# Maryland Dopers: Are you a Southerner or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655 "2006-08-14T13:02:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/21 "2006-08-14T16:31:49Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] I think this sums it up quite nicely. I wasn’t born here, but have lived here most of my life. I don’t consider myself a Southerner, but I know a lot of people (and I mean _a lot_) who think Maryland is without a doubt a Southern state. These same people have Confederate flags on their cars (pickups, actually) and wear redneck and confederate-themed t-shirts. [/QUOTE] Based on these comments, I’m removing your name from the summary file. I was the one to put it there in the first place after scouting around other threads looking for “Southerners.” ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/22 "2006-08-14T16:37:26Z")
I grew up in Northern VA, and I’m not sure that I would consider DC and its suburbs to be Southern. The accent isn’t Southern. The good portion of the population came from somewhere else anyway. I would guess that Virginia doesn’t really become Southern in character until you get past Prince William County. I can’t speak for the parts of Maryland outside of the Beltway and a bit further away, but Montgomery County, and PG County don’t strike me as very southern either. One of my friends who is from Tennessee mentioned that he hasn’t been able to find sweet tea in the area which I always thought of as a staple of Southern food. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/23 "2006-08-14T16:39:38Z")
I’d consider myself mostly northern. Carroll County seems to hold a good mix of northern and southern folk. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/24 "2006-08-14T16:40:29Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] What’s cooter? [/QUOTE] [Cooter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudemys) (in the sense used here). ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/25 "2006-08-14T18:58:02Z")
I was born in Maryland (grew up in the DC suburbs), and definitely am not Southern. I don’t have a Southern accent, and we never ate grits or black-eyed peas (or most of the other typically Southern foods) at home. I also had a great-great grandfather who fought for the Union. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/26 "2006-08-14T19:19:09Z")
[QUOTE=Figaro] I’m a born-and-raised Marylander. I do think that Maryland has aspects of southerness culturally, but I have never thought of it as a southern state. Once you cross the border into Virginia, _then_ you’re in the South. [/QUOTE] Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/27 "2006-08-14T19:20:04Z")
Well, i live in Baltimore but i grew up in Australia. I don’t think i would consider myself a “Southerner” even if i was living in Alabama or Georgia or South Carolina. Nor would i really consider myself a “Northerner” if i lived in New York or Boston or Cleveland. I’m On a personal level, if i were to think of myself in US terms, it would probably be as a West Coast person. I grew up in Sydney, lived a few years in Vancouver, and visit San Francisco quite regularly. I’ve also spent time in Seattle, Portland, and LA. I find that these Pacific Rim cities, despite their differences, share a certain sensibility and way of life, and while i love other cities in the US and elsewhere, i often feel most at home on the West Coast. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/28 "2006-08-14T19:53:53Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Well, i live in Baltimore but i grew up in Australia. I don’t think i would consider myself a “Southerner” even if i was living in Alabama or Georgia or South Carolina. Nor would i really consider myself a “Northerner” if i lived in New York or Boston or Cleveland. I’m On a personal level, if i were to think of myself in US terms, it would probably be as a West Coast person. I grew up in Sydney, lived a few years in Vancouver, and visit San Francisco quite regularly. I’ve also spent time in Seattle, Portland, and LA. I find that these Pacific Rim cities, despite their differences, share a certain sensibility and way of life, and while i love other cities in the US and elsewhere, i often feel most at home on the West Coast. [/QUOTE] I’ve removed your name from the file. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/29 "2006-08-14T20:17:36Z")
Anyone else feeling a bit miffed at the, “I’ve removed your name from the file” comments? I mean - I’m not a redneck, Confederate flag-waving type of Southerner, and I don’t know what the OP is getting at, but there’s a certain “You don’t count” aspect to it all. I’m not upset, and it doesn’t really bother me, it’s just - oh, I don’t know. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/30 "2006-08-14T21:22:25Z")
I was born and raised in Maryland; I spent the first 21 years of my life there. It never would have even dawned on me to think of myself as a southerner. So, no. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/31 "2006-08-14T21:41:27Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] Anyone else feeling a bit miffed at the, “I’ve removed your name from the file” comments? I mean - I’m not a redneck, Confederate flag-waving type of Southerner, and I don’t know what the OP is getting at, but there’s a certain “You don’t count” aspect to it all. I’m not upset, and it doesn’t really bother me, it’s just - oh, I don’t know. Never mind. [/QUOTE] Sorry if you’re miffed, but I’m assuming you meant that last line. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/32 "2006-08-14T21:44:32Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Unless you plan to move back to Canada, or to take an even bolder step and move further south, **GingerOfTheNorth** , you have my blessings to continue being a Marylander **and** a Southerner – for whatever that will buy you. [/QUOTE] Now cut that out. You people only have her on loan. She’s one of _us_. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/33 "2006-08-14T21:55:35Z")
I’m a ninth generation Marylander (Montgomery County). We have the POW papers for one of my relatives who fought with the Confederates. I’ve never considered myself a Southerner, although when I lived out west, they thought I had a Southern accent. Having also lived in North and South Carolina, I’ve found I have little in common culturally with Southerners. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/34 "2006-08-14T22:56:10Z")
I consider Maryland part of the South, along with D.C. and Virginia. I wasn’t born here, but I’ve spent most of my life in this area. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/35 "2006-08-14T23:08:32Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] I consider Maryland part of the South, along with D.C. and Virginia. I wasn’t born here, but I’ve spent most of my life in this area. [/QUOTE] Thank you. I’m keeping your data in the summary file. Just for an update of that file’s contents, these names will be kept as Maryland’s Southern Dopers: GingerOfTheNorth Charter Member Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 7,463 Location: Not so North (MD) Emilio Lizardo Charter Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 564 Location: Hyattsville, MD dbygawdcapn Charter Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 444 Location: Tall Timbers (MD) mks57 Charter Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 1,354 Location: Seabrook, Maryland These are still in question, and will be removed if I don’t hear otherwise: Bytegeist Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,013 Location: Maryland, US norinew Charter Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 4,838 Location: Cumberland, MD commasense Charter Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 2,229 Location: Columbia, MD Weirddave Charter Member Join Date: Apr 1999 Posts: 7,965 Location: Baltimore. Md Trunk Charter Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 5,946 Location: Baltimore, Jack! tarragon918 Charter Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 948 Location: MD suburb of Wash. DC minlokwat Member Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 408 Location: Glen Burnie, MD F. U. Shakespeare Charter Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 1,849 Location: Baltimore or less you with the face Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,729 Location: Laurel, MD ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/36 "2006-08-14T23:34:19Z")
Oh for heaven’s sakes, let me just add my $0.02 Maryland along the I-95 corridor? Not southern. Everything else = ? I don’t consider myself a southerner though I was born and raised here and graduated from Maryland, College Park. Yes, when visiting Detroit, the people asked my girlfriend and me about our accent. Yes, I do say I do pronounce the “r” in _wash_ and use “y’all” and “howdy” without a moment’s thought. Yes, I have been happily consuming grits since my youngest days. But that still doesn’t make me a southerner. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/37 "2006-08-14T23:42:13Z")
[QUOTE=minlokwat] Yes, I do say I do pronounce the “r” in _wash_ and use “y’all” and “howdy” without a moment’s thought. [/QUOTE] I don’t- my dad does say “warsh” (and my sister and I used to tease him about it). I don’t say “y’all” or “howdy”, either. Though this does remind me of something that happened while I was in college (at UM College Park here, too)- someone had put up a flyer offering physics tutoring, from someone with a “Maryland accent”. Some of my friends and I debated calling him, just to see what a “Maryland accent” was… ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/38 "2006-08-14T23:44:35Z")
Go Terps! ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/39 "2006-08-15T00:31:08Z")
[QUOTE=Antigen] Now cut that out. You people only have her on loan. She’s one of _us_. [/QUOTE] Indeed. Now, that fact that he’s taken (the entire reason I moved to MD) my husband off of the list and left me on? Makes no sense. I have manners, so I’m being considered Southern. Okay then. I happen to have spent the majority of my life in more northerly climes than 95% of the people on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655/40 "2006-08-15T00:48:08Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] I have suggested several places and several times that somebody else ought to get a thread going for “Transplants” or “Aliens” or whatever term is most representative while being least offensive. [/QUOTE] Here ya go: [Dopers now based in the USA, but born elsewhere: stand and be counted, please](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384071). [QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] So, I don’t count, in your estimation. By being a Canadian living outside of Canada, I don’t count as a non-US doper. By being a Canadian living in Maryland, I am certainly NOT a Southerner. I’m sad now. [/QUOTE] Cheer up, **Gingy** ; click on the link, and add your name and relevant biographical biography to the list! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dopers-are-you-a-southerner-or-not/368655.md?page=3)