By: Travis Archie
The United States of America is a country that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean. With this vast territory comes different types of words that have the same meaning. Buggie, cart, beanie, toboggan, soda, pop, you guys, y’all, cut on the lights, and turn on the lights; just using one of these words or phrases normally labels where a person is from in the U.S.
Gardner-Webb junior Erik Barr, from Western Pennsylvania, and sophomore Autumn Dufiled, from Anaheim California, have a few similarities in the way they say objects and actions.
Both of them use the terms beanie and grocery cart, and the phrase, turn on the light. Their linguistics diverges after that; Duflied prefers to say soda instead of pop, which is said by Barr. Duflied also uses you guys, while Barr uses “yinz,” the Pittsburg equivalent.
Junior Jill Blank is from the Eastern part of Pennsylvania and junior Matt Cook is from Burke County, North Carolina. Blank says beanie instead of saying toboggan, like Cook. Although she is from the North, she says, soda”like Duflied.
Cook says, “yuns” opposed to Blank who says, you guys. Also, in the grocery store Cook pushes a buggy while Blank pushes a cart. The phrase turn on the lights is used by Blank, while Cook uses the Southern term, cut on the lights.
Deanna Ramsey is from Earl, North Carolina, and Timothy Jacquez is from Statesville, North Carolina. They are both from the same general area, but they also have different linguistics; just like Blank and Barr, who are both from Pennsylvania.
Jaquez, who was raised in California says, beanie instead of toboggan, which is used by Ramsey. Beverage and the phrase, turn on the lights is also used by Ramsey, but Jacquez uses soda and the phrase, cut on the lights, all the while, both Ramsey and Jaquez use the words y’all and buggie.
Words are the primary way for people to communicate, and if there is a word or two that differs, then that does not matter as long as the correct message gets through.