zoobie Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Atlanta, GA. I add "the" and a thick accent to "The Walmarts" and "The Goodwills" if I'm being goofy. It's a joke in our family. We don't use it in normal speech. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Local legend has it that when BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) was being designed, it was going to be ''Fremont Area Rapid Transit,'' but someone did catch it. I would think "bay area" would be more generic considering how much of the area the train covers. seattle also has a fremont neighborhood. there is a statue called "waiting for the interurban" of people at a train stop/shelter. it gets dressed up for holidays. in cold weather people will put hats and scarves on them. I recently took one of those online linguistics quizzes that's supposed to pinpoint your hometown. Even though I've lived in 6 states and one Canadian province, it nailed mine exactly. :) I've always lived here - and those online linguistic quizzes can't tell where I'm from. (It can only rule out the deep south.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_go_gadget Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 I would think "bay area" would be more generic considering how much of the area the train covers. It is much more appropriate, because the Fremont station is actually a far-removed endpoint, not even close to the center of service. The story is almost certainly untrue because of that, but it's funny. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Someone kick your puppy this morning? I love regional variations in speech, though there is a particular variation of southern accent of which I am no fan. It is hard to describe in writing, but it is the flat northern Alabama version. Still, it will be a sad thing when regional speech patterns completely disappear, and we all sound alike. Was meant to be light hearted. I am rural born. My favorite tv shows as a kid were ones displaying accents very different from my own .... Gomer Pyle, Dukes of Hazard, Beverly Hillbilies, Andy Griffith, Welcome Back Kotter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I hear it occasionally here in upstate NY. It is something I have come to associate with lower middle class or working class folks. If you get very upstate they are all going 'up to the...". As in "I went up to the Walmart' or "I am going up to the Target". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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