Southern California drivers' lingo...are we just weird?

[DingDingDao]

Inspired by the California (or why to hate it) thread--

I've noticed that people in Southern California have some weird idiosyncrasies when it comes to talking about driving (I previously lived in Denver and Dallas).

1) People here add "the" in front of freeways, whereas everywhere else doesn't seem to have this happen. For instance, if I gave directions to someone here, I'd say, "Take the 10 east to the 110 north." But when I'm in Dallas to visit my folks, directions go something like "Take 75 north to 635 west." How do you describe freeways?

2) People here also seem to use time as a distance measurement. For example, when people in Dallas talk about how far something is, it's usually "Oh, there's a Starbucks about a mile from here." But here in L.A., if you ask, "How far is your apartment from campus?" people answer, "Oh, not far, about 20 minutes." How do you describe driving distances?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

R

 

[DingDingDao]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
R

Really? Sorry...link? 😛

 

[loup garou]

Repost. And you're weird about putting "the" in front of things. The time thing, everyone does.

 

[PawNtheSandman]

That isn't a socal thing. People all over the US do it.

 

[DingDingDao]

Haha just something that popped into my head at 8:00 am on a monday morning 😛

 

[Amused]

I grew up in CA and use "The" in front of the number of highways. I also judge distance by driving time, not distance.

But many here in IL do the same.

 

[Anubis]

i give all distances in Time becaause it does not matter how far it is, depending on where you are 4 miles could take 30min to drive so the time is in minutes or hours

and IMO putting THE in front of the freeway number makes you sound stupid

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Anubis
and IMO putting THE in front of the freeway number makes you sound stupid

Everyone, and I mean everyone calls it "The 405" and "The 101" and so on in CA.

"You go down the 405 south to the 101 north and exit at Westlake Blvd"

That's how ANYONE out there would say it.

 

[Jawo]

That doesnt occur out here in the Mid Atlantic much....been all over VA, MD its just 66 to 495 to 95....

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Anubis
and IMO putting THE in front of the freeway number makes you sound stupid

Everyone, and I mean everyone calls it "The 405" and "The 101" and so on in CA.

"You go down the 405 south to the 101 north and exit at Westlake Blvd"

That's how ANYONE out there would say it.

more proof that everyone in CA is stupid

 

[m2kewl]

yes!

you guys are weird AND bad drivers! 😛

 

[franksta]

1.) Depends on context

2.) See #1

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

I almost never hear than in Nor Cal.

 

[jtvang125]

WTF is the difference if there's a "the" or not. If you can't understand it with or without the 'the', you shouldn't be driving.

 

[DingDingDao]

Originally posted by: jtvang125
WTF is the difference if there's a "the" or not. If you can't understand it with or without the 'the', you shouldn't be driving.

Thanks for the thread-crap, idiot. :|

It's not confusing either way--it's purely a curious question on my part, hence the off-topic nature of the question. That's why I posted it in Off-topic. Get it?

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Anubis
and IMO putting THE in front of the freeway number makes you sound stupid

Everyone, and I mean everyone calls it "The 405" and "The 101" and so on in CA.

"You go down the 405 south to the 101 north and exit at Westlake Blvd"

That's how ANYONE out there would say it.

more proof that everyone in CA is stupid

Except that only people in Southern California do it, and you never hear "the 680" or anything lame like that in Norcal.

 

[DingDingDao]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Anubis
and IMO putting THE in front of the freeway number makes you sound stupid

Everyone, and I mean everyone calls it "The 405" and "The 101" and so on in CA.

"You go down the 405 south to the 101 north and exit at Westlake Blvd"

That's how ANYONE out there would say it.

more proof that everyone in CA is stupid

Except that only people in Southern California do it, and you never hear "the 680" or anything lame like that in Norcal.

Yeah, hella-lame. :laugh: 😛

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: DingDingDao

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Anubis
and IMO putting THE in front of the freeway number makes you sound stupid

Everyone, and I mean everyone calls it "The 405" and "The 101" and so on in CA.

"You go down the 405 south to the 101 north and exit at Westlake Blvd"

That's how ANYONE out there would say it.

more proof that everyone in CA is stupid

Except that only people in Southern California do it, and you never hear "the 680" or anything lame like that in Norcal.

Yeah, hella-lame. :laugh: 😛

That's a completely different type of lame saying 😛.

 

[Chaotic42]

1) I say "Interstate 10" or "I-10". "10" or "405" would be state/county highways.

2) I use length. I can't tell how long it will take someone to go 10 miles, but 10 miles is an absolute distance.

 

[BlackAdam]

Totally right, every freeway starts with "the".

The 405
The 5
The 101
The 110
The 118
The 134
The 170

Ok, I'm done with my valley freeways...

 

[cHeeZeFacTory]

it's driving time here because of all the traffic.

with the length thing. I have no idea how many miles is it to go anywhere, just how long it takes.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
I almost never hear than in Nor Cal.

Yep, seems to be a southern CA thing. You never hear "the 280" or "the 87" here in the Bay Area. Southern CA is like a different planet sometimes...