Difference in terms for the same things...

[Nerull]

I was having another one of those "brainstorms" at work (my work is pretty mindless, so I have plenty of time to think about things), and was thinking about how I grew up in New Jersey, then moved to Texas. Then, I started thinking about how differently the two areas of the country see the same things, and then I thought about the differences in terms for the same things. For example: we always called tennis shoes "sneaks" in New Jersey, but they are called "tennies" in San Antonio. In New Jersey, we called hot dogs "franks", while they call them "weenies" in San Antonio. I used to go to "the shore" in New Jersey, but go to "the coast" in Texas. "Youse guys" becomes "y'all". "Doing lunch" becomes "having lunch". "Put away" becomes "put up". "Going to" becomes "fixin'".

For those of you who have had to "transplant" themselves or otherwise move to another part of your country (where they use the same language, but have different terms for the same items), what are some of the ones that you found weird or just plain funny? Did you like some of the new terms better than the old ones? I took to y'all and like it better than youse guys. Just curious...

[Stormymystic]

umm, it is not fixin..it is fixin to...ok I will shut up now

[Nerull]

Yes, you are correct ("fixin' to" instead of "fixin"). You would know better, of course.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

You don't go to the shore in Jersey. You go down the shore.

[Stormymystic]

Originally posted by Nerull: Yes, you are correct ("fixin' to" instead of "fixin"). You would know better, of course.

I might resemble that remark [img]tongue.gif[/img] but I have not really been transplanted, so not sure of different words, I did go to Colorado once, but was only 3 and do not remember :/ other than that I have always lived in the south

[Lauren]

Well, i remember when I moved from the state of victoria to queensland (Australia).
In victoria a school bag was called a 'back pack' and in queensland it was called a 'port'.
In VIC swimsuits were called 'bathers' in QLD they were called 'toggs'.
Victoria seems so normal...lol [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Nerull]

Originally posted by Illumina Drathiran'ar: You don't go to the shore in Jersey. You go down the shore.

LOL...tells you how long it has been since I've been back, doesn't it? I really don't miss it much, but I did spend the first 16 years of my life there. That is one thing about New Jersey: if you go north, you go up, and if you go south, you go down. You go up to New York and down to Atlantic City. And yes, we went down the shore every year.

Where I'm at now, you go to places. I went to the coast; I'm going to Dallas.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Originally posted by Nerull: quote: Originally posted by Illumina Drathiran'ar: You don't go to the shore in Jersey. You go down the shore.

LOL...tells you how long it has been since I've been back, doesn't it? I really don't miss it much, but I did spend the first 16 years of my life there. That is one thing about New Jersey: if you go north, you go up, and if you go south, you go down. You go up to New York and down to Atlantic City. And yes, we went down the shore every year.

Where I'm at now, you go to places. I went to the coast; I'm going to Dallas. [/QUOTE]::grinning:: Yes, I can tell how long you've been gone. Since you don't go up to New York... You go to the city, or up to the city.
I love my job.

[ 06-08-2004, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: Illumina Drathiran'ar ]

[Stormymystic]

I thought it was heading to....not going to [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img]

[Nerull]

Originally posted by Illumina Drathiran'ar: ::grinning:: Yes, I can tell how long you've been gone. Since you don't go up to New York... You go to the city, or up to the city. I love my job.

Actually, that was intentional. If I didn't say New York City, who else other than people from the area would know what "the city" was? And for the most part, we would call it New York where I grew up (we lived far enough away that it wasn't "the city" for us; I was actually closer to Philly than I was New York).

Originally posted by Stormymystic: I thought it was heading to....not going to

At least here in San Antonio, they use "going to" for the most part. Actually, they say it as "goin' to". It's usually the wannabe cowboys that use the "heading to" around here. Remember, San Antonio is 65% Hispanic, so some of the country speech is "displaced" by Latin influences.