South Carolina made the shag its official state dance in 1984, a six-count step that came off the sand near Ocean Drive in the late 1930s. Coastal South Carolinians say a handful of things without thinking about it. And they notice who doesn’t. These are the things South Carolinians say about the coast that give…
Thirty-two of Ohio’s 88 counties carry an official Appalachian designation from the Appalachian Regional Commission. The Census Bureau’s map counts the whole state as Midwest. Both maps can’t be right. These are the arguments Ohioans have about whether their city is Midwest at all. 1. Cincinnati Cincinnati sits on the Ohio River with Kentucky visible…
A driver who’s never set foot in Maine pulls off Route 1 in Wiscasset and asks if there’s a seafood shack up the road. The man behind the counter says “Ayuh” and goes back to ringing up coffee. That was his answer. These are the Maine words and phrases that make no sense to the…
The tailgate lots outside a North Carolina stadium fill up hours before kickoff. A first-time visitor pictures grills and coolers. What’s out there runs on rules other Americans would never dream of. These are the things North Carolinians do at a tailgate that tourists find strange. Fans Along the Team Walk UNC tailgaters claim a…
The U.S. Census Bureau counts every inch of Virginia as the South, from the Blue Ridge to the D.C. suburbs. A Loudoun County commuter would beg to differ. These are the arguments Virginians have about which half of the state counts as the South. 1. James River Line Ask Virginians where the state’s South begins….
New Hampshire’s governor invented a summer holiday in 1899 for one reason: to lure back the people who’d already left. It worked, and towns still hold Old Home Day every summer. More than a century later, the state is still handing natives a list of things nowhere else quite replaces. These are the things New…
Texas’ civilian labor force has topped 15 million, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. A single email chain can include workers born fifty years apart. And to many, a coworker’s writing style and other small habits are what give away their age. These are the workplace habits that reveal a Texas employee’s generation. 1. Ending…
Somebody’s cousin shows up to your Labor Day cookout with a tub of red slaw, and half the table eyes it like he brought it in from another state. He didn’t drive far. He came from a barbecue joint ninety minutes up the road. These are the things North Carolinians say about barbecue that start…
Memorial Stadium has sold out every Cornhusker home game since November 3, 1962. It’s a run that Omaha station WOWT calls the longest active streak in college football. That’s 410 straight sellouts. But a kid raised on those Saturdays carries more than a football habit out of the state. These are the signs someone was…
Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse hold more than 600,000 people between them, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates. That fact never survives the drive south. The same handful of questions comes up every time, from people who’ve never been north of the city’s suburbs. These are the things upstate New York residents are tired of…
