Where do you stay??

[AlethiaSi]

My family is from Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio (Cincinnati), and Missouri. I was raised in NY but I spent my summers out with family. A few things they did that drove me crazyyyyy
my great aunt says I-talian (as in I-talian dressin or I never saw an I-talian before)
I def heard buggy, pocketbook, y'all, gym shoes, go by (somewhere), calling out....
I def came across the distance thing but I agree with Drolefille that it may be a distance thing because I def say 10 minutes away vs. 10 miles (which most likely wouldn't equal in time anyway)
My grandma and a few other people in my family would also refer to themselves in the 3rd person more often then I'd like to admit... I doubt that this is a "Midwestern" thing, but it sure does drive me crazy!

I pick up the accent pretty quickly and I can imitate my grandma like no other, but I don't think I speak like a "true" new yorker... except when I'm mad... you can definitely hear it then, especially when I say things like "cawwwl" or "tawwwlk"

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by AlethiaSi

my great aunt says I-talian (as in I-talian dressin or I never saw an I-talian before)

That drives me crazy! They are not from I-taly. And, actually if you want to be even more correct, it's actually not It-alian, it's EE-talian. I can't think of a better way to explain it, and IPA probably wouldn't make sense to any of you.

[REE1993]

My hubby is from the south. It took a long time to get him to stop saying "I'm fixing to...". He also says "waiting on line" to mean waiting in a line. When he says "insurance", he stresses the "IN" (so do his parents).

We still fight over "shots" vs. "jimmies". For a long time he didn't know what a "grinder" was (hoagie or sub). He got used to "bubbler" (water fountain or water cooler), and now says "open" or "close" the light, like I do (turn on or turn off).

For the record, we say "pockabook" and "purse" here. Flipflop shoes are "thongs".

Dialects are funny things.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by REE1993

Flipflop shoes are "thongs".

Thongs are underwear, not shoes.

[NutBrnHair]

I enjoy different accents and dialects.

Some of the "Southern" colloquialisms mentioned in this thread are "rural" as opposed to "urban."

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by REE1993

. . . and now says "open" or "close" the light, like I do (turn on or turn off).

Now there's one I've never heard. At least "cut off the light" makes some sense.

Flipflop shoes are "thongs".

And yeah, thongs are underwear, and flipflops aren't shoes. They're . . . flipflops. (Sandals?)

Originally Posted by NutBrnHair

Some of the "Southern" colloquialisms mentioned in this thread are "rural" as opposed to "urban."

True to a point, but since until relatively recent times, there was little that was "urban" in the South, it may be a distinction without a difference. Where it is not "urban" dialect, that may be as much due to the influx of people from, ummm, "not around here" as to a rural-urban distinction.

[NutBrnHair]

It amazes me that I can drive 5-10 miles from the home where I was reared in the "city" and almost not understand certain conversations by people standing in line next to me at the new Home Depot in the "country!" LOL

[KappaKittyCat]

Originally Posted by REE1993

Flipflop shoes are "thongs".

Originally Posted by MysticCat

And yeah, thongs are underwear, and flipflops aren't shoes. They're . . . flipflops. (Sandals?)

Oh dear. No. They're slippers. Rubber slippers. Preferably Locals, purchased at Long's. That's been beaten into me by my hubby, who's from Hawaii. Silly me, I thought (being from Wisconsin and therefore confused) that slippers were what you wore on your feet when you'd put on your pajamas. Boy did he ever tell me how mistaken I was.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I've never heard that phrase until I moved her to Metrolina. To me, I "stay" at a hotel, or when I was little I "stayed" over at a friend's house for the night. To me, it implies a short term arrangement. Whenever anyone asks me here where I "stay", I reply that I LIVE in Indian Trail, where do you live?

Originally Posted by Optimist Prime

I think people originaly meant "stay" as in "not really home" because sometimes places don't feel like home.

It's actually just the opposite.

Yes, I actually took an American dialects class way back in college -- one of the most fun and interesting classes I ever took -- and since then I've read and listened to a lot of Walt Wolfram, who's an expert on Southern dialect.

"Stay," historically at least, is primarily an African-American usage, although it is found in other groups as well. It simply means "live" and indicates permanence.

Originally Posted by WCUgirl

The only odd phrase you all have mentioned that I am familiar with is "cut off the lights." I didn't hear that until I came to NC for school.

Because one is "cutting" the flow of electricity.

Originally Posted by carnation

Another thing they say here that I'd never heard--getting "shut" of someone is getting rid of them.

Maybe it's a regional accent thing -- I've always heard it getting "shed" of someone (like shedding fur or skin).

Originally Posted by Glitter650

I say purse;pocket book really confuses me because I think of the check book sized wallet or writslet when someone says that, and most of my purses wouldn't come close to fitting in my pocket.

A purse is nicer (and often smaller) than a pocket book. A women carries a pocket book when running errands; she carries a purse to church or a party.

Originally Posted by epchick

I've always heard that there is a difference between "y'all" and "ya'll." That southerners say "y'all" and everyone else says "ya'll"

There is, as Alpha Frog has pointed out. One has the approstrophe in the correct place, denoting a contraction of "you all," and the other has the apostrophe in a place that makes no sense.

That's all, y'all.