# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/81 "2003-11-01T05:55:28Z")
**How many have had fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, and eggs for a Sunday morning breakfast growing up?** Now that there is what I call “Baptist food.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/82 "2003-11-01T05:56:05Z")
A true Southerner takes great pleasure in the little things that make life so good. A true Southerner also sees that “progress” isn’t always for the good. A true Southerner can be your friend for life based on the most inconsequintial of things. A true Southerner can also hate with the fury of Hell fire itself if a perceived wrong is done to them, their family, or friends. A true Southerner knows that no matter how charming a place might be, the only real home town a man ever knows is where his Momma’s family lives. A true Southerner brings the vocabulary of “Thanks,” “Ma’am,” and “Yes, Sir” where ever he goes. A true Texan knows that, while Texas may be Southern, it is always first and foremost Texas. * * * Born Texan, raised Southern, living as an American. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/83 "2003-11-01T06:08:40Z")
Based on this Yankee’s observations from living in a suburb of Orlando that had more transplants from Southern states than Northern states, Southerners much more so than Northerners: - Worked in the mechanical or building trades. - Had Nextel cellular phones strapped permanently on their belts. - Had a collection of “boy’s toys” (boats, dirt bikes, jet skis, etc.) - Were into hunting and fishing. - Held political beliefs that were right of center. - Were tolerant of places that Northerners found ugly (i.e. riows of used car dealers, lots of billboards, etc.) - Were fans of college sports more than professional sports. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/84 "2003-11-01T06:26:48Z")
You know, graciousness is noted as a Southern trait. Maybe that’s why this thread hasn’t been invaded by the “Don’t generalize me!” Offenderati… Some more: A Southerner knows that a Southern girl can get away with anything if she puts on her accent and bats her eyes. Yet we still fall prey to it. A Southerner can insult you without ever being rude or losing the smile on his/her face (“I was awfully sorry to hear about your daddy running off with that harlot.”) ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/85 "2003-11-01T06:30:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > **Oh, fun question! I do tend to think of it in terms of geography, actually. Let’s see…whether or not people from VA are southern or not is debatable(but DC southern? No way), but the states below VA are definitely in the south. Except FL. I don’t know why, but when I think of sourtherners, people from Florida don’t “count.” That’s probably just me…** Florida is strange. I-4 bisects the state along a line from Tampa Bay - Orlando - Daytona Beach. Roughly north of I-4 is the South; south of I-4 is the North. I live along this dividing line, and my area is fairly mixed. For example, at most restaurants, there are two kinds of tea, both iced: “regular” or “unsweet”, but we also have a huge SE Asian and Eastern European population. Very schizoid at times. > [@](#): > > \*\* > In my observation: > > Southerners are more likely to call you “sweety”, “honey” or “baby” and _not_ mean it in a deogratory way. > > Southerners are scarily friendly to strangers- I asked my dad a question in the store on Saturday, and a complete stranger provided the answer unbidden. That was a rare and surprising act (though sort of nice if nosey) for a northerner, but I bet it wouldn’t be blinked at down south. > > Southerners either don’t realize or don’t care that calling a red sox fan a “yankee” is really insulting…but not for the reason they probably think. \*\* Check on 1 and 2 here, but I’d never call anybody a Yankee. I’m originally from extreme SW Indiana, and there are marked similarities between that part of Indiana and western Kentucky and Tennessee. As for my Southernness: [ol][li]When angry, I involuntarily drop into this western Tennessee drawl. When not angry, I can speak in it with relative ease. Tennesseean babysitter when I was little.[/li][li]I make a damn good fried up breakfast.[/li][li]I say y’all constantly and consistently. I’m sorry that your silly Northern English is lacking a second-person plural pronoun, but I’ll have none of that.[/li][li]When standing in line, more often than not, I’ll start talking to a complete stranger and not be looked at as some sort of loon. I always miss that sort of interaction when I head up north.[/li][li]The following are perfect foods of the gods:[/li][ul][li]Chicken and dumplings.[/li][li]Buttermilk biscuits and milk gravy.[/li][li]Chicken-fried steak with gravy.[/li][li]Molasses-based barbecue.[/ul][/li][/ol] Upon preview, I have to second most of what **elmwood** said. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/86 "2003-11-01T08:51:20Z")
**jackelope** and **Daniel** – fine stuff! **Bambi!** where you from? I grew up in West Tennessee just about in the middle. > [@](#): > > **GMR** : You know, graciousness is noted as a Southern trait. Maybe that’s why this thread hasn’t been invaded by the “Don’t generalize me!” Offenderati… You’re not from the South, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/87 "2003-11-01T15:51:45Z")
**Zoe** , I’m originally from Evansville, IN – where the Wabash and the Ohio meet. It’s a big, modern port town, but it gets real farm country right outside the city limits. I’ve spent enough time at Opryland and in Pigeon Forge to feel like a Tennessean at times, though. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/88 "2003-11-01T17:17:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shrew \* > \*\*Sometimes I just see someone who looks interesting and want to meet him/her. If we have no mutual friends, what would I do? \*\* I think there’s a miscommunication here. Northerners have no objection to speaking to strangers who they actually want to get to know. It’s starting random conversations with strangers who you’re never going to see again that we don’t tend to do. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/89 "2003-11-01T19:47:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Laughing Lagomorph \* > \*\*Well, at least you folks are finally admitting that YOU’RE the ones who talk funny. 😉 > > Another Southern trait this Damn Yankee has noticed: a certain confusion over the outcome of the Civil War. \*\* I would like to point out that it was an admitted “Damn Yankee” that brought up the subject of the Civil War. They bring it up and then criticize the fact the southerners don’t reply with something like “Yeah, you sure beat the shit out of us.” :rolleyes: [sup] **P.S. Having been born in Dayton, OH I am resigned to the fact that no matter what type of accent I have, what foods I enjoy, what expressions I use or where I live: I am eternally a Damn Yankee.** [/sup] ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/90 "2003-11-01T20:00:51Z")
Well, darlin’, at least you admit it. ---
**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, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/91 "2003-11-01T20:13:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > I think there’s a miscommunication here. Northerners have no objection to speaking to strangers who they actually want to get to know. It’s starting random conversations with strangers who you’re never going to see again that we don’t tend to do. Aw! But that’s so much fun too! Just this morning I went down to my fave coffee shop to get a chai and a bagel, and two elderly women were in line in front of me discussing how the coffee shop used to be a mechanics’ garage, so I joined their conversation and reminisced with them how I bought several sets of tires in that particular coffee shop. Good times. I’m sure I’ll ever see them again, and certainly we’re not destined to become big buds, but it was fun nonetheless. So you would never do that? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/92 "2003-11-01T20:26:05Z")
In a situation like that I _might_ join in, depending on my mood and how interested I was in the topic of conversation. What I would never do is start a conversation with the stranger in front of me about how the place used to be a garage. And if someone started that conversation with me, I’d wonder why they were telling me this. ---
**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, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/93 "2003-11-01T20:40:17Z")
Hm, how about this? If a stranger were to walk in asking for directions, would you spend fifteen or more minutes trying to help them out? Drawing maps on napkins and whatnot? ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/94 "2003-11-01T20:42:16Z")
I’d be as helpful as I could … for about three minutes max 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/95 "2003-11-01T20:43:09Z")
You might wonder why they’re telling you this, but you answer them and take a polite interest anyway. To do otherwise would be horribly rude, and to do otherwise when the speaker in question is elderly would be simply inexcusable. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/96 "2003-11-01T20:58:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > **You might wonder why they’re telling you this, but you answer them and take a polite interest anyway.** … and silently pray that something distracts them from you ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/97 "2003-11-01T22:45:36Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by jjrt_ > **How many have had fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, and eggs for a Sunday morning breakfast growing up?** You mean people outside the South DON’T eat chicken, biscuits, gravy, eggs (and don’t forget grits and sausage!) for breakfast?! :eek: [QUOTE] _Originally posted by NoClueBoy_ **A true Southerner knows that no matter how charming a place might be, the only real home town a man ever knows is where his Momma’s family lives.** Amen to that, brutha. Of course, I also think it’s perfectly normal to walk up to someone in the grocery store, compliment them on their bacon brand, and then spend the next two hours discussing everything from politics to various kinfolks. And I’d like to remind my fellow Southerners that the Damn Yankees can’t help being Damn Yankees: they was born that way. We should have more sympathy for their plight, bless their hearts. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/98 "2003-11-02T04:21:51Z")
**If a stranger were to walk in asking for directions, would you spend fifteen or more minutes trying to help them out? Drawing maps on napkins and whatnot?** If they were at my house, I would insist they eat something before they left. My mom did the Census in 1990 in Carlisle County, KY, where both of her parents were raised. At many houses she went to they found out who her parents were and tried to feed her and make her stay and talk a while. ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/99 "2003-11-02T04:43:32Z")
It’s interesting. Another teacher and I were just discussing how much we dislike a Math teacher at our school who happens to be Northern. Now, being an equal opportunity Southerner, I know myself well enough to know that where someone is from has nothing to do with whether or not I like them. I have to admit, however, that this particular woman is rude, and she cloaks her rudeness in the excuse of, “I’m Northern. This is how we are. Get used to it.” The problem with that is that she’s been in the South for over 20 years. She knows her behavior is not socially acceptable, but she does it anyway. The rest of us have come to the conclusion that her rudeness is not from being Northern, but rather is simply who she is. She would be rude, no matter her upbringing. I say all this to respond to **Nichol Storm** ’s flippant but accurate statement that we should have sympathy for people like her, but I’m wondering how much sympathy and tolerance is advisable. I’ve tolerated this woman’s behavior for over two years, but I’m reaching my limit. The problem is that if I am rude to her in return, I will look like the raging bitch. My co-workers will say, “ **Shrew** ’s lost her mind. After all, Rudey McRude can’t help the way she is; she’s a Yank! But **Shrew** knows better!” I’ll be the bad guy. It’s a dilemma. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683/100 "2003-11-02T05:37:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shrew \* > \*\*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? \*\* Shoot, I’m from Anchorage, Alaska, about as northern as a person can get (except of course Squarebanks, Barrow, etc :D), and we just talk to people about anything. Even just going into a store or to pay your bill at the utility company people will strike up converstations, the “detailed” kind too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-southern/209683.md?page=6)