wickedflea: (joker)
[personal profile] wickedflea
I just took the Yankee or Dixie quiz and got this result:

83% (Dixie). Did you have any Confederate ancestors?

Ancestors, hell. I've had Confederate neighbors.

People always say that Southerners call any soft drink Coke. I've never really noticed that. I dunno, maybe I sort of do it. Like if I'm driving with someone, sometimes I'll say, "Hey, let's stop and get a Coke." And what I mean is, hey, let's stop and get our beverages of choice. But nine times out of ten, I get a Coca-Cola, so when I say "get a Coke," I really mean a Coke. In some sense I mean it generically, but in some sense specifically. And I'd never order a Coke in a restaurant and expect them to ask me what kind of coke or anything. In that scenario, when I say Coke, I mean Coke. It pisses me off when I ask for a Coke and they give me a Pepsi. I mean, I understand most places have either Coke products or Pepsi products, but at least tell me that and let me pick something besides Pepsi, foul swill that it is. Forced to pick between "soda" and "pop," I'd probably choose "soda." (I like my Uncle Ray's choice: "sodey pop.") But I'm not too crazy about either one. I'd rather call it . . . um . . . "Coke or something." Yeah, that's what I say! "Let's stop and get a Coke or something." That way, we both know that I'm probably gonna have a Coke, but you're free to get a Cheerwine or a Lemon-Twist RC or whatever the kids are drinking these days.

Egad, I think way too much about Coke or something.

People always ask me (I mean, like every once in a while, not really always) how I pronounce "route." Well, it kinda depends on how I'm using it. Noun or verb? Having to do with a thoroughfare, a power tool, or a piece of computer equipment? These things matter. Hell, I don't even know that I'm consistent. I think I say "root 66" because of the song, but I think I say, for instance, "rout 389" because that's the way most people say it where I'm from.

I was horrified to learn from this quiz that many people pronounce "cot" and "caught" the same way. I guess I'd noticed it a little, but I didn't know it was that common. Anyone who pronounces these words the same way is going straight to hell. No two ways about it.

And I can honestly say that I've never heard of anyone putting groceries in a "poke." The quiz says it's common in central Appalachia, but I lived in SW Virginia for a couple of years and never heard it. I'm pretty sure of that, 'cuz I would have freaked. "A POKE?!? What the fuck do you mean?!?" Hey, is that what a pig in a poke is? A pig in a grocery bag?? And who would want to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear anyway? Wait, that's another topic entirely.

Likewise, I've never heard of anyone calling a roly-poly anything but a roly-poly. Potato bug, my ass. It's a roly-poly, people! LOOK at it! How could it possibly be anything else?

Date: 2004-02-19 07:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] enfuego.livejournal.com
Now you've made me want a soda, too.

Now, when I first moved to Texas (the most southern tip) I had people offer me a coke and then go to the fridge and say, "What kind?" So that one I found to be true. Coke, meaning soda of any kind. I dunno, but I did notice it.

;)

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 09:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
Get you a sodey pop, girl. ;)

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 10:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] enfuego.livejournal.com
I did--a grape one. And a submarine sandwich.

=D

Date: 2004-02-19 07:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lulujenna.livejournal.com
how about the work "erp?" as in "i was so hungover i erped everywhere!"
i suspect it's a southern thang.. i certainly picked it up down there. christina gargoyl had never heard it.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 07:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
Oh, man, erp! I'd never even consciously thought about that word--I think it's too horrible for me to have acknowledged it, but yeah, I'm pretty sure I have relatives who say that! "I keep erpin' up that sausage I ate this mornin'." YUCK!!!

"Et," too. As in the past tense of "to eat." "We et baloney for lunch!" ACK! =)

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 08:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lulujenna.livejournal.com
i thought so!

i used to date a guy whose dad said "have you et yet?" i had not clue what in the hell he was talking about!

great rant

Date: 2004-02-19 07:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alicdeni83.livejournal.com
It pisses me off when I ask for a Coke and they give me a Pepsi. I mean, I understand most places have either Coke products or Pepsi products, but at least tell me that and let me pick something besides Pepsi, foul swill that it is.

amen, brother, amen.

Re: great rant

Date: 2004-02-19 09:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
I'm serious about my sodey pop. I remember hearing Bob Arnett in the CO dept. ranting about how there's no difference between colas and it's all a ruse perpetrated on the people. Bob's a sucker. :

Re: great rant

Date: 2004-02-19 10:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alicdeni83.livejournal.com
Bob gave us the same rant in intro to mass media when talking about the new coke fiasco. What did you study at state?

Re: great rant

Date: 2004-02-19 11:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
Same stuff you are. :) Double-majored in EN and CO, then did two years of grad study in English.

Date: 2004-02-19 08:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] carocrow.livejournal.com
A roly poly is also a tumble bug. But I know what you mean.

I'm not sure I get you on the cot/caught thing. How are they pronounced where you come from that's different? Where I'm from, both of them end in "ought", like "I ought to get that cot out the pickup before it gets caught in the rain."

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 08:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
I pronounce "cot" just like "pot." Cahht. But "caught," the way I say it, has an "aw" sound in it. Cawt. Sort of. And "ought" is the same way, not like "ott." I can already tell I'm probably going to be in the minority on this one.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 08:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] carocrow.livejournal.com
Oh, I get it. See, that's probably why most people don't think I've got an accent. They can't figure out *where* the hell I'm from.

Cawt, now *that* is a drawl. "Billy Joe cawt thutty mudcats'n one aftanoon down at th' crik with thet newfangled spinner thang he got off the Home Shoppin'."

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 10:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alicdeni83.livejournal.com
i agree cot=pot while ought=caught. I don't think I sound southern when I make the distinction.

Date: 2004-02-19 10:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buscemi.livejournal.com
That reminds me of a conversation:

"Do you have a lot?"
"A lot of what?
"A lot for mah cigarette?"

The person who told me the story lived in Texas. Hee.

Is this where our ways part, o flea?

Date: 2004-02-19 10:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] theodicy.livejournal.com
1. Pepsi is fine.

2. I was horrified to learn from this quiz that many people pronounce "cot" and "caught" the same way. I guess I'd noticed it a little, but I didn't know it was that common. Anyone who pronounces these words the same way is going straight to hell. No two ways about it.

So you say NOW.

3. It's "sow bug," bonehead.

Step aside.

Re: Is this where our ways part, o flea?

Date: 2004-02-19 12:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
Dammit! I knew I was going to get myself into trouble with this. But I even asked around here, where everyone tends toward the "ahhhh" sound, and I can't find anyone who says "cot" the same as "caught"!

If it'll make you feel any better, I could change my name to "wickedsowbug." I've never heard the term, but it sounds kinda cool.

But I ain't drankin' no Pepsi.

Re: Is this where our ways part, o flea?

Date: 2004-02-21 06:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] theodicy.livejournal.com
We always grew up learning them as homophones. Hmmmm.

"Sowbug" or "rolypoly," either is fine.

Pepsi is strong and good. Coke is too acidic. 'Course, either one is preferable to the generic stuff we normally have to drink. Sigh.

Date: 2004-02-19 10:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] taffetaroses.livejournal.com
hahaha. i actually did rather badly on this... only 60% dixie. blame the damned canadians.

and it's coke. it's always been coke, it always WILL be coke.

cot = caught. how the hell else would you say it?

i also used to handle a lot of roly poly's as a child. hope that didn't do any damage.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 10:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] taffetaroses.livejournal.com


i got SUCH flak for saying "craawfish" in biology. little did they know how hard i was working to suppress the 'crawdad' inside....


this is going to make me homesick....

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 03:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
It made me homesick too! This afternoon I was listening to all these horrid Northeastern accents and thinking that I'd give anything to be able to hear someone who knew how to TALK.

Doesn't help that there's snow and ice everywhere, either. :\

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 03:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
I put an "aw" sound in "caught." And when I was asking people at the office how they said it, they all did it too. OK, well, both of 'em. =)

Date: 2004-02-19 11:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] faerieface.livejournal.com
I grew up on Lake Erie (NW Ohio) and I never heard a roly-poly called that until I moved South...it was always a "pill bug" when I was a kid.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 03:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
Pill bug! Now that I've never heard either! Funny little differences like that are cool, though. :)

Date: 2004-02-19 11:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] i-am-in-here.livejournal.com
I'm 81% Dixie, myself, being a Tennesseean with Confederate ancestors. How yall dern?

I say y'all, roly poly and pronounce cot and caught the same. I put my groceries in a bag, and call all sodas coke, except for Diet Coke, which I call sweet nectar. I also say "do what now?" without irony.

I had no idea what the road by the interstate was called.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 03:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
Oh wow, I say "do what now?" too, even since I've moved! I think I've finally broken myself from saying "naw" for "no." But I bet I'd fall right back into it if I moved back. =)

Date: 2004-02-19 12:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] blackhellkat.livejournal.com
I have serious misgivings about the accuracy of that test!!! As for poke--it is used in Appalachia but I wouldn't say it was a common word there--I think poke is more common in the deep south.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 03:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
Yeah, the test is weird--I got a lot of things that said Great Lakes region and still came up 83% Dixie. But I'm certainly Dixie (from Mississippi), so maybe there's something to it. I sure never heard "poke" in MS, though!

Date: 2004-02-19 01:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jra1279.livejournal.com
how would you pronounce "cot" and "caught" differently? i don't get it.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-19 01:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
"Cot," to me, has an "ahhhh" sound, while "caught" has at least a hint of an "aw."

Date: 2004-02-19 01:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] albert71292.livejournal.com
Everywhere I go, I've got a bad habit of asking for "Pepsi"...never liked CocaCola, too much "acidity" in it for me. If a place doesn't have Pepsi, I get a Dr.Pepper.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-20 07:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickedflea.livejournal.com
Yeah, I do the same thing, but it's Pepsi I'm trying to avoid! :) The only problem is that up here, a lot of places don't have Dr. Pepper. I haven't exactly figured that out yet. So sometimes I end up drinking Pepsi despite myself.
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