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

[Rani Zemirah]

Dona C, that.. is.. AWESOME!!!  OMG, I just doused my monitor AND my keyboard!!!  As I was choking on my drink, mind you...   

Amy, I've heard all of those except "glunky", so your mom wasn't just making things up...  heheh  I was constantly accused of lollygagging when I was a kid, and I still have to tell my daughter to "quit dawdlin' and get your shoes on!".  I've heard davenport used for sofa, but my grandparents always called it the "divan".

Mehan, that's just too funny! 

[Lady Rebecca]

Many years ago as a very naïve 20-something, I traveled to England to visit my RAF boyfriend.  The first couple of nights he stayed with me at a bed and breakfast just off base.  The third night I stopped to let the (very young and handsome male) proprietor know there would be only one for breakfast as Mal would be staying on base that night, to which he replied "Oh right then – would you care to be knocked up in the morning?"

The next day, between bouts of hysterical laughter, Mal explained he was only asking if I needed a wake up in an establishment that didn't have phones in the room...

That is absolutely priceless! I love it!

[crashbot]

I use Irish slang sometimes, which means nothing to most Americans and doesnt sound near as cool now that pretty much any trace of my fine accent has been lost.

I cant even do a good fake one, which is pretty funny. My wife says she can hear it if I get mad or drunk or both.

[Just Randall]

These may be old Midwest sayings...or it's entirely possible my Mom made them up...

Being "Fair to Middlin'" meaning you are doing ok
Being "Glunky", "Dawdling" or "Lollygagging" meaning you are being slow.

These are terms my friend (and some family) have used that got them a lot of ribbing, mostly for the old-fashionedness of them:

"Icebox" for fridge, "Davenport" for couch", "clothes WARSHer"

I can shed some light on the "Fair to Middlin" phrase, it's in reference to the method in which they used to grade raw cotton just picked from the fields. The grade was based upon the amount of trash(sticks, stems, leaves dirt,etc.) was in each bail.


Prime, good, fair, middling,poor. (It's a Southern thang.)

[chainshot]

I use Irish slang sometimes, which means nothing to most Americans and doesnt sound near as cool now that pretty much any trace of my fine accent has been lost.

I cant even do a good fake one, which is pretty funny. My wife says she can hear it if I get mad or drunk or both.

When I was much younger I dated a girl who was just visiting from Ireland and understandably, she used alot of words which at the time I didn't understand.  Well one night while walking her home after spending a great evening with some friends of mine, she said with excitement "What great craic we had!"  Needless to say that made me stop in my tracks absolutely dumbfounded, and when I asked her to repeat what she just said in case I misheard her, she again said aloud "What great craic!"  At this point she obviously noticed the stunned look on my face and realizing what was going on, proceeded to explain to me that craic was a term to describe fun, entertainment and a lively conversation.  Well you could have seen the look of relief on my face at that point as we both broke into hysterical laughter.

[will paisley]

Hmmm, the Floridian snow birds I'm familiar with are usually Canadian (then again, I'm from LA - Lower Alabama - and only a Canadian would find winter temperatures in the 40s "comfortable" enough to forego driving to the peninsula for shirtsleeve weather). 

In addition to the slow driving, Canadians are also disliked by the service community because they're not used to tipping in restaurants (leading to the old joke about the difference between a Canadian and a canoe ).

Well, someone is being bamboozled, then. We do tip in Canada- 15% gratuity is the usual amount. Up here, minimum wage is actually lower for servers than for other jobs because it's expected they'll get tips. I'm guessing you're getting people playing the "dumb foreigner" card.

And I'm quite curious as to what this Canadian and canoe joke is, actually.

Q: What's the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?
A: Canoes TIP! (I'll be here all week, try the veal)

Another factor might be the age.  Florida snowbirds are invariably retirees.  Besides being on fixed incomes, a majority of them might be giving adequate tips, circa 1950 or so.

[arbcoind]

Look out, I'm a future snow bird...We leave the northern states and fly further south for the winter.  I never knew I'd be such a pain in the butt during retirement!

Gina

[Auryn]

At least in south Florida the issues with snow birds go far beyond tipping.
Its like they think that because we are closer to the equator than they normally are that business works differently.
I once actually had a canadian customer throw a fit because I was actually going to charge him for a repair. He damaged his pos boat and expected us to fix it for free.

I know they are not the majority, but they give the rest of the canadians a bad name and a bad rep.

Down here you can always tell who is a tourist and who is a local (local meaning they have lived in florida at least 10 years and don't still consider themselves something else).
Locals go to the beach early in the morning and leave by 11 am- tourist don't show up till noon.
Locals will go to the beach on Christmas generally wearing jeans, sweaters, coats, a hat etc.Everyone else will be in shorts and t-shirts.
If you see someone that has lobster red skin- they are definitely not from around here.

Oh and yes in Florida we do wear sunglasses 12 months out of the year.

I was in West Virginia for thanksgiving a couple of years ago and we got so many strange looks because we wore sunglasses and it wasnt summer.

[Lady Rebecca]

Oh and yes in Florida we do wear sunglasses 12 months out of the year.

How do you manage that? I was wearing them up until about a month and a half ago. Then, whenever I would get outside in sunglasses, they would fog up and I wouldn't be able to see. So I've pretty much given them up...

[Lady Christina de Pond]

well i know the dunkin donuts commercials that says america runs on dunkin i just assumed that they ment north america as in the usa
i found out that applies to south america as well. imagine my suprise when i passed a dunkin donuts in Lima
ofcourse i shouldn't have been suprised there is a pizza hut an applebees and a chillis' within walking distant

[Auryn]

How do you manage that? I was wearing them up until about a month and a half ago. Then, whenever I would get outside in sunglasses, they would fog up and I wouldn't be able to see. So I've pretty much given them up...

lady rebecca, when they fog up from walking into the heat from the ac- just wait about 15-20 seconds, wipe them down with your shirt/sleeve and your good to go.

[KeeperoftheBar]

well i know the dunkin donuts commercials that says america runs on dunkin i just assumed that they ment north america as in the usa
i found out that applies to south america as well. imagine my suprise when i passed a dunkin donuts in Lima
ofcourse i shouldn't have been suprised there is a pizza hut an applebees and a chillis' within walking distant

You have to be careful overseas.  A friend of mine got an "American Pizza" in Brazil.  He was told it had "American Sausage" on it...balogna.
He couldn't eat it.

[Lady Christina de Pond]

How do you manage that? I was wearing them up until about a month and a half ago. Then, whenever I would get outside in sunglasses, they would fog up and I wouldn't be able to see. So I've pretty much given them up...

lady rebecca, when they fog up from walking into the heat from the ac- just wait about 15-20 seconds, wipe them down with your shirt/sleeve and your good to go.

yeah i sometimes have that issue with sunglasses that were in my purse and i either walk out into the heat with them on or i get in the truck i just give them a few minutes to unfog and put them back on

[Elennare]

You have to be careful overseas.  A friend of mine got an "American Pizza" in Brazil.  He was told it had "American Sausage" on it...balogna.
He couldn't eat it.

I have heard, though I have no first-hand accounts to verify, that in Japan an "American Pizza" comes with corn and mayo on it.  Because apparently we put corn and mayo on everything.

..bleh! 

[Dustin]

My wife is from Iowa. When we met, we were both living in Tennessee (long story) and working at Wal-Mart. One time, she had someone ask her for a toboggan. She told them they'd probably be in toys, and got a funny look. Later, talking to some co-workers, she told the story of getting the funny look, and wondered why. They told her that toboggans wouldn't be in toys, but in clothing. She said, "But a toboggan is a sled!" They said, "No, a toboggan is a hat."

I, being from Alabama, agree that a tobbogan is that hat you wear in the winter time, sometimes with a little pouf ball on top. She still says it's a sled.