An oft−heard refrain my freshman year: "Don't mind Sam. She only talks like that because she's from California."
I will admit there is some truth to it. We Californians do have a distinct difference in diction compared to the East Coasters. For example, we get stoked or psyched or (occasionally) pumped. We say "like" more often per sentence than the average New Englander. And nothing we do is ever "wicked." Ever.
When I first came to Tufts, I couldn't believe people actually said "wicked pissah." I thought that it was a joke, something all the Mass. kids were doing to play a prank on all the transplants. Turns out, "wicked" is a way of life. According to UrbanDictionary.com — the obvious expert resource on the subject — "wicked" is "New England slang that adds emphasis. Synonymous with really, very and hella." Furthermore, it allegedly originated in Boston and has since spread like wildfire throughout New England.
Now, being from L.A., I'm clearly no expert on "wicked." But I will say that it is at least as ridiculous and cliche to hear Mass. kids saying, "it's wicked hawt outside," as it is to hear me saying, "I'm so stoked that it isn't snowing yet."
While we're on the subject of diction, there are a few things I'd like to clear up on behalf of all Californians. Firstly, and most importantly, I'm from California. I'm not from Cali. If you call it Cali, you're clearly not from there. It would be like calling Vermont "Verm." It's a no−no.
Secondly, NorCal and SoCal have less in common than Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Kids from Mass. and from N.H. both say "wicked" like it's their job, but no one from south of Santa Cruz has or will ever say "hella." And there is very little that offends someone from SoCal as much as being asked by some unsuspecting East Coaster whether they say "hella" a lot. We don't. That would be like someone from Florida saying "wicked." It goes against the natural order of just about everything.
The next order of business is this "California accent" nonsense. I come home from summer break, and all my friends are wigging out over my "accent." Once and for all, Californians don't have accents. There is a Boston accent. There is a New England accent. There is a New York accent and a New Jersey accent. There is a Southern accent and a Midwestern accent. But Californians do not have accents.
Sure, some of us — particularly those from L.A., like me — may talk faster than the average individual. Some of us — particularly those from SoCal, specifically Santa Barbara or L.A. — describe things as "gnarly" or use "sauce" as a suffix — something REALLY gnarly is "gnar−sauce" — but that does not an accent make! And while Midwesterners drink "pop" and Bostonians drink "tonic," we Californians drink plain ol' soda.
Sure, we have valley girls. But how many of those attend Tufts University, honestly? Not many. They all stay in California and keep their "Ohmigod like the other night I like died like it was so funny!"−isms with them.
In short, my message is simple: Live and let live. I won't bash your ridiculous idiomatic expressions if you afford the same courtesy to mine. After all, we need all types — the die−hard New Englanders who "pahk their cars in Havahd Yahd," the Californians who get "stoked for gnarly waves over Thanksgiving break, man" and everything in between.
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Samantha Jaffe is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. She can be reached at Samantha.Jaffe@tufts.edu.
