# Where do you stay? Where do you live? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2016, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930 "2016-10-18T09:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/21 "2016-10-19T01:21:31Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > +1 > > Can’t say I’ve really heard it much from non blacks. Not too unusual in the Chicago area. I know it as a regional usage. Never heard a white person use it outside this area. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/22 "2016-10-19T01:21:59Z")
I’m pretty sure we had a thread on this before. Good luck searching under “stay” and “live”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/23 "2016-10-19T03:30:06Z")
I can’t say I’ve noticed whether people I’ve heard say it are one color or another. I hear it a lot on CTA. A news segment the other night was what prompted me to start the thread, when the news did a “man on the street” interview and he said it a couple times. Since it was in regards to neighborhood violence, I wondered whether the language could be part of a cognitive dissonance between being beholden to a neighborhood where one “stays” versus a neighborhood where one “lives.” But if it’s common enough, maybe there isn’t any dissonance between the uses. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/24 "2016-10-19T06:13:33Z")
Cleveland here, never heard “stay”. But a week ago I was at a bar and chatting idly about sports with the guy sitting a few stools down, and the bartender. The guy turns to me and says, “What’s your home base, mate?” Taken aback somewhat, I figured he was asking about what bar I usually frequented. I managed to stammer, “The Harry Buffalo”. He is probably telling a story about me right now. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/25 "2016-10-19T06:30:42Z")
Alabama. In my experience, I’ve only heard this phrase used by African Americans. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/26 "2016-10-19T09:20:39Z")
I’m African American and I’ve never used that phrase (nor have I heard it from another Black person), but I’ve heard it from people from India. I’ve assumed it was an Indian English thing. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/27 "2016-10-19T10:23:54Z")
I’ve only heard people who were down on their luck and didn’t currently have a fixed address say that. They’re staying with family X or friend Y until they’ve worn out their welcome and have to find someone else to crash with for a while. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/28 "2016-10-21T02:18:40Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I agree. I’ve heard this expression in the South among African Americans for 40+ years. Usually phrased as, “Where you stay?” Or phrased as, “Where you stay _at_?” Many folks use it (colloquially) where I stay here in the hot, humid, southeast. After being heard for 40+ years, it’s made its way into my phrasebook, too; I’ll toss it out occasionally. No one skips a beat to answer, either. It’s a well-understood term. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/29 "2016-10-21T04:18:27Z")
I stay to play and go for dough. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/30 "2016-10-23T00:43:59Z")
Georgia Girl here, born & raised. Heard it all my life, coming from African Americans in my little South Georgia town. That particular one wasn’t something my family adopted, but we knew exactly what was being said. And we didn’t think anything about it, it was just a manner of speaking. There were, however, other words and phrases that were common among everyone of our region that I have to be careful not to use when I travel because people look at me like I am 'flicted. That’s one of them, btw. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/31 "2016-10-23T05:28:46Z")
Previous thread about this, from 2013. > **[AAVE question](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=677269)** > > The thread that shall not be mentioned got me thinking about a question I have had for a while. I have noticed the following many times: Me, white person: where do you live? Black person: I stay on the east side OR I stay in Nashville. Now, not... ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/32 "2016-10-25T02:57:56Z")
Michigan here. “Where do you stay” is black, and has been at least since 1989 when I heard it for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930/33 "2016-10-25T03:21:02Z")
Full time RV’r here. There are more and more of us these days. Where do you stay is common. We don’t live anywhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stay-where-do-you-live/768930.md?page=1)