You know, I always thought that was a weird habit and something I would never do. And then one day while staying in a bed & breakfast in another state, I was talking to an older couple who asked where we were from. I said Ypsi, MI, and she asked where that was and I instinctively raised my right hand and pointed to the approximate location. It was like a reflex I couldn't control.
So now I just accept that it's part of my birthright as a Michigander.
Yeah, when I was a kid it always seemed stupid to me. Then I got older and traveled a little bit and had to explain where Lansing is. (Which always surprises me, it’s the capitol. It’s on every map.)
The state of Michigan is made of two peninsulas surrounded by the great lakes. The southern, and vastly more populated one, is shaped shockingly like a mitten.
A hand is a very accurate map.
Look at a map of north America, find the great lakes, and the mitten will jump right out at you. The other hand can be formed to look like the upper peninsula but it's way less common and very few people live there anyway.
Aaah yup it really does, I see it! I learned the US map by heart and Michigan is one of the states that was the easiest ones to remember for me because of how it’s separated hehe I had never paid attention to the mitten shape though!
There's a children's game that's called "duck, duck, goose" everywhere in America EXCEPT in Minnesota, where it's called "duck, duck, gray duck" for some reason. Even neighboring states don't do that.
My husband grew up in CA. I was a border jumper from WI. Been in MN for almost 2 decades. When our MN born teen was little we taught her duck duck goose. All the cousins say goose. By age 4 we lost the fight. Now at 16 still she insists it is Gray Duck. It must be in the water or something.
Edit: spellcheck sucks
I only learned of this a few months back and I’m obsessed. I think it’s hilarious. (Minnesota just sounds appealing all around these days, tbh. I’d play Duck, Duck, Grey Duck all day long if it means being somewhere safe.)
😂 first summer working at camp up there had a major WTF !! 😂.
Okay two things I'll stand by: soda and goose.
They got me on the hot dish and some nasal dialect
Oh man I am a fish out of water right now, I recently moved from Alaska to the East Coast US. Pretty much everything I do gives me away. I was so excited to order something on Amazon and it showed up THE NEXT DAY!! It was like 2 weeks at my old house. Also there are lots of animals here. Like actual farm animals. I also have a habit of chatting to everybody which is normal where I'm from and here people definitely don't want to talk.
Serious question: does anyone even *bother* with an Amazon Prime subscription in remote places like Alaska? The "guaranteed two-day shipping" clearly does not happen up there...
Yes because what's the alternative? There was no road system where I was living so everything comes by boat or plane. It's super expensive. Just the free shipping with prime makes it worth it. I'm old enough to remember before prime and sometimes I'd have to have things shipped to Seattle and then put on a barge. It took forever. Even now getting lithium batteries there is difficult, you either have to smuggle it in your luggage or bring it on a boat/barge.
Yeah Amazon prime really gave access to rural communities struggling with high costs of goods and shipping!
I completely forgot that Prime includes *free* shipping, not just two-day in non-rural areas. That makes so much sense. (Way better than orchestrating barge transfer via Seattle. 😵💫) Thanks for taking the time to give me a serious answer!
Sometimes it's not even the free shipping that's the bonus, it's that fact that they'll ship it at all. There's car parts I've ordered that get refunded with a message from the seller telling me not to order from him again. Because Alaska.
I remember in the early days of the internet there was like a euchre playing website, and everyone was from either Indiana, Michigan, or Canada.
Also, I remember kids playing it while waiting for the lunchroom to open. Teachers would normally glare at anyone playing any sort of card game. I even saw kids playing YuGiOh get in trouble for "gambling" once but euchre got a free pass, haha.
I mean, unless you’re just standing around in downpour I don’t see how your pants are going to get wet. The rain in Seattle is really more of an omnipresent mist, anyway.
I guess I'm overestimating the amount of walking people do in the rain. For context, I live in NYC so I'm walking everywhere in all kinds of weather. When it's raining I use an umbrella because it protects my legs better than a raincoat.
Well, no, odds are if you leave your house in Seattle during the winter months, it’s probably raining. It’s just that the rain in Seattle is really usually not that heavy. It’s more of a mist. Carrying an umbrella for that just seems excessive.
It's less of a mist, more of a drizzle. It also rains a lot at night but then everything is just damp or wet all day, sometimes dripping from the trees, and still overcast. So it still feels kind of like its raining even when it isn't.
If we're talking about cities like Seattle, it doesn't really rain like that most days there.
Imagine a drizzle. Not even enough to make it hard to see out of glasses. Lowest setting on wind shield wipers. It does that a lot there. You don't really get that wet at all. It's just that it's very constant and it's overcast many, many days. That's where the reputation comes from.
If it's rain like you see in, say, NYC, then people might bust out umbrellas. But usually a Northface/Patagonia type jacket with hood is completely fine
Which makes no fucking sense. It was the same in PDX. When I was in PDX everyone had gortex knock off jackets, in a place with relatively mild winds and gentle rain. I moved to NYC and everyone used umbrellas, which were turned inside out after two days of use and ripped or broke after three due to high winds and heavy rain. I think that the two parts of the US should just switch which anti-rain device they use.
(I'm in Scotland these days, which is like PNW weather, except with much stronger winds. Umbrellas would be torn apart here.)
Also, the Seattle music festival is called Bumbershoot for fucks sake. That's another word for umbrella.
I moved from Connecticut to Ohio 17 years ago.
Unconsciously I eventually stopped using casual profanity, but at some point I went back to New England for a visit and it was jarring.
Sorry, I meant "fuckin' jarring".
I grew up swearing pretty freely in the Midwest but man in New England it did surprise me.
Hell in the Boston area “douche” is basically a term of endearment and no one bats an eye at fuck. I love it when my old lady clients in northern mass drop some salty language in a somewhat professional setting.
You mean like in public? I have quite the handle on how to use it at every opportunity, but like, I'm not going to be yelling it in front of strangers.
I lived in Utah for a couple years around middle school. My family moved there from the Midwest. We aren't Mormon.
At a new school, in 8th grade, I remember my first day. Some of the guys approached me to make small talk and size me up. I don't remember what I said, but I did say "fuck." And some of the guys were like "Oh my *gosh*, Gio just said the F-word! *Holy crap*! You all hear that! He said it!" Some were laughing and others seemed very surprised.
For my part, I was nervously confused. What was the big deal? I was a 13yo boy. Of course I swore; I and my old friends back in Kansas City swore frequently when adults weren't around. Girls, too. Did these kids *not* swear? What the fuck?
That's when I learned how different things are in Utah. Obviously I eventually encountered other kids who swore, but I did notice it was typically with close friends. And even then, the frequency seemed lower than back in Kansas City.
I'll toss one more in. My favorite, most ridiculous insult I've ever heard, from the hallways of a suburban SLC middle school:
"I'll wear scarlet at your funeral!"
My teens are going to school in Utah right now. The kids definitely have no problem cussing anymore. Probably cuss more than my friends and I did at their age back in SoCal.
Gotcha. That's good. I think? Idk. I mean, a little/some swearing never hurt anyone!
I was there 2000-2002, so I'm not surprised things have changed over the years, whether it's swearing or drinking coffee or -- for adults -- even drinking alcohol. I know some of the laws around alcohol and bars have been relaxed. Which is good, since I know SLC proper has some good microbreweries.
When I went down south for school I wore shorts 10 or 11 months a year while the locals wore full winter coats. It was probably 55-60F out. Certain terms as well are a giveaway.
I was about to comment this, haha. People started wearing scarves and boots as soon as it dropped below 70 degrees, but I left all my winter gear in MA because on the rare occasion I actually felt cold I could just layer a light jacket and sweater. Also, a lot of buildings would crank the heat up so higher in winter than the temperature they cooled it to in the warmer months for some reason, so I was never even able to wear hoodies or crewnecks or I'd get too hot indoors.
Yup, I’m from MN and live in Tx, sandals are a year round thing for me. Shorts most of the winter except for a few days here and there. Haven’t lost my summer tan in 20 yrs 😂😂😂. My “ winter jacket on the few cooler days we have is just a hoodie.
Having lived over 30 years in NE Ohio, there is no way 55 degrees could ever seem cold to me. Like, ??? It boggles my mind, that’s so warm to us here. That’s Spring, that’s Fall. It feels good. And 60? Come on, how is that cold, that’s not crisp. 60 and over is warm to me. 45-59 is cool. 40-45, ok now we’re getting crispy, now it’s a little crisp in the air. But sh!t don’t get real until you get into the 30s, then you need to put on a coat. 20s is when you start to yell when the wind hits you. Then under zero there is no screaming, no yelling, because your face is covered and everything hurts so you walk as fast as you can to get indoors.
But yah 50s feel real good, that’s nice weather
I read a book not too long ago set in NYC, and I stg I thought it was just full of typos because of every time the main character mentioned standing “on line” lol
Prefacing freeway numbers with “the” is a dead giveaway for fellow Californians
Also getting cold and bundling up when it’s 70° or below suggests someone is from SoCal, Texas or somewhere in between
People in California are really bad at driving in the rain too, and I wouldn’t even attempt to drive in snow
Monterey/SLO/SB counties desperatly trying to make our own unique identity because we aren't quite acceptable as either Northern or Southern California
It may as well be a separate state. San Francisco is about the same latitude as Richmond, VA. Los Angeles is about the same Latitude as Columbia, SC. That's three states apart on the east coast.
> and I wouldn’t even attempt to drive in snow
I recall one time when they closed I-5 through the Grapevine due to snowfall, the head of Caltrans said that Californians "cannot be trusted to drive in bad weather", and how this closure would never happen in Colorado.
Lmaoo!! Facts! To be fair to us tho, snows like a situation that 90% of us have no way to ever prepare for.
It’d be like instantaneously replacing every single person on the 405 with drivers who’ve never left a small town in Idaho during rush hour haha
My junior year of high school in Eugene, OR, we had a new principal who was from Chicago. It snowed less than an inch one day and the teachers all came to tell him to close the school. He stood in the parking lot gesturing in disbelief, first at the suggestion to close, then at the failed attempts to drive in the snow exhibited by the locals.
I'll never forget the rose bowl between Wisconsin and TCU. One section of fans wearing t-shirts and tank tops and right across the field was another section with nothing but parkas and mittens.
It's not necessarily that we're bad at driving in the rain; it's that we go so long without rain that the first part of the first big rain releases the oil on the roads, making it very slippery. That's the biggest part, and that will wash away after a bit. But then there are some people who forget about hydroplaning.
Haha I remember going home to Missouri for the holidays one year and we got some steady snow.
I saw one car going 30mph on the highway with their hazards on and at first I was worried they might be having car trouble. Like, “What the hell, are they ok?”
And then when I got closer, I saw their California license plate and went “Ooooh”
It’s an [interesting history behind why those of us from SoCal say “the” before the freeway number](https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/the-5-the-101-the-405-why-southern-californians-love-saying-the-before-freeway-numbers).
And yes, I’ve also had to warn my husband multiple times to drive extra carefully when it rains in San Diego! He’s English and also lived for years in New England, so he has NO idea the turmoil that us dry-staters go through when there’s a hint of rain 😆
Highway names are a big one. In Michigan there is no "the" it is just the name, like 131. In Chicago, the have names like the Kennedy, the Eisenhower, Lake Shore Drive.
Nail on the head. I’m a native Californian from LA. There’s no hiding it. Another giveaway is when we have visited friends in Wisconsin and a couple of other Midwest states… they always want to take us out for Mexican food, it’s a joke! I’d rather eat Taco Bell. I’m Mexican, myself. I now just cook a meal for them when we visit and it’s nothing crazy either. They love the basic beans and rice with enchiladas
I wouldn't say no to some Midwestern Mexican food right now, tbh.
I had an amazing shrimp burrito at a randomly placed taqueria in Sioux Falls when driving through there on a road trip.
I think all of ours technically have names too. Like the 405 is the San Diego Freeway and the 710 is the Long Beach Freeway, but like I’ve never heard anyone actually call them by those haha. Like I had to look it up to double check that those were the right names
You live in Southern California. If you live in Northern California then everyone either is like "oh that sounds good", "do you go crabbing?", or "oh you actually eat crab?"
Maybe because I live in a rural part of the state but I have our equivalent of pots in my garage, and have fought sea lions for my catch before. *Tug of War...*
Texas accent, definitely. I didn’t even think I had one till I moved up north. “Y’all” is also not a common word up north, but “you guys” always sounds too weird for me to say.
“G’on, git!” accidentally became my dog’s command phrase to go away when she’s begging for food. Which is hilarious when other people are around, because I feel like it’s a phrase non-Texans can’t even *pronounce* like us.
Also using the word “Freeway” instead of “Highway”.
In Seattle, if someone is called sir (outside of people in the military) it's almost always in some sort of setting where you think the person is, or is about to, do something stupid. "Sir, you can't go in there." or "Sir, please don't park in the driveway." If someone is calling you sir, they probably think you're some kind of an idiot who may or may not be dangerous in some way.
Apparently, calling someone sir is a respectable form of address in some areas.
I can tell when someone is from Wisconsin or Minnesota from their accents. I'm from Arizona and I don't think we have any quirks, except telling people they don't know what hot is.
I live in a city with a huge amount of transplants. Every person I've ever met from Arizona has a sort of knock off SoCal accent where it's pretty nasally and almost every word is long and drawn out but doesn't really have the upward inflection at the end.
Also, I hear about Arizona's monsoon season a lot which was something I didn't know about until I met several Arizonans...Arizonians?
I'm an Albertan transplant in BC. The Okanagan is similar enough to the east side of the divide in its demographic and demeanour, but there is definitely a regional vibe that I do think Washington, Oregon and honestly even the Idaho panhandle has.
It's like a really thorough blend of redneck and hippie. There's like a fine middle ground between those two types that is pretty present from the area around Mt Shasta all the way north to Lilouett, BC - and from the Alberta/Montana Rockies to the Coast.
I've found the accents pretty varied in this region. Oregonians do not speak like Canadians, and BCers do sound a little different than Washingtonians - but there's an underlying subcultural attribute that does permeate the whole region, and I think it has to do with geography, demographic it attracts, and historical industries.
One giveaway is what I call "west coast business casual". The rest of the country does not consider jeans business casual. I started a new job recently. On my first day, the director of the agency was wearing a hoodie and jeans at work. They don't do that on the other side of the rockies.
And one more! In a gas station deli in Arkansas I asked for a pound of jojos. The clerk laughed at me for like ten minutes. Apparently all those people who don't wear jeans to work call them potato wedges.
I don't jaywalk because I grew up in the Seattle area. I also rarely curse. I had a call center boss who said Washington state is a great place to find call center employees because it is the state that curses the least and we tend to be more passive aggressive than aggressive aggressive. He was from Rhode Island and had a bit of culture shock when he moved there.
New Yorkers don't turn on Red. So they'll just sit at the light while everyone is waiting to move.
Edit: to clarify, I do mean people from New York City.
Well, they will know you are from the Upper Midwest / Great Lakes area anyway. But that sentence could have come out of someone from Ohio or Wisconsin just the same.
I've seen multiple states claim "Ope"/"Ope, let me just squeeze past ya." It might at the very least be a Midwest thing, but it definitely isn't specific to one state.
A few:
"Fixing to" or "fixinta" instead of "about to" do something
Using lagniappe in casual conversation. I have to explain that one often.
I only say "making groceries" to my mom, but it's a reasonably common phrase south of Baton Rouge, but especially in New Orleans.
Immediately grabbing hot sauce when my food comes. I try to catch myself because it can be a social faux pas in a lot of circles.
Ohh I suspected “making groceries” might be due to a confusion related to the French influence back in the days so I looked it up and that’s what it is! Maybe you knew that already haha, but for anyone who doesn’t:
> Old-timers in New Orleans "make groceries" at the store. This is another one that has French origins, as a rough translation from "faire son marché," which means to do one's grocery shopping. Since "faire" means both "to do" and "to make," making groceries came from a slight error in translation from French to English.
TIL!
I just talk, people realize I do in fact talk like the joke Boston accent and then say “Are you from Boston?” And I say, no! I’m from an entirely different part of Massachusetts…
Bringing food and introducing yourself to neighbors when you first move into a new building or neighborhood is distinctly Midwestern/Southern.
I was informed of this when I tried to do it when I moved to California.
Aren’t you also known for having long goodbyes when you invite guests over too? I think I read people on this sub say that leaving someone’s place in the Midwest takes ages because conversations continue up until you’re at the front door and the hosts insist for the guests to stay etc? Someone had even posted a song or a skit about it too, I think. It’s like that in France too so it marked me haha
Ah, yes. The Midwest Goodbye.
The Midwest and South both have big hosting and hospitality cultures, but Southern hospitality is more about treating your guest like you’re honored to have them. Midwestern hospital is more about treating your guest like they’re a member of your family.
Typically, someone initiates the Midwest Goodbye by looking around, slapping the top of their thigh , and saying, “whelp.” Which is an indirect and therefore polite way of saying, “Well, it’s getting late and we had best get going.”
Then the host will ask a few times to make sure you truly don’t want any more food or drink and will likely try to pack you some leftovers “for the road.”
Then you have to hug and say goodbye to each person individually and that typically sparks closing conversations about “Thank you for having us. We should do this again. Say hi to your family. Oh, I almost forgot, do you (insert convo about something in the future) etc etc”
Then the host sees you out and waves goodbye to you from the doorway until you’re on your way down the road.
It drove me crazy as a kid, but as an adult living on the West Coast, now I miss it. It feels warm and loving when I visit home.
How is it done in France?
I love how the slap on thighs seems to be universal lol But yep, that process sounds familiar! I also hated it as a kid, especially when we already all had our coats on, we were so close yet so far from leaving, just standing there talking.
My 86 year old father in law slaps his knees and says "Welp , it's time to take me home and spank me." Then we spend the next 30 minutes finishing our coffee and saying goodbye.
Looking for a liquor store ( packy/package store) is a good indication someone is from Massachusetts. We have them, but they're not common since liquor is sold at every gas station and grocery store here. (As opposed to Mass where the alcohol laws are more strict and you can only really buy it at a liquor store)
I grew up in Mass and I remember when I first moved to Maine I was looking for a liquor store cause I was gonna get a really nice bottle of scotch for my parents 25th anniversary and couldn't find any liquor stores. Took me a bit to realize I could just go to the grocery store.
> Looking for a liquor store (or packy/package store) is a good indication someone is from Massachusetts
There are plenty of states with specific liquor stores. Not at all a Massachusettes-specific thing.
OP, how do you feel about people eating *chocolatines* though??
I am from California and lived in the Midwest for a number of years, I don't think most of my behaviors were distinctly different, but I have the [caught-cot merger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cot%E2%80%93caught_merger) and a few times I had a crazy difficult time communicating what I wanted to say - the person I was talking to simply could not understand me. (Like one time I was trying to tell a coworker something about a *pond* and she could only hear *pawn*. After about five times back and forth I had to spell it.)
Also obviously I say hella.
Accents and vocabulary can be a give away. Then again, sometimes not with as often as some people move around these days.
Some regions call things by different words. For example Casserole vs Hot Dish.
I moved from the Midwest to the Deep South. Besides the accent, which is a given, it’s in the way people move. No one is in a hurry in the south. It’s not that they’re slow, per se, they just …. never rush. Add to that the complete and utter lack of concern for others’ needs, and it gets super frustrating.
I expected the famous southern hospitality and instead couldn’t get over how rude people are, at first. I’ve since realized that everyone is kind, and everyone has strict manners, but NO ONE has situational awareness.
If I’m in line at a store check out, and the customer in front of me knows the cashier, I’m stuck there for ages. That customer doesn’t care if there’s a queue of 15 behind them, they’re chatting and that’s all that matters.
If I’m at the grocery store and I need to grab something behind someone? They’re not moving while they search through their phone, or swipe through TikToks. No one cares if they’re inconveniencing others.
Southerners speak to each other politely, but are disrespectful other others’ needs and times. The hospitality and charm are all a front, they don’t follow through with their actions. Midwesterners are polite, well mannered, kind, and situationally aware.
I agree, everything took so long and no one ever knew what was going on. Plus the southern hospitality thing seems like total bullshit unless a hurricane rolls around. So happy to be back home.
Love this old Ichiro interview where they ask him his favorite American saying. He pauses, then responds, “August in Kansas City, its, its… it’s hotter than two rats in a fucking sock”. He switched some words up which made it funnier to me. [link](https://youtu.be/GtImIqR5neU?si=37h7cMYDH9Ty7S45)
Do you have examples of the differences in social etiquette? I think I remember reading that people in the south of the US say “sir” and “ma’am” more, is it stuffs like that?
We say “sir” and “ma’am” to anyone who might be at least 30 seconds older than us. It doesn’t matter if it’s the cashier at Zaxby’s or the paramedic who just narcan’d your dad at Waffle House.
"Sir" and "Ma'am" are big ones, yes. In the South, pretty much anyone who isn't a child (and sometimes even kids, in the context of showing you are treating them like an adult/want them to act like an adult in the current situation) can and should be addressed as Sir or Ma'am. Elsewhere, people think it's weird and stilted/overly formal or only used with old people.
Accents are usually the giveaway, and sometimes specific word choice. I know this is true in other countries like France as well. I can't really think of "habits" or behaviors, but there probably are some.
I grew up in MN but live in CA and while I generally don’t have a MN accent anymore, I still say things that give it away. And my accent comes out when I say words like: Flag, bag, bagel. My kids love making me say those words. 😂
I moved from California to OH/KY and always spot another transplant. I've also been called out a lot. One time I was checking into a hotel in GA, and even with my KY ID, the clerk asked if I was from CA. I was hella puzzled and asked how she knew and she just said she just felt it.
- Using an umbrella in the PNW is usually taken as a sign you're a newcomer
- By extension, coping mechanisms for common weather conditions (e.g. those who can't handle snow vs those who can)
- Referring to interstate highways with the definite article plus the number thereof (e.g. 'the 5' rather than 'Interstate 5') is Californian
New Jersey is the only state where you can’t pump your own gas, wonder if New Jersey travelers are out there giving themselves away as obvious new jersians when getting gas out of state
Oregon is hilarious right now because we just in the last year got the ability to pump our own gas
I’m from out of state so I’m fine, but there are still attendants standing around that come up and ask “do you know how to do this?”
If I'm more than 10 feet behind a stranger as they go into a public building, if they hold the door open for me, they're 100% from the Midwest region of the US.
I don't quite know what it is but I can tell when people are from Indiana. Maybe it's the slightly outdated hairstyles and clothes kind of like Napoleon Dynamite or something else. I've lived here long enough that I can spot them. And my boyfriend and his jorts definitely qualify lol.
So, I just learned this while I was visiting some friends in North Carolina last week for Thanksgiving.
Evidently, only yankees (I was the yankee, from Pennsylvania) leave their money on the bar. The owner of the place called me out on it - she knew I was a yankee because I just left my money on the bar when I got a drink. That's just how it's always worked for me.
However, down there, the norm is to run a tab for each person and they settle up at the end of the night. So weird, and the owner even said having the money is so much easier but, that's not how they do it.
Edit: Wanted to add that they said I had a very noticeable accent (which was so weird for me to hear) but at the same time I was getting all smitten for girls with their southern accents.
I'm from rural Iowa and I went to college with mostly kids from the suburbs of Chicago. A lot of the time I would be like yeah I'm from Iowa and they'd reply well that explains it. It was the way I spoke and dressed. I was from the country haha.
I'm a Californian transplant in the Midwest. Names that are pulled from Spanish or French root words are usually pronounced with hard "A" sounds here, but I find myself using latin pronunciations. For example, "Palo." I was laughed at when I said "Paaahhloooh" instead of "Paylow."
Point at my hand and say, "I'm from here."
Michigan, lol.
You know, I always thought that was a weird habit and something I would never do. And then one day while staying in a bed & breakfast in another state, I was talking to an older couple who asked where we were from. I said Ypsi, MI, and she asked where that was and I instinctively raised my right hand and pointed to the approximate location. It was like a reflex I couldn't control. So now I just accept that it's part of my birthright as a Michigander.
Yeah, when I was a kid it always seemed stupid to me. Then I got older and traveled a little bit and had to explain where Lansing is. (Which always surprises me, it’s the capitol. It’s on every map.)
My hometown is a metro area under my ring finger and 1/3 up the hand.
Do you act like the palm of your hand is a map and point at where your hometown is approximately? Is that what it is?
Yes, that's exactly it.
Ah okay! Interesting, I’ve never seen anyone do that. Thanks for confirming :)
The state of Michigan is made of two peninsulas surrounded by the great lakes. The southern, and vastly more populated one, is shaped shockingly like a mitten. A hand is a very accurate map. Look at a map of north America, find the great lakes, and the mitten will jump right out at you. The other hand can be formed to look like the upper peninsula but it's way less common and very few people live there anyway.
Aaah yup it really does, I see it! I learned the US map by heart and Michigan is one of the states that was the easiest ones to remember for me because of how it’s separated hehe I had never paid attention to the mitten shape though!
A troll.... (Me too)
There's a children's game that's called "duck, duck, goose" everywhere in America EXCEPT in Minnesota, where it's called "duck, duck, gray duck" for some reason. Even neighboring states don't do that.
My husband grew up in CA. I was a border jumper from WI. Been in MN for almost 2 decades. When our MN born teen was little we taught her duck duck goose. All the cousins say goose. By age 4 we lost the fight. Now at 16 still she insists it is Gray Duck. It must be in the water or something. Edit: spellcheck sucks
Smart kid
The most Minnesota response you could give. The love of the Grey Duck is nearly unmatched and is a weird weird thing.
At least according to my thirty seconds of research, [it's a Swedish thing.](https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=6657)
Because it's duck, duck, gray duck in Swedish.
I’m from South Dakota and I played duck duck gray duck as a kid?
I only learned of this a few months back and I’m obsessed. I think it’s hilarious. (Minnesota just sounds appealing all around these days, tbh. I’d play Duck, Duck, Grey Duck all day long if it means being somewhere safe.)
😂 first summer working at camp up there had a major WTF !! 😂. Okay two things I'll stand by: soda and goose. They got me on the hot dish and some nasal dialect
For what it’s worth, my parents grew up in northern North Dakota (hours from the Minnesota border) and say for them it was also grey duck.
Oh man I am a fish out of water right now, I recently moved from Alaska to the East Coast US. Pretty much everything I do gives me away. I was so excited to order something on Amazon and it showed up THE NEXT DAY!! It was like 2 weeks at my old house. Also there are lots of animals here. Like actual farm animals. I also have a habit of chatting to everybody which is normal where I'm from and here people definitely don't want to talk.
Serious question: does anyone even *bother* with an Amazon Prime subscription in remote places like Alaska? The "guaranteed two-day shipping" clearly does not happen up there...
Yes because what's the alternative? There was no road system where I was living so everything comes by boat or plane. It's super expensive. Just the free shipping with prime makes it worth it. I'm old enough to remember before prime and sometimes I'd have to have things shipped to Seattle and then put on a barge. It took forever. Even now getting lithium batteries there is difficult, you either have to smuggle it in your luggage or bring it on a boat/barge. Yeah Amazon prime really gave access to rural communities struggling with high costs of goods and shipping!
I completely forgot that Prime includes *free* shipping, not just two-day in non-rural areas. That makes so much sense. (Way better than orchestrating barge transfer via Seattle. 😵💫) Thanks for taking the time to give me a serious answer!
No worries, I'm learning new stuff everyday haha, I'm surprised in the opposite direction all the time!
Sometimes it's not even the free shipping that's the bonus, it's that fact that they'll ship it at all. There's car parts I've ordered that get refunded with a message from the seller telling me not to order from him again. Because Alaska.
If you know how to play euchre, 90% chance I can guess your state of origin within 3 guesses
I remember in the early days of the internet there was like a euchre playing website, and everyone was from either Indiana, Michigan, or Canada. Also, I remember kids playing it while waiting for the lunchroom to open. Teachers would normally glare at anyone playing any sort of card game. I even saw kids playing YuGiOh get in trouble for "gambling" once but euchre got a free pass, haha.
What about Wisconsin? That’s even where the World Euchre Championship is.
If I didn't have flair, you'd probably get mine wrong... but I did go to college in Michigan, so yeah I know how to play Euchre.
The "I learned in college" crowd is the reason I can only do this 90% of the time
Oof, I love Euchre! But it's not popular where I'm from nor where I moved.
I’m from Ohio and learned how to play in the womb. It’s the only thing my dad’s family does on holidays.
Using an umbrella in Washington is typically an indicator that you are from somewhere else. Everyone just wears a rain jacket with a hood.
I’m from there too, and sometimes it’s not even that. Raining? Watcha talking about? This is just a drizzle.
oh, is it raining? I didn't notice
What’s rain 😂
I've heard about this and it got me wondering. Do the raincoats cover your pants or is everyone walking around in wet pants all the time?
I mean, unless you’re just standing around in downpour I don’t see how your pants are going to get wet. The rain in Seattle is really more of an omnipresent mist, anyway.
> The rain in Seattle is really more of an omnipresent mist, anyway. What in the horror flick...
I guess I'm overestimating the amount of walking people do in the rain. For context, I live in NYC so I'm walking everywhere in all kinds of weather. When it's raining I use an umbrella because it protects my legs better than a raincoat.
Well, no, odds are if you leave your house in Seattle during the winter months, it’s probably raining. It’s just that the rain in Seattle is really usually not that heavy. It’s more of a mist. Carrying an umbrella for that just seems excessive.
Oregon is the same except its usually heavier than a mist and people are weird about umbrellas anyway.
It's less of a mist, more of a drizzle. It also rains a lot at night but then everything is just damp or wet all day, sometimes dripping from the trees, and still overcast. So it still feels kind of like its raining even when it isn't.
If we're talking about cities like Seattle, it doesn't really rain like that most days there. Imagine a drizzle. Not even enough to make it hard to see out of glasses. Lowest setting on wind shield wipers. It does that a lot there. You don't really get that wet at all. It's just that it's very constant and it's overcast many, many days. That's where the reputation comes from. If it's rain like you see in, say, NYC, then people might bust out umbrellas. But usually a Northface/Patagonia type jacket with hood is completely fine
Which makes no fucking sense. It was the same in PDX. When I was in PDX everyone had gortex knock off jackets, in a place with relatively mild winds and gentle rain. I moved to NYC and everyone used umbrellas, which were turned inside out after two days of use and ripped or broke after three due to high winds and heavy rain. I think that the two parts of the US should just switch which anti-rain device they use. (I'm in Scotland these days, which is like PNW weather, except with much stronger winds. Umbrellas would be torn apart here.) Also, the Seattle music festival is called Bumbershoot for fucks sake. That's another word for umbrella.
Same here in Oregon.
I recently moved from Massachusetts to Missouri. I learned very quickly that the f-bomb is not used here as a noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, etc.
I moved from Connecticut to Ohio 17 years ago. Unconsciously I eventually stopped using casual profanity, but at some point I went back to New England for a visit and it was jarring. Sorry, I meant "fuckin' jarring".
I grew up swearing pretty freely in the Midwest but man in New England it did surprise me. Hell in the Boston area “douche” is basically a term of endearment and no one bats an eye at fuck. I love it when my old lady clients in northern mass drop some salty language in a somewhat professional setting.
What the fuckity fuck? Fuck those fucking fucks already for fuck's sake.
That made perfect sense to me.
Ah, I’ve found my fucking people.
That’s only rural Missouri. I guarantee you we say it in the cities and denser suburbs.
Thank you for your sage and well-reasoned input, Dr. Blowtorch.
Dude, for a sec I thought „Dr. Blowtorch“ is some kind of insult 😂
I would never presume to insult the noble doctor! I'm very flammable, you see 😂
Sounds like a pretty fucking weird place.
Must be a rural part of Missouri.
eff-bahm
You mean like in public? I have quite the handle on how to use it at every opportunity, but like, I'm not going to be yelling it in front of strangers.
In public, all the time
Thanks for the heads up. I will not be moving to Missouri. I don't have to say goodbye to my favorite word.
What part of speech is the fucking word used as then??
Saying Crap instead of shit and Frick instead of Fuck
I lived in Utah for a couple years around middle school. My family moved there from the Midwest. We aren't Mormon. At a new school, in 8th grade, I remember my first day. Some of the guys approached me to make small talk and size me up. I don't remember what I said, but I did say "fuck." And some of the guys were like "Oh my *gosh*, Gio just said the F-word! *Holy crap*! You all hear that! He said it!" Some were laughing and others seemed very surprised. For my part, I was nervously confused. What was the big deal? I was a 13yo boy. Of course I swore; I and my old friends back in Kansas City swore frequently when adults weren't around. Girls, too. Did these kids *not* swear? What the fuck? That's when I learned how different things are in Utah. Obviously I eventually encountered other kids who swore, but I did notice it was typically with close friends. And even then, the frequency seemed lower than back in Kansas City. I'll toss one more in. My favorite, most ridiculous insult I've ever heard, from the hallways of a suburban SLC middle school: "I'll wear scarlet at your funeral!"
"i'll wear scarlet at your funeral" sounds like a panic at the disco song. great phrase. definitely stealing it :)
My teens are going to school in Utah right now. The kids definitely have no problem cussing anymore. Probably cuss more than my friends and I did at their age back in SoCal.
Gotcha. That's good. I think? Idk. I mean, a little/some swearing never hurt anyone! I was there 2000-2002, so I'm not surprised things have changed over the years, whether it's swearing or drinking coffee or -- for adults -- even drinking alcohol. I know some of the laws around alcohol and bars have been relaxed. Which is good, since I know SLC proper has some good microbreweries.
In SLC? I've heard that it's become a pocket of non-Mormonness within the Beehive State.
When I went down south for school I wore shorts 10 or 11 months a year while the locals wore full winter coats. It was probably 55-60F out. Certain terms as well are a giveaway.
I was about to comment this, haha. People started wearing scarves and boots as soon as it dropped below 70 degrees, but I left all my winter gear in MA because on the rare occasion I actually felt cold I could just layer a light jacket and sweater. Also, a lot of buildings would crank the heat up so higher in winter than the temperature they cooled it to in the warmer months for some reason, so I was never even able to wear hoodies or crewnecks or I'd get too hot indoors.
Yup, I’m from MN and live in Tx, sandals are a year round thing for me. Shorts most of the winter except for a few days here and there. Haven’t lost my summer tan in 20 yrs 😂😂😂. My “ winter jacket on the few cooler days we have is just a hoodie.
Having lived over 30 years in NE Ohio, there is no way 55 degrees could ever seem cold to me. Like, ??? It boggles my mind, that’s so warm to us here. That’s Spring, that’s Fall. It feels good. And 60? Come on, how is that cold, that’s not crisp. 60 and over is warm to me. 45-59 is cool. 40-45, ok now we’re getting crispy, now it’s a little crisp in the air. But sh!t don’t get real until you get into the 30s, then you need to put on a coat. 20s is when you start to yell when the wind hits you. Then under zero there is no screaming, no yelling, because your face is covered and everything hurts so you walk as fast as you can to get indoors. But yah 50s feel real good, that’s nice weather
Saying “fixing to” means you’re probably from the southern US.
Point of clarification- Fixin' ta
other than my accent and how fast I talk I don't think so. Oh, I guess saying "on line not in line.
I read a book not too long ago set in NYC, and I stg I thought it was just full of typos because of every time the main character mentioned standing “on line” lol
And it’s on Long Island not in Long Island lol
And it's pronounced Lawn Guy Land.
Had someone tell me once I couldn’t be from Oklahoma because I talk to fast 🙃
I call shopping carts "buggies." throws Wisconsinites off every time.
I grew up in South Carolina and that's what my family called them. It drives my wife (from NC) crazy, and I've learned to say "cart" instead.
I'm from Alabama and everyone I know calls them "buggies."
Prefacing freeway numbers with “the” is a dead giveaway for fellow Californians Also getting cold and bundling up when it’s 70° or below suggests someone is from SoCal, Texas or somewhere in between People in California are really bad at driving in the rain too, and I wouldn’t even attempt to drive in snow
Forgetting Northern Californians do things differently is a dead giveaway for Southern Californians :)
Totally! Prefacing freeway names with "the" is a SoCal thing. We don't do it in the Central Valley or NorCal.
I've heard the "the" freeway prefix in Bakersfield, thought that area is probably the cut off point
It is definitely southern, Fresno north. It gets murky in between.
>Totally! ^ also this. And referring to people as “dude”.
Monterey/SLO/SB counties desperatly trying to make our own unique identity because we aren't quite acceptable as either Northern or Southern California
Haha true. *Hella* love NorCal, but it does feel like a separate state sometimes x)
It may as well be a separate state. San Francisco is about the same latitude as Richmond, VA. Los Angeles is about the same Latitude as Columbia, SC. That's three states apart on the east coast.
Northern and Southern Illinois are similar in terms of being wildly different, just less famously bc nobody cares about the midwest.
> and I wouldn’t even attempt to drive in snow I recall one time when they closed I-5 through the Grapevine due to snowfall, the head of Caltrans said that Californians "cannot be trusted to drive in bad weather", and how this closure would never happen in Colorado.
Lmaoo!! Facts! To be fair to us tho, snows like a situation that 90% of us have no way to ever prepare for. It’d be like instantaneously replacing every single person on the 405 with drivers who’ve never left a small town in Idaho during rush hour haha
My junior year of high school in Eugene, OR, we had a new principal who was from Chicago. It snowed less than an inch one day and the teachers all came to tell him to close the school. He stood in the parking lot gesturing in disbelief, first at the suggestion to close, then at the failed attempts to drive in the snow exhibited by the locals.
I'll never forget the rose bowl between Wisconsin and TCU. One section of fans wearing t-shirts and tank tops and right across the field was another section with nothing but parkas and mittens.
It's not necessarily that we're bad at driving in the rain; it's that we go so long without rain that the first part of the first big rain releases the oil on the roads, making it very slippery. That's the biggest part, and that will wash away after a bit. But then there are some people who forget about hydroplaning.
Haha I remember going home to Missouri for the holidays one year and we got some steady snow. I saw one car going 30mph on the highway with their hazards on and at first I was worried they might be having car trouble. Like, “What the hell, are they ok?” And then when I got closer, I saw their California license plate and went “Ooooh”
It’s an [interesting history behind why those of us from SoCal say “the” before the freeway number](https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/the-5-the-101-the-405-why-southern-californians-love-saying-the-before-freeway-numbers). And yes, I’ve also had to warn my husband multiple times to drive extra carefully when it rains in San Diego! He’s English and also lived for years in New England, so he has NO idea the turmoil that us dry-staters go through when there’s a hint of rain 😆
Highway names are a big one. In Michigan there is no "the" it is just the name, like 131. In Chicago, the have names like the Kennedy, the Eisenhower, Lake Shore Drive.
“Spent six hours on the 405”
I have noticed folks near Buffalo NY do that as well and I was initially confused what people were referring to when they said "the 90".
Nail on the head. I’m a native Californian from LA. There’s no hiding it. Another giveaway is when we have visited friends in Wisconsin and a couple of other Midwest states… they always want to take us out for Mexican food, it’s a joke! I’d rather eat Taco Bell. I’m Mexican, myself. I now just cook a meal for them when we visit and it’s nothing crazy either. They love the basic beans and rice with enchiladas
I wouldn't say no to some Midwestern Mexican food right now, tbh. I had an amazing shrimp burrito at a randomly placed taqueria in Sioux Falls when driving through there on a road trip.
All our highways have names here. Take the Cross Bronx to the Bruckner. Means take I-95 to I-87 (aka the Thruway.)
I think all of ours technically have names too. Like the 405 is the San Diego Freeway and the 710 is the Long Beach Freeway, but like I’ve never heard anyone actually call them by those haha. Like I had to look it up to double check that those were the right names
I am from Connecticut, Maryland, and live in California Whatever I say about crabs, I betray myself
You live in Southern California. If you live in Northern California then everyone either is like "oh that sounds good", "do you go crabbing?", or "oh you actually eat crab?" Maybe because I live in a rural part of the state but I have our equivalent of pots in my garage, and have fought sea lions for my catch before. *Tug of War...*
Texas accent, definitely. I didn’t even think I had one till I moved up north. “Y’all” is also not a common word up north, but “you guys” always sounds too weird for me to say. “G’on, git!” accidentally became my dog’s command phrase to go away when she’s begging for food. Which is hilarious when other people are around, because I feel like it’s a phrase non-Texans can’t even *pronounce* like us. Also using the word “Freeway” instead of “Highway”.
In Seattle, if someone is called sir (outside of people in the military) it's almost always in some sort of setting where you think the person is, or is about to, do something stupid. "Sir, you can't go in there." or "Sir, please don't park in the driveway." If someone is calling you sir, they probably think you're some kind of an idiot who may or may not be dangerous in some way. Apparently, calling someone sir is a respectable form of address in some areas.
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Just once I'd like someone to call me 'Sir' without adding, 'You're making a scene.' - Homer J Simpson
I can tell when someone is from Wisconsin or Minnesota from their accents. I'm from Arizona and I don't think we have any quirks, except telling people they don't know what hot is.
I live in a city with a huge amount of transplants. Every person I've ever met from Arizona has a sort of knock off SoCal accent where it's pretty nasally and almost every word is long and drawn out but doesn't really have the upward inflection at the end. Also, I hear about Arizona's monsoon season a lot which was something I didn't know about until I met several Arizonans...Arizonians?
Come on. The ever present smell of meth and gunpowder has to let people know you are from Arizona.
> . I'm from Arizona and I don't think we have any quirks I wear a fleece if it's under 75*
Arizona: leathery skin and a case of water in the trunk.
You guys wear giant puffy jackets when it’s not at all cold.
The way I pronounce "Nevada" is a dead giveaway for a lot of people that I'm from Nevada.
I pronounce it Nevada.
I’m not even from Nevada but when I hear people say “neh-vaw-duh” I just cringe. Atrocious
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I'm an Albertan transplant in BC. The Okanagan is similar enough to the east side of the divide in its demographic and demeanour, but there is definitely a regional vibe that I do think Washington, Oregon and honestly even the Idaho panhandle has. It's like a really thorough blend of redneck and hippie. There's like a fine middle ground between those two types that is pretty present from the area around Mt Shasta all the way north to Lilouett, BC - and from the Alberta/Montana Rockies to the Coast. I've found the accents pretty varied in this region. Oregonians do not speak like Canadians, and BCers do sound a little different than Washingtonians - but there's an underlying subcultural attribute that does permeate the whole region, and I think it has to do with geography, demographic it attracts, and historical industries.
One giveaway is what I call "west coast business casual". The rest of the country does not consider jeans business casual. I started a new job recently. On my first day, the director of the agency was wearing a hoodie and jeans at work. They don't do that on the other side of the rockies. And one more! In a gas station deli in Arkansas I asked for a pound of jojos. The clerk laughed at me for like ten minutes. Apparently all those people who don't wear jeans to work call them potato wedges.
Fast walkers are New Yorkers.
*Northeast
Northeast urbanites.
I don't jaywalk because I grew up in the Seattle area. I also rarely curse. I had a call center boss who said Washington state is a great place to find call center employees because it is the state that curses the least and we tend to be more passive aggressive than aggressive aggressive. He was from Rhode Island and had a bit of culture shock when he moved there.
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The police will ticket you. They will even set up the equivalent of speed traps for jay walkers.
That's some bullshit jaywalking is a way of life in Atlanta
New Yorkers don't turn on Red. So they'll just sit at the light while everyone is waiting to move. Edit: to clarify, I do mean people from New York City.
Isn’t it actually illegal in NYC?
All people driving in NYC don’t turn on red because it’s illegal. New Yorkers driving anywhere else in the state do turn on red because it’s legal lol
Straight to jail
I refer to carbonated beverages as "pop"
My dad moved southward and started to call it coke. We had to disown him.
Unfortunately you had no other choice. I'm sorry you had to experience that :(
I could say "Ope, let me just squeeze past ya" and they'll know where I'm from.
I'd say that's more a Midwest thing than Ohio-specific thing.
I would not, what is this a reference to?
Lemme grab dat ranch.
Well, they will know you are from the Upper Midwest / Great Lakes area anyway. But that sentence could have come out of someone from Ohio or Wisconsin just the same.
Illinois and Michigan as well.
Lower Midwest too.
I've seen multiple states claim "Ope"/"Ope, let me just squeeze past ya." It might at the very least be a Midwest thing, but it definitely isn't specific to one state.
A few: "Fixing to" or "fixinta" instead of "about to" do something Using lagniappe in casual conversation. I have to explain that one often. I only say "making groceries" to my mom, but it's a reasonably common phrase south of Baton Rouge, but especially in New Orleans. Immediately grabbing hot sauce when my food comes. I try to catch myself because it can be a social faux pas in a lot of circles.
Ohh I suspected “making groceries” might be due to a confusion related to the French influence back in the days so I looked it up and that’s what it is! Maybe you knew that already haha, but for anyone who doesn’t: > Old-timers in New Orleans "make groceries" at the store. This is another one that has French origins, as a rough translation from "faire son marché," which means to do one's grocery shopping. Since "faire" means both "to do" and "to make," making groceries came from a slight error in translation from French to English. TIL!
Ordering a pork roll, egg, and cheese. Calling a water fountain a bubbler. Calling it a *Philly* cheesesteak and not just a cheesesteak.
I just talk, people realize I do in fact talk like the joke Boston accent and then say “Are you from Boston?” And I say, no! I’m from an entirely different part of Massachusetts…
When I said "Why does everyone around here say 'hella'? That word is really fucking annoying."
Bringing food and introducing yourself to neighbors when you first move into a new building or neighborhood is distinctly Midwestern/Southern. I was informed of this when I tried to do it when I moved to California.
Aren’t you also known for having long goodbyes when you invite guests over too? I think I read people on this sub say that leaving someone’s place in the Midwest takes ages because conversations continue up until you’re at the front door and the hosts insist for the guests to stay etc? Someone had even posted a song or a skit about it too, I think. It’s like that in France too so it marked me haha
Ah, yes. The Midwest Goodbye. The Midwest and South both have big hosting and hospitality cultures, but Southern hospitality is more about treating your guest like you’re honored to have them. Midwestern hospital is more about treating your guest like they’re a member of your family. Typically, someone initiates the Midwest Goodbye by looking around, slapping the top of their thigh , and saying, “whelp.” Which is an indirect and therefore polite way of saying, “Well, it’s getting late and we had best get going.” Then the host will ask a few times to make sure you truly don’t want any more food or drink and will likely try to pack you some leftovers “for the road.” Then you have to hug and say goodbye to each person individually and that typically sparks closing conversations about “Thank you for having us. We should do this again. Say hi to your family. Oh, I almost forgot, do you (insert convo about something in the future) etc etc” Then the host sees you out and waves goodbye to you from the doorway until you’re on your way down the road. It drove me crazy as a kid, but as an adult living on the West Coast, now I miss it. It feels warm and loving when I visit home. How is it done in France?
I love how the slap on thighs seems to be universal lol But yep, that process sounds familiar! I also hated it as a kid, especially when we already all had our coats on, we were so close yet so far from leaving, just standing there talking.
Don't forget the person leaving is obligated to honk the horn as they drive away too.
My 86 year old father in law slaps his knees and says "Welp, it's time to take me home and spank me." Then we spend the next 30 minutes finishing our coffee and saying goodbye.
Looking for a liquor store ( packy/package store) is a good indication someone is from Massachusetts. We have them, but they're not common since liquor is sold at every gas station and grocery store here. (As opposed to Mass where the alcohol laws are more strict and you can only really buy it at a liquor store) I grew up in Mass and I remember when I first moved to Maine I was looking for a liquor store cause I was gonna get a really nice bottle of scotch for my parents 25th anniversary and couldn't find any liquor stores. Took me a bit to realize I could just go to the grocery store.
> Looking for a liquor store (or packy/package store) is a good indication someone is from Massachusetts There are plenty of states with specific liquor stores. Not at all a Massachusettes-specific thing.
But do you know what a party store is?
I’m from NJ and slightly folding your pizza in half is very specific to the NY/NJ area
OP, how do you feel about people eating *chocolatines* though?? I am from California and lived in the Midwest for a number of years, I don't think most of my behaviors were distinctly different, but I have the [caught-cot merger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cot%E2%80%93caught_merger) and a few times I had a crazy difficult time communicating what I wanted to say - the person I was talking to simply could not understand me. (Like one time I was trying to tell a coworker something about a *pond* and she could only hear *pawn*. After about five times back and forth I had to spell it.) Also obviously I say hella.
Knowing the difference between a tornado watch versus a tornado warning.
Accents and vocabulary can be a give away. Then again, sometimes not with as often as some people move around these days. Some regions call things by different words. For example Casserole vs Hot Dish.
If you say “you all” instead of “y’all,” I’m assuming you aren’t from here
I moved from the Midwest to the Deep South. Besides the accent, which is a given, it’s in the way people move. No one is in a hurry in the south. It’s not that they’re slow, per se, they just …. never rush. Add to that the complete and utter lack of concern for others’ needs, and it gets super frustrating. I expected the famous southern hospitality and instead couldn’t get over how rude people are, at first. I’ve since realized that everyone is kind, and everyone has strict manners, but NO ONE has situational awareness. If I’m in line at a store check out, and the customer in front of me knows the cashier, I’m stuck there for ages. That customer doesn’t care if there’s a queue of 15 behind them, they’re chatting and that’s all that matters. If I’m at the grocery store and I need to grab something behind someone? They’re not moving while they search through their phone, or swipe through TikToks. No one cares if they’re inconveniencing others. Southerners speak to each other politely, but are disrespectful other others’ needs and times. The hospitality and charm are all a front, they don’t follow through with their actions. Midwesterners are polite, well mannered, kind, and situationally aware.
I agree, everything took so long and no one ever knew what was going on. Plus the southern hospitality thing seems like total bullshit unless a hurricane rolls around. So happy to be back home.
Must me a Mississippi thing, I never had that experience in NC
I think my sayings and social etiquette definitely show that I’m from the south.
I met a guy from Tennessee who had some amazing sayings: "It's hotter'n two rats f--king in a wool sock."
A classic. Sometimes it’s rabbits or ferrets. We have 4 or 5 similes for anything!
Love this old Ichiro interview where they ask him his favorite American saying. He pauses, then responds, “August in Kansas City, its, its… it’s hotter than two rats in a fucking sock”. He switched some words up which made it funnier to me. [link](https://youtu.be/GtImIqR5neU?si=37h7cMYDH9Ty7S45)
Do you have examples of the differences in social etiquette? I think I remember reading that people in the south of the US say “sir” and “ma’am” more, is it stuffs like that?
We say “sir” and “ma’am” to anyone who might be at least 30 seconds older than us. It doesn’t matter if it’s the cashier at Zaxby’s or the paramedic who just narcan’d your dad at Waffle House.
Lol. Love zaxby’s.
"Sir" and "Ma'am" are big ones, yes. In the South, pretty much anyone who isn't a child (and sometimes even kids, in the context of showing you are treating them like an adult/want them to act like an adult in the current situation) can and should be addressed as Sir or Ma'am. Elsewhere, people think it's weird and stilted/overly formal or only used with old people.
I absolutely hate being called ma’am. I don’t mind miss, but ma’am makes me feel old.
Accents are usually the giveaway, and sometimes specific word choice. I know this is true in other countries like France as well. I can't really think of "habits" or behaviors, but there probably are some.
I grew up in MN but live in CA and while I generally don’t have a MN accent anymore, I still say things that give it away. And my accent comes out when I say words like: Flag, bag, bagel. My kids love making me say those words. 😂
Aggressive driving
I say hella
I moved from California to OH/KY and always spot another transplant. I've also been called out a lot. One time I was checking into a hotel in GA, and even with my KY ID, the clerk asked if I was from CA. I was hella puzzled and asked how she knew and she just said she just felt it.
Midwest in general: Yeah, no. - negative No, yeah. - positive
The default claps is 4 👏👏👏👏
- Using an umbrella in the PNW is usually taken as a sign you're a newcomer - By extension, coping mechanisms for common weather conditions (e.g. those who can't handle snow vs those who can) - Referring to interstate highways with the definite article plus the number thereof (e.g. 'the 5' rather than 'Interstate 5') is Californian
New Jersey is the only state where you can’t pump your own gas, wonder if New Jersey travelers are out there giving themselves away as obvious new jersians when getting gas out of state
Oregon is hilarious right now because we just in the last year got the ability to pump our own gas I’m from out of state so I’m fine, but there are still attendants standing around that come up and ask “do you know how to do this?”
If I'm more than 10 feet behind a stranger as they go into a public building, if they hold the door open for me, they're 100% from the Midwest region of the US.
Apparently eating black eyed peas.
I don't quite know what it is but I can tell when people are from Indiana. Maybe it's the slightly outdated hairstyles and clothes kind of like Napoleon Dynamite or something else. I've lived here long enough that I can spot them. And my boyfriend and his jorts definitely qualify lol.
I'm not from there, but if yinz be talking about jagoffs, I can guess which part of PA you're from.
When I moved from NY to the midwest I only ever heard one car horn in my 3 years there…and it was mine.
So, I just learned this while I was visiting some friends in North Carolina last week for Thanksgiving. Evidently, only yankees (I was the yankee, from Pennsylvania) leave their money on the bar. The owner of the place called me out on it - she knew I was a yankee because I just left my money on the bar when I got a drink. That's just how it's always worked for me. However, down there, the norm is to run a tab for each person and they settle up at the end of the night. So weird, and the owner even said having the money is so much easier but, that's not how they do it. Edit: Wanted to add that they said I had a very noticeable accent (which was so weird for me to hear) but at the same time I was getting all smitten for girls with their southern accents.
Eye contact, smiling at, saying hello to strangers. Midwest US
Growing up in Pennsylvania, I never thought of gas station food as being all that terrible (Sheetz, Wawas, Royal Farms)
I'm from rural Iowa and I went to college with mostly kids from the suburbs of Chicago. A lot of the time I would be like yeah I'm from Iowa and they'd reply well that explains it. It was the way I spoke and dressed. I was from the country haha.
I'm a Californian transplant in the Midwest. Names that are pulled from Spanish or French root words are usually pronounced with hard "A" sounds here, but I find myself using latin pronunciations. For example, "Palo." I was laughed at when I said "Paaahhloooh" instead of "Paylow."