Who calls California Cali?

[jsc1953]

@Jayrot

I think it’s likely dependent on socio-economic class and people, like you, who’ve never heard it, just extrapolate out to the rest of the population.

It might very well be…

Don’t call it Frisco

(Note that Notorious B.I.G. calls the city “Frisco” and the state “Cali” in the same song, so the source is immediately disreputable.)

[Troy_McClure_SF]

@jsc1953

San Ho? I’ve never heard that in my life, and I’ve never lived more than 50 miles from said metropolis.

Santa Barbara…I don’t think has ever come up in any conversation.

I’ve heard “San Ho” plenty of times. Not so much in regular usage, but it’s out there. It’s what the kids are calling it before you shoo them off your lawn.

Santa Barbara… who talks about Santa Barbara?

[interface2x]

@Bearflag70

I was quickly and sternly told, with appropriately placed F-bombs, that the freeway is called “MOPAC” and NO highway anywhere outside of southern California is called “THE anything.”

Not necessarily. In Chicago, all of the highways are called by “The _____”, but none of them are referred to by their numbers (which is irritating if you’re new to the area). There is the Eisenhower, the Edens, the Dan Ryan, the North-South tollway, etc.

[jsc1953]

@Troy McClure SF

I’ve heard “San Ho” plenty of times. Not so much in regular usage, but it’s out there. It’s what the kids are calling it before you shoo them off your lawn.

Damn punks! Kids these days, with their “San Ho’s”, and their “Friscos”…

I fear that in attempting to generalize about slang, all I’ve done is reveal my age. Sigh.

[jsc1953]

@interface2x

Not necessarily. In Chicago, all of the highways are called by “The _____”, but none of them are referred to by their numbers (which is irritating if you’re new to the area). There is the Eisenhower, the Edens, the Dan Ryan, the North-South tollway, etc.

I think named freeways are a special case. Even in Northern California, which sneers at “The 101” – we either call it “101”, or “The Bayshore”.

[brad_d]

@Kalhoun

Do other cities incorporate their surrounding towns into a “Land”?

Greater Los Angeles gets in on this, sometimes being referred to as “The Southland”. I didn’t grow up here, and still find that term rather grandiose.

It’s rare that I encounter someone using the term “Cali,” but when I do it’s invariably someone who has never lived here.

[levdrakon]

@Jayrot

Fully agree on the Cali issue, but there’s another one that not so clear (at least to me) – I was told by someone at one point that, just like “Cali” no one actually from San Francisco would ever refer to it as “Frisco”. However, that’s just not true in my experience.

At least in my circles:

San Francsico – Frisco, or San Fran, or possibly SF.

I have to assume your circle of friends consists mainly of recently transplanted northern Minnesotans. No one with even a single cool gene in their DNA says “Frisco.” Occasionally it’s “SF,” but that seems more like the written abbreviation. I’ve heard “San Fran,” but it’s usually tourists who are slightly cooler than the tourists who say “Frisco.”

Mostly I just call it “The City,” and everyone in my circle does the same. I suppose that’s just for people who live within one hundred miles or so of it. Otherwise, I’d just say “San Francisco.”

[silenus]

@brad_d

Greater Los Angeles gets in on this, sometimes being referred to as “The Southland”. I didn’t grow up here, and still find that term rather grandiose.

Hah! I’ll see your “Southland” and raise you “The Inland Empire.”

[Bearflag70]

@interface2x

Not necessarily. In Chicago, all of the highways are called by “The _____”, but none of them are referred to by their numbers (which is irritating if you’re new to the area). There is the Eisenhower, the Edens, the Dan Ryan, the North-South tollway, etc.

I think that retort would have gotten me a bottle of Lone Star smashed across my head… because nobody would smash a bottle of Shiner Bock.

Also, with respect to exit numbers, my understanding is that California is one of the few states without them.

[Rigamarole]

@jsc1953

You’re obviously traveling in the wrong circles…being a southlander, and all…

Nobody from around here calls it “Frisco”. Nobody. It’s a sin, that will get you banished to San Bernardino for eternity. San Fran…maybe. Occasionally.

I don’t know. I had a roommate (here in L.A.) who was from SF and he indeed referred to it as Frisco.

But then again, he was a bit of an L.A. wannabe anyway, hence his presence here.

[Johnny_L.A]

@Jennshark

and “The Orange Curtain”

Ahhh… Reagan Country.

[silenus]

@Bearflag70

Also, with respect to exit numbers, my understanding is that California is one of the few states without them.

We have them, we just don’t use them.

[Bearflag70]

@Jennshark

I heard and used “SoCal,” “NoCal,” and “The Orange Curtain” all the time when I was a Californian. I haven’t heard anyone who hasn’t lived in California use these terms . . . out-of-staters are unaware of the fact that California is actually three distinct cultural states.

I think it’s NorCal, not NoCal.

Also, 3 cultural states? What is a “cultural state”? How about these oversimplified broad brush strokes:

North Coast (granola / pot / forest & fishing & nature interests)

Bay Area (big city rich liberal types)

Central Coast (affluent wealty suburban laid back yet conservative atmosphere with some agrarian and wine interests)

LA Area (very diverse intersts and enthnicities, hard to define)

OC (business oriented white conservaties but seemingly changing as latino influence grows)

San Diego / South Coast (generally conservative laid back beach oriented and less ethnically diverse than LA)

Central Valley (agrarian oriented conservatives with a mishmash of suburban interests)

Shasta / Sierras (conservative mountain folks with logging mining and some nature interests)

Inland Empire (suburban single family home types with less wealth than the coastal areas)

Desert (no idea but seemingly turning into one huge suburb from Pomona to Arizona)

[Jayrot]

See, several of you are telling me that NOBODY calls it Frisco, but I’m telling you that more than a few people I know do so. Am I lying, or what?

Forget about Biggie for the moment. Is anyone gonna claim that RBL Posse isn’t OG SF, perhaps they’re tragically un-cool?

Sorry for the extended hijack, but I feel it’s fairly related. And I agree that no one here calls it “Cali”.

[Suburban_Plankton]

@Bearflag70

Also, with respect to exit numbers, my understanding is that California is one of the few states without them.

Have you not driven on the freeway lately? They started putting them up about 10 or 12 months ago, IIRC. Though I have yet to see anyone or anything that actually refers to an exit number.

@jayrot

See, several of you are telling me that NOBODY calls it Frisco, but I’m telling you that more than a few people I know do so. Am I lying, or what?

No you’re not lying. You just know some weird people. We recommend getting new friends immediately.

[straykat23]

This is kinda’ in the same vein.

I never heard the CHP (California Highway Patrol) called CHIPS until that unfortunate TV series was unleashed upon the public. I still don’t hear anyone call it CHIPS.

Have heard very few people refer to San Francisco (I usually call it The City) as Frisco other than Navy types on shore leave, but that’s another story.

In Northern California we often refer to anything south of - oh, let’s say, Big Sur, as ‘down south.’ This is guaranteed to confuse non-natives and is fun doing so.

[silenus]

Chips - no. Chippies - yes.

[BraheSilver]

The only thing that “Frisco” works with is “Frisco Burger,” which is a patty melt on sourdough. I have never heard anyone who was raised in California call it “Cali.”

Likewise, no one who lives in Orange County calls it “the O.C.,” unless they are radio personalities trying to attract the LA and SD markets.

[Hostile_Dialect]

Does anyone in California call Orange County “the OC”? People outside of CA seem big on that, and think that the most exciting thing someone in San Diego could do is go to “the OC”. :rolleyes:

@BraheSilver

Likewise, no one who lives in Orange County calls it “the O.C.,” unless they are radio personalities trying to attract the LA and SD markets.

Ah, you beat me. FTR, I’ve never heard of anyone in San Diego calling Orange County “the OC”. I would remember, becuase I’d feel an intense compulsion to beat them silly with a sack of oranges.

[Ender_Will]

I’ve lived my whole life in California and, with one exception, have never heard anyone from here seriously use “Cali” or “the OC.” I hear it in a joking manner all the time, but always in a situation where either a) whoever is listening to the speaker knows that it’s joke, or b) the speaker is trying to convince someone who either just moved here or is on vacation that we actually talk like that, for amusement later as the newcomer tries to shorten everything.

As for the one exception, my GF has taken to shorting everything these days: Cali, Flops (flip-flops/sandals), and a few other things which my mind has blanked out in an attempt to keep my sanity. She claims that she’s always done this, and so does everyone else. I claim she is insane, as is evidenced by her decision to go to school in Maine next year. Speaking of Maine, she has actually increased her frequency of pointless shortenings, so she can “rep Cali.” I have tried to prevent this by refusing to acknowledge pointlessly butchered words as valid English*, and threating to steal any documentation saying she is from California.
*sample exchange
GF: Ender, can you grab my flops and fris?
Ender: Can I grab your what and what?
GF: No, my flops and the fris?
Ender: I have no idea what you’re talking about, babe…
(repeat a random number of times, until she either asks for her sandals and the frisbee, whereupon I get them, or she gives up and gets them herself. Then I get yelled at and don’t have sex. I feel that’s a sacrifice that must be made, however, to protect the reputation of our fair state)