# Southern California-isms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573 "2005-12-29T15:11:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [December 29, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/21 "2005-12-29T19:59:47Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > The names of the roads are interesting to me. As **Johnny** says, we now say The + the number, as in, “Take the 405 north until you pass the merge with the 5…”. > > But when I was a kid, in the 60s and 70s, it was much more common to use the names of the freeways, as in, “Take the San Diego Freeway past the merge with the Golden State.” > > Why and how the custom changed I have no idea. Yeah…it seems like even in the '80s (when I went to visit) it was “take the Santa Monica to the Hollywood and the Hollywood to the Harbor…” and now it’s “Take the 405 to the…” (I don’t know the numbers really–I lived there as a kid. I left and they changed everything!) **Troy McClure SF,** if you were from Westminster or Anaheim or West Covina (but not Pasadena) you might say, in another state, that you were “from LA” but Santa Barbara & the rest of those are far enough away that their denizens disassociate. I told people I was “from LA” because explaining where Lemon Heights was just got to be too much, even though it’s 30 minutes from LA proper. Ah, there’s another thing. Where I moved to they gave distances in miles rather than minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Cranky\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cranky\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cranky_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/22 "2005-12-29T20:23:35Z")
**May Gray** ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/23 "2005-12-29T20:29:48Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Santa Barbara proudly considers itself Central Coast, even though they’re only about 100 miles north of us. Geographically and topographically, however, I think they’re justified in making that claim. Either way, it’s not L.A. You’re god damned right. Telling a Santa Barbarian that they’re part of LA is fighting words. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/24 "2005-12-29T20:37:53Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Massive immigration into SoCal in the last 20 years. Us natives still use the names sometimes, but new Californians just got confused. It was just easier to refer to the numbers rather than the names. Besides, the numbers don’t change - the 5 is the 5 from Canada to Mexico. Most of the rest of the freeways change names every 50 miles or so. 😃 They still said ‘Santa Monica Freeway’ and ‘Golden State Freeway’, etc. when I lived there two years ago. But the names of the freeways change. For example, the Santa Monica Freeway becomes the San Bernardino Freeway at some point. It’s easier to just use the number. Mostly I heard the names on the radio or TV. Freeway numbers _do_ change. Well, at least one of them did. Remember when the 11 became the 110? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/25 "2005-12-29T20:39:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Some Northerners claim that putting “the” in front of a Freeway number - as in “The 405”- is a So-Calism. However, although it seems more common there, it occurs up here too, albeit disliked by some. Of course, those that dislike “the” usually use very local nicknames for sections of freeway (such as “Hospital curve”) which means that their traffic reports are often useless. > > Down in the LA area, you’ll hear “South Bay” refering to Manhatten Beach and so forth. But there’s a South Bay in the SJ/SF region too. The freeway name thing drives me insane. But I think it is more of an urban thing, since my SO from SF says the same thing. I cannot stand hearing it. Especially in reference to certain highways like “the 99” or “the 5”. ARRRRGGH!! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/26 "2005-12-29T20:45:15Z")
On a tangent… Last month we’d been doing something on the film. I hadn’t eaten all day, so I told the director (who is from San Diego and Long Beach), ‘I’m going to pop into the liquor store for a sandwich.’ He said, ‘The nearest one is on Meridian.’ I said, ‘Um. It’s right there next to the studio.’ He corrected me, ‘That’s a _convenience_ store.’ :smack: I forgot that ‘liquor store’ means something completely different up here. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/27 "2005-12-29T20:50:01Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > The freeway name thing drives me insane. But I think it is more of an urban thing, since my SO from SF says the same thing. I cannot stand hearing it. Especially in reference to certain highways like “the 99” or “the 5”. I could probably figure out what highway you were referring to by the name, but 90% of the time, I don’t think anyone here actually uses the names. I’ve always been into maps, and I remember when I was around 5 thinking, “What the hell is ‘James Lick’? That’s 101, stupid!” The notable exceptions are Skyline (part of 35) and the various tunnels & bridges, and other oddities like the Sunol Grade and Devil’s Slide. But mostly those are used to indicate specific, individual spots where you’dmost likely find congestion. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/28 "2005-12-29T21:19:27Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > . And in L.A. freeways are the [number] We don’t take the 10 here in San Diego, but we do take the 8. > [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > CNN is reporting the weather, and the weather woman mentioned the Pineapple Express I haven’t heard that here in San Diego. > [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > you’re “from LA.” IME, anyone in San Diego County is “from San Diego” (unless they’re uber-religious East County types who look down on the immorality of the city), but I had relatives in Santa Barbara who vehemently denied being “from LA”. FWIW, _nobody_ here in San Diego uses the names of the freeways. I became familiar with all the names a few years ago and tried to use them in cutesy ways but nobody understood what I was talking about. I would probably be able to identify at least a couple of them by name still, but it never comes up. There are regionalisms for specific parts of the freeways here too, though, like the Merge which is universally understood by San Diegans to be the place where the 805 merges into the 5–or, in the same place, the Split, which is universally understood by snobby North County types as the place where the 5 splits off into the 805. Another thing: we don’t use exit numbers on the freeway, we always refer to exits by the street name. And you’ll notice that while the number of each exit is displayed proudly on the 15 in Nevada and Utah, you have to be looking fairly hard to find it on the 15 in San Diego or L.A. If somebody down here told me something was off a certain exit number on the 8 I’d be totally lost, but if they gave me directions from Qualcomm Way I’d be able to follow them. > [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I forgot that ‘liquor store’ means something completely different up here. It does? I don’t think I’ve said the two words “convenience store” next to each other in my life, and I’m sure I would’ve known what you were talking about if you said you were getting a sandwich at the liquor store. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/29 "2005-12-29T21:22:53Z")
Yes. Here in WA a liquor store sells liquor. And that’s about it. A ‘California liquor store’ sells liquor, beer, wine, sandwiches, milk, snacks… My friend was just being an ass. He knew what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/30 "2005-12-29T21:35:57Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Yes. Here in WA a liquor store sells liquor. And that’s about it. _Weeeeiiiiiiiird!_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/31 "2005-12-29T21:39:04Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > _Weeeeiiiiiiiird!_ Innit? I’m not a drinker, but I’ve been known to pick up some sauce from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/32 "2005-12-29T21:42:47Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Innit? I’m not a drinker, but I’ve been known to pick up some sauce from time to time. What are you supposed to eat when you’re drunk, fercrissakes? BTW, don’t know much about Washington, but I have a family friend from Tacoma, a relative who serves at the Navy Reserve unit at Whidbey Island, and a classmate from Twisp or Twist or somesuch, on the eastern side. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/33 "2005-12-29T21:44:02Z")
Thay have liquor stores in California? I’ve been here six months and have seen one. Back home in Boston, there’s a package store on every corner and yes that is what we call them. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/34 "2005-12-29T21:56:25Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > …‘The nearest one is on Meridian.’ Sure he didn’t say “The Guide?” (For non Bellinghamsters, there is a main street that runs north and south. It’s official name is Meridian Street, but it has been known for many many years as the “Guide Meridian.” Locals refer to it as “The Guide.” It runs all the way to the Canadian Border.) Back on topic, when I lived in Big Bear, non-mountain people were referred to as “flatlanders.” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/35 "2005-12-29T21:57:22Z")
You do know that in the sovereign state of Washington it’s illegal for stores to sell liquor? Yes, grocery stores sell beer and wine. But you can’t sell hard liquor. It’s the devil whiskey, you know. So only state run stores can sell liquor, because God forbid some differently-housed person buy themselves a plastic bottle of vodka at the corner convenience store. No, they have to content themselves with a 40 of Olde English 800. I’ve never heard anyone call a corner convenience store a liquor store. I mean, I’ve heard the term “liquor store” before, sure, but not the corner 7-11. Liquor store. Liquor store. The words have lost all meaning! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/36 "2005-12-29T22:02:27Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > I’ve never heard anyone call a corner convenience store a liquor store. I call it a bodega. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/37 "2005-12-29T22:20:09Z")
> [@gfloyd](#): > > Thay have liquor stores in California? I’ve been here six months and have seen one. Back home in Boston, there’s a package store on every corner and yes that is what we call them. I can direct you to a few I know of in Davis, if you want. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/38 "2005-12-29T22:24:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Massive immigration into SoCal in the last 20 years. Us natives still use the names sometimes, but new Californians just got confused. This must be correct; I remember even back then when relatives visted they would use the numbers, and it sounded strange to us. It was just easier to refer to the numbers rather than the names. > [@](#): > > Besides, the numbers don’t change - the 5 is the 5 from Canada to Mexico. Most of the rest of the freeways change names every 50 miles or so. 😃 True, though I was surprised to learn that there’s a I-405 in Seattle. AFAIK the three-digit numbers are assigned to urban area bypasses that branch off a main interstate and rejoin it farther along, and can be shared by more than one road. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/39 "2005-12-29T22:26:00Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > Another thing: we don’t use exit numbers on the freeway, we always refer to exits by the street name. And you’ll notice that while the number of each exit is displayed proudly on the 15 in Nevada and Utah, you have to be looking fairly hard to find it on the 15 in San Diego or L.A. If somebody down here told me something was off a certain exit number on the 8 I’d be totally lost, but if they gave me directions from Qualcomm Way I’d be able to follow them. Well hells bells, that MIGHT be because they just started numbering the damn things…what a year ago? They never _had_ numbers, which I think wigged out the out of state crowd. I also agree that you don’t hear Pineapple Express down here, but I’m familiar with the term having grown up in L.A. (actually IN the city, for once!) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573/40 "2005-12-29T22:42:44Z")
Speaking of the 405 (in L.A.; not up here), it’s the San Diego Freeway. In actuality it rejoins the 5 at El Toro (the ‘El Toro Y’) and never gets near San Diego. **Spectre** : You are correct. A three-digit interstate is a ‘loop’ of the main interstate, and its last two digits are the number of the main freeway. So the 405 is a loop of the 5, and the last two digits are 05. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-california-isms/337573.md?page=3)