Tania poked fun at Gwen for saying 'semi truck'. Um, I say 'semi truck' (or usually just 'semi'). The check-out girl at the grocery store thought it was the height of hilarity that I called the grocery cart...a cart; the word used in the UK is 'trolley'. But I've finally got my husband saying 'trash' instead of 'rubbish' sometimes, so that's a triumph.

What words or phrases do you use which sometimes cause people to laugh at you? What words or phrases make you snort with derision at others?

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Answers

When I moved to VA I was laughed at for calling my sneakers...sneakers. Everyone around here calls them tennis shoes, even if they don't play tennis in them. I've also been laughed at for calling a one dollar bill a "single." And I've been looked at funny when I offer someone a "soda." Apparently, everyone around here calls it Coke or Pepsi, even if they are offering you something else.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Amen, Nicole, and welcome to the South. ;-) I grew up near New Orleans and we called every rubber soled shoe that wasn't formal enough to wear to church 'tennis shoes'. We never called them sneakers or by their actual names, such as 'running shoes' or 'basketball shoes', etc.. When I met my wife she referred to them as 'gym shoes' and I thought that was the weirdest thing. Also, every soft drink was a Coke. Period. It was never 'soda' or 'pop' or even a 'soft drink' or 'Pepsi'. A typical conversation might go something like this:
Joe: You want a Coke?
Me: Sure!
Joe: What kind?
Me: Um... 7Up?
Joe: You got it.

Here's one I got from the South, definitely. You know those grassy strips that separate traffic moving in opposite directions? I found out one of those is called a 'median'. Where I'm from, everyone calls it 'the neutral ground'.

Every once in a while I meet someone who says 'crawdads' instead of 'crawfish', like they're supposed to.

Oh, and my wife pokes fun at me for pronouncing 'cement' with the emphasis on the first syllable (SEE-ment), ala Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies. It's taken me a while to come around to suh-MENT, like most everybody else. Hey, it took me years to stop saying AY-rabs and EYE-talians, too.

I'm sure I have plenty more, but that's what I came up with off the top of my head.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Hah! My friend Nikki swears she can't hear the emphasis in the way she says 'TEE-vee'. It's cute.

I call sneakers/tennis shoes 'gym shoes' or 'trainers'. I'm glad people over here say 'pop,' cos I could never bring myself to say 'soda'. That sounds more foreign to me than having to call paper towels 'kitchen roll'.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

I'm from Massachusetts, and when I was little I had a wicked Boston accent (and yes, I just used "wicked" to mean "very" and will continue to do so only around other people from MA cause everyone else laughs uproariously when I use it) and have heard the whole "do you pahk your cah in Hahvahd Yahd?" about 7,990,999 times thus far in my life. We also say "cellar" instead of "basement"(as in, "I'm goin' down cellah to get the shovels because it is already snowing before Halloween."; "tonic" instead of soda or Coke; pronounce "aunt" the way it is spelled and not like "ant"; and "supper" instead of "dinner". I could talk about this all day, as you may have noticed. I am wicked chatty like that.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Paul, I'm from AR and I think I was 12 before I realized that Coke was just a brand name. We always did that same thing: Want a coke? Yep, bring me a Dr. Pepper.

After I moved to Texas, everyone made fun of me for calling stuff "Cheese Dip" instead of "Queso." When I go back home, they make fun of me for calling it "Queso." They're all like, "Yo Queiro Cheese Dip." har dee freakin' har.

Other things in my southern lexicon that are mocked often:

saying "tumpt over." As in, "There is garbage all over the driveway because a dog tumpt over the garbage can."

"fixin' to" Whatever.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

oh, and I was going to say: we call them 18-wheelers.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

I lost a lot of my Texas accent when my parents went to grad school in California (I was 11 and all the kids made fun of me) so it morphed into a West Coast tinged twang. And after living in Boston for a few years, I've actually caught myself saying things like "That's totally wicked cool, y'all." Lord, I'm a freak.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

elena, don't forget "dungarees" for what everyone else in the free world calls "jeans."

And those "cahs" that are parked in Hahvahd Yahd? They're Honders and Toyoters. It's the New England Law of Conversation of "R"s - since you don't put Rs in words that *should* have them, you put them at the end of words that *don't*.

BTW, "wicked" is a wonderful adjective. Wicked good!

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

That's the "Conservation" of Rs, not "Conversation."

I have spent the entire day typing with my elbows, evidently.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Tracey, how right you are. My dad does refer to them as "dungarees". hee hee

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Right-o about the dungarees. My dad and grampa, as well as a guy I work with all call jeans dungarees. ATTENTION ALL NON SOUTHERNERS--- if you call any kind of carbonated drink anything besides a Coke, I will secretly laugh at you. Especially if you call it a "pop". Ha. I guess it is weird now that I think about it that I call Sprite "coke". Hmmmm...and semi's have always been, well--semi's to me, sometimes I'll add in the truck part, but not too often. Paul W, I am soooo with you on the SEE-ment. I didn't really even notice I did that. Anybody else in here accustomed to using the words "darn" or "dern"??? I got a bad habit with those. My fiance just reminded me that I say, "I'm fixin' ta..." quite a lot. Oh, and I call the shopping cart a "buggy".

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Someone else understands the phrase "tumpt over"! Thank god. I was beginning to think my family made that one up.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Paul. I think the correct term is crayfish, but everyone I know says crawdad or crawfish. I had a university teaching job in the Pacific Northwest once upon a time and had my accent made fun of continuously. It was okay, at first...but to perfectly honest I got tired of my peers treating me like I was a hick or stupid because of my regional accent. (I mean, they didn't treat the PHd from Taiwan like HE was stupid.)New Englanders and Ivy Leaguerers are especially bad about this and they generally have a superior air when pointing out my accent. (Like they don't have one?) I got even though, by pointing out that, if there is such a thing as American culture, it is predominantly Southern in origin. Someone would mention their favorite author and I'd point out he or she was born in the South. Singers? Food? Military heroes? Yankees are so much fun to fuck with. Yankee tourist:"Does it matter which way I get to Houston?" Bubba:"Not to me it don't." Quick test. How many signers of the Declaration of Independence were Southerners? Heh, heh.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Oooh, dont get me started! My dad's side of the family are back hills folk's, and they call me Yankee Girl (I'm from Maryland) I'd live on a farm there during the summers. In June I'd go down there and they'd make fun of me for pronouncing my -ing's and not knowing what spoonbread is. By the time I went home in August, my family swears everything was ya'll this and tractor pull that with me. I drive people crazy because sometimes I say double-yoo and other times I say dubba-ya. Or sometimes I'll say I'm waiting for some one, and 5 minutes later I'm waitin' on 'em.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Ya know like it is sooo quewel! My dad wore dungarees till just a coupla years ago. Semee's has always been it around here along with sament. How bout wheynos deos? I just love to listen to tourists try and pronounce the Mexican language. La Jolla is always la Jalla. I loved the 60's when surfing was something of a myth for most of the country what with Annette and her ilk tryin to show the rest of the country what the beach was all about. We'd sit on the curb along the cliff with our very tan bodies drinkin beers and long blond hair and the tourists from all over the place would drive up to look at the ocean and we'd check out the girls. The dads would give us the stink eye real bad but we didn't care. We'd walk over to the girls and start trying to talk to them. Hey what a bitchin lookin chick. Girls at the beach wore shifts and juaraches were the rage. Hey dude was in the vernacular along with ya fuckin jerkoff. Of course I never said that. My mom had a bar of soap that would choke a horse if any of her friends heard me use that kind of language. We'd get a kick out of all the tourist boys from Kansas with ties on and white shirts. The moms would be horrified at us ruffians. Too cool. When I went to Lakehurst NJ to learn the stupid art of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane the weekends were spent in New Joisy or Nuw Yark. When Cotter came on TV it was a hoot. Anyone from LA in the late 70's remember KMET and ronnie raygun? Too cool. James

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2000

Bubba, don't give me that "I think the correct term is" B.S. I know the correct term is crawfish, and anything else is just plain wrong. Well, special dispensation will be given to 'mudbugs', although I don't think I ever really knew anyone who said that.

Speaking of Southern accents, I get absolutely incensed sometimes when I see unduly inaccurate caricatures on TV or in movies of Southerners portrayed as inbred cretins. I mean, a little is OK, but sometimes it seems they're such easy targets. I quickly, but inadvertently, lost my accent when I moved to Colorado in 1988, so most people are suprised when I tell them where I grew up.

Oh, and it's rather sad whenever some damn Yankee (yes, that term was in my vocabulary nearly from birth) asks if I'm from New Orleeenz and how do I like Looziana? Sometimes you can tell when they're sincere and know better, as in when they're singing (poetic license, I suppose). But most times it's just ignorance.

And right on about fixin' ta! I'm always fixin' ta do something. That and using 'bring' instead of 'take', as in 'I brought her some groceries' instead of 'I took her some groceries', which is supposedly correct (but I know better).

Here's something odd: the first time I called 'shotgun' when my wife and I were going for a ride in someone else's car, she not only looked at me weird and asked what the hell I thought I was doing, but absolutely refused to believe me when I explained what it meant to her. She's from Chicago, but I could swear this is a fairly universal term. Anyway, it took her years but finally she heard it from enough different sources that she eventually came to accept it. That's FREAKY to me. :-)

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000

I'm sorry, Paul. I forgot they don't put "crayfish" in coonass dictionaries.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000

Damn, I always wished I was a coonass. My brother used to laugh when I'd tell him that. Hey, what did I know? Turns out, I'm square. Cracker, indeed.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000

Paul, you will be amused to know that I was 48 years old before I even HEARD the word crayfish. It's obviously a yankee word no one uses. I was only kidding you, anyway.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000

Yes, Bubba, I know you were kidding me. Only a Yankee would have thought otherwise! LOL

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000

I'm glad y'all made up, because I was fixing to have to say something.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000

Er, what exactly does 'coonass' mean to y'all?

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000

Made up? We were never un-made. The men on this board are heavily outnumbered and we have to hang together or, as Ben Franklin pointed out, we will hang separately. Or something like that. And yes, it has been hard getting onto the boards lately. What's going on, if anything?

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2000

A "coonass," as I'm sure Paul will attest, is a jocular term for a Cajun. In this part of the country, it's an endearment. It refers to a particular French-Arcadain culture that is found nowhere else but Louisiana. As Paul pointed out, many people wish they were a "coonass" because the term is synonymous with someone who enjoys good cooking, good wine and party hearty. We have a local Cajun restaurant where the owner is a real Cajun and he has yellow triangular signs like highway signs in his place that say "CAUTION! Coonass in area!" A common expression around here is "laissez les bon temp rouler!" which is cajun french for "Let the good times roll!" In other words, it's not a derogatory term by any means. It's a friendly, kidding term...like calling me bubba or cracker.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Why did God invent armadillos? So coonasses could have 'possum on the half shell. See?

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Hey Bubba, what a hoot 'bout the armadillos. Ya guys gist haven't heard any good hillbilly talk yet. I'm look'n fer a new job 'cause I work fer psychos. I learned real quick not to say warsh in front of scientists. A cat I rescued was named "Carwarsh". I had to think too hard to say it right, plus I think it is a pissy name for a cat, so I changed it to C.W. I also learned that ya can't unthaw anything, unless I guess, you want to freeze it. My cousins in St. Louis, besides also putting r's into words they are not suppose to be in, say dull for doll, quater for quarter and sode for pop. I learned in England not to ask for a napkin at a restaurant. Feminine hygiene products should be dealt with privately. What *do* you guys call those things you put in your lap when you eat? Gotta bundle up, it's gitting cold here in the holler (inland Sandy Diego :). I'll talk to y'all in a piece.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Napkins are usually called 'serviettes' over here in the UK.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Enter lurker... When I lived in the States my friends and coworkers kept asking me to repeat my sentences or words like some kind of odd, talking monkey. Cooing, awed by my strange phrasing. Serviettes, indicators, lorries, tom-ah-toes... My Harley riding friend Mike used to laugh at me when I'd say, "What the bloody hell are you doing now?" and he'd walk around in a zombielike state repeating it. He was a bit odd.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

During SXSW last year, we picked up this boy from Louisiana (his tire had blown out) and he had the sweetest accent. And he called every single one of us "baby", boys and girls alike. I wish I could do that.

Jane, people always want me to say "fuck" because they say I pronounce it differently. Not that I mind saying fuck all the time or anything.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Oh, and I don't know what the hell was wrong with the forum.

I'm craving fried calamari right now.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

After hearing my friend Karri and I make liberal use of the words 'skank(y),' 'raunch(y)' and 'jacked' over the week she stayed with us, Ian began using them just to amuse me. Sometimes he'll look in the mirror and say, 'My hair is jacked,' or he'll say to the cat, 'Tibbs, we need to get you some new water, this stuff is raunch.' I don't know why, but hearing those words in an English accent makes me giggle like mad.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Jane, was it Churchill who said the English and the Americans are two peoples divided by a common language? (He could have added the Canadians and Australians, too.) As you can tell from reading the board, even regional differences in the states are cause for confusion and merriment.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

They loved it when I swore, said it sounded sweet, not nasty swearing like those nasty Americans. Strange people those Midwesterners... I was encouraged so much that I picked up some really bad ass ghetto slang that I reserve for stubbing toes on furniture and like situations which can be embarassing when granny's in the room, she doesn't think it's sweet, need I say.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

oh yeah...Gwen you're going to like some of that tape .. "you say erb and we say HERB, because there's a fucking H in it!"

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Elena, what about "bubbler" for water fountain? It took me years to convince people that I didn't make it up. Is it just me, or do other people from Mass call small rubber bands "elastics"? My grandparents (transplanted from Mass) call margarine "oleo." O/T: I think this may have been more of a RI thing, but did you get to drink coffee milk when you were a kid?

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Keri, I've got your back on everything except the oleo. When I visited Chicago, I was nearly laughed out of the room when I asked someone where the bubbler was. And yes, you pull your hair back with an elastic, or a BAR-ette (emphasis on the first syllable!) Also: an apartment building with three floors is a triple decker; frappes are wicked good to drink in summer; my dad used to bring railroad tracks home from his doughnut shop; and, most importantly, peanut butter and fluff sandwiches were highly coveted in the grammar school lunchroom. Oh, and we took gym, not physical education. As you can tell, this subject delights me...

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Oh! And yes I drank coffee milk...at my friend's house in Cranston, RI.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

My British sweetie was amused that here in Texas we say that we "go to the bathroom", even if it's in a restaraunt where there is no tub, and anyways, he's not going to take a bath, he's going to peepee. He says "going to the toilet" is the polite British phrase which I think is much more graphic...why not just say, "I'm going to go to the urinal and whip it out". When I first moved here as a kid from upstate New York, I'd never heard the phrase "restroom" before...we called them bathrooms. So, as I got a tour of my new school the first day of 1st grade and was shown where the "restrooms" were, I envisioned little lounges for us, with maybe some couches and coloring books. You know, a place where we could rest. Imagine my disappointment when I saw only sinks and toilet stalls in the "restroom".

"Fannypack" is another term that doesn't quite jump the Atlantic...I guess a fanny means a different anatomical part altogether in the UK. And when a British person comes here, goes into a 7-11, and asks for a box of fags, they're going to get a strange look from the clerk instead of cigarettes.

Hours of entertainment, making fun of people's regional vocabulary.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Go peepee? A grown man says this? In Texas, most men I know say "Excuse me, I have to go get ahold of myself." "I need to see a man about a horse." "I need to bleed my lizard." "I gotta shake the dew off my lily." "I need to show Raoul the ralph bowl." etc, etc.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

no,no..peepee's my word. He says silly British sounding things like "take a whiz".

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

" or a BAR-ette (emphasis on the first syllable!)"

..err, how are you supposed to say it?? hah.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Most Brits go to the loo. Which probably comes from lavatory which is where I used to go when I was in boarding school. Now I just have a pee which I think everyone does- even in Texas.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

In Jersey we said elastic for your hair and we said barrette, but we don't put the emphasis on the first syllable, rather, the second. I have a friend from Pittsburgh who says "gumband" for elastic. ?

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Either "elastic" or "gumband" rolls off the tongue easier than our cumbersome "ponytail-holder"....

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Jackie, Where I come from, "coonass" means something different.. what you were about to bring up (probably). I know it's not universal, but I avoid it in any case.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

I've always thought it meant a Cajun person, or just anybody from Louisiana. Are y'all thinking that it's a derogatory term for a black person? It seems like someone said it that way on Bev Hills 90210 or something, a while back.

I say "rubber band" and "buh-RETTE".

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2000

Coonass, to me as a kid in Louisiana, didn't quite mean Cajun and it didn't quite mean redneck either. It was something akin to both, a step up from redneck, for sure, but not nearly so cool as the coveted Cajun status. Did you know there are only 100,000 Cajuns in the world? And yet, they still rule. :-)

My grandmother is from Kansas, and she always used oleo to mean margarine. She'd even go a step farther and say stickoleo to indicate margarine sticks, and she'd pronounce it just like that, all one word. Oh, and she never would call cereal anything other than breakfast food.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

My Gramma always said 'oleo,' and I think my parents even do sometimes. There's a new margarine (pronounced 'mar-jar-EEN') spread here in the UK that has 'oleo' in the name -- I can't remember it -- and I think that comes from the fact that it's made with olive oil.

My grandparents used to always tell us to keep our feet off the 'Davenport' (instead of 'couch'). Hee. That still makes me giggle.

And I just remembered that Ian and I have the biggest arguments over his generic use of the term 'TCP'. I guess TCP is a brand name of anti-septic cream (like Neosporin), but whenever I injure myself (which is way too often) and am crying or fuming in pain, he'll be like, 'Hurry, put some TCP on it!' and I'm like, 'WE DON'T HAVE ANY TCP, WE ONLY HAVE GERMOLENE!' And then he's all, 'Well you knew what I meant!' when I actually didn't. Apparently TCP is a term like Kleenex/Xerox.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

Wow, this discussion makes our lame-ass Canadian-speak seem so boring. Here sofa/couch is also the 'chesterfield', electricity is 'hydro' (as in 'the hydro is out again') semi's are tractor-trailers and the napkins that you use for your mouth are 'serviettes'. Of course, there's that Canadian habit of using 'eh?' ('like, where's the nearest Tim Horton's eh?') And although I've never been able to detect this, apparently we say out like 'oot' ('oot and aboot') - do we really do this?

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

hmmm, I have no doubt that cajun or redneck is what Coon is supposed to mean, but that just not what I ever heard. yes, it was used as a derogatory term for a black person. I just about had a heart attack the first time I read what you wrote about "Coonass" this and that... (but I know that's not what you meant).

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

Y'all Canadians don't say "oot and aboot," y'all say "eh-oat and abeh- oat."

I remember the first time I talked to Wing Chun on the phone, she was saying they got a new couch. And I was being totally obnoxious and saying, "A new *what*?" over and over again. She finally said, "What, do you guys call it a davenport?" HA! You know, I'm lucky I work for MBTV, after that...

Stickoleo is the new name of my band.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

Gardanna, it's coonASS...not coon. There's a difference. And yes, coon is a derogatory term for a black person. According to the "Etymology of the International Insult" the term coon referring to black people came from the west African word "barracoon" which referred to the barracks-like buildings slaves were held in before they were sold to Europeans. It doesn't have a connection to the raccoon and isn't even European in origin.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2000

Bubba, I've been married to a Southern, and lived in the South, for so long now that I find it unsettling when my Dad or some other Yankee male just come right out and says they have to use the bathroom. I've grown so accustomed to those sayings you listed.

Last holiday season I told my Dad, "why don't you say something like 'I've gotta go see a man about a horse'" My Dad pointed out that he and my Mother live on the 31st floor of an apartment building in downtown Chicago, so that would not work for him!

Bubba, I really wish I could get you and my husband together for cigars and Jack Daniel. Or CEE-gars and Jack, as you two would say it. I bet Mrs. Bubba and I would hit it off great. Spouses of real Southern men have to stick together to keep you fellas in line!

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Margarine was sometimes called oleomargarine which is probably why our grandparents still call it oleo. In the olden days, you had to add the yellow coloring yourself!

Jackie, are you thinking of Olivio?

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

wow, who knew there was a difference between coon and coonass. snorting derisively. Please. Don't get offended, but...nah, nevermind, it's not important enough to argue. Difference noted. whatever.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

ignore me before I've had my first cup of coffee, I just reread that last bitchy post, Sorry! I wasn't snorting derisively at you Bubba, just the terms in general.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Bubba's right. "Coon" is particularly offensive and racist. I hate that shit.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Rosemary: No, Olivio is that crap that Lee Iococca's behind; this new stuff is something I saw an advert for in the new issue of Good Housekeeping (UK) when I was at the doctor's the other day. It has the word 'oleo' in it.

PS I love the new Flora pro-activ, especially if it makes Carol Vorderman stop doing those creepy Benecol hand movements.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

I say tennis shoes for sneakers also. I always make fun of my husband because he says NevAHda and PajAHmas. I call girls or women chicks.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Yep, I say "chicks" all the freakin' time. I mean it strictly in a non-derogatory sense. :-)

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

I say "chicks" AND pajAHmas. Top that.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Oh, come on! Everyone knows it's paJAMas and NevADa. My husband used to say he was going to the market instead of the grocery store. Now we both say, "Are you gonna stop at HEB or Albertson's?".

My grandma always used to call potatoes and tomatoes potata and tomata.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Oh, alright. Sometimes I say puh-JAHM-uh and sometimes I say puh-JAM-uh. Sometimes if I'm feeling silly, I will flatten all my "A"s and say it PAJ-uh-muh (works best if repeated multiple times and pronounced as quickly as possible).

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

To kathleenc...if you could keep us in line, your interest would wane. Lines from a c/w song, sung very mournfully: "When She's got me...where she wants me...she don't want me-e-e-e-e!"

And anyone who is truly hip knows it's "PJ's" Pajamas are what old people who call each other "Mother" and "Father" wear.

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Paul cher, what part of N'Awlins are from? I was born in the city, but lived across the river on the West Bank. AND, you'll be pleased to hear, I'm a full blooded cajun gal. A Duffourc no less. Actually, I'm the part of the first generation of my family to speak English (or the New Orleans version of it), and not Cajun French. So, mais yeah cher, I know all about eating crawfish, sweeping the banquette (sidewalk to you other folks) and parking on the neutral ground. I swear I was in high school before I realized that Mardi Gras was NOT a national holiday and that people were buried underground (!) every where else. So it's great to have someone else to swap cajun saying with! Looking forward to hearing (or is it seeing?) more from you!

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2000

Hey Michelle A.! Wow, full-blooded and you're the first gen. to speak English? How cool! I was born in New Orleans, and when I was less than a year old my family moved across the lake to Slidell. Trips to New Orleans were frequent, and I even went to college in Hammond, so I could still get to N.O. whenever.

Yeah! Pinch the tail and squeeze the head! LOL I also remember gradually finding out that Mardi Gras was fairly localized. Mardi Gras or what, bro. We got days off for it and everything, and I really felt lucky as I started to find out other people didn't get this holiday. Not that the last week before Fat Tuesday was productive at school, what with the in-class parties and all. :-) Another thing I took for granted was Spanish Moss and super-tall and super-big trees everywhere. I moved to the West and was initially appalled at the dry dustiness, the "cowboy" culture (wagon wheels, cowboy boots, etc.); but I soon figured out that my French-Spanish-Cajun-Southern cultural background didn't span the entire world and that was OK.

I miss Time-Saver stores, not because there aren't a million other places exactly like it, but because I love how the locals pronounce the name. That, and Lil General stores. :-) I miss all the roads paved with crushed white clam shells instead of gravel or dirt. I miss the coffee that's not only strong but actually good. (But really, I can get Community Coffee Dark Roast and French Market just about anywhere here now). I miss shrimp that are full-size, not these tiny things everywhere else. I miss Who Dat? (I still am the only Saints fan for miles around).

-- Anonymous, November 09, 2000

ma all ways says are you gonnd do the warsh and she clalls her other kids those brats of mine.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2000