Culture Shock

[AquaEyes]

I moved to Western New York (Buffalo, specifically) from Long Island. It might not seem like much of a move because it's still within the same state, but it was getting near as far as you can go and still be in the same state. Certain little things are different here than what I was used to before (like what to call carbonated non-alcoholic beverages), and there's a difference in mentality (not going into it, but there's a distinct "negativity" about downstate up here) and economics. I'm just wondering who else here has some interesting tidbits to share about moving to a new place and some of the funky different things you encountered. This could be from moving a large distance away, or simply moving from city to country or vice versa. There are a lot of people here on BYC, so please be aware that what one person finds "strange" another may find "normal." Everything is relative to personal experience, but I thought there could be some funny stories to share.

ETA -- OK, to get the ball rolling, I was once told that someone brought in home-made "pigs-in-blankets" for us to eat after our shift (I work in a restaurant). I thought "great, little hot-dogs wrapped in crescent rolls...no thanks." What I saw was a dish of cabbage-wrapped uncased-sausage or meatball mix, served in a tomato sauce (still didn't eat it, though...). I was intrigued, and asked where the recipe originated. Apparently, it's a Polish thing (lots of people of Polish descent in Buffalo) with an Americanized name ("pigs-in-blankets"). When I described what I knew as "pigs-in-blankets" they said they never heard of hot-dogs wrapped in crescent rolls being called that. Interesting....ok, maybe that's boring....so add some of your own funny stories.

 

[SourRoses]

What about when we visited Maine...
It was too funny..
Going to Mcdonalds.. and they have lobster cakes on the menu!
Seafood everywhere... and the saying that kept confusing me.. "All kinds of", whatever it was.. Like if there were a hundred ducks, all the same kind of ducks.. they would say "Theres all kinds of ducks!". When really they only meant that there were lots of ducks.

It was too cute.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Wow, that almost makes me want to go to McDonalds!!!

 

[desertdarlene]

I moved from Michigan to California and it's completely different here. They don't even talk the same at all and the ones born in California don't even have a clue how people are in the rest of the country. For example, I know that soda means pop, but they had no clue that pop means soda. There were other examples that I can't think of right now. I also had a slight Ontarian accent for a small part of my vocabulary as I used to live in Detroit and my family is from Ontario and England and people here made fun of that, too. In Detroit, they would have never noticed.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
OOOH, accents....ok, here's one....tell me if you pronounce these names differently:

Don vs. Dawn

Aaron vs. Erin

Pauly vs. Polly


Where I am now, they're pronounced the same. Where I come from, there's an obvious difference....which I don't know if I can type but can certainly say.

 

[Matthew3590]

Is it bad that I don't say soft drink or pop or soda I just say coke? "hey which coke do you want?" or I will say "What types of coke do you have?"

 

[hikerchick]

When I first moved to PA from CT, my daughter and I went to a pizza place. We ordered, and then the girl behind the counter said "Do you want to pay awhile?" and I honestly had no idea what she was talking about. She meant to ask if we wanted to pay while we were waiting but she said it in PAish and I only spoke CTish.

Also, they have this way of saying that something "needs fixed" or "needs washed" instead of needs to be fixed or washed.

Another thing I found odd is that instead of saying something is "all gone", they simply say it's "all". Like, "my drink is all" to mean my cup is empty.

The other thing we noticed is that they mix up the words "leave" and "let". They "let a message" instead of leaving one; and they will say "leave him go" when they mean "let him go"

I am constantly worried that I am going to start talking like that

 

[Matthew3590]

Quote:
OOOH, accents....ok, here's one....tell me if you pronounce these names differently:

Don vs. Dawn

Aaron vs. Erin

Pauly vs. Polly


Where I am now, they're pronounced the same. Where I come from, there's an obvious difference....which I don't know if I can type but can certainly say.

I pronounce those all the same way.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
It's not bad, if you're referring only to one brand of cola. Where I'm from, someone asking "what kind of soda do you have?" could be answered by a cola, a lemon-lime, an orange, a grape, tonic, etc. Where I am now, they substitute "pop" in that question, and use "soda" to mean strictly "club soda."

I think it's fun to learn how people do things differently. It puts us all in perspective.

 

[Matthew3590]

Quote:
I just say it as in coke=soda=pop