Tell me you are from the East Coast

You take the subway to and from work.

I would tell you but I actually don't speak to flatlanders until they've been here at LEAST 5 years. And then only begrudgingly.

I stand on line at the grocery store to check out. Once upon a time, I used to stand on line to deposit my paycheck at the bank. There was no such thing as "online" when I started doing these things.

R2, your not back on the sauce are you?

You got to the hood, not the trailer park or suburban sprawl, to buy your drugs.

You are direct, speak plainly with an iconic accent and are not passive aggressive.

You are rude, speak with an awful accent and you are aggressive

You learned about Kwanzaa and got Jewish holidays off growing up. Although I realize this also an LA thing too.

You Jay walk because you ain't no bitch.

This weekend we’re going into the city.

You layer up during the winter and during the summer you don't dress like a beach bum.

I’ve got to get out of East Hampton.

Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise

NOT

Best Foods

r4, please don't give the impression that I ever was off it. But, if you were from Vermont my reply would make perfect sense.

Highways 🛣

NEVER

Freeways 🛣

You get a coffee and bagel from the deli or cornerstore not a fkin chain.

NORTH east -

Sneakers 👟

NOT

Tennis 🎾 Shoes

or

Running 🏃‍♀️ Shoes.

I have to run to the package store before they close.

A building built before 1950 is a common sight.

Flagging down a cab.

Stoop for Staircase

Not being sure if a person is white white.

[quote]Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise NOT Best Foods

Quaker Oats NOT Mother's Oats.

Not being sure Whoopi is

UGLY

UGLY

I hate to leave home because no one in the hinterlands knows how to make a decent pizza

[quote]This weekend we’re going into the city.

We're going down the shore!

CARAMEL

not carmel

R3 Standing "On Line" has been attributed to Ellis Island, when colored lines were painted on the floor. Immigrants were told to "stand on line." Most took up residence in New York and New Jersey, where the incorrect grammar has been passed to generations.

ARE- nge

NOT

OR-nge

[quote]when colored lines were painted on the floor.

Oh, yeah, I’m watching you, bub.

R10 Ha, I remember my elder relatives talking about the bridge and tunnel crowd.

Haaaaaaaaavaaaaaaarrrrd Yahhhhhhhhaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrdddddddd...

I get the LL Bean catalog in the mail

My town has a town square

It isn’t you, is it, r34?

Youse guys are something else.

The kitchen tap dispenses wooder that flows directly downy ocean.

Your house still uses heating oil in the winter.

You're inexplicably loud in all social interactions.

You, your parents, and half your high school alums have all had cancer from the industrial waste soaked into those watersheds.

I’m spending Spring Break in Florida

Edy’s not Dreyer’s

If you need to get to Stop & Shop, keep straight after the rotary then bang a left at the Cumby’s. You can’t miss it.

[quote]Youse guys are something else.

Fuhgeddaboutit.

Yeah, gimmie a bacon, egg, and cheese on a (your preference) bagel, and a regular coffee.

Toasted? Yeah.

C-Town, Fairway, Pathmark, need I say more?

Coffee and a buttered roll from the deli. Every morning.

A hard roll, r43? On which you might later have a pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich?

Mugged by our coloreds.

We're spending the weekend out on The Cape.

Friends are coming in from The Vineyard for a visit.

Going through the rite of passage from the neighborhood priest.

We're having beef on weck for Saturday night's party.

We're having Friday fish fry, of course. Da bar up at the Lanes has the best.

Goin' to the Market this weekend to get Polish sausage?

A bagel is not just round bread with a hole in it.

You are arrogant for no reason.

Bacon, egg, cheese on a bagel NOT a fkin breakfast burrito.

Combo ice scraper/snow brush lives in the car. Year round.

Italian icys. Kinishes. Jamaican beef patties.

I'm not from the east coast...

Oh, well, when you get to a fork in the road, take it, but you can't get there from here 🥴

Pass me the soda.

Cocaine, not Meth.

Never got a driver’s license.

Basements.

Does Florida count?

R60, only Miami, generally no. After Washington DC and Alexandria, that is no longer culturally the east coast.

SODA

not Soda Pop or Pop or Coke

I pronounce New Orleans

New Orleeens

R44- When I was a kid in the 1970's we called that a Kaiser Roll.

R63 And Floorida FLURIDAH, 😆

The question is about the East Coast generally, not New York or only the big cities. At least half of these responses are too localized. Most East Coasters live in the suburbs, say "in line", not "on line", drive to work, and buy our coffee at Starbucks, just like the rest of America.

On the other hand, we do use Hellman's, drink "sodas", drive on highways, not freeways and say "ahr-ange" not "ohr-ange" - also "flahr-ida", not "floh-rida".

I'm gonna go make a packie run, you want me to pick up some grinders for dinner?

Go down cellar and see how much oil is in the tank. If it's dipped below a quarter, I'll have to call to get more.

The mulignans ruined Waterbury.

Ruby Vine and Railroad Salvage

Caldor

Bradlees

Drought means you can only water your lawn at night and the home-grown corn won't be as good this year, not that sand dunes are drifting across the road and the taps yield only a rusty trickle. (In other words, it rains a lot here.)

We take the Acela.

[quote] I pronounce New Orleans: New Orleeens

So do people in Texas, though.

We drive 95. I-95 that is, and know where every rest stop between NY and DC are located.

^^^ "is" located. Because Easterners care about grammar.

Bodega

I grew up in a Colonial style house.

Subway series

And we refer to it as either "I-95" or "the Turnpike," depending on which state we're driving through, not "[italic]the[/italic] 95."

Pizza by the slice

You post on DL because you have no friends.

Parkways

Thruways

Expressways but NEVER

Freeways

We read books.

Greek run diners in the North. Waffle House in the South.

I'm heading to the shore.

Don't start with me.

Yeah, later, pal!

It's so hot today. Let's go to the snowball stand. I'm going to get either sky blue or egg custard.

No, r85, you're heading [bold]down[/bold] the shore.

Just like we head “up the Bronx,” never “up to the Bronx.”

"I'm going Down the Shore"

I NEVER say I'm driving up the coast.

R89 and R91, only in Philly. I never heard that expression until I moved here to the Land That Time Forgot.

All over North Jersey, too, r93.

The only takeout coffee I drink is Dunkin.

I got bugs. They were 7.99 a pound. We'll stuff 'em.

It's cool at night in July when I'm standing outside and I see all of those Fireflies.🦟

R93 - Us NYC types that frequent NJ beaches rather than the Hamilton’s also say “going down the shore.”

Do you have a loosie?

I think On the Border is authentic Tex Mex.

Merry Christmas to all of youze!

Lightning bugs, r97.

R102- Only in the South

Nuh-uh, r103. Lightning bugs were called lightning bugs in North Jersey.

- r102

L.L.Bean, or Black Dog?

Don't you call sprinkles "johnnies" or have I made that up?

Sprinkles are jimmies or shots.

There is not enough talk of gas, and oil costs! The sky is falling because it takes 60.00 to full a giant gas guzzling SUV and you're worried about the expense! Heating oil is also of paramount importance regarding cost and ability to function. Also almost only factor besides guns and taxes that influence voters.

CT almost elected a second rate used car salesman who convinced the idiots that he can and would lower gas prices!

Fortunately the neurologically stable side eeked by.

R104 - I grew up just north of NYC and I NEVER heard anyone call them anything but Fireflies 🦟.

it's wicked cold in the wintertime

turn on the tv to see if school is closed today.

It's 30 degrees today! Downright warm.

Having a shocking difficulty in identifying the states between Pennsylvania and California.

yep, RC - had to pull out my shorts because it's so balmy!

Gimme a cuppa cawffee

The money for the Schwann guy is on the buffet. Make sure we get our Raspberry Cordials this time!

I'm very busy today at the office I'm just gonna go downstairs and grab a couple a slices for lunch.🍕

"Dawn" and "Don" are pronounced differently.

NevAHDa, not NevADDa.

You pronounce "aunt" as "ont" and not "ant."

You constantly hear "oh, you're from Connecticut. That makes sense."

You've experienced all four seasons in one week.

You avoid I-95 if at all possible.

You know somebody who wrecked their car because they hit a deer while driving at night.

You took a school field trip to Plymouth, MA.

Ha!^^^

All of the TV stations I watch and radio stations I listen to start with the letter W

You're constantly bitching about how expensive everything is, but you know you could never live in another region of the US because the people are fucking troglodytes.

I'm from either the DC or Boston area and I " tell it like it is" and don't sugar coat anything. This translates to me being a sociopathic raging cunt with the mental development of a 15 year old and no empathy for others. What I see as fake nice is really just normal people capable of basic courtesy.

New Yorkers are kind of like this too but at least they're generally funny and good conversationalists.

You love the fact that unlike other regions of the US, on the East Coast, Bible-thumping MAGA types are openly mocked and told to go fuck themselves.

I love Scrapple (and Spam).

Goin downdashore!!

I say water as wooder when back in Philly

I popped into Wegmans this afternoon after I picked up my personalized license plates at the DMV. Heading to ABC now to do some holiday shopping.

You've pissed on the side of a building on St. Patrick's Day.

I feel superior to almost everyone.

You know hot pastrami should be served on rye bread not a fkin sub roll.

r8 My PNW elementary school covered Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. It was made clear to us that not every single human celebrated Christmas. We also had indoor plumbing and electricity even though the school wasn't in NYC or LA.

We drive fast.

You pronounce Tina Turner's name as "Teener Turnah."

I got a hoagie for lunch at the WaWa.

R136, that's nice dear. Why rain on our parade? Pun intended.

R139, oh yea Wawas.

I say both...going to the shore, or down the shore. Both are fine.

Georgia: So where are you two whores from?

Tiffany Welles: East

Georgia: Vegas?

Kelly Garrett: Farther East.

Georgia: Chicago?

Tiffany Welles: Is there something wrong with your brain? EAST, bitch!!!

Georgia: Calm your tits! I guess you two whores are from NY. FFS!

Imma get a hero to eat for lunch.

I'm getting a sub...

I’m getting a Hoagie!

Oh right...hoagies...lol.

Autocrat coffee syrup, Ah-So sauce, and leftover stuffed quahogs in the fridge.

Alternative Thread Title: [bold]Tell Me You're An Eldergay Who Does Not Know How To Play "Tell Me" And Is Wedded to Mid-20th Century Strereotypes Without Telling Me That You're An Eldergay Who Does Not Know How To Play "Tell Me" And Is Wedded to Mid-20th Century Strereotypes

From the link at r144:

[quote]you might blame huge heroes for Tony Soprano's notorious size and girth.

Actually, Tony—or perhaps Carmela—would have blamed huge sub sandwiches.

Asking two friends, respectively from southern Ohio and northern Kentucky, how they both seem familiar with the same local institutions.

(One lives in the Midwest and the other lives in the South!)

R106 The chocolate ones are jimmies, the rainbow ones are sprinkles. Don't get it twisted.

At 3 am at the 24-hour diner, you always call it "Taylor Ham" even if the Diner menu says "pork roll."

You have an EzPass thingy stuck to the inside of your windshield or say "Fuck it! Let 'em bill me!" Although, I was in South Jersey a couple months ago for a conference in AC. The very southern tolls still take coins so I had a baggie of quarters, dimes and nickels. They came in handy!

As a kid, this was my job; to count out exact change and hand it to my Mom (who would do a recount to make sure my math was correct. Which it always was.)

I'm Nags Head/Hatteras and if Miami can be considered East Coast, I certainly can.

We own passports and are comfortable navigating unfamiliar airports.

Taking a trip means leaving the state, taking a vacation means leaving the country.

We don’t think much about traveling outside a 20-mile radius of where we were born.

[quote] I grew up just north of NYC and I NEVER heard anyone call them anything but Fireflies

Long Islander here and we knew them as lightning bugs.

R156, I think it might be a generational thing. I know them as lightning bugs too though I have never seen lightning bugs in NYC.

Even them bugs ain’t risking getting mugged!

I grew up going out to eat at the local diner.

Swimsuits, not swim trunks

Sloppy Joe is a sandwich with either turkey, roast beef or ham made with cole slaw and Russian dressing. it’s ALSO the other kind of Sloppy Joe — a sandwich made with hot spicy hamburger meat kind of mash. You know by the context which kind of Sloppy Joe you’re getting.

If you’re going to church, it’s likely Catholic or Protestant — not evangelical.

Stuffing in the Turkey NOT Dressing

I buy my liquor at the package store.

^ R161 Saying "dressing" seems so pretentious.

Mischief Night

You call fizzy flavored soft drinks soda. Not "pop" like some dork from Squaresville, Nebraska, and not "coke" like some inbred redneck, unless it's actually Coca-cola.

Slacks

Dungarees

My father used these words, not me

R163- I agree

I HATE the summer.

You drink from the bubblah and enjoy a coffee cabinet from time to time.

My mother kept her purse in her POCKETBOOK.

Why would I tell you I’m from the east coast when I’m from fucking Illinois!!!

When people say the East coast they mean the region between DC and Boston r60. The corridor where the Acela train runs.

And honestly "taking a train" is a big one. Pretty much anyone in this region of the country occasionally takes trains.

Outside of the East coast most Americans don't have a train as a normal part of life.

We don’t have Earthquakes Droughts, Mudslides or Wildfires but we do have HOT HUMID summers and cold 🥶 snowy winters.

Two very pretentious friends call it "the Bos-Wash Corridor," r172. I want to smash them with my Smithsonian and Public Garden mugs.

Sane r179. I’m an Illinois bitch

R174- I must correct you. It’s called BO- WASH not

Bos Wash

Correct THEM, r176. I'm just quoting.

I've noticed people from the west coast take "east coast" very literally and include places like Atlanta and Florida in the term. Yes, very technically, the east coast includes the south east, but culturally it is not part of the "east coast." Southerners would call what we think of as east coast as belonging to "Yankees," aka northerners. In parts of Florida the east coast would be thought of as "home" by most transplants, and they would not lump Florida in with places like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, especially if they originated from those areas.

We're getting a nor'easter Friday.

I'm relentlessly obsessed with being current or on trend (in everything, not just fashion).

Broadway, The Met,,,etc

I get a clam roll at McDonald's.

R179- Are we?

You don’t have a car, walk to work and the grocery store, and shake your head at city planners when you travel out of town and have to use an Uber even to get to a dollar store a mile away, due to no sidewalks or pedestrian overpasses or buses.

You feel a more personal connection to 9/11.

Mahther’s Vinyid

I bitch about everthing under the sun.

Yea but we know how to spell bitch.

We live in diversity and variety about which to bitch. Before having a riveting discussion about whether the ambiance at the Dollar Store or Super Wal-Mart is more agreeable, you’d have to first explain why anyone would go to such places in a world with internet shopping, home delivery and an endless variety of stores close by.

R159, damn -- do people out east normally take their burgers and fries with wine and cocktails?

You drive up to New Hampshire to buy booze and cigs because they're much cheaper up there.

You drive 40 minutes to the Res to get cigs/vapes/weed and gas because it's way cheaper.

My neighbors include both Jews and black people, and no one thinks twice about it.

"Let's go to the diner."

[quote] Yea but we know how to spell bitch.

We all do. B-I-T-C-H.

Somebody must be stuck in LA traffic. Fuck off beeyatch.

New Yorkers "ride the train." "The subway" is a series of tunnels connecting 471 stations on 21 routes..

CATHOLICS. EVERYWHERE.

Looks like we’re having some weather.

You understand alternate side of the street parking.

Shut the lights

OUR reservoirs are 1.6 percent below normal.

The supermarket you shop in has no alcohol at all. No beer. No wine. No hard liquor. Go out West and it’s surreal you can buy vodka and tequila in a Safeway.

(Rhode Island is my reference point - I know these laws vary by state, but they’re all archaic and restrictive compared to the free for all in California, Nevada, Hawaii, etc.).

R203- I live in New York State. We have the same odd law. Supermarkets and other foods stores are not allowed to sell Wine, Liquor etc. Connecticut has the same law as well.

I'm driving 3 miles just to buy ice cream. That's TOO far.

R203 That's one thing I do love about socal. You can get wine/liquor almost anywhere. Hell you can get hard liquor in many 7/11s.

I eat pizza with my hands and move briskly.

I don't "soften my message."

In winter you can regularly see me taking the dog out/running to the neighbors' in flip flops or slippers, shorts, a tank top and a wool poncho or hoodie. Yes, it is snowy and cold but it's only for a few minutes and I won't melt.

The liquor laws are bullshit. In CT you can only buy beer or wine in a liquor store, and they usually close by 8 or 9pm. Beer is sold in supermarkets. No alcohol can be sold in pharmacies, gas stations, convenience stores etc. There were no alcohol sales at all in CT on Sundays until just a few years ago.

Sorry, I meant to say that in CT you can only buy LIQUOR or wine in a liquor store (package store) and nowhere else. Only beer is sold in supermarkets.

When I order a 'regular' coffee it does not mean an average brand.

r212, my first trip to Boston, I ordered a coffee to go. When asked "what kind?" I'd been looking up at the sign and a price was listed for "regular," so that's what I ordered, thinking it meant "medium" or "normal" size. I spat out the first sip, right there on the Dunkin Donuts floor. Sickeningly sweet. And I'm allergic to milk.

Spent an hour in an upscale supermarket in Cambridge, MA, searching endlessly, looking for a bottle of Vodka to bring back to my hotel room. Finally asked someone who told me I had to go to what I heard was a park. It was FREEZING. Was wearing every article of clothing from my suitcase. Wasn't about to go the fucking park to buy booze. Ended up having $15 Martinis at the hotel bar. My boss was pissed when he saw my expense report but after a minute he realized the situation (which he'd encountered himself) and signed off - after telling everyone about it.

Big hard white cocks.

Aloha, I am from the east coast of Oahu, lovely Kailua.

I have two Publix grocery stores within a mile of my house.

I'm elegant and sophisticated and I hiss at fat people from the Midwest.

I have never been to a "tailgate", however I have been to many block parties and stoop sales.

Water fountain, not bubbler.

In NY and NJ you can get ONE liquor license. Each business must be separately owned. Anti-mob. So, only one Trader Joe’s and one Costco can sell wine and liquor. For some odd reason, anyone can sell beer. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I know that a snow shovel is actually a year-round tool. In the winter, you use it for shoveling snow and breaking up ice. In the spring, it’s great for shoveling mulch. In the summer, sand has met its match. In the fall, it is a perfect compliment to the rake when scooping leaves to put them in lawn & garden bags.

Snow is the poor man’s fertilizer. If it snows in May (yes, it’s happened!) it is really not all that bad.

Say Italian and I think, of course, of the Gabagool/Ellis Island Italians of New Jersey, New York, maybe Connecticut, Rhode Island, Philadelphia if feeling expansive - but never so expansive to include Italy.

While I would say that, in NJ, you need to find a liquor store, there's a Shop Rite in Morristown where the liquor store is in the middle of the main store. You can check out wine, beer, etc, along with your regular groceries. Although, you can't go through self-checkout without Stewie checking your ID and punching in an admin code. In other Shop Rites, at least in Morris County, there is a separate liquor store attached or very close to a Shop Rite food store.

R213, whenever I was traveling outside of NJ, I would Google liquor stores near my hotel. That way I could either walk to them from my hotel or pick something up on my way in.

r222 is posting from 1957. JFC what a time warp.

fuggetaboutit

Gocka Blocka

r222 still thinks "the Irish" have families of ten kids, are devout Catholics and go to church every five minutes.

What the fuck do YOU want?

I drink "sodah"

This seems appropriate.

I leave a chair in the parking space in front of my house.

In the summer youse guys can go down the shore.

OPM says two-hour delayed opening!

Dat’s da suck job!

"Which exit?"

"I saw Bruce at the Stone Pony back in the day."

"One Provolone, witout."

"Hillary shoulda come here, I'm tellin' yas."

R203, Pennsylvania only recently began selling beer and wine in our grocery stores. No hard liquor, though.

For that you have to go to "the State Store."

R198, Yeah, and be glad of it, pal! Maybe you want some Protestant pizza??

Bah Harbuh, you say ?

Every Chrstmas week included brunch at Tavern in the Green and tickets to the hottest show on Broadway with the whole family. .This was 90s to early 00s

(on) says R239, writing on a not free message site with no edit feature. How about that as a Christmas gift, Muriel?

I guess the above sentence also fits the criteria!

Not to mention Christmas!

Howard Johnson's Beans & Franks with Boston Brown Bread, and Fried Clam Dinners on Wednesday and Friday.

Damn alligator crossing the road, again.

[Quote]I drink "sodah"

R229 Some New Yorkers also drink "soder" or "soduh."

R222, "Ellis Island Italians???" What century are you posting from?

Yes, Italian-Americans exist in large numbers here and they have a distinct culture, but I think you're overstating their otherness in a way that shows your ignorance.

Do you pronounce it "EYE-talian?" I'll bet you do.

[quote]I have two Publix grocery stores within a mile of my house.

I've never even seen a Publix, nor am i planning on it

R245- EYE-talian is the way Archie Bunker pronounced it.

OMG Superstorm Sandy!! Whaaa!!

Medium regular iced

"Chau-dère? Chau-dère?"

Dammit!

You’re white, and you do NOT pronounce aunt as “ant.”

The correct word for sprinkles = jimmies. The correct word for liquor store or bodega = package store. etc., etc.

[quote]I've never even seen a Publix, nor am i planning on it

R246, aka "also on the East Coast" - I've never seen, said or done 80% of the things in this thread, and I've lived my entire life between DC and NY. Instead of being a thread of things that are characteristic of East generally (as opposed to the Midwest, South or West), this became a bunch of mostly working-class localisms, as though everyone on the East Coast came from a white urban rowhouse neighborhood.

r254 many of the things on this thread aren't specific to socioeconomic status. Package store, "ont" instead of "ant" etc...

I spent over a decade in Western New York with folk that had lived there for generations, and NOBODY in that area referred to carbonated drinks as "soda" (which was what I referred to it as, having grown up in Southern California) and looked at me strangely when I did.

It was "pop" - which I had never heard before in general conversation. I thought that was a term from the 50s or some lost decade. Nope, everyone referred to it (and still does when I go to visit) as "pop." Pronounced as "paap" with a longish "A" sound to it, not a short "O" sound.

Also, had to ask what "jimmies" were when I moved there. This is the word they use to refer to "sprinkles," regardless whether they are rainbow or chocolate.

[Quote][R104] - I grew up just north of NYC and I NEVER heard anyone call them anything but Fireflies 🦟.

We call the lightning bugs on Staten Island.

“Pop” is a Pittsburgh thing, Western NY, and maybe even Ontario. I don’t know exactly where the soda/pop line is in the middle of PA, but it’s soda in Philly. The closest I feel like I ever was to being in a Soviet shop was the state store in downtown Pittsburgh.

R255, true, but most are locality-specific. Almost no white people in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey or New York say "ont" instead of "ant" for "aunt". That's a New England thing.

If anything, Philadelphians with strong local accents distort the "a" in ant-for-aunt down to ee-unt. It's ugly AF.

It's a meatball hero.

Women carry pockabooks.

They are called lightning bugs.

We drink soda.

Upstate is where it all falls off, the cold gets to their brains or something.

Everybody knows NJ is Jersey and they want to be 'us'.

The guys from the mob live in Jersey and they call it 'down the shore'.

You don't say 'in' Long Island. You say 'on' Long Island.

Makes sens r256, Western New York (and Western PA) are more Midwestern than having anything to do with the Bos-Wash east coast corridor.

Western pennsy is a quagmire of graft and local media issues

I know $2800 a month might seem expensive for 96 sq ft, but we have a patio.

We (most of us, anyway) preserve the "marry"/"merry" distinction. You won't usually find us saying California-like things like: "I'm gitteen merried on Saturday."

Western PA is a blend of midwest and Appalachia in culture. Eastern PA is more influenced by New York and Philly which are true NE cultural centers. Once you get to Pittsburgh you might as well be in Ohio or W. Va. It's not east coast.

Since so many people on this thread are nostalgic for East Coast culture, check out this interview with Italian-American actress Lisa Ann Walter. Those of you who are Italian, or grew up around them, will recognize the East Coast Italian-American cultural references she and Jimmy make.

Also, I didn't know that Jimmy Kimmel is Italian.

Lisa Ann also pronounces aunt as "ant."

[quote]I'm gitteen merried on Saturday.

You mean Saderdee.

r267 those stories are funny, but I have to say they're specific to urban (Philly and outer borough NYC) working class Italian-Americans, and mostly Sicilian-Americans, if we're going to get technical. I'm from CT and grew up around tons of Italian-American families (80s and 90s) and I didn't recognize anything from the stories Lisa Walker told. The Italian families around me were 100% assimilated into the dominant American/New England culture.

So many people think of Italian Americans with New Jersey, but honestly the first thing I think is Indians. New Jersey has a much higher percentage of Indian people than any other state. It's such a visible culture presence in the state.

I’m from the East Coast. Next question….

[Quote]I'm from CT and grew up around tons of Italian-American families (80s and 90s) and I didn't recognize anything from the stories Lisa Walker told. The Italian families around me were 100% assimilated into the dominant American/New England culture.

R269 I'm kinda surprised to hear that, since I thought that type of Italian experience would've been as much in Connecticut as it is in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (at least in Boston and Providence). I do know that the Italians who settled in the Midwest and West Coast are very Americanized, and are sometimes annoyed by the East Coast Italian cultures when they move here. They don't relate to those experiences, and many of them don't want to, either. The East Coast Italians sometimes give them a hard time about that.

[quote] I do know that the Italians who settled in the Midwest and West Coast are very Americanized, and are sometimes annoyed by the East Coast Italian cultures when they move here.

R272, since we're talking about the East Coast, you can add DC to that list as well. The Washington area got very little of the ca. 1900 Italian/Eastern European immigration that came to cities further north. There were plenty of Irish and German immigrants earlier in the 19th c., but first big tide of immigrants after that were Asians and Salvadorans in the 1970s and '80s.

(I'm not counting the massive internal migration that brought a lot of middle-class, educated people from all over the country to DC in the 1930s and later.)

The very few Italians I knew growing up and spending my young adulthood in metro DC were second-generation or later and completely assimilated. While I don't know that they resented the Ital-Am stereotypes, they didn't identify with most of them. Except food. Where there are Italians, there will be food prejudices.

You talk Lockjaw like thingy, what's her name ... the one with the wobbly head.

Crabcakes during the summer.

State Store

Drakes Cakes vs. Tastycakes. Which are better?

Snowstorm heading my way tonight through Saturday morning.

R16- Also you get your Pizza from a local place not a SHITTY pizza chain like Dominoes.

FOUR distinct seasons but NO dry season.

R254, Maybe because, though Maryland down to Florida are part of "the East Coast," the demarcation Mason-Dixon Line, plus a little thing known above it as "the Civil War," makes those states "SOUTHERN" instead to most of us.

Fuhgeddaboutit.

R277, Neither. But TastyKakes rule!

Ha, r259! The "e-ant" is a peculiarity of closing the throat or something! I'm north of Philly a bit, and we don't say "man" like rhyming with "can." It's more like the "mayon" part of "mayonnaise."

Just me?

R283- Don't people with Philadelphia accents say WARER instead of water.

New York accent people say WAWTA

R283 - wooder

I’m wearing all black and I’m in a hurry

I have taste.

The Indian thing is REAL, especially in Central NJ. We're white and my son was the only non-Indian kid in hid pre-K class. This was around twelve years ago, and maybe they had just started public pre-K in our schools, so I assume those in the South Asian community told each other about the pre-K. My brother thought my son's class picture was funny as heck.

Yes, a lot of the things said here are more ethnic or working class than I experienced. (I'm from an over-educated but not successful family. Never enough money but plenty of snotty). I do agree with the wearing black and moving quickly. I think North Easterners work hard and most of us don't really like the cold, but we know we are privileged. We don't have to drive three miles for ice cream and we can easily get good pizza. My new neighbors are are Muslim, I believe the people at the end of our street are Polish or something (like, with accents), and the ones at the other end of the street are Filipino. Actually, the guy across from the Poles has a slight accent too. (We've had a lot of turnover here in the past few years).

I can easily get to New York City, Philadelphia, or even DC for a day trip. We can go antiquing in Pennsylvania and gawk at the Amish. We can go to the shore.

We’re headed to the shore on vacation. I’m really looking forward to that salt water taffy.

Geez Louise, r288 and r289! How many times....?!

It's "down the shore." You don't have to get all grammary just because you're writing!

Whole belly fried clams

Pahk your cah in Hahvud Yahd.

Ring Dings. Devil Dogs. Bagel Nosh. Tad’s Steaks. The Ramrod.

Taylor Ham

R257, Southwest Florida (except Cape Coral) is a colony of Ohio, Michigan, and Western Pennsylvania. Ergo, "lightning bugs"

Southeast Florida is New York's sixth borough. Thus, "fireflies".

The rest of Florida is completely random.

You are taught so much colonial history and take so many field trips that you start to believe your own ancestors came over on the Mayflower.

You can order a lobstah roll from McDonald's.

"We're having pwat roast fa suppah"

"Eeked out." LOL!

Is there a difference between the East Coast and the Eastern Seaboard?

^ Venn diagram it

You remember the Big Dig.

Stunods: it's "down the shore" and it's been posted 900 times already.

"We're headed to the shore for vacation." Well I'm sure everyone in Ohio will miss you.

R300, yes, one is a phrase normal people use and the other is something you might hear spoken in a cheesy movie from 40 years ago.

^seaboard is still in use all the time, but usually only in weather reporting/news.

R295 Why is Cape Coral an exception to the full of Midwesterners population? Is it because Madison Cawthorn is moving there so everyone left.

Happy Evacuation Day!

R305- No one EVER refers to the Western Seaboard

I took public transit in Souther CA last week. As I was the only middle class, middle aged white guy, I realized it’s an East Coast thing,

R306 Florida has two coasts. Cape Coral isn’t the East Coast of anything.

Besides if you’ve ever had the misfortune of going there, you’d know it’s best not to speak about it.

We hung out at Jones beach every summer weekend

Are you in LA r309?

It's definitely true that in LA public transportation is seen as something only poor people who can't afford a car would use. It's sad. The Bay area is better at least.

I can walk to the store from my house. Hell I can walk to 20 stores from my house, and restaurants, parks, doctor's offices, you name it. And of course there are sidewalks and pedestrian crosswalks every step of the way.

I got splinters in my cock from humping a log. He was more receptive than my Connecticut lovers ever were.

Aaaaaah, Jones beach. The source of my skin cancer.

I burned there many a time.

On the other hand I will never forget as a kid seeing all those corn on the cobs sitting in hot water and butter melting over them, ready for eating at Coney Island.

R309, in Philadelphia, the regional rail lines are full of white, middle-class people at rush hour and mostly empty the rest of the time.

Buses in Center City have a few white people, but in the rest of the city and all the suburbs, it's pretty much only black and Hispanic people on the buses. The subway (which is a joke) and stupid/quaint trolleys are also nearly all black.

Outside of Center City, just about everyone here who can afford a car has one and drives everywhere, just like the rest of America.

Hoping for a white Christmas.

R317, and usually being disappointed.

I should have said snowy Christmas. Please don't cancel me.

“Less than 3 percent (2.7 percent) of Americans walk to work. But more than 5 percent of workers do in New York City (5.9 percent), Honolulu (6.5 percent), and Boston (5.2 percent). An even larger share walks in smaller metros and college towns including Flagstaff, Arizona (9.7 percent); Iowa City, Iowa (8.7 percent); Jacksonville, North Carolina (8.6 percent); State College, Pennsylvania (8.5 percent); Corvallis, Oregon (7.6 percent); Ann Arbor, Michigan (7.5 percent); Ames, Iowa (7.1 percent); Lafayette, Indiana (6.4 percent); Burlington, Vermont (6.3 percent); and Bloomington, Indiana (6.1 percent).“

I’m in Alexandria, VA, and not in the old town area but a couple miles away. My office is in old town. But the sidewalks are attractive, tree-lined, some of them red brick. And there are bike paths everywhere, and the Washington Old Dominion trail.

I haven’t had a car since 2016, and I gave it up when my office moved to Alexandria from DC and it became possible to walk there.

Generally speaking, though, about 100 years ago public transit was very popular in this area. There was an amusement park called Luna Park that was at the end of a trolley line due to the large number of travelers on the trolley.

“I cannot tell you how much stress has been lifted, not having to worry about the car that’s going to pass me unsafely,” says Diane Bolton, who biked to the party with her 8-year-old son.

For decades, the twisting two-lane Beach Drive was a busy commuter thoroughfare for drivers heading into downtown D.C., handling some 8,000 cars a day. Now, says Bolton, the road is filled with people “cycling, walking, hiking, scooting, rollerblading, you name it.”

"I don't live in a state; I live in a Commonwealth."

I pay $50 in tolls to drive to Washington D.C.

My cooter is itchin real bad, y’all. I’m serious!

I don’t have a turdcutter knife in the bathroom

[quote] Medium regular iced

R249 Sweet or unsweet?

R326 a regular is cream and sugar in New England, you must be mid Atlantic, we don’t use that jargon up here…

Let's get some grinders after we do a packie run.

R327, as I recall, back in the days of coffee to go from New York delis and diners, a "coffee regular" was a coffee with a medium amount of cream added. If you wanted less or more cream, you asked for a "coffee dark" or "coffee light" ... or a "coffee black" for none at all.

The sugar other sweetener was added by the customer at a separate stand that had the usual packets, so the coffee that was handed to you was always unsweetened.

That was a long time ago, so maybe things have changed.

Delis and diners, oh my. Starbucks and street carts killed that end of the coffee business a long time ago.

R330, You should have worked a wee bit more on the end of your second sentence, because your post is poetry to "that."

[quote]Delis and diners, oh my. Starbucks and street carts killed that end of the coffee business a long time ago.

Don't tell the Eldergays that, they're still living in 1987.

“White sauce, hot sauce??”

Leef peepers

Wrap (coat)

Pocketbook (purse)

Cellar (basement)

Frappe (milkshake)

Tonic (soda)

R331. ? Clarify that ?

I love pizza

R335- Hoagie, Grinder (Submarine Sandwich)

Cellar and basement are both used in Mass. Basement means the larger portion is above grade/street level, and cellar means the larger portion is below grade/street level.

I graduated with an advanced Regents.

Do whoopie pies count? I don't remember seeing them in California.

I like Mallomars.

I won’t tell you I’m from the East Coast, but my time zone is 3 hours ahead of the West Coast. Plus I can go see a Broadway show anytime I want on Broadway.

are they the same as Leif Peepers? lol

The true East Coaster secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding..

I'm white and listened to hip hop in the 80s.

R336, Read the sentence up to the word "that." The s, d, and c/k alliteration is poetry! The writer should have tweaked the rest of the sentence to follow suit. Move the word "coffee," e.g. Change "end of the" to "conclusion," e.g.

“Uh huh” instead of “you’re welcome.”

Blank stare instead of “thank you”.

My "ONT"

Not m="my ANT."

You scrape the remnants of your dinner directly off the plate onto the kitchen floor so your two dogs can have a little treat. Even when Richard Blumenthal and Susan Bysiewicz are your dinner guests.

Richard and Susan are lovely people.

You know that former CT governor John Rowland was an abusive alcoholic, and his wife Patty Rowland was routinely rushed to the ER at Hartford Hospital after John's drunken beatings regularly in the 1990s.

Pizza places are EVERYWHERE

R350, Yankee here. In my area* we say "Ant." "Awnt" is terribly pretentious!

Eastern PA to Bayonne, NJ.

I commute into the CITY by train.

"You call that a bagel?!"

"Don't book a cruise for during hurricane season."

"The original 'Law and Order' was the best."

"They predict a Nor'easter this weekend."

"I coulda gone to Woodstock."

"AC ain't what it used ta be."

AHNT is New England. ANT is everywhere else in the northeast.

We were perplexed as to what to call my mother's sister when she moved from Montclair to Darien.

I drive a hundred miles a week.

R357, you need not have been perplexed. The polite way to say "aunt" outside New England is with a slightly broadened "a", the same "a" that a well-bred person uses in "can't" - similar to the "a" in "cat" but slightly elongated because of the nasal "n". It's definitely not "ahnt", but it's also definitely not "ee-ant".

Given that Darien is in the New York orbit, I think this pronunciation would be perfectly acceptable and probably what most Darienians would say anyway.

West Hartford however is in the “ont” and Red Sox New Englandy part of Connecticut.

Pronouncing "aunt" as "ont" is the British English pronunciation. It makes sense that New Englanders say "ont" because New England still has strong traces of British culture.

That pronunciation for aunt is by no means limited to NE. It is the standard pronunciation in Black America…and it is the first or “correct” dictionary pronunciation.

How to pronounce "aunt":

Isn't "ONT" also prevalent in the South? I think that's how it entered AAVE. It also supports R361 because British culture also strongly influenced the Southern U.S. The east coast areas between the South and New England, namely the Midd-Atlantic states and New York, saw more and larger waves of immigration that diluted the British influence on language for those dialects.

R60 R61 except Wellington and Ocala, equestrian folks from the NE migrate to FL every December and leave in April, because it’s their job to follow the circuit. There are many east coast equestrians that migrate with the circuit since more than 50 years. These people are a fixture . They have cute NY/ Pennsylvania accents too. Some only go as far south as Aiken because they don’t want to go to Floriduh but they won’t get enough points. Regardless, people are annoying for boycotting the only state that makes America a boy.

R364-The pronunciation of words with people who are from New York City/ New Jersey Area are similar to the British pronunciation with words like Orange, Forest and Horrible and the Mary, merry, marry .

R364. I never said it it AAVE. It was and is standard English! If anything, “ant” is White Appalachian vernacular that spread West. NEers and Blacks were already prnuncjng the word correctly.

This ahh-range is haa-rrible!

R367, I have never heard a white person from the mid-Atlantic or NY area say "ahnt". This is New England English. I realize many New Englanders have an exaggerated sense of their own region's importance and superiority, but that doesn't change the prevalence, or lack thereof, of their quirks of pronunciation.

It's ONT because if we called one of our older relatives a fkin insect we'd be beat.

R369, as a Northern Virginian with family to the north- Upstate New York/rural PA - I say “AhNT - the “h” is barely there but there’s a subtle difference between the relative and the little insect. I grew up hearing it pronounced every which way. Come to think of it I actually say it differently ways when talking about different aunts. AhNT Marcia but Ant Patty.

[quote]I never said it was AAVE.

I never said you did. I said that, and it's based on my observations living in a Mid-Atlantic city with a large AA population. Nearly all of my black friends say "ONT" while every white and non-black person I know says "ANT." I'm also not disputing that it's standard English because AAVE is also standard English.

Really, r370?

It's currently snowing.

[quote]No, [R85], you're heading down the shore.

Or "dayny ayshun."

Yep r374. Getting a little snow right now in Hudson county Jersey.

I love East Coast culture, but there are two things I'd not like:

1. The restrictions on liquor sales.

2. Not learning how to drive when a teenager.

[quote]Not learning how to drive when a teenager.

You get your license at 16 or 17 everywhere except NYC.

I'm starting an on the phone therapy session with a psychologist at 3pm. I found her on Psychology Today. This is my first session with her. I'm nervous.

R377 = Drunk 15-year-old, on a tractor somewhere in Iowa.

R378, yup, and in the suburbs, where the great majority of Easterners live, people learn to drive and get their licenses as soon as they can, just like everywhere else. The entire East Coast - even as eccentrically defined by the DL - is not composed of gritty urban neighborhoods, or rich, sophisticated urban neighborhoods, or any other kind of urban neighborhood.

It's 11 degrees fahrenheit outside right now.

No earthquakes or mudslides, though!

You cannot live anywhere on the East Coast without a car except for NYC. Even in Boston you'll be very limited if you don't have access to a car. In the suburbs, you will be totally dependent on others to get you from one place to another.

35% of people in Boston and 31% of people in Cambridge don't own a car.

I swear, some people just have a hard time imagining that other people survive without a car.

I’m the bitch from East Hampton

r385 they survive but they're limited in where they can travel, even within the Boston corridor.

[quote]35% of people in Boston and 31% of people in Cambridge don't own a car.

Wow do you think maybe that could be college students?

In CT the only people who don't have a car are broke-ass poors.

There are a lot of college towns r388, there is a reason Boston and Cambridge have a lower percentage of car owners than most of America. There are a significant number of people who live without a car there.

Yes, we all know that r390.

Oversized cashmere sweaters with holes in the elbows. From Grandfather’s closet.

"Ugh, I had to actually close my bedroom window"

'Power's been out for days, no heat but it's ok, I have, cumulatively, 400 pounds of dog tog to keep us warm'

Never heard the expression "dog tog" in 73 years on the East Coast.

The traffic is awful on the Expressway this morning.

Only rubes and flyover tourists ask for a fresh bagel to be toasted. No self-respecting NYer, nor any Jew anywhere, toasts bagel that’s less than a couple of days old.

My pussy hurts!

ha r395, I have no idea what happened there

Enjoying a refreshing bottle of Moxie in the summer.

I just come from the city.

Gravy, not sauce.

I've never heard any Italian-Americans call sauce "gravy." That's more of a lower-class NYC outer boroughs thing.

R403- One or some of the characters on The Sopranos referred to tomato/pasta sauce as gravy or maybe that was in the movie Goodfellas.

R403, Italian-Americans in Philly supposedly call red pasta sauce "gravy" or "Sunday gravy", but I have never heard anyone actually say this except jokingly. I think it's something people used to say until it became a famous stereotype - just Canadians don't say "eh" nearly as much as they used to, for the same reason (or so I'm told).

Never heard "gravy," either.

Incredible how many responders didn't understand the simple assignment. For example, "You are rude, speak with an awful accent and you are aggressive" should have been "I am rude, speak with an awful accent, and I am aggressive." First person, folks!

[quote]Enjoying a refreshing bottle of Moxie in the summer.

Moxie is super strange to my Southern taste buds. I had some on a trip to Maine back in 2004—like pennies and carbonated water.

I'm 29, and I don't know how to drive.

R384, I'd like to introduce you to the entire city of Philadelphia.

[quote]You cannot live anywhere on the East Coast without a car except for NYC. Even in Boston you'll be very limited if you don't have access to a car.

That is absolutely untrue of Boston. Why the hell did you pick that city as an example? Are you an idiot or a troll? Or both?

I assume that poster lives out in the burbs of the Boston area and is considering that Boston. Living in Boston/Cambridge without a car is easy and many people do

Other places on the east coast are of course DC where many people don't own a car, and if you live around center city in Philly many people don't own a car.

You definitely are limited in Boston and Philly if you don't have a car. They're better than most American cities in terms of public transportation but it's still preferable to have a car.

R413, I can only speak to Boston. Within the city itself, you are not "limited" at all if you don't have a car, because first of all, Boston is one of the smallest of the major cities in area, and secondly, the public transportation system is excellent.

You seem to have no idea what you're talking about. Unless you're referring to using the trunk of a car to transport groceries, etc., but of course, that's true of every locale in the world.

r414 I've been a frequent visitor to Boston for my whole life, and had a couple long-term work assignments there. It is definitely not as convenient as NYC without a car.

I can't imagine wanting a car to complete daily errands around Boston. Worrying about traffic and parking would be way more annoying than just walking or taking public transportation to where you are going. Like r414 said, Boston is not big. Many people in this country are just addicted to having a car.

It's not about getting around Boston, it's about traveling outside Boston. Running errands outside the city, etc.

I mean that's always going to be true. If you want to take trips outside of NY then the great public transportation doesn't mean much. You can rent a car for weekend vacations though, needing a car is more about can you complete daily life without one

[quote]It's not about getting around Boston, it's about traveling outside Boston. Running errands outside the city, etc.

But THAT'S NOT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. I don't mean to be harsh, but are you a person of extremely low intelligence, and/or do you have a severe reading disability?

r419 I'm just saying that it's easier to get around Boston if you have a car. The damn train shuts down at midnight FFS. If you're at a party or somewhere late at night it's much easier to drive home. It's not NYC where the subway runs 24/7.

R420, you have a point about the relatively early closure of the T in Boston, but I wonder why you didn't mention that earlier. On the other hand, I know a lot of people in NYC, myself included, who would definitely avoid taking the subway after midnight anyway.

Boston could hardly justify a 24 hour subway given how early that city shuts down, the nightlife is surprisingly disappointing there.

Yeah the NY subway runs 24 hours, but honestly leaving the bars if people didn't go out within walking distance of their apartment they Uber/cab home. Boston is tiny, if it isn't within walking distance it will be a short Uber.

Exactly, R422. I hope all of this shuts up the bozo who keeps INSISTING that you need a car to live in Boston.

I'm not insisting, just that living in Boston is so much easier with a car. When I left a party in Cambridge at 2am, it was easier to drive back to Beacon Hill instead of cabbing it or Uber. And if I wanted to go shopping in Newton or elsewhere a car was much more convenient. Boston isn't like NY where you have grocery stores and bodegas all over the place just for your basic shopping needs.

Sorry you broke-ass bitches are getting so butthurt. Of course you probably never leave your ghetto neighborhood anyway.

I would not be proud about driving home after a party at 2am rather than taking a 12 dollar Uber, but you do you love. We get it, you don't want to ever be separated from your car. Many people in America are like that, do you want a cookie?

The vaginations exuding from r424's typing fingers—probably his two index fingers—lead me to believe he probably has no friends in real life, either.

I'd rather have a drink, but of course you're smug sense of superiority will find fault with that r425.

r426 there are plenty of people who have my friendship, but thanks for your concern.

You are being ridiculous, R424 etc. Of course, no matter WHERE anyone lives, it's more convenient to have a car if one makes a lot of trips outside the city or late night (or early morning) trips within the city, but again, I do not think that sort of thing is what the rest of us were talking about.

And also, unless one has a garage in NYC, the convenience of having a car available at all times is outweighed by the problems one usually has in trying to park the thing on the street.

YOUR smug sense of superiority. JFC.

NYC is a whole different animal when it comes to having a car. #1 parking is a nightmare, and #2 you don't have occasion to regularly leave the city like you do if you live in Boston. When I was in Boston/Cambridge I was going out of town constantly. You have the Cape and Provincetown so close by.

Well first off get out of my fucking lane, and maybe I’ll lay off the horn!

My niece and her boyfriend live in Boston and pay a ton in rent ($2500 IIRC) and $300 a month extra for parking. After 3 months they sold the car and got top dollar because newer used cars are still very scarce. They walk, take the T or Uber wherever they need to go. In summer they can take the train or ferry to the Cape. Groceries are delivered. Car dependency in cities really should be discouraged.

I lived in NYC for over 20 years. The rare occasion where I needed a car (I can count on one hand) I was able to borrow or rent one.

ZipCar is amazing, R432.

Don't hang around down by the Port Authority building, it's dangerous. Don't go to Hunts Point, it's dangerous. Watch out when you are in Midtown for muggers and pick pockets, it's dangerous. Don't go to Bed-Sty at night, you'll get mugged, it's dangerous. Don't walk in the Park at night, you'll get mugged, it's dangerous. Don't ride the subway at night, or at least not alone, it's dangerous...on and on.

Your post, r434---and I get the humor---sounds not from the East Coast but from some other region of the country!

I think one is more likely to contract Covid than attract a mugger!

I grew up in NY. All those things were said to me, plus more.

Petula Clark's 'Don't sleep in the subway, darlin' sounded ludicrous to us. Who sleeps in the subway. It's dangerous.

Threads like this really hammer home how old most of DL is. Cultural references from 40+ years ago posted without a shred of irony or awareness, let alone context to the present day. It's really jarring sometimes. You think people are joking, but no, they!re just fossilized in place since around 1980 or earlier. So weird.

Those NY warnings are apropos now.

Tell us you don't live in NY^

R419 you literally took the words from me. Omg.

You know what's "jarring," r437? When someone posts who has no knowledge whatsoever of any cultural allusion or context beyond his current time, and stupidly thinks everyone older than he should think as shallow and narrow.

Would you like us old fogeys to refer to Lizzo or Tesla or "Tar"? ? We can, you know. We are yet extant.

Now.

The states were better as colonies.