As a New Jersey native, I often get confused looks when I try to defend why it's called "Taylor ham" or when I constantly use the phrase "down the shore" throughout the summer. Basically, as Americans, we adopt phrases and mannerisms from whichever state we grew up in that may confuse others. So when redditor PolylingualAnilingus asked the r/AskAnAmerican subreddit to share the unique sayings they use that immediately signal where they're from, people sure had a lot to share.
Here are a few from across the US. 2. "A Michigander can be identified by asking where they’re from.
They’ll use their left index finger to point at their right palm. There’s only 300,000 Yoopers, and they’re as elusive as a Sasquatch; you’ll never meet one." — TheBimpo "I went to school in the UP [Upper Peninsula].
You hold up the right-hand mitten, then set your left hand sorta scrunched at right angles with the tips of the middle fingers touching (Mackinaw) and the thumb sticking up and out (Keweenaw peninsula in Lake Superior), and wiggle it while you say that. Then drop your right hand to point as you explain how far from the nearest stop light and out in the wilderness your location was." — OldBlueKat 4.
"In Hawaii , we use 'da kine' for something we can't think of the word for: 'Eh, you brought da kine?' means 'Did you bring the whatchamacallit?' 'Dat's da kine, ah?' means 'That's what's-his-face, right?' Also, 'da kine' can also be used in place of a word you don't want to say out l.