Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Sil Greene <quack AT ibiblio.org>]

> From Scott G. Hall:

> When you are having "greens" with dinner, what are you eating?
> a) A Salad   (midwest)
> b) Collared  (south)
> c) Vegetables: cucumber, broccoli, spinach, zucchini, etc. (California)


Umm, southerners eat salad too.  Collards are a member of the cabbage 
family like broccoli and kale and are a traditional dish of the region, 
but that doesn't prevent us from eating other green veggies.  'Sides,
you forgot the green/string/pole beans.




> Also I would have categorized a slightly different set of labels:
>
> Dixie
> Midwesterner
> Upper Midwesterner
> Californian
> Texan (Texas, Okl., New Mex.)
> Yankee
> New Yorkian (New Jersey/New York speak;
>              as opposed to high society "New Yorker")
>
> You could label the last two:  Upper Yankee and Middle Yankee
>
> I find distinct differences in both pronunciations and colloquialism
> for all seven regions.  And I tend to only understand those from the
> midwest.

Well, of course you do.  I think all the categorizations are just as 
ridiculous; we can take any of those categories and subdivide them into 
distinct differences until the cows come home, but it's a silly exercise 
and really isn't worth the effort.  If we wanted a true representation, 
we'd have to mention the real languages in various parts (like Gullah or 
creole); the absolutely astonishing dialects (eg that found on Harker's 
Island on the NC coast); the fact that New England dialects don't fit into 
any of the categories you've mentioned.

We can subdivide Dixie into Coastal Dixie, Carpetbagger's Friend Dixie, 
Deep South Dixie, and Appalachian; and then we can further subdivide those.
But at some point you have to say enough to the endless categorizations 
and simplify things.  Otherwise you end up with a linguistics thesis 
(or three) and a headache.

--sil