# Do non-Southerners not say "wreck"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948 "2009-08-19T13:47:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/21 "2009-08-19T15:59:10Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > Growing up in NE Ohio, “wreck” was the usual term. Here in Houston, it seems people are more likely to have “accidents.” I grew up in northeast Ohio, too, and I agree with **Yllaria** and **TruCelt**. An accident could be anything from a little ding in your fender on up. A wreck is something you’re lucky to survive, something you mention to others that you’d seen because it affects your day. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/22 "2009-08-19T16:17:55Z")
You buy liquor 3 times in a week? Those college kids probably worship you as their goddess! I’ve lived up north and down south and have always heard and used “wreck” in this way. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/23 "2009-08-19T16:28:08Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > So the point is, the article also pointed out some little things about local culture, like "They were told that, in South Carolina, some refer to a car accident as a wreck. " > > What? Doesn’t everybody say that? Please clarify: Do you mean that _any_ car accident is referred to as a “wreck”? Because I would find that strange. If you told me you were in a wreck, would assume you were in a fairly serious accident, where your car was wrecked (i.e. sustained serious damage and was quite possibly totaled)—something more than just a dented bumper. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/24 "2009-08-19T16:37:03Z")
I’ve heard “car wreck” to mean a crash on occasion, but not just \*“wreck.” Accident is much more common, with car put in front of it too obviously. \*without any context clues to indicate an accident - just something like “look at that wreck” - I’d be looking for a condemned house, not a car. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/25 "2009-08-19T17:44:46Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Please clarify: Do you mean that _any_ car accident is referred to as a “wreck”? Because I would find that strange. If you told me you were in a wreck, would assume you were in a fairly serious accident, where your car was wrecked (i.e. sustained serious damage and was quite possibly totaled)—something more than just a dented bumper. No, I’d probably use it for any accident, really. “Sorry I’m late - there was a wreck on the interstate!” could very well mean a little fender-bender that slowed down traffic. Now, “I wrecked my car” would mean I totalled it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/26 "2009-08-19T17:52:18Z")
I’m from Northern California, and wreck is used to describe someone like Nick Nolte or Gary Busey. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/27 "2009-08-19T17:58:06Z")
That’s a “hot mess”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/28 "2009-08-19T18:02:24Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The note said, “How could one Aggie do this to another Aggie?” Did you hear about the Aggie who locked his keys in the car? It took him a week to get his family out. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/29 "2009-08-19T18:19:24Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > These are incoming freshmen _from out of state_ who still went to the University of South Carolina. Be charitable. 🙂 They thought they were enrolled at USC… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/30 "2009-08-19T18:22:44Z")
I don’t know, I didn’t read the article, but was it meant to be humorous? Perhaps you were whooshed and kids from out of state actually do know what a “wreck” is. I’m from Pennsylvania, and I’ve certainly used the word as a noun all of my life. Everybody knows what a train wreck is, both a literal one and a metaphorical one. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/31 "2009-08-19T18:32:17Z")
Wreck’em hell! Damn near killed’em! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/32 "2009-08-19T18:45:41Z")
Southern California born and raised here. Oddly for some reason “wreck” is not the first noun I would choose to name the result of an auto accident; I’d probably say “wrecked cars”. I might say a car is a “wreck”, but that might not even be because it was in an accident. Out here we have a car rental agency called Rent-A-Wreck that specializes in cars that may be a little older and have a few door dings, but they’re not “wrecks” as in “totaled”. Again for reasons that are not clear to me, “train wreck” sounds much more natural to me than “wreck” to mean a car accident. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/33 "2009-08-19T18:51:11Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > You are just seeing the ones that got rejected from Texas A&M (the Aggies) as their first choice. So did you hear about the Aggies who set up a counterfeiting operating? They were counterfeiting $2 bills. By erasing the 0s off of $20 bills. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/34 "2009-08-19T19:00:54Z")
[Here’s the article](http://www.thestate.com/local/story/907394.html) for anyone who is interested. By the way, my Ohio-born-and-bred sister went to South Carolina for grad school – she received a Master of International Business (MIB) degree. The OP reminded me of a commercial for the [Smash-Up Derby](http://www.vintagetoyroom.com/review/feb2003Review.shtml) toy of the 1970’s: _He’s drivin’ his old junker And he’s headin’ for a wreck He’ll smash a car, he’ll smash a truck Or anything, by heck!_ ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/35 "2009-08-19T19:11:25Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t know, I didn’t read the article, but was it meant to be humorous? Perhaps you were whooshed and kids from out of state actually do know what a “wreck” is. I’m from Pennsylvania, and I’ve certainly used the word as a noun all of my life. Everybody knows what a train wreck is, both a literal one and a metaphorical one. The article is amusing and light, but does claim factuality. Okay, so the International Business school is well regarded. (So is the library school, but you don’t want to get me started on that.) ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/36 "2009-08-19T19:16:04Z")
To me (grew up in MN), a wreck is the state of a car after it has been in an accident. However, a car can also be a wreck even if it has never been in an accident, say due to rust eating it away or mechanical problems that prevent it from running. I’d know what wreck means by the context, but it isn’t common from what I’ve heard. Accident is normal. Also, the thing that hauls your car away after an accident is a tow truck, not a wrecker! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/37 "2009-08-19T20:36:54Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > BTW, the Metro New York, ex Connecticut, term for a shopping cart is “wagon,” ideally with a dipthong “a” sound (“weeagon”). I have \*\*never \*\*heard this. (Grew up on Long Island, went to college & now live in Manhattan.) It has \*\*always \*\*just been “shopping cart.” ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/38 "2009-08-19T21:59:32Z")
Michigan here, and I spent a lot of time in other places while in the Army and for current professional purposes (i.e., lots of people from all over). I’d tend to use “accident,” but I’m positive that I’ve used “wreck” and do probably use them interchangeably without a second thought. Perhaps I’d refrain from “wreck” and use “accident” for fender-bender type situations. What I don’t know is if this is normal for southeast Michigan, or if it’s something I picked up in all my years moving about. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/39 "2009-08-19T22:00:59Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I have \*\*never \*\*heard this. (Grew up on Long Island, went to college & now live in Manhattan.) It has \*\*always \*\*just been “shopping cart.” Ditto. Northern NJ. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948/40 "2009-08-19T22:15:24Z")
Could it be the accent? If I read “there was a wreck on the freeway,” even though I’d use “accident” I’d know what was meant. But if I heard “there was a wreck on the freeway” and the vowel sound used was not the one I would use for the same word, it might take a couple beats for me to figure out what was in the middle of the road. It’s been a long, long, long time since I’ve heard someone with an SC accent, and while I remember that there was a difference in his accent and the more commonly spoken accent in my neck of the woods, I don’t remember the particulars. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-southerners-not-say-wreck/506948.md?page=3)