Who calls California Cali?

[Johnny_L.A]

@Ender_Will

I have tried to prevent this by refusing to acknowledge pointlessly butchered words…

‘Kali? What does the Devourer of Time have to do with anything? Shall I be Shiva?’

[jsc1953]

@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?

Untwist your knickers…after reading the article I linked to in post #41, I can see that apparently things have changed, and you’re right.

[dangermom]

@straykat23

This is kinda’ in the same vein.

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.

Hah. YOU’RE down south. So there.

I’ve never heard anyone call it Frisco, ew. When I lived down there, it was either San Francisco or the city.

And surely nobody ever said “the OC” until the TV show started? It’s just a made-up term, isn’t it?

[Beware_of_Doug]

Frisco, until 1980, was a railroad.

No-Cal, introduced in 1952, was the first sugar-free soft drink. Perhaps not surprisingly, it originated in Brooklyn, the birthplace of Sweet 'n Low.

[deadeyesdad]

Well I was born in the 909 when it still was the 714. My friends on the west side think that anywhere east of the 110 or north of the 101 is dark demon land. The only people I hear say Frisco are Rome and the clones. Did I mention that the Giants suck. Callie is what we call our daughters not the state we live in. I love the weather in the 619 but my business forces me to live in 661(not that anyone here calls it that).

[DrDeth]

Never heard “Cali” for California. “Cal” yes- and even “NorCal”.

Freeways are called with “the” in front of the number up here too- just not as much. I do hear “the 101” and The 280" from natives, but when they do it, it’s “the 101” the “the” amost subvocalized. But it’s there, about half the time. In SoCal, you’ll hear “The(“thee”)101”

SF had a weird conceit- dudes there don’t call it by ANY name, just “the City”(even the Newspapers do it, really- all the fucking time). :rolleyes: Which since it has significantly dwindled in size rankings and importance is a little sad and pathetic- like J.Alfred saying:“I’ll wear my trousers rolled”. However, those that don’t say “the city” sometimes do say “eeSeF” or “'frisco” or even “San Fran”. Hardly anyone sez “San Francisco”.

[KGS]

@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.

Nobody, but nobody, calls L.A. “The Southland” – except TV news reporters.

“Inland Empire” is a bit more commonplace. “The O.C.” is gradually catching on, thanks to that TV show…the term didn’t exist before then.

[capybara]

I lived in S.B. for several years and I’ve never heard it called anything but Santa Barbara orally, while it’s frequently SB in writing. Does anyone say “SD” for San Diego?
Not a native, but as far as I can tell, “Cal” is the university in Berkeley. The city west of Berkeley and Oakland, when not called San Francisco, is “the city” or referred to by neighborhoods (“I work in the Mission” or “I was trying to park in the lower Haight” means something to anyone within 100 miles, it seems). Frisco is a word your mom in Iowa uses to be hip. Cali is a word your brother in Iowa uses to be hip.

[Cartooniverse]

Never. I have been known to call San Francisco “Frisco”.

I remember the first time I did it, too.

The Orthopedic surgeon said he’d never seen a pelvic fracture quite that fragmented.

Now, about Chicagoland. If it’s abhorrent then why, when I travel to Chicago, do I see it in print and on the t.v., used in advertisements routinely? Are all of the Chicago based ad execs transplants from Ocala or something?

[Cartooniverse]

@Ender_Will

(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)

Duuuuude. You are awesome, to make the ultimate sacrifice for the cause.

Whoa.

[Ender_Will]

@Cartooniverse

Duuuuude. You are awesome, to make the ultimate sacrifice for the cause.

Whoa.

I thank you. I’ll let you know what my PayPal account is if you’d like to contribute to the cause

[D.E.S.K.Top668]

I wasn’t born and raised in SoCal, but I lived there from age 16 to age 29 and from age 33 to age 35 (39 now.) If I’m talking about a specific area of the state, I usually use SoCal or NorCal. I do however use the generic “Cali” if I’m talking about the entire state, rather then a specific area (for example, talking about the government of Cali or the high cost of living in Cali.)
My wife, who was born in the Antelope Vallley and raised there and in Ventura County, also uses Cali.

Peace - DESK

[Johnny_L.A]

@D.E.S.K.Top668

My wife, who was born in the Antelope Vallley and raised there and in Ventura County, also uses Cali.

Does she also say ‘Down Below’?

[D.E.S.K.Top668]

@Johnny L.A.

Does she also say ‘Down Below’?

No, I haven’t heard that one from her.
I’m scared to ask, but what area does that refer to?

• DESK

[Johnny_L.A]

@D.E.S.K.Top668

No, I haven’t heard that one from her.
I’m scared to ask, but what area does that refer to?

• DESK

‘Down below the mountains.’ Specifically, L.A.

[BMalion]

@Bearflag70

Nobody I know from California calls it “Cali”. I do hear people from California say “SoCal” and “NorCal”.

The “the” on freeways seems to apply everywhere south of the Tehachapi Mountains only.

I grew up in SoCal and never knew that the freeway “the” was a local regional quirk. I learned my lesson when I visited Austin, Texas. I got on the freeway there and saw signs designating that freeway as “Loop 1.” In a later conversation, I called that freeway “the 1.”

The conversational provebial needle screeched across the proverbial record. I thought I was going to be hung by the locals or escorted to the state line. 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.”

That happened to me when I moved back to Ohio, I would refer to the 77, or the 8, or the Batman (whoops, skip the last one), my friends teased me about it. Too bad, I’m sticking to my guns and I might just influence some kid here to start doing it.

[DrDeth]

As to “the 101”, I have asked a bunch of dudes here in SF and SJ to name three freeways. Of the 12 respondants, all but one used “the” at least once, and usually all three times. All have lived here over a decade, and 1/3 were native NoCal. All but the most recent SoCal imigrant did use a very soft “the”, and he said “the”(thee) on one of them.

So, sorry, it’s used by NorCalifornio’s also. Just not anywhere near as much emphasis.

[gigi]

I vaguely remember an Encyclopedia Brown from my early days where the mystery hinged on the fact that train conducters don’t use “Frisco”.

[sciurophobic]

@WordMan

**sciurophobic ** - what your post a reference to that? That line is used in the song…

Good catch. I was referencing the song.

[Troy_McClure_SF]

The Californai exit numbers started going up a few years ago… slowly. The first one I ever saw was #420 on 101, by SFO. I thought, “Damn, those were some determined stoners.”

Also, I don’t think any actual human has ever called that county where Disneyland is “The OC.” Arrested Development backs me up on that. (“The O. C. Disorder. / Don’t call it that.”)