We're from 30 mi north of Pgh. how about local directions which are the equivalent of "go up to the big oak tree and take a left". Outside the cities (or "downtown" of the small town) there are NO road signs. If you don't know where "Sunflower Corners" is, because 40 years ago there was a Sunflowers something or other there that has long been replaced by a Shell station, you'll never know where you're going! Even trying to find something as large as the airport can be challenging. Of course, they moved the airport in Pgh what, like 15 years ago or more? My in-laws still call it the new airport.

When I first moved to Texas, I was late to work one day because of a railroad train crossing. I arrived, and said to my boss and co-workers, "Sorry I'm late, I hit a train." Imagine my surprise when the REALLY thought I'd HIT a train in my car and wondered why I didn't go to the emergency room right away...

I'm not sure if that's just a Yankee thing, a Pgh thing or what, but "hit a light" "hit a traffic jam" and "hit a train" all just sort of mean you came across it, not actually HIT it. Not so in the South!

[crashbot]

I'm not sure if that's just a Yankee thing, a Pgh thing or what, but "hit a light" "hit a traffic jam" and "hit a train" all just sort of mean you came across it, not actually HIT it. Not so in the South!

Nah, my wife was born and raised in Dallas as says that all the time.

[BubbleWright]

If you want to see if a guy is really a native of Pittsburgh, tell him "Kennywood is open" and watch what he does. 

[iain robb]

I grew up in California, and now live in Florida. So when I heard from a friend that another guy I know here is from the West Coast, I thought I had found a kindred spirit, a Westerner like me, someone who would understand me. At least a little. I asked him where on the West Coast he was from. He said ...

"Tampa."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!