betenoir writes:
> You’ve never heard the expression? Sorry, being from South Africa is no excuse,
> or defence againt New Yorkers calling you provincial.
And speaking of pretentious wine snobs, there are also pretentious snobs who think that anyone who doesn’t know their particular bits of slang must be hopelessly provincial.
Well, betenoir is from Manhattan! 
McDonalds, no. I my fast food tastes tend to run to Carl’s Jr’s. Olive Garden, not for a long time.
I eat and drink things that I feel taste good. IMHO, Merlot tastes better then most wines I’ve tried.
And then there are people who don’t recognizes a joke even when there’s a great big smilie next to it. But then what can you expect from people from Maryland .
Christ on a crutch, over-react much? And a day too late, aty that.
I’m the guy he was replying to, and even little old South African me heard that in a snooty Seinfeld Noo Yawk accent. I got the joke, just didn’t need to pad my post count by posting a reply, but I’ll do it here:
betenoir, that was very funny. Thanks!
It’s silly to be snobbish over Merlot – it can be good or bad. I drink wine for a variety of reasons, and Merlot can be a good table wine.
It’s even sillier to let a fictional character’s rant affect your taste in wine. Alexander Payne actually wanted that fancy bottle of wine Miles drank at the end to be a Merlot, but the deal fell through (the winery didn’t want to pay a placement fee, so he chose a wine from a winery that did).
I mean, that rant about Merlot was supposed to be funny, an insight into Mile’s snobbery, but not into the quality of the wine. Are people so unable to understand that?
It should be mentioned that while the character was fairly loathsome in his self-righteousness, Giamatti’s delivery of the line “I am NOT drinking any fuckin’ merlot!” was really, really funny.
betenoir writes:
> And then there are people who don’t recognizes a joke even when there’s a
> great big smilie next to it. But then what can you expect from people from
> Maryland.
Something doesn’t become funny just because you put a smilie next to it. You said that all girls from New Jersey and Long Island have big hair, wear gaudy jewelry, drink bad wine, and say things like “sophistamicated.” And you used your own clever ingroup name “Bridge & Tunnel.” Making fun of people, laughing uproariously, and then telling them if they don’t laugh themselves then they just don’t have a sense of humor isn’t funny in my book. It’s like tripping someone, kicking them several times while they’re on the floor, and then saying, “What’s the matter with you that you’re not laughing? Don’t you have a sense of humor?”
You can’t insult me by making fun of where I live, since I’ve lived too many places to feel any attachment to any particular place.
No, he’s saying that some girls from New Jersey and Long Island who have big hair & wear gaudy jewelry, think that drinking trendy wine makes them look sophisticated. … aah, why do I bother? What is your problem? Does your girlfriend look like Fran Drescher? You are really jumpi9ng on this with both feet, makes me think you took it all personal-like.
Huh??? 
What message board are you reading? I never said anything of the kind. Mr. Dribble said he didn’t know what the expression meant so I told him. Throwing in a joke about New Yorkers still not forgiving him for not knowing it just because he’s from another continent (you know, one of the outer outer boroughs :D), It was a joke at the expense of New Yorkers for thinking they’re the centre of the world, kind of like the New Yorker cartoon “The veiw of the world from 9th ave.”.
I’m allowed to make fun of New Yorkers because I lived there most of my adult life. On the other hand I’m not particually inclinded to promote the sterotype (which as noted, I didn’t) that Jersey girls have poofy hair and gaudy jewery as I’ve had niether AND I’M FROM NEW JERSEY. And when I was growing up, took the bridge or the tunnel into NY on weekends. And strangely enough was not emotionally devasated by the expression. (For that matter, once there, I often took another bridge out of Manhattan, to Brookyn to visit my aunt who taught me all about good wine…just to reconect this hijack to to OP a bit.)
If you seriously think I was trying insult you be noting you’re from Maryland there may be no hope for you. I on the other hand, am a little put off at being mistaken for msmith 
.