# What is "Southern?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683 "2003-10-26T17:47:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/61 "2003-10-29T07:38:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Berkut \* > \*\*Mmmm. Moonlight BBQ. > > There’s some good eatin, yall. \*\* Moonlight? Oh, god, where’s the barfing smiley when you need it? You don’t want to know what goes on in that kitchen and with that buffet when there aren’t customers around. Besides, their food really isn’t very good. If you want some real barbecue, go to Old Hickory. Their food, sanitation, and ethics are miles above what you’ll find at Moonlight. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/62 "2003-10-29T07:49:19Z")
> [@](#): > > **What is "Southern?"** Well, in my mind, it’s a method of testing DNA, involving digesting your DNA with a set of restriction enzymes, running them out on an agarose gel, transferring them to a charged nylon membrane, and then probing them with either a fluorescent or radioactive oligonucleotide probe. But somehow, I don’t think that’s what you meant. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/63 "2003-10-29T19:55:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WVmom \* > \*\*Thank you, **snoop**. for saying that, since I am _not_ southern, despite having lived in West Virginia all my life. > > I don’t have much of an accent (though I do say “ya’ll” from time to time. > I don’t attend church. > I’ve never had a moon pie. > I don’t have any potatoes in my house, but rice will do just fine. > > I think southern must be a state of mind, not dependent on what state you live in. \*\* You must live north of Clarksburg… ---
**Author:** ![BellaDellaItalia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BellaDellaItalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellaDellaItalia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/64 "2003-10-29T20:23:52Z")
Now I was raised in a small town in central New York, and it fits all of your criteria (running into your cousins every time you step out of the house, church on sunday, iced tea, fried everything, calling my momma’s friends aunt and uncle, double names like “Emma Jane,” the fact that all of my aunts on my mother’s side are named after characters from “Gone With the Wind”)for “southern,” except the accents and the whole civil war deal. Will someone please explain THAT to me? ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/65 "2003-10-29T22:00:50Z")
I once read that a Northerner will never eat what he can sell, while a Southerner will never sell what he can eat! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/66 "2003-10-29T22:05:14Z")
I grew up in Chapel Hilll, NC, characterized sometimes as “a pat of butter in a sea of grits” or (by Jesse Helms) as the alternative state zoo (I think his exact words were that we “don’t need a state zoo – just put a fence around Chapel Hill”). I: - Know how to fry a mean catfish and bake some damn fine biscuits and skillet corn bread - Have never hunted in my life - Adore Sundrop, on the few occasions I can get it, and have me a Cheerwine every now and then - Despise the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, especially with their recent takeover by white supremacists - Think grits are fantastic when cooked right - Think polenta is fantastic when cooked right - Say y’all - Don’t have a recognizeably Southern accent (although some people have thought I have a faint British or Irish accent – not sure why) - Know that fisherman invented hush puppies – else why would they traditionally be served alongside fried fish? - Know that hummous properly contains lemon, tahini, garbanzo beans, garlic, and salt, but can benefit from pepper, scallions, tamari, cumin, parsley, olive oil, and other adulterants; - Wave at strangers on the road and on the trail - Don’t strike up conversations with strangers. - Know the difference between hard-shell and Free-will Baptists - Am an atheist. Being Southern these days is all about being a walking talking contradiction. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/67 "2003-10-29T23:26:21Z")
I have a question for the Northerners. Regarding this seemingly southern phenom of talking to strangers… If you see someone interesting, how do you start up a conversation if talking with strangers is such a social taboo? I’ve only lived in 2 places, Georgia and southern England, and that was only for a year. In both places, striking up a conversation with strangers was socially acceptable. I will admit, however, that I often felt embarrassed by my South African flatmate who inevitably took the hospitality too far, in my opinion. Where I would chat with a stranger, he would bring the stranger home for an all-night piss-up, so I would often wake up with drunk strangers on our couch. To sum up, how does a Northerner meet people? And I don’t just mean for sex. How do you get to know new and interesting people? ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/68 "2003-10-30T00:56:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shrew \* > \*\*To sum up, how does a Northerner meet people? And I don’t just mean for sex. How do you get to know new and interesting people? \*\* My Yankee girlfriend says “By mutual friends.” I gather they introduce each other or something. Don’t tell her I said this, but what a boring way to meet people. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/69 "2003-10-30T01:31:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > \*\*If you want some real barbecue, go to Old Hickory. Their food, sanitation, and ethics are miles above what you’ll find at Moonlight. \*\* Yikes! I wonder if they will come and get me at the airport like Moonlight will. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/70 "2003-10-30T06:45:24Z")
**You must live north of Clarksburg…** I was thinking the same thing, Balle!! ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/71 "2003-10-30T14:39:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balle\_M \* > \*\*You must live north of Clarksburg… \*\* Yep, Morgantown…but I was born and raised in Charleston (WV). ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/72 "2003-10-30T14:48:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*Now, I have to say this is the first time I’ve ever heard this phrase. “The Carolinas”, sure. “The Dakotas”, I suppose, if anyone around me ever had a reason to mention them 😉 But I’ve never heard VA & WV being lumped together like that. Is that just me? \*\* I don’t know anyone in West Virginia that would want to be associated with that state to our east (the one south of Maryland). That’s why we call our state West, By God! Virginia. That comes from being asked, too many times, when we say that we’re from West Virginia, “Is that near Richmond?” ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/73 "2003-10-30T16:58:26Z")
“The Virginias” seems to be a pretty popular phrase around here, at least in advertisements. Car dealer ads, specifically. There are several of them that talk about “the best deal in Carolina or the Virginias.” It was a new one on me, too, which is why it actually caught my attention instead of fading into the background. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/74 "2003-10-31T14:43:41Z")
That would be like advertising for something concerning Earth and Mars and calling it “the planets.” WV and VA are basically two different countries. ---
**Author:** ![libwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@libwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/libwen)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/75 "2003-10-31T18:57:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by brujo_ > **I was born and raised in Northern VA, and I don’t really consider myself Southern. I actually consider this region to be generic American.** Please, that’s the Midwest’s niche. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/76 "2003-10-31T21:18:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BellaDellaItalia \* > \*\*Now I was raised in a small town in central New York, and it fits all of your criteria (running into your cousins every time you step out of the house, church on sunday, iced tea, fried everything, calling my momma’s friends aunt and uncle, double names like “Emma Jane,” the fact that all of my aunts on my mother’s side are named after characters from “Gone With the Wind”)for “southern,” except the accents and the whole civil war deal. Will someone please explain THAT to me? \*\* It’s simple, really. The distinction between the South and the rest of the States are nowhere near as wide as people try to make them out to be. Most of the stuff said in this thread would apply to any small-town person, whether they grew up on Alabama or somewhere in Minnesota. Also, keep in mind that a lot of this is being blown way out of proportion. For example, the South isn’t anywhere near as friendly as it’s made out to be. Striking up a conversation with a stranger isn’t uncommon but it isn’t like we stop and talk and/or wave at every person we pass. And finally, most of us _really_ do not care that we lost the war. ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/77 "2003-11-01T04:09:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > My Yankee girlfriend says “By mutual friends.” I gather they introduce each other or something. > > Don’t tell her I said this, but what a boring way to meet people. I have to agree. Sometimes I just see someone who looks interesting and want to meet him/her. If we have no mutual friends, what would I do? ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/78 "2003-11-01T04:14:27Z")
You’re Southern if you use the phrase “I was running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off!” on a regular basis. Guilty. Disclaimer: I do not eat poultry. Nor will I listen to my mother’s stories about how grandma used to wring the chicken’s necks. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/79 "2003-11-01T05:00:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aesiron \* > \*\*And finally, most of us _really_ do not care that we lost the war. \*\* Lost? I prefer to think of it as a lull in the fighting. ---
**Author:** ![jjrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jjrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjrt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/80 "2003-11-01T05:43:45Z")
I’m from Eastern Kentucky and most of everthing said here fits me. So I’m Southern in good grammar terms, but from the heart I’m just a plain ole “hillbilly”. Let’s add to the menu soupbeans and cornbread, and chicken and dumplings… not to mention Church dinners… HOw many have had fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, and eggs for a Sunday morning breakfast growing up?? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683.md?page=5)