# Tell me you're southern w/o telling me your southern **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690 "2023-01-24T01:19:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/161 "2023-01-28T01:59:24Z")
Shouldn’t there also be a reference to “turning down the road just past where the hound dog is lying”? ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/162 "2023-01-28T02:06:52Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > DC suburbs are NOT “southern” in any way except going back to 1861. Alexandria was certainly a southern town when I grew up there in the 1950s. I don’t think I ever saw a black kid, they went to different schools than we did. If you don’t think it was southern, you never drove down Lee Highway to Jeb Stuart High School. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/163 "2023-01-28T12:41:31Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Look - we’re southern, not Scottish. Not everything has to be fried. It could also be boilt t’death ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/164 "2023-01-28T12:45:38Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > \*Alternatively “upper east Tennessee” Being from Chattanooga, I would _always_ say upper east TN, not NE TN. On the other hand, it’s definitely NE and NW GA. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/165 "2023-01-28T14:43:05Z")
“Ah need some motor uhl.” “_How many quarts, sir?_” “Foe-wer.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/166 "2023-01-28T14:44:21Z")
Mrs. J. just texted me a short video titled “Possum eating something in the back yard.” ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/167 "2023-01-28T15:29:46Z")
I mostly saw “upper east Tennessee” in the sports section. I’ve also heard “Mountain Empire” used for upper east TN and SW Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/168 "2023-01-29T03:18:39Z")
Y’might have a flat tar. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/169 "2023-01-29T14:05:52Z")
I’m not sure if this is Southern, country or both. (I have lived in cities most of my life, then a Southern City, then out in the country in the south - this is new to me). It is a requirement for people in cars and pedestrians to wave at each other when passing. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/170 "2023-01-29T14:38:14Z")
They have the same requirement in New York City, except you can only wave one finger. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/171 "2023-01-29T16:43:01Z")
I live south of the I-10. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/172 "2023-01-29T21:28:05Z")
I can’t wait for spring to make up a mess of poke salad. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/173 "2023-01-29T22:35:40Z")
Here’s what a hillbilly sounds like. Pro wrassler Ron Wright was unknown outside a fairly small area, but where I’m from he’s legendary. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ho5tRMgmLz8/hqdefault.jpg "Ron Wright at his best") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho5tRMgmLz8) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/174 "2023-01-29T23:41:50Z")
Do they call it “the” I-10 down south (like in southern California)? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/175 "2023-01-30T03:45:38Z")
Ah’ve bin doin’ that since I was knee high to a grasshopper! A coworker from TN had a good idiom: I’m as busy as a dog with nine tails ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/176 "2023-01-30T04:41:02Z")
We’re goin’ out for some Eye-talian food tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/177 "2023-01-30T05:13:15Z")
Or the famous “busy as cat in a room full of rockers” ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/178 "2023-01-30T15:30:42Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Do they call it “the” I-10 down south (like in southern California)? absolutely. The I-10 isn’t just another interstate. For large stretches along the gulf coast it separates the “low” areas from the higher elevations. It is shorthand for the risk of flooding from hurricanes and storms. Or at least from more dangerous conditions from less. In large part because the entire rest of the country is north of the I-10 and there is a relatively narrow stretch of land south. So of course there is more safe land north than south. It is mostly a joke. No one would claim that anyone in Mississippi or Louisiana is not from the south, but for us south of the I-10 there are a lot of northerners up there. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/179 "2023-01-30T15:55:24Z")
Do you need a safety pin or a writin’ pin? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690/180 "2023-01-30T16:01:06Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > The North starts at Watford Gap services \* NORTHampton would like a word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-youre-southern-w-o-telling-me-your-southern/978690.md?page=10)