As a native Californian, can you tell a lifelong Californian when out of state? (San Francisco: transplants, live in)

[Lovehound]

I'm a native Californian. I can tell that I have no accent because my speech is the same as all the people in the media, like network news etc. I presume that to areas of the US with regional dialects that the news anchors sound some sort of accented.

Note that California has so many non-natives that our speech gets turned over and over like a garden being cultivated, and the differences average out.

One way you can tell if somebody isn't a native is if they call the state "Cali" (which is a city in the South American country of Columbia). You hardly ever hear people call our state Cali in California, but it's not unusual to hear uneducated people from outside the state using the incorrect name. It's like "The O.C." You don't hear that in Orange County.

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by w1ngzer0

Say "hella" a bunch and they'll know you're from northern California.

Beyond "hella," the only time I've been able to pick out a Californian here in Arizona is when they're frustrated or angry about something. It could have been a run into by accident, but the practice of "half wing it" in $10 per hr and lower jobs are common in AZ.

Girl i ran into as a cashier told her manager, "the register was short" and he told her to deal with it. Not make the cash drawer right and dock the previous cashier, but deal with it? So.. I wonder how much money they're missing per year!

At the job im at they provide initial training and tell you to figure it out. In my field, unless your a programmer, there is no figuring it out. The people that add the additional features don't even document it! more

I'm confused. Did this incident somehow tell you they were from CA?

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by Charles

It seems like Colorado has more ex-Californians than California has native Californians.

I pretty much assume most people I run into in the South Denver Metro area are from California.

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

One way you can tell if somebody isn't a native is if they call the state "Cali" (which is a city in the South American country of Columbia). You hardly ever hear people call our state Cali in California, but it's not unusual to hear uneducated people from outside the state using the incorrect name. It's like "The O.C." You don't hear that in Orange County.

Maybe that's true in SoCal, but in NorCal, I would hear it every now and then. It might have just been from those who grew up around hip hop.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by rkb0305

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I'm confused. Did this incident somehow tell you they were from CA?

sorry went on a random tangent.

[kettlepot]

If you are back east for a summer vacation, one way to tell a fellow Californian is that they will say things like, "Wow! It's so GREEN here!" The combination of summer and green boggles the Californian mindset.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

If you are back east for a summer vacation, one way to tell a fellow Californian is that they will say things like, "Wow! It's so GREEN here!" The combination of summer and green boggles the Californian mindset.

LOL Until the season turned and the leaves fell off the trees, I stared at them from the time I moved til, well the leaves are returning. Lots of green trees, lots of big *bunches* of green trees and grass/assorted wild flowers/weeds next to it. Wow!

My friends were amused but they moved here from Florida 8 years ago so they may have forgotten and Florida has more green.

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

If you are back east for a summer vacation, one way to tell a fellow Californian is that they will say things like, "Wow! It's so GREEN here!" The combination of summer and green boggles the Californian mindset.

Yeah, here in Denver, it's the complete opposite of California. It's brown in the winter and green in the summer, as there is virtually no moisture out here in the winter and it rains in the summer months.

[jzt83]

"like"

[Charles]

You can tell the ex-Californians in Colorado because they drive black german cars. Native Coloradans don't do that.


The half life of a clean car in Colorado is seven hours.



Another way to tell an ex-Californian is his license plate frames. "Cal Worthington BMW" is a sure giveaway.