'Hey, bo, where you stay at?'

Along with natural beauty and resources, North Carolina is blessed with a host of unique dialects. Someone who grew up on, say, Ocracoke Island, is gonna talk a lot different than some from, say, the far reaches of western N.C. Heck, someone from Ocracoke is gonna speak different from someone from Wilmington, and those two locations are not far from each other at all.

Part of this variety in language and dialect comes from the fact that N.C. was influenced by a variety of cultures -- and continues to today. As more and more people continue to move into the state, those dialects and accents will shift like sandbars. And that's ok.

Our good friend Walt Wolfram over at NC State has documented the variety in accents through the years. In one of his latest posts, he writes about some uniquely North Carolina phrases and their origins. Terms like "North Cackalacky," "dingbatter" and "cattywampus."  Also glad to see "mash this button" gets a shout-out.

One of the ones he mentions is the "boot" of a car.  This is a term that my grandparents (Clinton, N.C.) have long used. Here is some more about the "boot" from Wolfram:

One of the well-known differences between British English and American English is the different terms for the primary storage area of a car. In America, it’s called a trunk and in England it’s a boot. Travelers to the Coastal Plain of North Carolina, however, may be surprised to find that rural residents in these areas also refer to it as a boot. From counties such as Bertie and Martin in the northern Coastal Plain to Brunswick and New Brunswick in the south, older residents may use the term boot to refer to what most Americans call a trunk. The residents did not travel to England to pick up the term; it’s simply an older form in English that was used to refer to the luggage compartment that often sat under the seat by the boots of the driver in horse-and-buggy times. Given the history of small, isolated rural communities in North Carolina, it stands to reason that it is a state that retains is fair share of “relic” dialect terms.

I've been thinking about some other terms that I grew up with (Dunn. N.C.). For one, the use of "hey, bo" (as a substitute for "hey, man" or "what's up?") was one that immediately came to mind. I was somewhat surprised a few years ago to see that this term has been turned into a line of outdoor clothing. I will say that this phrase appears to be unique to Caucasians, but I could be wrong about that.

Another phrase that I grew up hearing mostly from African Americans was "where you stay at?" as a way to ask about their home address or their neighborhood. (This also means that the headline to this post is probably mostly disingenuous.)

Any other phrases or words that you grew up with that would make a list like this? If so, please share them along with where you grew up.

I-40 reopens after rockslide

You may now travel from eastern Tennessee into North Carolina via Interstate 40, which has been closed since October due to a massive rockslide. The road reopened on Sunday.

The work on I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge will continue through the summer as crews complete stabilization efforts, but with both eastbound lanes and one westbound lane open, Western North Carolina’s main transportation artery is back in business [says the Smoky Mountain News].

The economic effects of the I-40 rockslide have been a source of attention ever since the road was closed. In March, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that it would hand out $1.4 million in loans to businesses affected by the slide, but the money was spread over the region from Asheville to Sevierville, Tenn.

The total cost for the repair project, initially slated for completion in February, is estimated to be $12.9 million, and according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the federal government will cover nearly 100 percent of the cost. ...

Before the rockslide, about 19,000 vehicles a day traveled on the road, and almost half of them were trucks. Businesses that directly relied on the commercial traffic, like gas stations and hotels have been hardest hit by the closure.

The folks in Cherokee are particularly thrilled.

“We are delighted the section of I-40 that has been closed since October 2009 has now reopened,” said Mary Jane Ferguson, director of Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Marketing and Promotion. “It is especially welcomed at the beginning of seasonal visits to Western North Carolina and to Cherokee. Having I-40 West open will allow the leisure travel to choose the closest route to come visit all that Cherokee, NC has to offer. We look forward to those visits to Cherokee. We want our visitors to know they will be greeted with a warm welcome as it has been a long winter.”