When I first moved down here, there were some situations where I truly had trouble understanding what was being said. For instance, I was in Home Depot and some lady asked me if I knew where the "Floss Water" were kept. Rather than state I have no clue what she was saying, I simply said no and motioned to a Home Depot employee at the end of the aisle. Curious though, I followed her to find out what she was buying and found out she was buying a Fly Swatter.
Where I grew up, there was a strong "Canadian" style accent. Never thought anything of it. After moving away many years ago, I now have trouble understanding everything and when I go back to visit, I have times where I have to think about what someone just said.
This reminds me of a story my parents LOVE to tell. They're from Pennsylvania (mom outside of Philly, dad from a town in coal country near Centralia), but moved down to NC before having kids. One day in the fall we were traveling somewhere, and stopped at a rest area or a gas station to take a break from the drive. My sister was maybe 5-6 at the time, and super sociable. She loved talking to everybody, and struck up a conversation with a nice old southern gentleman. Eventually he asked her a question.
"Didja go to tha foire?"
"Excuse me?"
"Didja go to tha
foire"
"Uh, sorry, no, I don't know about any fire..."
This went on for a while, and our parents didn't intervene because they weren't sure what the guy way saying either. Later on it dawned on them that he was asking if we had gone to the Fair. As in the State Fair.
This is their second favorite anecdote about moving south, right behind the guy who was writing a check at a place called America Tire Co. or something, who paused in the middle, looked up, and said in a thick drawl, "How do you spell America?"
