FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl

How to Spot a So Cal Transplant

They're all around us. They might look like us, but if you pay close attention, you can tell that they are different.

You might notice, for example, that they aren't quite comfortable using the word "hella" in a sentence. They might say for example, "That is way....I mean hell of cool." That pause is a sure tell--they are definately a So Cal transplant. One of those many Los Angeles area escapees who have cropped up in this area. (Like a weed, really.)

What is your favorite tell that someone isn't from the Bay Area?
The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of StreetAdvisor.
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23 Comments

NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
I suppose this is.. um hella directed at me?
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
Yep.
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NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
Okay well here is what I noticed when I first go up here: In So Cal they (see I no longer even identify myself with the residents of LaLa land) call freeways "the 101" or "the 405"; here, we just say "101" or "80".

Its a sure tell if someone uses a definite article in front of a freeway's number that they are fresh off the I-5.
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
ahh! "the I-5" huh? i guess u just outed yourself. so y do u so-cal-ers do that?
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NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
To give you hippies a sense of superiority?
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
eww! and da smog-stained claws come out!
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NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
Just kidding, of course, FlowerGirl (with that screen name I'm sure you get that hippy crack a lot). I have a theory about why people from LA use the definite article in front of freeway numbers. Want to hear it?
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
enlighten me, your owlness
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NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
Here's what I think it is. So Cal is a total car culture. I mean you can be on the 101 at 3 am and run into bumper to bumper traffic. I mean you'll just look out your car window at the neighboring care and they will stare back at you like "What the heck is this all about? IT'S THREE AM!"

You spend so much time on the freeways and they have such an effect on your life that you start to speak about them with a certain deference-- as if they are fickle Gods and Godesses that can trample you underfoot if you don't watch out.
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
wow! dat is quite a theory. but if dat is how they feel about freeways in so cal, how do we feel about them here? what does our lack of definite article say?
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NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
I'm not as sure about what it says about Nor Cal-ers, but I have slightly less well developed theory about that as well.
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
yes...
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NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
Do you want to hear it?
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
yeah you big tease. lay it on me already.
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The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of StreetAdvisor.
NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
Okay, here it is. Up here everything is looser and less formal, so we don't use the definite article with our freeways because we don't really feel any sense of deference to anything. A left over from our radical hippy history. That's also why we are more likely to call freeways by their names rather than their numbers as well. It's like when you here a student call his professor "Jim" or "Bob."
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
hmmmm? interesting...
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NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
Kind of lame, huh?
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
it could use some work
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
but i definetely like part 1 of your theory
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
any way Owl, i'm out. my movie is coming on and moma flower is waitin
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The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of StreetAdvisor.
NightOwlnOrinda
NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+
Good night!
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FlowerGirl
FlowerGirl 2yrs+
Here's another way to know when some one is new in town. They don't know what Pride Week is.
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The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of StreetAdvisor.
StephSF
StephSF 2yrs+
I call it "the 101." I thought that was what you were supposed to do in California...?

I also refer to the 1 as "the 1," but 80 is 80, 280 is 280, 880 is 880...you get the idea. Is that really a NorCal/SoCal thing?
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