You Say Tomato....

"Soon as I put on my toboggan, I'm fixin to carry ya'll to the Sonic to get a Coke. Just don't let it tump over in my car." That's Texas for "As soon as I put on my stocking cap, I am going to drive you all to the Sonic to get a soda. Just don't let it spill in my car." Crazy - the words we use. "Fixin to" means going to - or about to. "Ya'll" of course means you all. "Carry you somewhere" means to drive you - certainly not literally carry. "Coke" can mean anything carbonated. "Tump" means to tip over or spill. And "toboggan" means a wool hat, or stocking cap. This is the one that first tipped me off to the possibility that the words I grew up with perhaps weren't exactly universal. 

I'll never forget the day working on the ski lift at Copper Mountain in Colorado when upon my lunch break I took off as always to get in an hour of hard skiing. As I sat on the lift to the top of the mountain I realized that I had left my hat in the lift station below and that my ears and head were going to freeze. No problem - I would stop in at the top lift station and borrow my friend's - he was simply sitting inside the shack and wouldn't need it for a while. As I got off the lift I waved to him inside and then skied around to the door. We exchanged pleasantries and I proceeded to ask him if I could borrow his toboggan. A little unsure he asked, "what?" I said - "do you mind if I borrow your toboggan? I left mine at the bottom and my ears are getting cold." Quite confused he said, "You want my toboggan?" At this point I decide he's a bit territorial over it and maybe this was a little too personal for our stage of friendship. "Yeah" I said, "I just need something to wear over my ears while I ski. I'll bring it back in an hour." He replies, "You're going to wear a toboggan?" "Sure - unless you have an ear band." At this point he begins to contort his face in a problem solving manner and eventually says, "do you mean a stocking cap?" My immediate thought is that sounds a bit effeminate - but I nod and say "yes - a stocking cap - a toboggan." He breaks out into laughter and begins describing his vision of me skiing with a sled - or a toboggan - on my head. 

At that point I began to question my whole vocabulary. Seems there were a lot of colloquialisms in there - not to mention a pretty steep accent. Over time I've realized that every place has them - and every native is always surprised to learn that theirs aren't universal. For instance, in the midwest it's called a pop, or soda. In the south it's definitely just Coke. I've somehow landed on soft drink for the most part. This past week I referred to my house shoes to a native Californian who laughed and said, you mean slippers? Which reminded me of my Australian friend who calls his PJ bottoms his house pants. 

It's amazing really that the english language can have so many different words to say the same thing. Even more-so is our innate ability, conscious or otherwise, to quickly adapt and emulate the local lingo. For instance, when I first moved here, to get to the beach I would take Hwy. 118 to either Hwy. 23, or I-405, then take Hwy. 101 to Kanan Rd., over to the Pacific Coast Highway. But now I take "the 118" to either "the 23" or "the 405", then take "the 101" to Kanan Rd., over to "PCH" (and not "the PCH" - please - are you trying to piss them off?) Yes - it's essential that "the" comes before any number that would indicate a hwy or interstate. This is exclusive to Southern California and they would laugh aloud at your insistence to declare the denomination of the road, be it hwy, interstate, tollway, etc... before saying its number. A simple "the" is all that's required. So... I say when in Rome. After all, I love my SoCal friends and by all means the last thing I want is to sound unintelligent with the words I use - I mean that would like be so like totally like not awesome like gag me totally not rad.... don't you think?