Reaching for his Or Pepper, sophomore Michael Barnes buys a drink in the Keller Hall lobby Sept. 21. "In the South everything is a coke, whether it's Sprite, Dr Pepper or whatever; it is all coke," Barnes said. -Jon Byron Students defend their geographical differences Technically, the battle for supremacy between the No rth and the South ended on a battlefield in the Civil War. However, after the las t shot was fired and the soldiers rerurned home, another con– fli er arose between these two foes. This debate boiled the blood of Northerners and Somherners alike for decades; however, it was arguable whether or not this conflict would spark another civil war. Amidst the arguments that raged between occupants [Q rhe north and somh of the Mason-Dixon Line, onequarrel surpassed all others: pop or coke? In a more general context, Northerners and Southerners had a long list of dialectal differences. From "cokes" [Q "y'alls" in the Somh and "pop" to "you guys" in the No rth, countless people expressed their opinions on the correct pronunciation of various words and remained locked in this distressing regional conflice Unfortunately, this provincial dash inrensifled even more. AnQ(her termwas added [Q the pop vs. coke debate. " Pepsi is not coke or pop ... Pepsi is soda," sophomore Vi rginia Beach, Va., residem N ick Empson said. But the conflict did not smp there. In addition to the "coke vs. pop vs. soda" quarrel, ''y'all vs. you guys" also caused dissension. "I get made fun ofa lot for saying 'you guys' instead of'y'all,'" sopho– more Carter Truax of Ohio said. Southerners winced upon hearing this commonly used Northern– coined phrase. "I can't handle 'you guys,'" sophomore CoryLeeofTexas said. "Other than that, Northerners don't really bother me." On the other hand , Southerners used phrases that caused equal annoyance among Northerners. ----- "I don't 'fix' to do anything, 1 just do it," sophomore Jillian Taylor -----.. of Connecticut said. In addition to wo rds and phrases, names were also added to the list of.regional pronunciation faux-pas. "People from the South pronounce my name wrong," junior Ben McDonald ofIndiana said. "My name is Ben, not Bin. I'm not a storage ----_ container; I'm a human being," T he main argument presented by those defending their drawl was that they did not speak with an accent. Even though no right or wrong accent ever existed, certain connota– tions generally were associated with each accent. "Northerners think Southerners are hicks, and they somerimes ste– reotype us," junior Jennie Wilkinson ofArkansas said. In rebuttal, Southerners stated that Northerners were rude and always in a hurry. The borrom line was that Norrhern and Southern accents were here to stay. As long as people still lived in both the North and in the South, each accent would thrive and flourish. The controversy over which was right or wrong did not stare a second civil war, but it would more than likely live on over the course of time. -Lauren Mitchell seniors S3
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