Newcomer? Triangle Terms and Survival Guide (Raleigh, Cary: to live, restaurant, shoppers)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Excellent post! Totally and completely agree. Having also lived in London, the culture we've found here in NC is a million times better
Thanks! It is loads better and, no dizzying roundabouts, city tariffs, you can park at your destination, and everyone speaks English Oh, and the sun shines even when it's cold. I don't miss those cloudy days!
In fact, part of 540 is I-540, and part of 540 is NC540 (the part that will be a toll road).
I'm not talking about what it IS, but what it's CALLED. Nobody calls it "I-540". Perhaps they will once the other part is finished, but it's just "540" now.
And Isaac is absolutely right about "Little Washington"! And, no self-respecting NC native would refer to the Morehead City/Beaufort ["BO-f'rt"]/Atlantic Beach area as "The Crystal Coast"--it's "Morehead", meaning the whole eastern Carteret County area. Bonus points for knowing that "Tony's" means the Sanitary restaurant in Morehead.
Also, "Carolina" means UNC if you're in NC, but it means "USC" if you're in SC (What do they know?). Don't go to Myrtle Beach and talk about "Carolina" unless you know this, or they will talk to you about the wrong school.
As a public service to those who may be considering moving to the area, below is an explanation of terms that newcomers often get confused. (It becomes more confusing when local TV broadcasters get it wrong, too.)
1. The Triangle - This term defines Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, and the surrounding small towns. It is so named because Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill form a triangle.
2. RTP - This stands for Research Triangle Park. It is basically a very large business park with its own zip code and is centrally located in the Triangle.
When you say "RTP," do not say "the" RTP. Their website (rtp.org) refers to it as "The Research Triangle Park," but no one ever says "the RTP." It's just "RTP."
3. RDU - This is the airport. It is also centrally located and is near RTP. It stands for Raleigh/Durham, but do not refer to the Triangle as "RDU." If you do say "RDU, people will think you're talking only about the airport.
4. Raleigh/Durham - This is a pretty much useless term that only people from outside of the area use. The centers of each city are about 30 minutes from each other. But each city has its own separate government, school system, and culture. If you are talking about the area, use the term, "the Triangle."
5. Colleges:
UNC - When people say "UNC," they mean UNC (University of North Carolina) at Chapel Hill.
State - When people say "State," they mean North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
Duke - They mean Duke, of course, in Durham.
Central - They mean North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham.
6. Tar Heels - This is a term for all citizens of North Carolina and is also the nickname for Chapel Hill athletic teams. A bighorn ram is their mascot. The main theme color is "Carolina Blue," a medium bright blue.
7. Wolfpack - This is the nickname for NC State athletic teams. A wolf is the university mascot. The main theme color is deep red.
8. Blue Devils - This is the nickname for Duke athletic teams. A blue devil is the university mascot. The main theme color is a deep royal blue.
9. Eagles - The nickname for Central (NCCU's) athletic teams. An eagle is their mascot. The main theme color is maroon.
10. The Beach - We don't call it the "shore." The "beach" can be any spot along the coast, including Wilmington, Atlantic Beach, or the Outer Banks (Nag's Head, Kitty Hawk, etc.). Generally, though, in the Triangle, when you say "the beach," people are usually talking about the Wilmington or Atlantic Beach areas. If you're going to the Outer Banks, say, "Outer Banks."
11. 440 - This is the original beltline that circles Raleigh. Do not say "the 440." It's just "440" or "the beltline." When people say "Inside the beltline," they mean the 440 beltline.
12. 540 - This beltline is newer and can be considered the "outer" beltline. It does not yet circle the entire Raleigh area. Do not say "the 540." It's just "540" or "the outer beltline."
Note: The original beltline (440) used to be referred to as the "inner beltline" and "outer beltline," depending upon which direction you were going. Those terms have been changed in an effort to make them easier to understand. Here is a TV story about it: Inner? Outer? Beltline confusion ends soon :: WRAL.com
13. Bonusfact: Wake Forest University is not in the town of Wake Forest. It moved in 1956 to Winston-Salem. The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary is now located in the university's old location in Wake forest.
14. Survival tips:
Do not say "we did it better up North" (or wherever you came from). However, feel free to make this a better place. Just don't complain about it. Choose your words carefully.
Do not ever say you are afraid your children will get a Southern accent. That is quite rude. Triangle Southern accents, if you can find them at all, are soft and lilting.
Street names are sometimes confusing. You'll find some street names and area names on MapQuest that haven't been used in years.
There are a few instances of streets with the same name being a few blocks away from each other.
Keep in mind you need to be specific in street names: For example, New Hope Road is not the same as New Hope Church Road in Raleigh. And there are multiple "New Hope Church Roads" in the Triangle.
Do not complain about a lack of things to do. This is a vibrant area with lots of things to do, including sports, plays, concerts, festivals, and lots of restaurants. Sometimes you just need to look a little harder than what you're used to.
Welcome and good luck!
This is an awesome post - and VERY informative for anyone wanting to understand the "lay of the land" in their new home state
Francois- Remember downtown blvd, north blvd and then US1? Glenwood beyond Crabtree was the Derm Highway. K and K toys at Crabtree? The Orange Bowl? Mayberry at Colony Shopping Center. When mini-city was nothing but soccer fields. Ray Rd was puretee country. K-Mart at Six Forks and Wake Forest flooded every few years. The madman that killed a few people at the old North Hills mall. Scotty's had the best hot dogs in town. North Ridge was waay out. Effie Green was a county school. Country Club Hills was a far out suburb.
Yes, I do, Isaac (except the Country Club Hills part, perhaps). Are you on Facebook? There's a whole group for folks who grew up here and remember things like that--like the sniper who killed 4 people at North Hills (Mall) on Memorial Day, 1972, or Ragamuffins restaurant, or the Village Subway at Cameron Village.
But we should keep this thread more on topic and current, for the new folks
I'm not talking about what it IS, but what it's CALLED. Nobody calls it "I-540". Perhaps they will once the other part is finished, but it's just "540" now.
Francois - I agree with you, the point I was trying to make is that to call it I-540 would refer only to that part of the road that stretches from I-40 north and east to US64. It would leave out the portion from I-40 south and west to NC 55 (which is a state, rather than federal route and is labeled NC540 - as will the rest of the toll road portion when built). The original plan would have had I-540 eventually becoming I-640 when the loop was complete (per federal Interstate naming conventions). Seems that will not be necessary anymore, since I-540 will now never be a loop (although "540" will).
Durham is Derm but never Doorum as many northerners tend to say.
Didn't help that Marc Jacobson was on the tube for years with his commercials promoting his "Toyota of Doorum" dealership (before he changed its name).
Although I am fairly new here, I am not a yankee transplant. :-)
I grew up in Florida with Native Floridian parents who both have distinct Southern accents. My mother's mother is from this area, and I noticed when I was growing up that her accent was different from the other Southern accents I knew in rural Florida. My Nana was from Turkey (near Clinton) but moved to Florida when she ran off from home at 16 to marry a hoodlum. :-)
When I first moved here, I nearly burst into tears at a hairdresser one day. I was sitting there minding my own business when the elderly lady waiting next to me began to talk to her friend. I thought my Nana had come back from the dead to talk to me. She sounded exactly like her, and I'd never heard anyone else with that distinct way of speaking. I asked her where she was from, and sure enough she was from Sampson County.
I don't know if this is "North Carolina" but in my house the lights were turned "own" rather than "ahn", we had dinner at noon, not at 6 p.m., we had a settee or a sofa, not a couch, we children were referred to as varmits, often told to quit lollygagging and threatened with being skinned alive. When asked how she was doing, my grandmother inevitably said, "Fair to middlin' I s'pose."
Oh - my father always said "thank ya, Guv'nr" (Governor) when someone did something nice and used "yankee" as his only expletive.
My boyfriend, a Raleigh native, informed me that BOH-fert is in North Carolina, BYOO-fert is in South Carolina and if you mix it up folks will most certainly know you 'taint from 'round here.
A few others he told me mark you as a native or non-native:
Cabarrus County: Cuh-BEHR-us, not CAB-er-us
Iredell - I couldn't figure out how to write this phonetically, but it is not I-yer-dale, more like AHR-d'l
Blount Street - blunt not blownt (ow, like ouch)
Harnett County - HAR-nit not Har-NETT
oh - and one more... Catawba River/County... he always calls it Cat-a-WAH-bah when we pass it and laughs (it's Cuh-TAW-buh).
Jenny
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