Saying "y’all". If you came from the midwest, you most likely grew up referring to groups as “you guys” but by the time you go home for fall break, it’s all “y’all this” or "y’all that.” Your hometown friends will laugh a little at how southern you sound, but the difference doesn’t faze you anymore. With one less syllable, y’all is just easier to get out. And if it helps you blend in to the southern style, then why not add it to your lingo? It’s going to happen whether you want it to or not.
Pop vs Soda. To midwesterners, that fizzy drink that is gulped down with vigor is called pop. The south does it a little differently. If you want a Sprite, you either want a soda or a coke. No matter what type of carbonated drink it is, it can be referred to as a coke. “Oh you’d like a coke to drink? Yeah, no problem, what kind?”
Kendra Scott. If you didn’t know what this was before going south, then you will learn pretty quickly once you’re there. If you start to look around and see all these girls wearing very similar looking jewelry, it is not because Kohl’s was having a sale. It’s the trendy jewelry brand that started in Austin and by the end of the year, you will most likely own a couple pairs of the earrings and maybe a necklace.
Yes ma’am and sir. It’s about to get really awkward when you refer to an adult by their first name and the person next to you is the epitome of politeness, calling them ma’am or sir. Never in my life had I referred to anyone as ma’am or sir, and now I get anxious about whether I will sound disrespectful if I use a more lax term. But it’s just second nature in the south.
Sweet tea. If you don’t enjoy drinking your dessert, then stay away from the tea. When they say “sweet tea” in the south, they really mean sweet. In the midwest, sweet tea is a couple sugar packets added to your tea. If you add about ten more of those sugar packets to that tea then you will have the perfect southern refreshment.
Chivalry is not dead. Ever mope and complain about how guys don’t open doors anymore or carry your books? Move on down to the southern states and you will get all the chivalry you could ask for. I was amazed when I first moved here. I was walking to a door with a boy a bit behind me when, to my complete astonishment, he jogged past in order to open the door for me. My jaw was definitely on the floor.
Let’s dip. In the midwest it means let’s leave. Say that to someone in the south and they pull out that stringy brown stuff to put in your mouth. Uh, no thank you, I just wanted to go home actually.
Boys and their trucks. Sure you know people from home who had pick up trucks, but unless you have lived in the south you haven’t seen anything. Stroll through the parking lots of a fraternity house and it will be rows upon rows of trucks. Just don’t ever ask a boy to pick between you and his truck. You won’t like the answer.
Cheese dip and queso. Apparently, they are not the same things, and if you try to say otherwise their will be a fight. To be honest, I’m still not sure what the difference is. I just know now that there is one.
