OT:12 Things New Jerseyans do....

[FanuSanu52]

They have drive-thru windows? Only mention of this I see is Facebook posts -one asking for a drive-thru and one with a photo of a car smashing through the window of a Wawa.

Had a local Wawa around the corner before I moved a decade ago - no gas, no tables, no hot food, no drive-thru, no beer, no milkshakes. Basically a standard convenience store with a nice deli counter - I do miss grabbing a Wawa sub for dinner on a sweltering July evening, one of the only things that was appealing in 90+ degrees, 180 percent + humidity.

I know some NJ convenience stores have gas, but it's the exception rather than the rule. And too many gas stations have either the world's crappiest convenience store, useless for anything more than a Coke or pack of gum, or none at all. Combining the two as a rule is the better way to go.

 

[Knightmoves]

There was a poll released within the last year or so that said New Jersey is the only state all other states have a negative opinion of. I am perversely proud of this fact.

Agree about NJ's rep out of state.

It's a far better place to live than most out of state people believe or know.

Of course those out of state folks have spent little to no time in NJ. So they mostly speak of what they've heard from others. Buts that's not good for NJ's rep as well.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

ha. I used to be all about them, but out here, pretty much every convenience store is attached to a gas station and every gas station has a convenience store. Even the 7-11s. It's much more "convenient."

And most of the stores are as good or better than any Wawa - full hot food cases with fried chicken and such, hot dog bars, milkshake machines, plenty of packaged beer, tables to eat at, and many even have drive-thru windows. Don't miss Wawa at all, though I could go for a digitally ordered sub every once in a while :smiley:.

cali?

 

[Armor and Sword]

I would add (SIAP) that every highway with a number in NJ is called "route__" ("root" or "rout", doesn't matter). We don't care if it's a county road, state road, US highway or an interstate. We all have at some point in our lives either given or been given directions to take something like "Route 29 to Route 295 to Route 130 to Route 541".

The only road in NJ with a number called "highway" is in a Springsteen song. OK, if you want to quibble, maybe McCarter Highway/Route 21.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

circle, we say circle and not 'round-a-bout'

 

[Armor and Sword]

Royal Farms is coming into Jersey to fight with the other brands. Sheetz is the best overall though and we don't have any.

Royal Farms has awesome fried chicken and their rewards program is better than Wawa or Starbucks. A better Maryland export than the Greene Turtle. My only beef with Rofo is that their coffee is too hot maybe because the servers are plugged in. Wawa puts them into insulated servers not plugged in.

 

[bac2therac]

cheese pizza or pie, sloppy Joe and Pork Roll....any other way and you are not from NJ

never have I eaten pork roll in my life

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

never have I eaten pork roll in my life

ever eat one at Rutgers cause I'm pretty sure all the sandwiches are listed as 'pork roll and cheese on a roll'

 

[Metropolitans3]

I would add (SIAP) that every highway with a number in NJ is called "route__" ("root" or "rout", doesn't matter). We don't care if it's a county road, state road, US highway or an interstate. We all have at some point in our lives either given or been given directions to take something like "Route 29 to Route 295 to Route 130 to Route 541".

The only road in NJ with a number called "highway" is in a Springsteen song. OK, if you want to quibble, maybe McCarter Highway/Route 21.

How does the rest of the country give directions? "Take Interstate Hwy 80 to Interstate Hwy 287 to State Road 206... etc etc"? Seems excessive.

 

[DJ Spanky]

How does the rest of the country give directions? "Take Interstate Hwy 80 to Interstate Hwy 287 to State Road 206... etc etc"? Seems excessive.

Yep. Although a lot of times there's only a single interstate highway within driving distance, so they'll omit the # and just say: "Take the Interstate to the East Podunk exit, get off there, turn right, go a few miles until you see the giant split oak, take a left after that, and the place you want is just after McCarren's farm."

 

[yesrutgers01]

How does the rest of the country give directions? "Take Interstate Hwy 80 to Interstate Hwy 287 to State Road 206... etc etc"? Seems excessive.

Why does anyone give directions. just give me the damn address. I hate when I ask the address and they start into the who direction thing. I just want to plug it in and go. My gps will tell me where to turn. lol

but to your point, most other states do not do most of their travel on roads with exit numbers. While in NJ and on the GSP or NJTP - giving the exit is the only way you really can do it.

 

[Upstream]

Had no clue about the sloppy joes. Isn't it basically a Ruben then?

A Reuben is a hot grilled sandwich with Corned Beef, Swiss Cheese, Sauerkraut, and Russian Dressing on 2 slices of rye bread. A Rachael sandwich uses Pastrami and Cole Slaw.

A Sloppy Joe (also called a deli Sloppy Joe to differentiate it from the ground beef sandwich) is a Triple Decker cold sandwich with Turkey plus one other meat, usually roast beef, plus swiss cheese, cole slaw, and russian dressing on 3 slices of rye bread.

The main differences between a reuben and sloppy joe is the type of meat used and hot vs cold. Saying they are essentially the same is like saying that a grilled ham and swiss sandwich is essentially the same as a cold turkey and swiss sandwich.

The deli Sloppy Joe is also a fairly localized sandwich, popular mostly in western Essex County, Morris County, Union County, northern Somerset County and northern Middlesex County.

 

[Armor and Sword]

How does the rest of the country give directions? "Take Interstate Hwy 80 to Interstate Hwy 287 to State Road 206... etc etc"? Seems excessive.

In my observation, the use of "Route 80". etc, is a Jersey thing and maybe at most a Northeast thing. Other parts of the country it's "I-80" or "Interstate 80" or "Highway 41". We use "Route" a lot, more than most in the USA.

The California version of this is "The (insert route number)" . For example "Traffic was really awful on "the 405" today. Should have taken "the 5" instead.

Ever hear any Jerseyans say "Take the 29 to the 295 to the 130 to the 541"? Some will just use the number instead.

 

[e5fdny]

Many years ago people from New Jersey called New Jersey, "New Jersey", while out of state people called New Jersey, "Jersey".

This clearly is not true anymore, but I wish it was.

Me too.

We live here, not on one of the Channel Islands.

 

[e5fdny]

A Reuben is a hot grilled sandwich with Corned Beef, Swiss Cheese, Sauerkraut, and Russian Dressing on 2 slices of rye bread. A Rachael sandwich uses Pastrami and Cole Slaw.

A Sloppy Joe (also called a deli Sloppy Joe to differentiate it from the ground beef sandwich) is a Triple Decker cold sandwich with Turkey plus one other meat, usually roast beef, plus swiss cheese, cole slaw, and russian dressing on 3 slices of rye bread.

The main differences between a reuben and sloppy joe is the type of meat used and hot vs cold. Saying they are essentially the same is like saying that a grilled ham and swiss sandwich is essentially the same as a cold turkey and swiss sandwich.

The deli Sloppy Joe is also a fairly localized sandwich, popular mostly in western Essex County, Morris County, Union County, northern Somerset County and northern Middlesex County.

Depending on the deli that "other" meat won't/can't be ham.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

how can anyone not know what a Reuben is?

 

[Upstream]

Depending on the deli that "other" meat won't/can't be ham.

A deli in NJ that "can't" put ham on the sandwich isn't likely to serve roast beef with cheese anyway. The deli near my house uses turkey and roast beef with swiss.

 

[FanuSanu52]

How does the rest of the country give directions? "Take Interstate Hwy 80 to Interstate Hwy 287 to State Road 206... etc etc"? Seems excessive.

Never heard anyone say "interstate". I-80 to I-287 to 206. No need for "routes," either.

 

[Upstream]

In my observation, the use of "Route 80". etc, is a Jersey thing and maybe at most a Northeast thing. Other parts of the country it's "I-80" or "Interstate 80" or "Highway 41". We use "Route" a lot, more than most in the USA.

The California version of this is "The (insert route number)" . For example "Traffic was really awful on "the 405" today. Should have taken "the 5" instead.

Ever hear any Jerseyans say "Take the 29 to the 295 to the 130 to the 541"? Some will just use the number instead.

In New York (and in parts of NJ influenced by NY) people refer to named parkways just by their name. So the Garden State Parkway, Northern State Parkway, or Taconic State Parkway are just called The Garden State, The Northern State, or The Taconic State.

 

[RUnTeX]

In my observation, the use of "Route 80". etc, is a Jersey thing and maybe at most a Northeast thing. Other parts of the country it's "I-80" or "Interstate 80" or "Highway 41". We use "Route" a lot, more than most in the USA.

The California version of this is "The (insert route number)" . For example "Traffic was really awful on "the 405" today. Should have taken "the 5" instead.

Ever hear any Jerseyans say "Take the 29 to the 295 to the 130 to the 541"? Some will just use the number instead.

Agreed, in many areas of the country, for the interstates at least, it's "I-"XX or "I-"XXX. "Route" is definitely NJ, or northeastern, thing. I want to say that even within NJ, I seem to notice that northern areas tend to pronounce as 'root' and you get further south the pronunciation tends to be like 'pout'.

As you get to Mid-Atlantic, you hear some of the "I-" or just the number of the interstate by itself, even for other federal/state/county highways. Of course, in MD/DC/VA there is the 'Beltway' for the interstates that circle around DC (I-495) and Baltimore (I-695). Another related quirk..."Inner beltway/roadway" and "Outer beltway/roadway", i.e. on divided highways such as interstates you are on the inner roadway (the group of lanes on the 'inside' since we drive on the right here in the US) if you are going in a clockwise direction versus the outer roadway if you're going counterclockwise. At any given point, you could be going east/west/north/south, but you can only ever be going either CW (inner) or CCW (outer). During traffic reports, they'll reference a segment of the beltway and talk about the impact on the inner or the outer roadway (or both, if applicable -- or if there's rubbernecking on opposite side due to incident).

And the "The" thing is distinctive for the west coast, might be primarily Cali but also think i've heard it up in Oregon and Washington, maybe Arizona and Nevada too. Of course, those could have been CA transplants living in those other states saying it that way.

 

[RUnTeX]

In New York (and in parts of NJ influenced by NY) people refer to named parkways just by their name. So the Garden State Parkway, Northern State Parkway, or Taconic State Parkway are just called The Garden State, The Northern State, or The Taconic State.

Good point, those are instances where the "The" comes into play in the NJ/NY/CT area. Other examples include The Merritt (NY into CT) and The Sprain Brook. Also applies to the New Jersey Turnpike, i.e. "The Turnpike". And there's also the Deegan Expressway/I-87 or just "The Deegan". A similar example of this in Baltimore is the Jones Falls Expressway/I-83 or sometimes just "The Jones Falls", but the instances of dropping the word expressway seem to be fewer than I'm used to from up in NJ/NY.

 

[MYHATINTHERING]

Jug-handle....

 

[Armor and Sword]

Good point, those are instances where the "The" comes into play in the NJ/NY/CT area. Other examples include The Merritt (NY into CT) and The Sprain Brook. Also applies to the New Jersey Turnpike, i.e. "The Turnpike". And there's also the Deegan Expressway/I-87 or just "The Deegan". A similar example of this in Baltimore is the Jones Falls Expressway/I-83 or sometimes just "The Jones Falls", but the instances of dropping the word expressway seem to be fewer than I'm used to from up in NJ/NY.

Agreed.

In Baltimore, Jones Falls Expressway is usually referred to as "the JFX"

The beltway directions are usually "inner loop" "outer loop"

My favorite slang from Balt/DC is its other name "the DMV" and the DMVers penchant to call th MD town Odenton "Odington". Being next to Washington, Arlington and Shirlington, people must have just gave up on the proper pronunciation long ago. Just like people in South Jersey and Philly call Trenton "trenin" or Burlington "Burlntin" or Pennsylvania "pensavania". I also like that Cecil County, MD is called "Ceciltucky" by the locals. It's one county on the 95 corridor that should stay rural for another 100 years.

 

[Armor and Sword]

Many years ago people from New Jersey called New Jersey, "New Jersey", while out of state people called New Jersey, "Jersey".

This clearly is not true anymore, but I wish it was.

Back during the Revolutionary War, New Jersey was usually referred to as "the Jerseys" because East and West Jersey.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Yep. Although a lot of times there's only a single interstate highway within driving distance, so they'll omit the # and just say: "Take the Interstate to the East Podunk exit, get off there, turn right, go a few miles until you see the giant split oak, take a left after that, and the place you want is just after McCarren's farm."

Or..

"When you hit the traffic light.."

"Which light?"

"The town only has the one light. You'll know it when you see it. So make a left there and a piece down the rod you'll see a red barn with 2 silos... make a right there.. now, don't turn at the red barn with 3 silos..."

 

[bac2therac]

In New York (and in parts of NJ influenced by NY) people refer to named parkways just by their name. So the Garden State Parkway, Northern State Parkway, or Taconic State Parkway are just called The Garden State, The Northern State, or The Taconic State.

Ive never called it the Garden State.....usually just "Parkway"

 

[bac2therac]

Never heard anyone say "interstate". I-80 to I-287 to 206. No need for "routes," either.

same here, everyone just says 206 or 95 or 287 or Turnpike

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Back during the Revolutionary War, New Jersey was usually referred to as "the Jerseys" because East and West Jersey.

While we are discussing this.. did you know there is land seemingly attached to New Jersey that is actually Delaware?

The Delaware 12-Mile-Circle was some sort of border dispute resolution with Pennsylvania that forced the Delaware border right to the shores of New Jersey (or was it West Jersey?).. in any case, when later land fill resulted in new land being gained on the other shore.. it became part of Delaware attached to New Jersey.

This happened in 2 places.. one is in the Killcohook National Wildlife Refuge

Strange.... and poor East Jersey/New Jersey.. New York stole a whole wedge of land in the north-northwest. The eastern northern border on the Hudson has remained the same.. but the western point was originally much farther north.. some 20 mils as a crow flies.. well past Port Jervis and as far as Concheton, NY. There was a bit of a border war over this area... New York - New Jersey Line War

So, in short, because New York and Pennsylvania were bigger and more important colonies.. and later states, New Jersey got screwed in these land settlement disputes... including Liberty Island.... heck, Staten Island for that matter... damn British.. when they took over Nieuw Amsterdam they decided Staten Island belonged to New York.,, and now what should be Jersey land is full of New Yorkers that end up moving to Jersey.

 

[Perricone7]

Two two that really stuck out when I moved from NJ to Florida were saying route and pizza pie. People were genuinely baffled by the term pizza pie. I think we do it right though. Easily quantifies the pizza.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

Dollar Growing up in HP I thought Jews were the majority and that everyone had a loud crazy funny whiny domineering mother..Including mine.Miss them all...

 

[Armor and Sword]

Two two that really stuck out when I moved from NJ to Florida were saying route and pizza pie. People were genuinely baffled by the term pizza pie. I think we do it right though. Easily quantifies the pizza.

This has come up on this board before, but in NJ we eat plain pizza. The rest of the world eats cheese pizza.

 

[Armor and Sword]

While we are discussing this.. did you know there is land seemingly attached to New Jersey that is actually Delaware?

The Delaware 12-Mile-Circle was some sort of border dispute resolution with Pennsylvania that forced the Delaware border right to the shores of New Jersey (or was it West Jersey?).. in any case, when later land fill resulted in new land being gained on the other shore.. it became part of Delaware attached to New Jersey.

This happened in 2 places.. one is in the Killcohook National Wildlife Refuge

This was a factor in two events that happened about a decade ago. One incident involving a casino pier that Delaware would have to approve and regulate in Penns Grove http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/business/taking-chances-on-two-sides-of-a-river.html?_r=0 The second incident involved Delaware permitting BP to build a natural facilty on the "Jersey" side. The Supreme Court got involved, which appointed special master to resolve the dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_v._Delaware. I think it was resolved in favor of Delaware.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

same here, everyone just says 206 or 95 or 287 or Turnpike

Except Interstate 80 is often "Route 80". Interstates 78, 95, 195, and 287 are just "78", 95", "195", and "287" 100% of the time.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Except Interstate 80 is often "Route 80". Interstates 78, 95, 195, and 287 are just "78", 95", "195", and "287" 100% of the time.

You're right! Good job pointing that out.:sunglasses:

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Real Jerseyans root for NJ teams when they play PA or NY teams.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Back during the Revolutionary War, New Jersey was usually referred to as "the Jerseys" because East and West Jersey.

Interesting.

Like "The Oranges" today, which you will see on a few NJDOT signs.

 

[Upstream]

Interesting.

Like "The Oranges" today, which you will see on a few NJDOT signs.

People in NJ almost always refer to the Oranges collectively as "The Oranges" and the Wildwoods collectively at "The Wildwoods". And often Plainfield, No Plfd and So Plfd are collectively referred to as "The Plainfields". But I've never heard anyone refer to New Brunswick, E Bruns, No Bruns, and So Bruns collectively as "The Brunswicks".

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

People in NJ almost always refer to the Oranges collectively as "The Oranges" and the Wildwoods collectively at "The Wildwoods". And often Plainfield, No Plfd and So Plfd are collectively referred to as "The Plainfields". But I've never heard anyone refer to New Brunswick, E Bruns, No Bruns, and So Bruns collectively as "The Brunswicks".

Agree on the Oranges and Wildwoods, but I don't hear people say the Plainfields.
Nor the Brunswicks either.

Interesting that all 3 Plainfields are in different counties.
Plainfield: Union
South Plainfield: Middlesex
North Plainfield: Somerset

 

[DJ Spanky]

Wait a minute....when you guys are talking about "The Oranges", you're not referring to that school on the frozen tundra up in Canada, are you?

 

[NickKnight 1]

In New York (and in parts of NJ influenced by NY) people refer to named parkways just by their name. So the Garden State Parkway, Northern State Parkway, or Taconic State Parkway are just called The Garden State, The Northern State, or The Taconic State.

And most people I know, including me always say the Parkway, or the Turnpike, it is the out of state drivers who say the New Jersey or the Garden State Parkway.