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.
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?
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”.
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.
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.
We don’t take the 10 here in San Diego, but we do take the 8.
I haven’t heard that here in San Diego.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(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.”
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!
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.
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.
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!)
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.
