New England...strange, foreign, they talk funny....

"pahk the cah"....its terra incognita to me.

So are the rural New Englanders all like the brothers in the old Bob Newhart show?

And do they all make maple syrup and work in textile mills while doing some computer stuff in Boston?

And they still have passenger trains up there?

New England....isn't really alot more stranger and foreign and a mental black hole than "The South", or even California? A place most of us (if we are not in the Northeast) no very very little about.

I think so

What about y'all?

<<And do they all make maple syrup and work in textile mills while doing some computer stuff in Boston?>>

Sadly, most of the textile mills are long gone. Along with the saw mills, wooden mills, shoe factories (although there is a small sign of a rebirth in that industry), paper mills, and more I'm forgetting.

And, ayuh, folks "from away" are a mite bit odd to us. Down at the Lobstah fest in Rockland this weekend there are lots of those folks from down Bahston way visitin'. And New Yawkahs, too.

Me, I'm going to eat Lobstahs with the state Dems this afternoon.

like lobsters and baked beans and something called a boiled dinner (or so Im told).

visit the ninth ward in New Orleans. A refreshing gumbo of life and leisure. A beautiful mangling of the English Language combined with an accent true Bostonians would appreciate that locals treasure and cultivate and pass on to future generations. The ninth ward. Just one reason New Orleans is the most fabulous city on the planet.

when I first move to New England, you should have seen the looks I got trying to pronounce Gloucester, Haverhill, and other assorted towns and cities . . . the natives knew they were dealing with a carpetbagger, for sure . . .

We give our towns funny names just to screen out the non-natives :P

I had a boss once that could not pronounce the word Amherst correctly...In MA, you drop the H, and it's just "Amerst", but he could'nt stop saying "Amhurst", and everyone would say, "Eh, you must not be from around here..."

Even I had trouble with some place names...like Leicester (Lester).

But, yes, it sure does screen out those from away. :-)

"Woosta" ?

And the pronounciation is more like "Wusstah"

is really "wooben" (if I remember correctly) ... had to go there from Michigan for some training classes for work ... I remember the strange looks, as a mid-westerner was trying to locate Whoa-burn!

A Boston Brahmin comes up to your counter and demands,

"A cawwtin of Caaawwltin."

Me, "A what?"

A CAWWTIN OF CAAAWWLTIN!" (More than a little snippy this time.)

Finally by dint of her pointing and me doing my best to understand this foreign language she is speaking, I figure out that she wants a carton of Carlton cigarettes...

Most Bostonians I have met, though, do not have such exaggerated accents and are far nicer that she was...

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM BOSTON IF:

You think of Philadelphia as the Midwest.

You think it's your God-given right to cut someone off in traffic.

You think there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R's).

You think three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heatwave.

All your pets are named after Celtics or Bruins.

You refer to 6 inches of snow as a "dusting."

Just hearing the words "New York" puts you in an angry mood.

You don't think you have an attitude.

You always 'bang a left' as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it.

Everything in town is "a five minute walk."

When out of town, you think the natives of the area are all whacked.

You still can't bear to watch highlights from game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

You have no idea what the word compromise means.

You believe using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.

You don't realize that you walk and talk twice as fast as everyone else.

You're anal, neurotic, pessimistic and stubborn.

You think if someone is nice to you, they must want something or are from out of town.

Your favorite adjective is "wicked."

You think 63 degree ocean water is warm.

You think the Kennedy's are misunderstood.

WHEN WE SAY ________ WE MEAN...

Bizah - odd

Flahwiz - roses, etc.

Hahpahst - minutes after the hour

Hahwahya? - how are you?

Khakis - what we staht the cah with

Pissah - superb

Retahded - silly

Shewah - of course

Wikkid - extremely

Yiz - you, plural

Popcahn - popular snack

HOW WE'LL KNOW YOU WEREN'T BON HEAH:

You wear a Harvard sweatshirt.

You ask directions to "Cheers."

You order a grinder and a soda.

You follow soccer.

You eat at Durgin Park.

You pronounce it "Worchester" or Glouchester."

You call it "COPELY" square.

DEFINITIONS:

Frappes have ice cream; milk shakes don't.

If it's fizzy and flavored, it's tonic. Soda is club soda. Pop is dad. When we mean tonic WATER, we say tonic WATER.

The smallest beer is a pint.

Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish.

If you paid more than $6 a pound, you got scrod.

It's not a water fountain, it's a bubblah.

It's not a trash can, it's a barrel.

It's not a shopping cart, it's a carriage.

It's not a purse, it's a pockabook.

Brown bread comes in a can. You open both ends, push it out, heat it and eat it with baked beans.

They're not franks, they're haht dahgs. Franks are money in France.

THINGS NOT TO DO:

Don't call it Beantown.

Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd. They'll tow it to Meffa (Medford) or Slumaville (Sommerville).

Don't swim in the Charles, no matter what Bill Weld tells you.

Don't sleep in the Common.

Don't wear orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses and two Hancock buildings (one old, one new).

Route 128 is also I-95. It is also I-93.

It's the Sox, The Pats (or Patsies if they're losing), the Seltz, the Broons.

The underground train is not the subway. It's the T and it doesn't run all night (fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk).

GETTING AROUND:

Pay no attention to the street names. There's no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on Water Street. Back Bay streets are in alphabetical odda. Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D.

If the streets are named after trees (Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets you're in Wellesley.

All avenues are properly referenced by their nicknames: Comm Ave, Mass Ave., Dot Ave.

Dot is Dorchester, Rozzie Roslindale, JP is Jamaica Plain. Readville doesn't exist.

THE NORTH-EAST-SOUTH-WEST THING:

Southie is South Boston. The South End is the South End. Eastie is East Boston. The North End is east of the West End.

The West End and Scollay Square are no more-a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night.

The geographical center of Boston is in Roxbury. Due north of the center we find the South End. This is not to be confused with South Boston, which lies directly east from the South End. North of the South End is East Boston and southwest of East Boston is the North End. Backbay was filled in years ago.

BASIC RULES FOR DRIVING IN BOSTON
(subject to change at any time):

When on a one way street, stay to the right to allow oncoming traffic to pass.

Never, ever, stop for a pedestrian unless he flings himself under the wheels of your car.

The first parking space you see will be the last parking space you see. Grab it.

Double park in the North End of Boston, unless triple parking is available.

Learn to swerve abruptly. Boston is the home of slalom driving, thanks to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.

Never get in the way of a car that needs extensive bodywork.

Always look both ways when running a red light.

Honk your horn the instant the light changes.

Breakdown lanes are not for breaking down, but for speeding, especially during rush hour. Breakdown lanes may also end without warning causing traffic jams as people merge back in.

Never use directional signals when changing lanes. They only warn other drivers to speed up and not let you in.

Making eye contact revokes your right of way.

Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right.

Whenever possible, stop in the middle of a crosswalk to ensure inconveniencing as many pedestrians as possible. And if a pedestrian ahead of you steps in the road, speed up loudly and chase him back up on the curb. Peds have no rights.

A travel writer (obviously from New England) did a piece a while back about a Mexican trip. He rented a car in Mexico City & planned a route through the old colonial cities to Guadalajara.

All the guidebooks agree that gringos must UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES attempt to drive in Mexico City. Therefore the writer rented a car in the suburbs before heading out. He made a few wrong turns & ended up driving a fair distance in La Ciudad before escaping.

He said the traffic was not that bad. It reminded him of Boston.

I am not from Boston, but have spent a lot of time there. Thanks!:D

That's Rule #1!

:D

though they think so here in SC. Not everyone in New England talks like they do in Boston. I grew up about 40 miles from NYC on the Connecticut coast, and I don't talk anything like New Yorkers, either. A former co-worker from the Bronx thought it strange that I pronounced orange as "ore-anj." He pronounced it "ah-ranj." I had to ask how he pronounced the word "or." He also had three different pronounciations for Mary, merry, and marry. They sound the same to me.

We didn't eat any strange food where I come from, either, that I can remember. There were a lot of various ethnic groups, so boiled dinners were not in evidence.

Depends on which region you're from, I guess.

Re: passenger trains, I just love taking Metro North commuter trains for a day in the city. No parking problems, and the trains run about one an hour (off-peak hours) until about 2 a.m.

what Milford? barely New England. Everything south of Hartford is simply a suburb of New York, anyway.

Everyone knows that New England doesn't really start until you cross the Connecticut (oh, and I was born in Windsor, but my heart belongs to Maine...

and we were part of the original 13 colonies. There's plenty of evidence that George Washington visited many times, and I attended Nathan Hale Jr. High. Yale is a hop, skip, and a jump away, and that's in New England. We had a town green, and there's no mistaking the architecture for any other region. It's New England, all right, albeit Southern New England. "Yankee Doodle" has local origins, too. My grandmother came from Pittsfield, Mass.

– Connecticut Yankee

New Englanders talk funny!! I noticed this when I left then came back years later, especially where I am originally from in Maine.

Warm, friendly, and with driving skills beyond the nahm. Maine is great, too. One of my favorite states. I love the "Down East" accent.

....lived in New England from 1620-1924. Why my grandparents decided to leave for the West Coast I'll never understand after visiting NE. If I could, I'd buy back some land that used to be in my family along the Connecticut River. Argh.

?????

They still work in textile mills, but the mills now house the tech companies and maple syrup distributors.

:toast:

See, I come from Boston.
I'm gonna tell you about how I love New England.
It's my favorite place.
I've been all around the world, but I love New England best.
I might be prejudiced.
But it's true, I love New England best.

Well, now...

You know, ladies and gentlemen, I've already been to Paris, I already been to Rome
And what did I do but miss my home?

I have been out west to Californ'.
But I miss the land where I was born.
I can't help it.
Dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum-da-dum-day
Oh, New England.
Dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum-da-dum-day
Oh, New England.

I have seen old Israel's arid plain.
It's magnificent, but so's Maine.
Dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum-da-dum-day
Oh, New England.
Dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum-da-dum-day
Oh, New England.

Doddly-doodly-do-do-doo-do-do
Doddly-doodly-do-do-doo-do-do
Doddly-doodly-do-do-doo-do-do
Doddly-doodly-do-do-doo-do-do Dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum-da-dum-day
Oh, I love New England.
Dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum-da-dum-day
Oh, New England.

People from NYC are rude and nasty.

I'm from the rust belt midwest, my Mom's family is Southern but my wife is from WAYYYYYY up north in New Hampshire, like a stones-throw from Quebec. Like there was still snow on the ground in July (but only in the gullies! she says). She thought Boston was wayyy down SOUTH! I've traveled there a lot with my wife and I LOVE IT! The people, the food, the climate, the scenery, the politics, the trees, the signs that say "thickly settled" when there are 3 houses and a church. I don't care if I ever go South again but we're retiring to New England!!!!!


Of course I want to live in Central NE, no further south than Amherst, but she wants wayyyy up there in northern Vermont or NH. We may have to compromise and pick Concord.