Really? I never even knew subs were considered Italian. Interesting.

Mamagoose, not from Kentucky that I'm aware of. Whereas my mom grew up in depression era and did financially well, my dad grew up dirt poor in the bootheel of southern Missouri. Literally had hard dirt floors, and no plumbing, so outhouses and carrying water to heat on the stove.

And we think we have it bad!

I finally took the quiz, and it came up with my most similar locations as Santa Rosa, Sacramento, and Modesto (all CA). My parents grew up near Sacramento, but I grew up in Eastern Washington. The area I grew up in was settled rather late, though, and most of our neighbors from my parents' generation came from somewhere else. For a lot of the things where there seem to be differences, I am comfortable with multiple terms and tend to switch them out depending on my audience.

Highendredneck, your mention of "bar ditches" was interesting. If I understand what you are describing, we called them borrow pits. I presume that they existed because the dirt was borrowed, I would imagine for building the road. Another strictly rural term was circle in reference to a central pivot irrigation system (which is a mouthful). I'm not sure if it's regional, but non-farm folks don't understand what you mean when you say circle in a farming context.

just for you funkycamper... :)

laughablemoments, where are you from ( if you don't mind me asking)? Unless it has spread and I'm unaware, Beef on weck is a very, very Buffalo thing. I don't think I ever heard anyone accept a local say they have heard of it. BTW, to everyone, it is delicious!

Anyone ever hear of Loganberry drink? Also very WNY thing. Personally not a big fan.

Apparently its national chicken wing day. Who knew? Buffalo's great wings.

designsavvy, that's the exact meal that my grandmother fixed at least once a week. In the summer she'd add sliced tomatoes and brined cucumbers, fresh from the garden. It's my father's favorite meal, so my mother followed suit. They would alternate the beans with pintos one week, and navy or great northern the next. My diabetic father can no longer have the potatoes, but I call him every time I make bean soup and crispy-bottom cornbread.

@chicagoans - yep, tickety-boo and bob's your uncle, I use both of those sayings, and we use serviettes not napkins (most of the time). I didn't think of it until you mentioned it though. Which part of Canada is she from?

Fried bologna (pronounced bu-low-nee) with fried eggs was one of my favs growing up. Now it is just poached or boiled eggs due to the waist factor. :)

For me, buns are generally large - hamburger, hot dog, sub size. A roll is small, generally oblong and is an accompaniment to a meal (like a slice of bread) rather than being most of the meal!! And I will pass on the Italian dressing. give me mayo and/or mustard anytime!! Oh, and I love appricots and peecans.

LOL, cookncarpenter, I have been schooled by an expert who takes his Italian subs seriously!

Cookncarpenter, that sub looks delicious! So doesn't anyone want to try my peanut butter and miracle whip?

Rebunky, that looks terrifying. I'm having a flashback to the time I decided that since I liked both pb&j and cream cheese & jelly sandwiches, peanut butter and cream cheese together would be even better. Just... ick...

PB, banana, and cheddar, on the other hand, is delicious.

Rebunky- I'll be honest. It doesn't look appealing but if you get me drunk enough, I just might try it!!!

Haha TG!

I had to try it again for the first time in probably 20 years, just to find out...

I only did one peice of lightly toasted French (I remember that's how dad did it) spread the PB, & added just a bit of MW.

Omg, I was afraid it would be so nasty. Only reason I even had miracle whip is because I clean vacation houses and someone left a brand new bottle! Honestly, after a couple bites, it was just as good as I remember!

Seriously though, I am really curious if anyone knows where this strange concoction came from?

My dads' mom was from Louisville, Kentucky. I think Granddaddy's folks were from somewhere close but in Indiana.

Anyone ever heard of this "gross" (delicious) sandwich? Sorry to highkjack!

Rebunky- I grew up with a habitual dieter so in our house Miracle Whip WAS mayo.

I only tasted true mayo a few years ago and I didn't like it b/c it didn't taste like what I am used to.

Now my kids are just like me. If they get something with real mayo they don't like it b/c in our house, "mayo" really means Miracle Whip.

Anyhoo, I have no idea where or how it originated bit a quick Google search of peanut butter and Miracle Whip returns a lot of results so you definitely aren't alone.

It reminds me of another regional cuisine featuring PB that I still haven't tried.

A fluffernutter.

Maybe I should have a "high falutin" PB sandwich tasting and sample all the various forms!! ;)

Peanut butter and bacon, preferably on toasted bread, was a big treat for me growing up. And, yes, fluffernutters are delicious.

DH's first wife's mother, who was from Hamilton, OH - north of Cinci - used to make a spread that consisted of peanut butter, bacon, and mayo. DH said it was wonderful. This article about PB and mayo sandwiches mentions this spread and other combinations.

A Forgotten Southern Sandwich

I'm pretty close to KY, as stated above. I can't stand mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, and that sandwich looks particularly unappealing.

There's another regional delicacy that I don't enjoy--Vienna sausages in those little cans. My grandparents pronounced it VI-eenie. My grandfather liked fried Spam for breakfast, so once in a while I'll take a bite of fried Spam, just for old time's sake.

@sherri1058: my aunt is from the Toronto area (at least that's where they lived when she met my uncle. They moved to the Chicago area over 20 years ago.) I love that you say "Bob's your uncle"! I just get a chuckle out of that phrase.

I'm with mamagoose in that I don't like mayo or Miracle Whip. But... I love plain Greek yogurt, and it tastes great with natural peanut butter! I know it sounds weird but it's so good, especially if you add in fruit like blueberries and raspberries. But I wouldn't recommend it with regular processed PB - kind of fake tasting IMO now that I've been getting the natural kind for a while.

Rebunky, I'm with Texas Gem. But if you host a GW party in your new cabin and serve us those sandwiches, I'll gladly eat one even though I despise Miracle Whip. I'll even pretend to like it. ;)

I had to look up fluffernutter. I almost heaved at the idea of it because of the white bread. Haven't eaten that in decades (unless, ya know, it's like really good French bread). I didn't even like that white sliced bread as a kid.

My DH used to make sandwiches of fried slices of Spam in our early years. I never grew up with it and just never could eat them. He hadn't eaten one for maybe 10-15 years and got a hankering for one so he bought a can, sliced it, fried it, and ended up feeding it to the dog. He grew up in a large family and the budget was often tight. Once in a while he still enjoys a bowl of milk macaroni. Yup, that's what I said - MILK MACARONI. Ugh, I almost have to leave the room while he eats it. Boil the macaroni, heat some milk, drain the macaroni, pour on the milk and put salt and pepper on it. Can you imagine? Once when I wasn't home, he decided to make the kids spaghetti and then discovered we were out of any kind of sauce or tomato paste so he tried to pass off ketchup as the sauce. The kids have never forgotten the horror of it :)

Usually the language in the Midwest region is very similar to the West Coast. People in the Midwest sound almost exactly the same, but if you listen very carefully it is possible to hear their Midwestern accent in the way they pronounce just a few words. The language in Florida is also very similar to the West Coast, probably since so many Californians and other people from around the country have moved there, although they still have some Southern influence. Generally the West-Midwestern accent and vocabulary is the "mainstream" English of America because it is the most widely spread homogenous group, while the South and Northeast are divided into many accents. There is also Hollywood, which has dispersed the Western accent to the rest of the country.

LOL Funky! I can just picture me serving a huge platter full of PB&MW finger sandwiches to you guys...I'm sure this would be the reaction I'd get. Maybe the fluffernutter or spam musubi would go over better??? ;-)

heh.. well, I have not known all you folks long, but anyone wanting a weekend in Texas is welcome down at the ranch too! just be prepared to cook and eat a lot because all these kitchen folk getting together.. I am betting we would all gain 40 lbs! heh

Here is the cabin we built ourselves: (I just like showing off my hunting cabin.. lol)

Funkycamper - that reminds me of the Honey boo boo "sketti" (No, I have never seen the show, but I'm guilty of watching youtube clips) - the sauce is a melted stick of margarine mixed with ketchup :0

I was curious about tibbrix's mother calling the GD the pig, because thats a pretty cool name for it, so I googled it.

According to THIS, an early nickname for garbage disposals was "electric pig".

I wonder if I could bring back the term? "Don't forget to run the pig before you start the DW..."

I grew up eating hot long grain rice cooked till it was slightly pasty, a dab of butter, sugar and milk for breakfast. The key is to put just enough milk so that it's creamy. I still eat it. DH thinks I'm crazy. Any leftovers are used for rice pudding with cinnamon (no raisins!)

designsavvy, that was the ONLY way my dad would eat rice, except for 1/2 & 1/2 instead of milk.

Half-n-half? That would be yummy and rich! My dad used to take leftover cornbread and eat in a glass with milk.

That's how my dad's family always ate rice--sweet instead of savory. designsavvy, somewhere in the past, I think our families started out together.

I'm pretty sure it was the English ancestry.

Missou-ree..not Missou-rah.

A stove is a stove. Even if it has an attached oven.

A carbonated beverage is a "soda." It is funny because 300 miles from here (in Chicago and KC) it is "pop."

Garbage DisposUL

We don't call it subs. It is a sandwich...Or Jimmy Johns, Subway...

In terms of interesting/regional foods. Well. No parts of a pig goes unused. That includes the snouts. A local food are called "snoots." They are usually barbecued, slathered with a tangy barbecue sauce. My dad used to slice them so that they don't look like snout. Hence my confusion when I learned that they were in fact "snouts." Gross!

Then Pork Steaks are huge too. Sliced pork butt, but it isn't the "rump". I believe it is a side flank. Again...barbecued and slathered in a tangy sauce.

Just made barbequed pork steaks yesterday. I have seen the snouts, but there is no way I would eat that. Or pickled pigs feet.

I like rice just about anyway you can cook it.

I grew up in SE PA, went to school in NE and live in the Midwest.

We ate Italian Sandwiches even though not too far from Philly. And these need to be served cold with oil and vinegar - no mayo or mustard . These were served on a hard sub roll

Our steak sandwiches had pizza sauce on them and were served on a soft roll

In our house we used MWhip but I don't like MW or mayo so hardly ever buy any. I use plain Greek yogurt in its place. So much tastier and healthier!

We drink milk shakes - which have ice cream in them but in NE- a milk shake was shaken milk and if you wanted a drink with ice cream it was a Frappe.

I always call it soda. In NE- it starts to become "tonic" and Michigan is pop.

MI calls grocery bags "sacks".

We are close enough to Canada that we start hearing "Eh" but not all of the time.

I miss those succulent lobster rolls from NE even with a touch of mayo.

Mom served these disgusting A-treat(sp) links in tomato sauce as a treat. They are similar to spam. She thought we liked them for some reason

We also had Lebanon Bologna - but only cold.

We did have Taylor pork rolls which were broiled.

Even though I live 2-3 miles from White Castle - I never tried one. I will stick with Blimpy burgers- but you better know how to order them before you arrive. It is a local cult burger place in A2 (not to be confused with Blimpies.

Oh, Rebunky, you nailed me! LOLOL I'm kinda well known for my gag reflex.

fishcow, oh, my DH would NOT liked being linked to the Honey Boo Boo. Not sure if I should even share this with him. We've never watched it but when a commercial comes on, he usually shouts "child abusers!" at the TV. It cracks me up but I agree with him. It's kinda horrific, isn't it?

I love the "electric pig" but we can't call our GD that because we say "feed it to the pig" when we mean "give it to the dog". :) How about Goat? I think I'll start calling the GD "goat". Works for me!

Michelle, we feed our dog dried pig snouts for a treat. Yes, our pig dog eats pig snouts. I never knew people ate such things until I watched a Top Chef episode where they had to use offal or other strange body parts. One of the only times NOTHING looked good to me.

And, yeah, the gag reflex might have kicked in a bit, lol.

Amber, I've often wondered where that guy went. Easy to identify the only person in the whole state who put an "r" in wash.

I'm a life-long Long Islander, and we are famous for some of our
pronunciations.

But there are some things common around here that drive me crazy, such as
writing and pronouncing the word “drawer”, which many people hear and write as “draw”,
due to our dropping of R’s at the end of words.

I agree with cpartists’s examples:

(start quote)Well I live ON
Lawn Guylind and I drive into the city. (Is there any other city?)

I cook on a stove, drink soda, actually I don't drink soda,
but I do drink seltzer, eat subs, (despite what my Philly raised
DH says they are called), drink cawfee, love egg creams, and after dinner
I go sit on the couch and use the clicker to turn on the tv. I
still have pocketbooks, and when guests come to my house they enter into the
foy-yah. A long island iced tea is like buffalo wings. I use a frying pan,
and eat pasta. Btw: You ain't gonna to change how I tawk.

Oh and most importantly, Chicago
pizza, while good, doesn't hold a candle to NY pizza. What's the point of
having a lot of bread with some sauce on top? (end quote)

EXCEPT for the word sub for large sandwiches. Everybody around here calls them a hero
sandwich. Here are some local menus:

http://herofactorydeli.com/

http://www.kingkullen.com/catering_category/deli-platters-heros/

I find it interesting how other places also use/don’t use “the” in front of
certain road names. I though that was
something unique to here. We say The Long Island Expressway (or The LIE, or The Expressway), The Northern State Parkway,
The Southern State Parkway. But it’s always just plain Sunrise Highway and
Montauk Highway.
News people often get this wrong, unless
they grew up here.

My mom is Pennsylvania Dutch, and I know what Lebanon Bologna is! You can usually tell a person from the Lehigh Valley
by their response to something you tell them you did, which is “Didja?”

Here in St. Louis we don't use "the" in front of numbered highways either. It's just 270, 44, 55; etc.

Yeah, it kinda varies here. We might say the Narrows Bridge, or the Astoria Bridge, but we would say take I-5 or 405 or 101. We wouldn't put a the in front of numbers. Unless you're saying something like the 520 Bridge but that's because of the bridge, not because of 520.

Yeah, people from southern california are just weird that way. (Like I said, I say "the" when talking about roads or pieces of roads that are in southern california, when I'm in LA, but it's just for camoflauge ;) )

I've noticed that people my age (30's) or younger, including me, drop the "I" from interstates and just say 5, 80, 70 unles we need to be specific, but older californians tend to say I-5, etc.

Huh, hadn't even thought about roads and highways.

We say I-40 and I-27 which is also The Canyon e-way, or you could take 287 north or follow around on The loop. We also have FM roads but we don't say farmers market or FM 1541, we either call it 1541 or Washington (same road). I guess we use everyone's dialogue for roads!

I was born/raised in San Francisco; this about nails it: http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/How-to-Talk-Like-a-San-Franciscan-3371767.php#page-1

We ate a hard roll sandwich. And we ate "French" bread every day (except Wednesdays or Sundays because the unions didn't bake on those days), never "sour" dough. That is a new thing- to call it the bread sour dough instead of French bread. I still get mixed up.

I grew up in British Columbia, Mom from Ontario and Dad from Nova Scotia. I live in in Ontario just south of Detroit, MI. I say eh (prounounced Hey, without the H) all. the. time!

stove/oven

subs (sandwich on a long hard bun)

runners

boulevard for the grass strip between the sidewalk and road/street

median for the raised pavement that divides the road

foy-yay I think it's from the french where most things ending in er are prounounced with a long A sound.

I have a basement but at my Gramma's in "northern Ontario" we would go "down cellar" because it was not finished, just cinder block and the wooden ceiling joists and open back stairs, which scared me as a kid because what if you fall through, and it was kind of musty smelling. If ever there had been a nuclear war she would have been all set because she had a well stocked pantry!

fridge

front room/living room

I use supper/dinner interchangeably as the last big meal of the day

pop

I work with the public and was talking with a guy from Kentucky one time and I couldn't understand a word he was saying! He sounded just like Boomhauer from King of the Hill. It could have been that his mouth was full of chewing tobacco. I said, Sir, I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're saying right now, can someone else speak for the group? And another time a guy from Alabama came through and I was completely lost. I turned to my friend and asked if he was speaking English to me. LOL I've run across enough people from Kentucky and Alabama to know that's not the norm, but those guys stick out in my mind. And another guy from Kentucky said to me last month he had a "4th of Joo-lie" party to go to. I cracked up.

Every day an American will tell me they like my accent. I've also noticed most American women, older than 30 anyway, carry a cheque book. You can always tell the Canadians from Americans when you go through their purse, because I would say 98% of Canadians do not carry cheques.

This is a fun thread DebraK! :)

Oh, and I call cabinets and counter tops both cupboard. So it's either in the cupboard or on the cupboard depending on what you are looking for. :)

We ate a hard roll sandwich. And we ate "French" bread every day (except Wednesdays or Sundays because the unions didn't bake on those days), never "sour" dough. That is a new thing- to call it the bread sour dough instead of French bread. I still get mixed up.

Weird. In my neck of the woods, they are two very distinct types of bread. French bread crust is softer and the bread inside is more white, a bit fluffier, and has less distinct flavor. Sourdough crust is harder, the bread inside has a very slight color to it, just a bit more cream to it than white, and there is a distinctly different flavor that comes from the sourdough starter.

great article maddie260, I can relate to pretty much everything even though I'm seven hours South of you. We also run our words together; (Sanana, Sanamonica, Sanabarbra)

I also grew up eating "french" bread as our daily bread, which was short for sour dough french, only now it's become just sourdough.

Yes!! Sour dough is very distinct. I love it!! Especially those sourdough bowls at Panera (aka St. Louis Bread Company). French bread has its place, but bland by comparison.

I'm over 30 and I pretty much never carry checks or use an ATM card, only credit. Then just pay it off at months end.

I'm in Toronto and it's been a number of years since I saw 30. I haven't carried a checkbook for the last 10 years at least. I use credit cards for most purchases - love the credit cards with the tap feature, and also use my debit card occasionally. Since most businesses have debit/credit machines most people here no longer refer to their debit cards as bank or ATM cards.

French bread is not the same as sourdough bread here either.

Debra and Laughable- my parents were from the Buffalo area, and every summer we would visit there. We loved our beef on weck that we would get there!!!! it was also when my parents would refill their stock of Weber's mustard. We grew up with fried bologna sandwiches, and I was thrilled to go to a restaurant in Buffalo recently and be able to order it.

Fun fact- when the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants first opened, they were BW ^3- Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck- and you could order a beef on weck

For my job I need to take payment from customers (many of these are small businesses). It seems no one in Saskatchewan has a credit card! We have issues all the time because our customers (99.9999 % Canadians) don't have a credit card to make their purchase. They want us to bill them or mostly they want to go into a local office to pay cash. Most of the local offices of the company no longer accept cash payments which really annoys the customers. The lack of credit cards has been really surprising to my colleagues and I.

I think checks are popular here (WNY) as many small businesses here don't like to take credit cards due to the high fees.

Speaking to Canadians every day from Vancouver to Montreal I thought I could understand the accents. Went to see a band from Vancouver and talked to a band member during a break. Oh my gosh I could barely understand him. Actually much of it I just nodded my head to, no clue what he was saying.

Just like the US, Canada is a very diverse population over many different regions. While communication is sometimes hard, overall it makes life more interesting.

Recently was told of a "come and go tea" by a person in Windsor, had no idea what she was talking about. It was like a birthday party. Not sure if actual tea was served.

I grew up out in the country, about half-way between Rochester and Buffalo. So, I had the privilege of eating White Hots, Macaroni, and Beef on Weck. ; ) I don't know if I've had Weber's mustard, though. Does it help the fried balogna go down any easier?? (Grin)

Are butter lambs distinctive to Buffalo, too? I came across those a few years ago at Easter time. They were the most delightful little sculpted lambs made totally from butter, except for the eyes, which were made of cloves. I expressed my joy in seeing them to someone working in the store and they just looked at me funny, and explained that they had been around for years. Those didn't make it out our way, apparently. Too bad, they are so cute!

A come and go tea in my Cdn experience means tea, coffee or anything non alcoholic. It also means "drop by for awhile, but don't feel like you must stay unless you want to!" Just show up sometime between the start and end times and enjoy!

maddie - your post reminded me of another unique bay area food - dutch crunch rolls! I've almost never seen them anywhere else. It's dense, soft white roll with a cracked, crunchy crust and I loved them as a kid. Of course it was always the first kind of bread a deli would run out of...

Butter lambs! Very Buffalo.

Thanks Sherri for the explanation on the come and go tea.