What? 8 Words in the South That Mean the Same in the North

I have always been fascinated by the different words we use depending on what region we live in across the country.

Most of the words could be considered slang or just words that best describe something or someplace but all these words can get very confusing to a newcomer that just moved here from a different part of the U.S. or vice versa. People will either give you the dumbfounded look or just ask you, "You're not from around here are you?"

Let's take a look at some words that typically mean the same thing but are interpreted a different way. There really are differences when it comes to words in the South and in the North.

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Let's start with the water faucet. Southerners would say, Y'all turn on the water faucet. Northerners are likely to say, somebody please turn on the spigot. I don't know about you but that almost sounds like a dirty word, that kinda offends me.

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Crawfish or Mudbugs and people in the Northern states may call them Crayfish or Crawdads but don't call them Crabs, that's a whole different story in itself.

Southerners Say

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Sucker and we are not talking about a person even though we may use that word in fun to describe someone. We're talking about a lollipop as most northerners would say. But you have to admit as a Southerner it's fun to go into a store and ask for a sucker.

Southerners Say

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A grocery shopping cart in the South is called a buggy, Northerners call it a shopping cart or carriage. All I know is that when I go up North and go into a store I ask for a buggy and they give me the strangest look.

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Did y'all see that lightning bug last night? Northerners call it what it really is a firefly. But I bet you never caught lightning in a bottle. Say what?

Southerners Say

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Water Fountain, Northerners call it a drinking fountain or a bubbler. A bubbler, Eww, that sounds like when you had too many beans.

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Tennis shoes, which normally means any kind of athletic shoe you wear. Northerners call them Gym shoes or sneakers which came from sneaking up on someone many years ago when they were developed. No matter what you call them they still bring on the stank.

Southerners Say

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In the South, we call soft drinks Coke, which can also mean Dr. Pepper or any other soft drink we order. Nowadays, Coke could mean something else entirely but I get a kick out of ordering a Coke up North and when they bring me a Coke I tell them I meant Dr. Pepper. You have to be specific here because if you are not you're just going to look really dumb.

Check out the complete list from the website Stacker to see if what you are saying makes any sense at all.

What? 8 Words in the South That Mean the Same in the North

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CHECK IT OUT: These words were born in the '80s