Sep 13, 2009
The (completely irrelevant) difference between how Californians and I talk about highways.
Like this post?
In Minnesota, we say, “Take 94…”
In California, it’s, “Take the 5…”
…
Just an observation on something I know you care about.
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Another difference between Californians and Minnesotans is in how they give driving directions. Californians give directions! As in, “go south on I-15 for 20 miles; left off the freeway to 50th Ave; turn right for 1 mile; then right on Oak St. for 2 blocks to 3428 Oak St.”
Minnesotans “describe the route” instead of giving directions! “About 5 miles north of town you’ll see a farm with two big silos. That’ll be County 14 there. Go north about 3 miles. On the left side you’ll see 3 cows grazing under a tree (I KID YOU NOT–WE HAD SOMEONE GIVE US THOSE DIRECTIONS!). Turn right and that road’ll take you right to our house.”
Even giving directions “in town” I’ve noticed this: “Go beyond the old Y building. Turn right at the T. It’s about 3 blocks down there on your left.” Drives me crazy!
I frequently hear location descriptions (as opposed to addresses with directions) on radio commercials out of Fargo-Moorhead stations: “We’re in the blue building behind the old Tastee Freeze.” Okey-dokey, then! Won’t be seeing you any time soon, but good for you!
I love your reenactment of MN directions, that’s hilarious!
I remember my aunt telling a story once about up in the Anoka MN area, they were lost so they stopped and asked for directions, and this guy said that at 1044 you have to turn. So they kept driving around stupefied, never finding a road 1044. Finally they realized that the car dealership they kept driving past was called TenVoorde Ford. Classic!
bt
as a native Californian, I don’t know why we call freeways the way we do… it makes little sense. If the street I live on isn’t “the Culver Street”, why should a freeway be called “the 22″? I wonder where this started. In Northern California (or Nor-Cal, as we sometimes say) they often refer to them as “I-80″, or “I-5″, but you’ll never hear that from Southern Californians, unless they grew up somewhere else…
I’m so glad you mentioned the difference between Nor-Cal and So. Cal. We DO NOT say the-5 in Nor-Cal. It’s a So. Cal thing.
yeah. its a point of pride in Norcal not to speak like people in Socal. And some people in Norcal go to great lengths to avoid Socal. I was one of them.
Norcal and Socal are 2 very different regions. I spent most of my life in Norcal before moving to NC and I miss it like crazy. The bay, the weather, Berkeley Bowl, Cal football, the noise from the freeway. I even miss Gavin Newsom. Is he still mayor of SF?
The Central Coast is also distinct, if small.
City people… ;-)
Haha. I was going to comment on just that.
I grew up in Nor-Cal and went to college in So-Cal. Driving south to school we would always talk about the elusive spot of higway five where it went from just highway five to “the five.”
Let me remind you of “the Nimitz” and “the Embarcadero” however.
It’s the Central Valley folk who are truly free from such silliness :-)
Jen and DC3 are correct. After we moved to NoCal someone made fun of me for saying “the 5″.
I think this has more to do with Californians obsession with giving out nick names, nothing remains in its original form for long, “Nor-cal” “So-cal”, “the 5″ ” the 22″ “the Hills” “O.C.” “The valley” “L.A.” and many more.
(southern) californians don’t say “OC.” or “cali.” we say “Orange County, California.”
but i don’t see what’s so weird about calling it “the” 210. it’s Chicago with the weird “expressways” named after politicians that get to me.
An amendment to this observation: people from NorCal (Northern California) do not include the article before the freeways. It’s a SoCal thing. I’m from the Tahoe area and noticed this when I moved to LA. In Sacramento one would say, “Take 5 North, then 80 West”. Southern Cal people would say, “Take the 5 South to the 10 East.”
It’s been interesting to observe the linguistic differences between the 2 parts of the state, not to mention the cultural ones!
I was going to say the same thing. I’m about 45 minutes down “the 80″ from you, Emily, and we pick out the LA folk by their use of the “the” in relation to freeways.
I’ve even heard some transplants refer to a little two lane state highway as “the 49.”
You must live in Grass Valley or thereabouts. That’s where my aunt lives!
In the Seattle area, it’s almost always “Take I-5.” For some reason we include the ‘I’ for Interstate 5 but never for the other interstates.
In New Hampshire we say both “Take 95″ and “Take I-95″… Hmm…
Maybe because ’5′ by itself is so short, just the one syllable?
In Pennsylvania, they say “take Route 322″ or whatever number is correct. In Colorado, where I grew up, we say “I-70″ but “highway 24;” we only specified the interstates as I-whatever. The rest are called highway-__.
One other comment, maybe someone else has observed this…
When you are standing in line and someone comes and take the place in front of you…what do you call that?
My kids call it “budging”. It was “cutting” when I was a kid. (I’m from CA). Where did they pick this up? Is it a MN word like “hotdish” and “parking ramp”?
when i was growing up it was “cutting” or “butting” in line.
and don’t get me started on “duck, duck, grey duck” instead of “duck, duck, goose…”
So Cal. probably includes the article because they’ve personified the highways. They have a life of their own–with traffic jams, accidents, chases, etc. You don’t know what “the 5″ is going to do today. It also probably indicates a feeling of helplessness–as in, we can’t do anything about all those traffic jams, it’s “the 5.”
I thought it was because of the sheer number of freeways around here and the major role they play in everyday life.
I came from Oregon, where there are only 3 freeways in the whole state (I-5, I-205, & I-84) which we only ever used for big trips.
But that’s just my experience.
In Texas we call everthing by number except for I-10. Otherwise it’s 59, 45, 146, 90, 225, and so on. It also seems like around here a loop in any given community is “the loop.”
its true in Texas the number will suffice i live off 35 and and take 20 or 30 all the time.
its true the Loop in Houston is often call the Loop, or “610 the Loop” to give reference to outside travelers.
But, Texas also has its odd assortment of roads, like “The Beltway”, “The Turnpike”(there is only one that i know of so people call it that and do not run the risk of confusion), “the Spur”(whichever one is closest),”the high Five” (five miles of elevated road), and “the Mix master”(which i find to be incredibly stupid to use in common speech).
Yeah it’s always weird talking to my friends from Cali who come to Texas. “So do I need to take the 635?” The what? “The 635.” You mean highway 635? “Right.” Well why didn’t you just say that? “I did. The 635.” I can’t understand you. Stop speaking your weird language. THIS IS AMERICA, PEOPLE.
Having lived near San Jose for 4 years, this seems to be creeping to NoCal via SoCal transplants. I personally love this language quirk b/c it helps to readily identify Californians…
We also call them freeways. Not highways.
Also In Southern California (And no one calls it Cali – unless you’re from out of state. Just in case you were wondering.) we usually give directions using North, South, East, and West. We’re just cool like that.
Years ago in Buffalo NY getting directions at a gas station all the locals referred to I-90 as “the 90″. I thought it was strange.
But in defense of Buffalo (that’s where I was born and raised and still live), we have several Interstates that are labeled with a 90. I don’t know why we say it, we just differentiate with the “the”.
There is “the 90″ which is aka “the NYS Thruway,”
“the 190,”
“the 290,” aka “the Youngman,”
“the 990″
and not too far away is “the 390″ near Rochester.
Our expressway that goes from the airport to downtown, is often called “the 33″ “the kensington” or “the expressway” Three different names, all use ‘the”.
But if I am giving directions to the mall – I say take Union to George urban to Walden. Go figure! Perhaps around here I think we use the “the” for the major thoroughfares.
That’s it . . . the above comments convinced me that California really is two separate states that as of yet haven’t made the official “split”!!
I’m a NorCal girl through and through, and would be horrified at the thought of using “the” before “5″. :)
Thanks for the early morning observations . . . .
Which one is more grammatically proper?
Neither. They’re both correct. And asking that question leads to a lot of heated arguments among some natives.
LOL. Actually, its technical name is “the friggin’ 5.” Although I think “the 405″ is worse. Way, way worse. But I can’t write what I call “the 405″ on your nice, Christian blog. :)
You’ve just knicked the tip of this. I grew up in So-Cal, but moved to Chicago just over two years ago. Some of the [many] differences:
1) As discussed, you add articles before freeways (btw, that’s what we call them, not Expressways or Tollways or Routes…just freeway) AND food establishments (i.e. “let’s hit up the Chipotle”). Most believe that this over-articulation originated with the surf culture of the ’60′s.
[BEGIN EXCURSUS] Now for all you Nor-Cal’ers, there is no reason to turn such a cultural quirk into another exhaustingly tedious reason why you believe your part of the state is superior to ours. We’ve heard it all. We just nod and smile while you attempt to reinforce to yourselves why Nor-Cal is better. If you’ve ever paid attention to these conversations, you’d notice that we don’t respond. This is because we don’t need to. :) [END EXCURSUS]
2) We call those who stop to look at an accident (and thereby causing half of the traffic jams in LA) “look-e-loo’s”, not “Gapers”.
3) LA rates its restaurants for cleanliness on an “A, B, C, D, F” scale. This has become a de facto way of sorting out which food is authentic. For instance, if you want good, authentic Mexican food in so-cal, we’ll tell you to look for a hole-in-the-wall joint with a “C” rating. If you understood this system, we’d have a much easier time recommending good food to you.
4) We talk much faster than anyone in the Midwest which is a direct result of the “Valley Girl” syndrome of the mid-nineties. And yes, we like used “like” in like all of our sentences for like ten years. like.
5) We feel no shame in interrupting you in the middle of your conversation at church just to hug, say “hi”, and move on. Doing this in the Midwest results in everyone viewing you as rude and impatient.
6) We “go to” any of the following: the mountains, the beach, the desert, the lake, the coast. This is because all of these various environments can be visited with a two-hour drive from anywhere in So-Cal.
7) There are a few of us who, despite the above differences in culture, actually LOVE living in the midwest. We know you can’t understand us when we say “we hate 362 days of sunshine and brownness”, but take our word for it. You’d get tired of it, just like you get tired of shoveling buckets of snow every winter. Or of hoping that “next year” is “the year”. The only place this doesn’t apply is at the beach, but seeing as most of us can’t afford to live at the beach, see #7 above.
Why so hyphy about the NorCal/SoCal debate? You’re sounding hella worked up about it! And, may I add, a little bitter. You say you don’t respond to the “exhaustingly tedious” comments by NorCal people but. . .isn’t that what your excursus is all about? That was pretty caustic.
Noticing cultural and linguistic differences should all be in good fun! :)
(The first 2 sentences of my post contain NorCal slang, for anyone who doesn’t know.) :)
not “hyphy”, and not “worked-up”…more like “high-strungness” from too many days spent in traffic on the 5. and no bitterness whatsoever; i have plenty of friends from the dark side of the state :)
One of my Minnesota friends has lived in CA for a few years, and came up here for a visit recently. She emailed some friends and suggested we meet at Perkins off “the 494.”
That’s hilarious!! It doesn’t even flow.
I believe Tim up in comment number 9 might have it right. I am originally from AZ, but have lived in LA for the past 20 years. It’s a love hate kind of thing for most of us, but if we are sometimes defensive, it is because we are so often the object of ridicule or even scorn. After all, there is only one universal negative anthem in professional sports: “BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!”
In Iowa (where I’m from) they say “take the interstate” I believe it’s because no matter where you live in Iowa, there is likely only one major freeway (or interstate) in the vicinity.
I think you should do “Pop” or “Soda” next. Or, is that just a generational thing?
Tim, down here in Mississippi, it’s all called coke.
Do you really want to go there ;)
It really is all called coke, example:
Waitress: What do you want to drink?
Man: I will have a coke.
Waitress: Okay, what Kind?
Man: Umm… a Dr Pepper.
true story
Absolutely. Normally when I say Coke I mean Dr. Pepper. And any vending machine is a “Coke machine.”
Oh, this is so funny and so true! In Alabama, it’s all Coke, but try explaining that to someone in Pennsylvania. My friends think I am making this up! And Pop is another name for Dad, not something you drink.
Drinking fountain/bubbler is another one. I think WI is the only state that has people that call it a bubbler. I might be wrong.
When I lived in Missouri, I never quite got used to “40 Hwy” instead of “Hwy 40″.
We’re pretty flexible in WI. You can say I-94, US 45, State Hwy 100, and County Hwy G or 94 (or just “the I”), 45, 100, and G, or put just Hwy in front of any of the numbers or a letter, (you could also say County G) and still sound like a native. If you insert “the” in any combination except “the Interstate” or “the I” we won’t say anything, we’ll still be nice to you, we’ll just know you’re not from here, which is not in itself a bad thing.
If you call I-94 “the Toll Road” we can pretty much narrow it down to Illinois, probably near Chicago. There are no tollbooths in this state. We know that the s in Illinois is silent, so Illinois rhymes with “to annoy”. We usually only call it “Ellen noise” when talking with good friends from across the state line, and only in good fun. We won’t even argue when people from other states correct our pronunciation of our home state. They insist it is Wes Consin, not just dividing the syllables wrong, but clearly separating it into two words. Some even say West Consin. I always wonder where East Consin is. We just smile and nod, knowing that it is officially pronounced Wi scon’ sin (those are syllable breaks, not word breaks) from the State Capitol building in Madison to the Town Board meeting in the smallest town. (We have Towns, not Townships, just as Louisiana has parishes, not counties.)
When we’re excited or in a hurry, we may call it W’sconsin or even ‘Sconsin. I have friends from ‘Sconsin Rapids.
And in Wyoming we say, “Take the highway. You’ll find the next town in a couple of hours.”
Haha I love this. As a Nor-cal boy born and raised, I would never add “the’ to the number. And for the two state movement, just google “Jefferson State”
LOL, I grew up in Los Angeles, and my Ohioan-transplant hubby thought we were all crazy for “the”.
Then we changed him, forcing him into our ways. :)
Then we moved to the Seattle area 8 years ago and are still trying to drop “the”.
My parents followed us here and my poor mother is very confused now…”I”, “the” “Avenue” and “Highway” get all mixed up and put in all the wrong places.
As a Central Coast native, I learned to not use the article. When I moved to Orange County, I picked up the habit, but only for the freeways down here.
Of course you would notice that Aber!! One of the things that Dan and I always laugh about when in SoCa. Fuuny!
i feel like this entry was made only for me. thank you.
Take the 5 north about 1500 miles and I will buy you a cup of coffee. Hey. It’s seattle. maybe we will do a coffee shop crawl.
In the new Christian fiction book, Bo’s Café, one of the characters makes the point that the Spanish “el agua” doesn’t mean “water” it means “the water;” and then goes on about the importance of the definite article in that language and its relative absence in English.
Given California’s location and demographics…
Have to say, I COMPLETELY agree with Brian. :)
In North and South Carolina, you call interstates simply by the number: 26, 85, 40, 385… as well as major highways: 25, 29, 110, etc. highways with smaller numbers, however, usually are prefaced with “number” or “highway” as in: “number 9″ “highway 11″ “highway 14″
and you measure distance in minutes… i.e. Go for ten minutes up number nine then turn left on highway 11.
Here in Northern Manitoba, however, there is only one highway, so people call it “the highway” and distance is measured in DAYS…
I hope everything is okay – 2 days and no new post.
haha! I’ve absconded with him into the depths of central CA!!!
Central California??? Where are you???
I’m not a stalker …
I’m not a stalker …
I’m not a stalker …
No worries, Myrrdin!
We were in Cambria last night and will be in Santa Barbara tomorrow.
Anything we gotta do?
[...] we took on “The PCH” (see Abraham’s post for a funny discourse on CA highways), which stands for the Pacific Coast Highway, also known as [...]
haha. I thought it was amusing when you said in California its take THE 5. In my experience it’s been a battle between Northern California and Southern California. I’m from Southern California and we say Take THE 5. But in Northern/Central California it’s Take 5.
Those of us in Phoenix have caught whatever SoCal has.
We have THE 10, THE 60, THE 101, THE 51 and so on and so forth.
i miss california.
Ha! How funny. I was just giving my California friends a good ribbing since they’re transplants and like to talk about our Texas highways as “the” whatever. It sounds so weird to me.
Two more observations about SoCal residents speech re: transportation.
(I am a midwesterner who just moved to SoCal after marrying my very SoCal husband.)
My husband regularly makes fun of me for adding the word “Street” “Avenue” “Place” “Court” etc. Apparently it’s the SoCal thing to just say the name of the street without adding anything on to it. (i.e. “Take Melrose to Norte, to Morningview”.)
Or maybe that’s just me.
I’ve also been corrected on numerous occasions for calling the FREEWAY an expressway. oops.