movin south ..

[frenchy]

some of you may know me as livin in sunny fla .. but i wasn't born here .. i was born in newark n.j and did a lot of my growin up in new york city and jersey .. so movin down here did take some gettin used to .. took me awhile but i learned the lingo .. at first some of it was foriegn to me and sometimes they'd say you sure talk funny about my new york new jersey accent .. i coulda said the same about them but seein as how they all sounded the same they wouldn't get it .. so this is what i learned

 

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED LIVING IN THE SOUTH... > A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road. > There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South. > There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before. > If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha. > Onced and Twiced are words. >   Jawl-P? means Did y'all go to the bathroom? > People actually grow,eat and like okra. > Fixinto is one word. It means I'm fixing to do that. > There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there is supper. > Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South. > Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you. > The word jeet is actually a phrase meaning 'Did you eat?' > You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see. > You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em. > Ya'll is singular; All ya'll is plural. > You measure distance in minutes. > You switch from heat to A/C in the same day. > All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal. > You know what a DAWG is. > You carry jumper cables in your car - for your OWN car. > You only own five spices: salt, pepper, mustard, Tabasco and ketchup. > The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports and motor sports, and gossip. > You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday. > You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit a bit warm. > You know what a hissy fit is. > Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite pastime known as goin Wal-Martin' or off to Wally World. > You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good beef stew or chili weather. > Fried catfish is the other white meat. > We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!! > You understand these jokes and forward them to your Southern friends and those who just wish they were from the SOUTH

 

[Mickchick]

Totally true, all of it!  I've still got too much yankee in me to like Okra though,lol!

[crestofwaves]

Ah cain't wait to move mah butt down there!  Bout a yeer and a half.  SC, heer ah come!

Something we have really noticed is courtesy down south.  It's just there.  I don't care how weird the person looks, he or she is usually very courteous.  I will miss the Jersey chip on the shoulder attitude.  I have it and need to tone it down when we visit.  It's a different way of life.

[frenchy]

if you're goin south cresty why stop at carolina ?? it still gets cold as a witches tit there in the winter .. and they get snow too .. maybe not as much as jersey but they get it .. and its hot as africa in the summer there too just like florida .. in the 90's most days and some days 100 or more ..so why not at least move where the winters are really nice .. we get cold snaps down here but they seldom last more than a couple of days most of the time .. a week of cold weather is really unusual .. and by cold i mean where it don't hit at least 60 durin the day .. most winter days are like 75 and sunny ..we're havin a cold snap now .. it only goin to 62 today ..might be that way tomorrow too..i'd say the winters down here are like the summers upstate ny .. summers are hot, in the 90's most days but it never hits 100..and everything is air conditioned .. or you get a pool and hang out there .. but its no hotter than carolina ..   i'm tellin you if you get that seasonal disorder stuff carolina ain't far enough south .. 

[crestofwaves]

I'm replying to Frenchy's message about moving farther south than SC.  I don't know where this reply will end up.  Anyway, I just received picture from my friends in Myrtle Beach, SC.  It SNOWED there overnight.  Florida is looking better and better to me.

[crestofwaves]

OOh, the message is exactly where I want it.  Amazing.

[P.A.]

I recommend Hilton Head, SC. Much further south than Myrtle Beach and warmer in winter. Also in my opinion much more beautiful.

[crestofwaves]

I just looked at some pictures and properties in Hilton Head.  Pretty area.

[Lifesighs]

My mother lived in Pompano Beach for 27 years, I visited many times, these are great and funny sayings. I think her biggest complaint for half the year was the snow birds from Canada who spoke French. She had a condo with a clubhouse pool, many were rented during the season she used to tell me if I was going to the pool that I wouldn't be able to understand half the lingo.

[frenchy]

yeah some of them floridians are courteous .. but as much as they need em some of em ain't too fond of snowbirds . i can understand why to an extent .. its all the snowbirds on the road to go shoppin at walmart at 7am cause thats when they used to get up back home and they snarl up traffic .. do the same thing at 4:30 to get the early bird special at the dinner or wherever they go . and they have cute little names for em like frogheads .. frogheads are them little old men who can barely see over the dashboard and from behind all you can see are their wrinkled little heads as they go 22 miles an hour on the main drag .. and you can see the bumper stickers .. one in particular that makes me laugh is sure we love new yorkers but we like em better goin north on i 95 ... with a canadien under each arm .. 

[Lucinda Stone]

LOL to that bumper sticker, love it!

[P.A.]

As a life long Southerner I must tell you that I like okra, don't drink iced tea but I do drink the same thing without the sugar. It is referred to as unsweetened tea. I have finally given in and refer to the noon meal as lunch and the evening meal as dinner. I have never eaten a possum but have eaten lots of squirrel and rabbit. Ya'll is not singular at least not in Tennessee. Fixing to is two words although many people run them together when speaking but never when writing. I personally never go to Walmart. One should not buy their bread and underwear in the same store.
Crest when you move to SCyou must realize the people there are more like the Chinese than most Americans. They eat lots of rice and speak a foreign language, even to the rest of us Southerners.

[AmerikinWmn]

My son moved to St. Augustine, Florida about 10 yrs ago. I doubt he will ever return north for anything but a visit. He loves working outside, fishing and not having to run the furnace from October till May. I like it down there to visit, have went as far as Orlando and beyond the tourist things I didn't find it anything special.

My husband is from Kentucky and had lots of family there back in the day; we still visit Lexington to see 3 of his Aunts. That's a pretty state but North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the prettiest place I'd seen until I went to Alaska.

I like my 4 seasons, still enjoy the snow although I wouldn't mind seeing the last of it by February 1st. I really don't have any longings to move from Michigan other than if I won the lottery; I think I'd go to the northwest somewhere, like Oregon. I will say that they are courteous in the south and wish that was true everywhere.