Tucked inside the thousands of words written about presidential politics recently was this sentence: “Richard Nixon was raised on a lemon ranch.” New Yorker that I am, my exposure to agricultural terms comes mostly from the vegetable aisle in the supermarket and a few television shows. I’d always envisioned a “ranch” as a place where cattle or other animals live. And indeed, the first definition of “ranch” in my dictionary is “a large farm for raising horses, beef cattle, or sheep.” But I had to put aside my mental image of young Dick Nixon roping citrus fruit — and how much fun it was to think about that instead of current events! — when I saw the second definition, which is “a farm or area devoted to a particular specialty.” Further searching showed me that many Californians work on “lemon ranches.” But in Florida, Belize, and Sicily, lemon “orchards,” “groves,” and “farms” predominate. So now I know what term to use in the unlikely event that I go right to the source for my fruit.
Knowing the favored regional expression may not guarantee that you’ll be mistaken for a native, but at least you won’t shout your status as a tourist. And who wants to sound like a tourist? With this in mind, here are a few mistakes I heard recently from visitors to NYC:
- “Avenue of the Americas.” Big mistake. To New Yorkers, this street is “Sixth Avenue,” and many won’t know what you’re talking about if you use the official name. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia tried to do away with the term “Sixth Avenue” in 1945, hoping that Central and South American countries would build consulates there. The plan didn’t work, and the new name didn’t either.
Where?
- “I caught the subway at 96th Street.” Nope. You can catch a bus (or a railroad train), but you “get on” or “take” a subway. I’m not sure why. Most commuters in New York run madly for the subway as if it were the last rocket leaving an exploding planet, but they don’t “catch” it.
- “She works in Bronx.” Nope again. It’s “the Bronx.” Why? That area was once a farm belonging to the Broncks, a Dutch family. You won’t find any farms in “the Bronx” (or lemon ranches either), but the name stuck, with slightly different spelling.
I could say more about talking like a New Yorker. (For starters, it’s “tawking like a New Yawker.”) But I’ll stop now so I can catch the subway from the Avenue of the Americas to Bronx.
Even as I’m down here among the “orchards,” “groves,” & “farms” right now, yah managed tah make me all misty with dat dose of home town/subway talk in dah King’s English …………….. [Guess you can’t “catch” a train once it goes under ground. (?) ]
When I moved to New York I had to learn to pronounce “roof” and “roof” differently to make myself understood. It’s still grates when I hear Friends from the Midwest rhyme those words with “foot” instead of “boot.” As to “take/catch” I guess I’m so Gothamized I just never noticed!
Here in California, I learned that the Sierra does not properly have a plural – although one does use “in” instead of the perhaps more correct but in this context weird “on.”
As to “ranch” I have never heard it used here for anything other than an animal farm or a resort. (Given Richard Nixon’s origins, perhaps it is a SoCal use; LA has its own quirks of language. Speaking of expressways, for example, you never take “5” – you always take “the 5.”)
I do know that here in NoCal* those little pockets reservations – the “leftovers” that the natives have been able to rest from the powers that presently be – are referred to as “rancherias” – they can be as small as a casino and a parking lot. The very large native reservations, such as the Hupa, up near the Oregøn** border, are called “reservations.”
My two bits.
(*please don’t call either of them “Cali” – i’ve heard only gauche New Yorkers use that particular term!)
(**Another thing I learned is that that last syllable is a schwa. It has completely forgotten the name of that area of Spain for which some say it is named. I’ve also learned that the iPhone cannot produce a schwa.)
PS Final word: NEVER, EVER say “Frisco.” From that point on you are likely to be totally ignored.
I would never say “Frisco,” but I’ve heard “San Fran,” which I assume is also a no-no. Funny how these unofficial rules pop up.
That should be “root” and “roof.”
MY iPhone can produce a schwa. You just press the “o” and hold it down, it’s there in the row of o’s…
A lemon “ranch” sounds so weird! I think I would say “grove” or “orchard.”
Interesting post, Gerri!