You might be from Oklahoma if.....

[mathwhizchick]

(actually, many of these also fit real well from when I lived in Alabama...)

You can properly pronounce all of the following, and without laughing:
Eufaula, Pushmataha, Okemah, Tishomingo, and Chickasha.

You know that the true value of a parking space is determined not by the distance to the door, but rather by the availability of shade.

A tornado warning siren is not necessarily cause for alarm. (It's usually just your signal to go out in the yard and look for the funnel. Fun for the whole family.)

If you've ever had this conversation with a friend: "Y'all wanna Coke?" "Sure." "What kind ya want?" "Dr. Pepper."

You've used most of the following words/expressions in daily
conversation: "reckon"; "plumb" (e.g., "plumb stove up," "plumb fed up," "plumb sick and tired," etc.); "Howdy"; "I swan" (in lieu of "I swear"); "fixin' to"; "See y'all later" (alt., "Y'all behave yourselves!")

You understand most of the following concepts and expressions: dry county; The B.C. Clark Christmas jingle;  "Once saved, always saved.";  "Go Sooners!";  "Shoot far (fire) and save the matches!"; Vacation Bible School;  Peppered cream gravy on everything, please, Ma'am;  "Just open all the windows and git in the bathtub."

You understand that Oklahoma is a Southern, Southwestern, and Midwestern state-all at once and this is not a contradiction in your mind.

The local paper quickly covers national and international headlines on the front page, but requires 6 pages for sports and 2 pages for local church news.

You know more than one woman who has used an Oklahoma University football schedule to plan her wedding date.

You don't find it in the least bit odd to see "chicken fried chicken" on a menu.

You know the difference between "Durant" and "Doo-rant," and you also know which state has a "My-am-muh," and which has a "My-am-ee." (Miami)

A BMW is not nearly the status symbol as is a Ford F150 4x4.

You don't find it in the least bit odd to find video rentals,
ammunition, and live bait all in the same convenience store.

You know all 4 seasons by heart: Tornado, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas.

You can't always remember which year your sweet Mama was born, but you can rattle off the years of all the "terrible hot" summers in your lifetime lickety-split.

[bethanial]

yeah . . . many of those also fit for Georgia, too.  Especially the "coke" one.

Deskdemon Forum Board Staff

[mathwhizchick]

yea, but only outside of Atlanta.  As the saying goes, "there are more yankees in atlanta now than there were when sherman came through...."
I still run into problems when the waitress asks me what I want to drink and I say "a coke" and she says "we only have pepsi."......  I still drive folks crazy telling them I am "fixin to" do something as well.  
Old habits die hard, I guess.
mwc

[countrigal]

Must agree with most of these...   They also seem to fit Arkansas.  Maybe it's a Southern thing?

CountriGal
Peer Moderator / Editorial Board Member

[mathwhizchick]

Probably---I wasn't aware that Oklahoma was southern, but the more the merrier!!!

[countrigal]

I simplify things...  I mark most states as either Northern or Southern.  Officially they're mid-west, but that can get confusing. (is AR mid-west?  What about TN?  are they mid-west and Southern? how to delineate?)  Like you said, the more the merrier.    Let's corrupt the world!

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[donnap99]

OK, reading this has defined something for me:  Maryland IS a southern state.  I identified with WAY too many of these to be a Yankee!  

I learned only recently that my pronounciation of "dog" is Southern.  It goes something like "dow-g."

Donna, From "Balmer, Merlin"

DonnaP99

[mathwhizchick]

most of the "southern" pronounciations of dog that I've heard (and used) have been "dahwg"--add or subtract the number of syllables, depending on just how annoying I want to be.  

Actually, during the Civil War, Maryland WAS heavily sympathetic to the south.  It created no end of problems, since it basically isolated the government in DC, surrounding by hostile territory.
mwc

[peana]

This is probably too serious, but I love old westerns, however, coming from the UK I've very little idea about the civil war, and always end up confused.  I know I should read a book, but can someone give me a brief potted history???

p.s. Jimmy Stewart or Glenn Ford (I don't know if I could decide, now I'm thinking - Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood,... help!!)

[bethanial]

well, that depends on whose viewpoint you want . . .

Most Northerners (Yankees) will tell you that the Civil War was just about slavery.

Most Southerners will tell you that the "Wa-ah between the States" was about states rights', and that slavery just happened to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

(Not that I'm condoning slavery, I think it's VERY wrong, and am glad it was abolished.)

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.  If you details on battles and stuff, well that's just not my cup of tea!

Peer Moderator

[peana]

It's all becoming clearer.

I guess that's why those of you across the pond hate it when we Brits refer to all Americans as 'Yanks'!

Thanks.

[mathwhizchick]

Now, that I haven't heard.  It's entirely possible.
However, Britain was quite the pill during the war, with underground supplies of money/food/ammo to the south, and smuggling past the northern blockade to keep their cheap supply of cotton from the south.

I don't get into it much, since my family talks about it as if it just ended yesterday (actually it's more ranting and tirades about carpetbaggers, that EVIL Abraham Lincoln and how you can't get good help anymore since he freed the slaves---I kid you not.....)

Since I vehemently disagree with them, I moved north to get out of it, and generally try to avoid the triggers and change the subject as fast as I can when they get on it.

[blufire21]

Here is a good link to info about the Civil War:  http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/




Ellen in TX

[execsec]

Okay, ya'll.... I live in Oklahoma (for the last 21 years) but I grew up in Georgia and South Carolina so most of these apply there as well.  However, the B.C. Clark jingle is special to this area.  AND, I did use the University of Oklahoma (I live in Norman) home football schedule to plan my wedding and honeymoon 18 years ago.  My husband ran a restaurant on campus corner (biggest days of the year are home football game days).  We got married on a Tuesday afternoon (after a home game weekend), flew out that evening on our honeymoon (for 10 days) then returned on a Friday night just before the next home game on Saturday.