You Know You're From North Carolina If...

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Here is “Round Six ” of your insights into how to know if someone is from North Carolina. You may also want to check out Round One (February 2004), Round Two (March 2004), Round Three (May 2004), Round Four (July 2004) and Round Five (August 2004).

If you can think of anything to add to this list, send it to us:

E-mail: Carolina.country@ncemcs.com
Mail: P.O. Box 27306, Raleigh, NC 27611.
Phone: (919) 875-3062.

From Dale Whitfield, Wake Forest

You know the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption, and that you don’t “have” them, you “pitch” them.
If someone says he’ll “be back directly,” you know exactly how long it will be before he’s back.
You know “gimme some sugar” is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl on the middle of the table.
You know instinctively that the best way to comfort a neighbor who’s got trouble is to give a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If
the neighbor’s trouble is a real crisis, you know to add a large banana puddin.’
You know the difference between a right near and a right far place.
A booger can be a resident of the nose, a descriptive as in “that ol’ booger,” a first name, or something that jumps out at you in the dark and scares you.
You make friends while standing in lines.
You have caught yourself lookin’.
You don’t scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive slowly on the freeway. You just say, “Bless her heart” and go your own way.

From Lisa Brown, Siloam

You know that salet is just another name for turnip greens.
Receipts mean recipes.
You know what a horse egg is.
You’ve played see-saw on a tobacco trailer.
You know what the lights in a hog are. (For example, at hog-killing time, someone might say, “I want the lights out of the hog if don’t nobody want ‘em.”
Snuff from your grandpa’s mouth soothed a bee sting.

From Tian Rodreguez

You love pimento cheese sandwiches.
You mow out back and find the car you drove in high school.
You can describe the taste of souse meat.
A vacation is a road trip on which you look at as many old log buildings as you can fit in a two-and-a-half day schedule.

From Julie Fair, a native Charlottean

“I use ta could” is a sentence you can understand.
You know that those brown and black furry cater pillars are called woolly worms.
You know the historical reason for the name Charlotte Hornets.
You know that all of those bad drivers in Charlotte aren’t from here.
You know that a double-wide is just like a house.
You learned square dancing in school as a form of PE.

From Vickie Cruthis, Darlene Wagoner and Marlene Hedrick, all members of EnergyUnited

You have used kerosene or turpentine for medicinal purposes.
You have worn ear bobs or a head rag.
You know how to recycle a Sears catalog.
You know that you keep your cows in a born.
You know what window lights are, and you have washed them every spring.
You know what it means when your momma says to “warp him one.” (Our momma had a dog that would jump up on visitors, and she would say, “Roll up that newspaper and warp him one.”)

From Becky Willard, Mocksville, Energy United member

You’ve gone sledding on an old car hood.
You know how to make your own livermush and chow chow.

From Crystal Hopkins, Washington

You are at work and it starts to rain, but you know the neighbors
will get your clothes off the line.
You know Monday is wash day.
You take your shoes off to walk through mud puddles.

From Sammy Bailey, Wingate