I am a born and raised northern girl (Lansing, Michigan), and I have been transplanted to the south, for two years now. There are some differences that you notice, from the pronunciation of words, such as roof, that is one that I get picked on about. I know there are others, but they escape me at present. People say I have an accent, I don't believe them! They are the ones with accents, not me.
So, if you turn a light off in a room, what do you say? "I turned the light off", or if you just plain turn something off you are…"turning it off". Someone I work with uses the term "cut the lights off", or she "cuts her computer off"….cut it off…what is up with that? That makes no sense to me. That is one southern phrase will not become a habit for me, I will confess that I have from time to time used the word "soda" vs. "pop", and okay, I also confess, I have caught myself saying "y'all"….but…I will never "cut the lights off"…sounds like I could get electrocuted when I used the scissors to cut the cord.
Or, if you give someone a phone number I say the numbers…"867-5309", down here they say "867-fifty three oh nine". Since when is the word "oh" a number? How hard is it to say "zero", it is only two more letters.
There are so many differences, especially in the field of education, those differences are numerous, as my husband can attest to. I just really touched upon a few of the general differences. Some do make you stop and go "huh". I know that I did not get the best of educations in Michigan, so, in a lot of ways I have no room to talk, but I do know that "oh" is a word and not a number! My poor husband has helped me so much to improve my grammar and math, I am still a work in progress. Sadly, at 44 am not "smarter than a 5th grader".
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