187 replies to this topic

[Greenville]

ERJ170, on May 19 2009, 06:23 PM, said:

It's Red (pronounced Reeeeed as in dead)
It's Appalachain (pronou nced App-a-latch-in)
It's oil (not oy-al)
Tea is sweet and any other way is blasphemy.
Cheerwine is like real wine and not Merlot.
You put peanuts in your pepsi cola.
BBQ is vinegar and tangy, not saucy (that's probably just an Eastern NC thing)
You can sit out on the porch and wave at cars passing by, even if you don't know them.

Peanuts in Pepsi?!?   I have never heard of this.  Do you know the origin of such an unusual practice?

[krazeeboi]

My mother and grandmother used to like to put peanuts in their soda also. Don't know how that came about though.

As to the list, real Southern BBQ can definitely be saucy. Personally, I think that's the best way, but I'm biased as I was raised on the mustard-based 'cue and I think it's the best thing this side of heaven.

[Mith242]

ERJ170, on May 19 2009, 06:23 PM, said:

Texas (been there, or at least to Austin, forget it).

Kentucky, West Virginia, Western TN, Oklahoma, Arkansas.. nah.. not really southern either..

I don't think you can totally rule out Texas with just a visit to one city like Austin.  But seeing that you ruled out Arkansas and even west Tennessee.  I think I would easily put west Tennessee and at least southeast Arkansas into 'The South'.  But I do admit when you get west of the Mississippi River there is a slightly different 'southern culture' than what you find in the southeast.  I think you can put most of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and even parts of the Missouri Ozarks into a 'Mid-South culture'.  Not quite the same as the Southern culture you see in the southeast but definitely influenced by it.  But given time it's slowly beginning to establish it's own distinct culture.

ERJ170, on May 19 2009, 06:23 PM, said:

You put peanuts in your pepsi cola.

Honestly I've always thought of Pepsi as more of a Northern soft drink and Coke a Southern one.  But i have seen people putting peanuts in soft drinks in southeast Arkansas.  Although I don't think it's too common.

krazeeboi, on May 29 2009, 07:26 PM, said:

As to the list, real Southern BBQ can definitely be saucy. Personally, I think that's the best way, but I'm biased as I was raised on the mustard-based 'cue and I think it's the best thing this side of heaven.

The bad thing about using BBQ to identify Southern culture is that it varies so much just even within the South itself.

[Justiceham]

I have been to Arkansas and Western TN and they are definitely Southern. Most people think of southern as being "country" or "redneck," there is a bit of this mentality here but not as over-whelming as is found in Middle or Eastern TN. Memphis does have a good ole boy government system like my hometown of Murfreesboro, TN. My boyfriend was born and raised in Morehead, KY. He has a very heavy southern accent compared to the rest of his family who either moved to Ohio or West Virginia and developed a distinct Mid Western accent. He said most of his family shops and eats in Huntington and has noticed a varied culture. So my point like others have said is that there is no one distinct Southern Culture, but rather varied or mixed cases . Louisville, KY would be the perfect example of a split culture between Mid Western characteristics and Southern characteristics.

[Spartan]

Pepsi and peanuts is just as Southern as RC Cola and a Moonpie. Pepsi was invented in New Bern, NC... though I think more people like Coke. The peanuts thing is not as common as it used to be, but I know that it still happens.

As for Texas, I think there is a line that includes most of eastern Texas as southern. That state is so huge that it overlaps several cultural regions. Austin, Dallas, etc, are definitely southern.

ParkPlace, on May 19 2009, 01:22 PM, said:

With all of the talk about sweet tea and Virginia, I thought I'd chime in. This map shows the results of a survey of over 300 McDonalds in Virginia as to the availability of sweet tea in their premises. I think it works very well for showing the difference between North and South in Virginia. I like to put the approximate boundary at Fredericksburg, which is gradually becoming an outer suburb of D.C. It is also a useful historical landmark as the Union generally controlled the area north of the Rappahanock River.

So what you're sayin' is that we can't claim Richmond anymore...

Cool map, btw.

ERJ170, on May 19 2009, 07:23 PM, said:

I am not going to lie. I just found this article today. And I got to say ya'll crack me UP! This is too funny! Born east coast NC southern, I can say I am a huge fan of the south. As most point out, NC has very distinctive accents. Going to UNC, I got to hear them all. Eastern NC accent, the Triangle accent, the Piedmont accent, the Charlotte accent, the foothills accent, and the mountain accent. And they can be very distinctive.  

As far as the south goes, I have to say that borders no longer define the south.  The North has encroached into parts of the south. Northern Virginia (past Fredericksburg, forget it) is NOT the south. At all.  

Southern drawl. perfect. I don't know how many times I have gotten compliments or smiles from people once they have heard my accent. It seems to bring peace to the conversation. I even had some very hard @ss people from New York and California here my accent and actually smile (whereas, when they were dealing with native NYers or CAers in the line in front of me, were scouling and being very bitter).

I move to MD 4 years ago and realized that I have started transitioning when I went to Charleston and a random older lady just walked by and said Hi and I just stared.. I knew I was messed up in the head then. I must move back to get back to my roots.

But there are just some words that lets you know that you are southern.  

It's Red (pronounced Reeeeed as in dead)
It's Appalachain (pronou nced App-a-latch-in)
It's oil (not oy-al)
Tea is sweet and any other way is blasphemy.
Cheerwine is like real wine and not Merlot.
You put peanuts in your pepsi cola.
BBQ is vinegar and tangy, not saucy (that's probably just an Eastern NC thing)
You can sit out on the porch and wave at cars passing by, even if you don't know them.

Vinegar based BBQ sauce is in both Carolinas, not just Eastern NC. The Lowcountry of SC (where BBQ began) is also known for a vinegar base.

ERJ170, on May 19 2009, 09:17 PM, said:

Depends on where you're from.. I've seen it as ya'll, y'all, and yall.. where I'm from, it's ya'll..

Y'all is short for "you all." Any other spelling is a typo.

[pyper]

Spartan, on 08 June 2009 - 08:50 AM, said:

As for Texas, I think there is a line that includes most of eastern Texas as southern. That state is so huge that it overlaps several cultural regions. Austin, Dallas, etc, are definitely southern.

My wife went to school in Eastern Texas (which is called North Texas by Texans).

She says that yes, Texans (at least those she's familar with) are southern, but it's a secondary affiliation. Primarily Texans are Texans, which is I think different from the ohter states you might consider southern. In other words, if you asked a bunch of random people in South Carolina or Alabama for words that describe themselves, many of them would list "Southern" at the top of their list, but probably not Alabaman or South Carolinian, whereas if you asked people from Texas they'd all have Texan near the top of their list, and many of them probably wouldn't have Southern, but if you asked if they're Southern they'd probably say yes.

Y'all  

[krazeeboi]

^That sounds about right. Texans are simply Texans first and foremost.

[Brent]

As far as I'm concerned, I'm Virginian first, American second.  I moved back to Virginia from Ohio and brought with me a boyfriend who was originally from Pennsylvania.  After a few months living in VA, he asked me when he could start calling himself a Virginian.  My reply was "never because you weren't born here".  It came out of me naturally and just as dickishly as any Texan would put it.  I'm sure that there is similar sentiment in just about any state.  Texas just turned it into a brand.