You Know You’re From Alabama When..

Hey guys!  I came across this on the Facebooks, and can’t remember if I’ve shared it on here before.  Anyways, most, if not all, of these are 100% true.  Reading through the list made me laugh a bit and more than a little homesick, so I thought I’d share the list with you guys.  I hope everyone has had a good start to your week and as always…much love from this particular ‘Bama’ guy in Bangkok!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

-You have a party or a barbeque whenever Alabama plays Auburn in football.

-You go to Gulf Shores every summer.

-You call the Atlanta Braves baseball team “us” like they’re actually from Alabama.

-You have family who would much rather visit Florida than California.

-You don’t “take”, you “carry” or “tote”… as in “You want me to carry you down to the 7-11?”

-A soft drink isn’t soda, cola, or pop, it’s Coke.

-You call it a “buggy” and not a shopping cart.

-You’ve said “fixin’ to,” “might could,” or “usetacould” during the last week.

-Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.

-You can properly pronounce Arab, Eufaula, Opelika, Loachapoka, Bayou La  Batre, and Oneonta.

-You know exactly what chitlins and mountain oysters are, and though you may not, you know someone who eats them anyway.

-You think that people who complain about the heat and humidity in other states are sissies.

-You aren’t surprised to find rental movies, groceries, ammunition and bait all in the same store.

-Asian food is always “CHINESE” regardless of the fact that it may actually be Korean or Japanese or Thai.

-People actually grow, eat, and like okra.

-Mamanem means the whole family. (“Are mamanem comin?”)

-You measure distance in minutes or hours.

-You’ve ever had to switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day.

-You know what “cow tipping” is.

-You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still
summer, and Christmas.

-You know whether another Alabamian is from east, west, or middle Alabama as soon as they open their mouth.

-Visiting Wal-Mart is a favorite pastime.

-You know the difference between redneck, hillbilly, and southerner.

-You think everybody from the north has an accent.

-Y’all is a word.

-There is no such thing as tea.. it’s sweet tea.

-If a single snowflake falls, the town is paralyzed for three days, and it’s on all the channels as a news flash every 15 minutes for a week. All grocery stores will be sold out of milk, bread, bottled water, toilet paper, and beer. If there is a remote chance of snow, and if it does snow, people will be on the corner selling “I survived the blizzard” tee-shirts, not to mention the fact that all schools will close at the slightest possible chance of snow.

-Your directions include “when you see the Waffle House” or “turn on the dirt road.”

-You say “sir” and “ma’am” if there’s even a chance someone is even thiry seconds older than you and it is just the polite thing to do.

-The falling of one rain drop causes all drivers to immediately forget all traffic rules; so will daylight savings time, a girl applying eye shadow in the next car, or a flat tire three lanes over.

-There is nothing but country, gospel, or classic rock on the radio.

-A tornado warning siren or sever thunder storm is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.

-Almost everyone you know is Baptist or Methodist.

-A Mercedes Benz isn’t a status symbol. A Chevy Silverado Extended Bed Crew Cab is.

-You know everything goes better with Ranch dressing, especially hot wings.

-You learned how to shoot a gun before you learned how to multiply or in my case even read, write or spell.

-Krispy Kreme doughnuts are the only doughnuts that exist.

-You know at least one Bubba, and maybe a few guys named Bo.

-You don’t assume the car with the blinker light on is actually going to turn anytime in the near future.

You actually get these jokes and your friends do too.

137 Responses to You Know You’re From Alabama When..

  1. You know a girl from Alabama is upper class if all of her tattoos are spelled correctly.

    You know she’s outta your league if one of the words in her tattoo sent you to the dictionary to check it.

  2. its so funny i have an ex boyfriend from arab when to the orthodontist in oneonta im from steele al about an hour north of birmingham. I love this site mostly because its in way degrading like some of them can be!!!

  3. There are two MAJOR errors in this list. All of my neighbors were Church of Christ (or colloquially known as C.o.C.), Baptist, or Methodists (which were basically heathens compared to the first two). You can’t leave the C.o.C. out.

    Perhaps even more importantly, it’s not all just Coke. There is also Sundrop.

  4. I am not from alabama…but i lived there for a couple of years…and i have to laugh because i still say Y’all and many of the other things said in this piece…i love it and loved Alabama…and have some goooood friends there” Roll Tide”….

    • We literally put Ranch on everything. It’s considered a crisis in my house if we’re out. We even did that throughout high school (it was the only way to make some of that food appetizing).

      • Ranch dressing on PIZZA! MMMMMMMMMMM. If you come to Bama and can’t find any…………It’s ’cause we ate it on EVERYTHING already!

    • It’s either Ranch or Ketchup.. Ranch on pizza, or buffalo wings. Lived in Alabama my whole life, but these “Traditions” seemed to have alluded me. I know some who fit this description, but a lot who do not. All in all I have to say there are a lot of good people in the south.. and the more south you go, the warmer they get. War Eagle all the way!

      • We live in Fort Payne, (northeast AL) and right now…we have 3 bottles of Ranch dressing, 2 bottles of ketchup & 2 jars of mayo in our “frigerater”. If the distance is not as far as ‘Minutes or Hours”, it’s “over yonder”. You go to “Walmarts” or “K-Marts”. The first thing you’re asked when moving to Alabama is “Where”r you from & who’r you kin or akin to?” You know where Lickskillet and Dogtown are (well, maybe not). The most desired meal is: Cornbread (or CORNPONE), skillet fried “TATERS”, pinto beans, turnip greens, with FATBACK, and SWEET TEA”. “FOLKS” you”ve never seen in your life wave. They say “HOWDY or HOWDY-DO”. You get “CUSSED OUT”, not cursed at. You know the shortest route ( ROWT) to the county line liquor store, & which one stays open latest. On Monday (“MUNDIE”.) “FOOT”~ I was “BORNED” and raised here & know what a man is talking about when he refers to a “WOMERN” in terms of “WHAT SHE’D DRESS OUT AT”. “CHIMLEES” are “BUILT OUT-UV RIVER ROCK”. Handbags are “POCKET-BOOKS”. We “FLIP on the lights”, and we “MASH A BUTTON” instead of “PRESSING” it. The dressiest clothes we own are saved for church, “GETTIN HITCHED” (weddings), funerals, and prom night. In our town, all 3 of these churches are lined up next to each other like peas in a pod: First Baptist, First Methodist and First Presbetyrian. I could write a book, but, “IF MY HEAD WASN’T SCREWED ON SRAIGHT, I’D FERGET IT.” ROFL

  5. This brought back such great memories. I miss Alabama, and can’t wait for summer when I get to spend a whole month there. And WAR EAGLE!

  6. I myself are from athens and I have to say that you left Church of Christ out , there are no methodists here, or however you spell it.

    • I think the Methodist thing applies more to the southern half of Alabama because we have a lot there, but I know there is a big C.o.C. population in the more northern cities.

      • We have a ton of Methodists here I the NE corner. My family ties come from Methodist or Baptist.

      • I live in Gallant (Northeast in Etowah County) and there are at least a Methodist or Baptist church in the 10 miles from the county line and highway 77. Most of them are Baptist. I am a Pentacostal, however I began my Christian life as a Methodist. I was raised, for the most part on Sand Mountain so I can officially speak two different languages – Southern English and Sand Mountain Twange.

      • I just said there are at least a Methodist or Baptist church in the 10 miles from the county line to highway 77. I meant to say there at least 10 Methodist or Baptist churches in that ten miles.

    • I’m from Athens also and I’m Methodist. There are two large Methodist churches here in Athens. C o C is definitely Big up here in N AL though…more specifically Athens area!

      • Many people don’t realize that Mobile actually has the second biggest Catholic population in the South(not counting Florida. we all know that isn’t really the South. it’s transplanted Northeners.) :)

      • Amen-don’t forget TROY University. I can’t stop laughing at the comment about “mommandem”; I said it all the time. I lived in Bama for 33 yrs.-miss it too. I was from L.A. (lower Ala.), now I’m in FL. However, I still bleed Crimson Red-RTR!!!

    • Very true! In Bama no one asks what your religion is first.. they ask “who do you go for?” The top two religions are Alabama or Auburn, and if you’re not either one when you get here, you’ll be one when you leave.

      • Didn’t say that right. When I moved to Bama from Kissimmee in 7th grade a little kindergartner asked me ” who you gofer” I did not understand what he was saying. And then he asked “you gofer Auburn or Bama” I was still lost. It did take me long to understand what “gofer” meant.

  7. #1 reason i live in al…Cheese grits!

    #2 al is kmown for naming their kids bobby joe, bubba, joe dirt… Lol

  8. More important than Ranch, is white sauce! Also, If you know that you have to start the homemade ice cream before you start the grill or you will be drinking milkshakes.

  9. All of the above about Alabama is true! The one that blew me away when I moved there was “fixin to”. Go figure. LOL

    • OMG… I grew up in AL moved when I was 22 and every year for my B’day my Granny made Mater gravy with her home made biscuits with fried eggs and bacon. LOL every time I go home she makes this for me. I LOVE IT!!!

  10. love this, born and raised here in the (true) Heart of Alabama, the best county ever yes i’m talk’n ’bout Tuscaloosa, Alabama, ROLL TIDE ROLL is the way to say goodmorn’n, hello, how ya doin, and see ya later, i’ve met alot of people from other states, some love and some hate us, either way we will love our neighbors, sweet tea, good ol’ country food, and most of all OUR CRIMSON TIDE FOOTBALL SATURDAYS (those days are like holidays)

    • LOL. I work in a landscape business. The guys took my garden hose (as I call it). When I told them they better bring me my ‘garden hose’, no one knew what I was talking about. I started describing it. Guy said, ‘Oh. You mean the hosepipe’. (Alabamians don’t know what a spigot is either. They refer to it as a ‘Spickit’ (I didn’t know what THAT was).

  11. You know you’re from Alabama if you make “Krystal” plural as in I’ll meet y’all at Krystals after the movie and it’s considered proper etiquette to say War Eagle to even a stranger wearing an Auburn logo

  12. The reason girls in Alabama are always pregnant. It takes them too long to say quawiiiyat. Lol. I miss my state. War eagle.

  13. I lived in Alabama for 20 years and loved living there. Many of the expressions here are still in my vocabulary and I make no apologies for them. Those memories I have from the years spent there are high on my list of favorites. I was born in Tennessee and also lived in Miss. and those who haven’t experienced living in the South have missed “the good life”.

  14. Reminds me when I was a long distances operator for our local telephone company, I pick up an incoming call. They would looking for O N Toe, Al. (it took me several seconds to figure out they were trying to reach someone in Oneonta, Al..

  15. I love that I get to say that I’m a home grown true country girl from sweet home. Tuscaloosa Alabama.. born and raised and my kids are now being raised here …. Wouldn’t want it any other way roll tide roll

  16. I’m old but I have to leave what I remember that was RC’s and Moon Pies… You would go to the neighborhood store and get the RC’s in a chest with Ice and the water that had melted from the ice… penny candy you could buy 2 to 3 pieces for a penny… Those were the good ole days and yes I still use Y’all ask any of my friends.. Fixing to.. Oh, Yes its great being from the south… Cheese Grits my was always grits with sugar…

  17. Gee, haw, whoa-back, saaah baby, sook heifer, soouie pig, are terms you will know if you have lived in the country in AL for 66 years the way I have. Well, 66 years as of Saturday the 14th!

  18. I spent some of summer in Montgomery with my aunt and uncle. They were both from Ga. but lived in Ala. for MANY years. They said yo for you and hep for help. They loved it there!

    • We live in Wetumpka. We live on a dirt road off of Redland Road (which is pronounced “Redlind” not “Red Land” BTW) I’m proud to live where my kids get holes in their jeans from climbing trees before they outgrow them. My kids were also appalled to find out that some tea is not sweet when we were traveling recently. I love living somewhere strangers look each other in the eye when they pass… & the smart ones say “Roll Tide!”

  19. I grew up in a different part of Alabama than the guy who made this list. Nevertheless, Alabama is my home state. I will point out the differences: 1. I don’t have a party on the Alabama/Auburn game every year because most years I am at the game and if I am not at the game (which has only happened 4 or 5 times in my life) I talk about how I should be at the game. 2. Ya’ll is a word where I come from. Y’all is a yankee misspelling of the word. Let me explain. When someone does something nice for you, you say, “Thank ya” (thank you). If it is more than one person you say, “Thank ya’ll” Ya is short for you, anyway maybe people make that mistake a lot. 3. Maybe 20 years ago we still had dirt roads, but I am not sure many places that still have that many dirt roads especially in a place big enough for a Waffle House. 4. I have never shot or owned a gun and I know many of my close friends that are the same way. Anyway, there are a few more, but I will leave it at that.

    • We have just about grown out of dirt roads, but there are maybe one or two in Etowah County. Our answer to dirt roads is a truck that sprays tar and a load of gravel running somewhere not to far behind. Needless to say these roads are not marked so most folks learn to drive down the middle and watch carefully for oncoming traffic.

  20. Your mother doesn’t take the cigarette out of her mouth when she tells the State Trooper to kiss her ass…

  21. Born and brought up in Scottsboro AL, I’ve been in GA about a month now, and I do miss home. I must say, I have never seen nor been in traffic since moving to GA.. As far as the truck bit, my first vehicle that I owned was a ’95 dodge dakota that I nick named ‘The Shaggin’ Wagon’… I tell you what, I torn it up in that old truck… I drove pretty wild too! lol. Have a good one yall!

  22. I so loved this! And, they are all true. Born and raised in Bama. Live in NC now – ACC country. They get so mad when the SEC beats them!! I have 2 additions and they might have been mentioned before but, here goes:
    1) where “Roll Tide” or “War Eagle” is an acceptable greeting and everyone knows what you mean.
    2) there ain’t nothin’ like fried okra. or fresh creamed corn. particularly together.

  23. “You think that people who complain about the heat and humidity in other states are sissies.”
    I just moved from Dothan, AL (Southeast Alabama) last July to San Diego, CA.. This statement couldn’t be any truer..haha.

  24. I live in Ragland, AL and we only have one stop light (’cause its in front of the school), and a few dirt roads. The elementary, middle and high schools are all on the same piece of land. Only 2 gas stations and one grocery store, one greasy spoon diner, and a shiny new Dollar General!! But I wouldn’t bring my kids anywhere else, because our pastor is the bus driver, and I can leave my house unlocked for days without getting broke into. I don’t care if anyone thinks we are behind, backwards, or anything else but good happy folks. I don’t wanna be near any city full of psychos. I love my state, and I love my low property value, as well as the big river in front of me, and the woods all around me. You can’t trade peace of mind for anything. This is God’s country, the last little piece heaven left in this nation.

  25. -A Mercedes Benz isn’t a status symbol. A Chevy Silverado Extended Bed Crew Cab is.
    SO TRUE! LoL!
    ROLL TIDE ROLL BABY!

  26. -A Mercedes Benz isn’t a status symbol. A Chevy Silverado Extended Bed Crew Cab is.
    So TRUE! LoL!
    ROLL TIDE ROLL BABY!

  27. Roll Tide!!!! I live in VA now this brought back great memories. One thing that was not mentioned, how you knew what county a person was from by the first two numbers on the license plate…

  28. Y’all is a contraction of You All used to refer to 2 or more folks as in “Thank Y’all for the chocolate gravy” aka Cocoa and Biscuits we had for breakfast. Born and raised in AL and this list is so true! Live in GA now but it’s a short drive to return home. There are still dirt roads in AL — found some near Geraldine, lake Guntersville and plenty in the NW corner of the state where it meets MS and TN. I remember my granddad letting me try to drive the car at 12 yrs old after church (CoC, coincidentally) one Sunday morning on just such a dirt road. Thankfully for the ones in the car it was only about 30 yards to their homeplace.

  29. Im from good ol’ Guntersville. All of this is so true and it makes me want to go back home. But you forgot that growing up on a mountain u know all the roads even at the end of the logging roads, u still know ur way down the mountain like the back of ur hand

  30. I wish these were jokes. They are all the truth. I’m a Bama girl and each one has a good bit of truth to it.

  31. When you go to church with your whole family, or you can walk out of your house in any direction and the next house is a relative!

  32. I grew up in Gardendale, a suburb of Birmingham. ALL facial tissues are called KLEENEX. ALL bathroom tissues are called TOILET PAPER. We still refer to a “landfield” as a “garbage dump.”
    Real banana “puddin” has homemade frosting made with real egg whites and not some imitation whipped topping. Alabamians love chicken and dressing and would never refer to it as STUFFING.
    I have a friend who calls everyone “Baby Girl” or “Baby Boy,” regardless of their age. My grandparents had a “Storm Pit” for safety in case of a tornado. Many churches still have “Dinner on the Ground.” I have a cousin who still says “Sup” instead of Sip.
    Ice cream is served in a cup or a cone and not a dish (as they say when I lived in Pittsburgh). Yankees also made fun of the way I pronounced oil. They use three syllables and call it o- e- ul.
    We say creamed potatoes instead of mashed potatoes.
    People in Alabama ask for “sweet milk” to differentiate from buttermilk.
    I cut the grass, not mow the lawn. I “wash clothes” while Yankess “do the laundry.”
    Many years ago, school was delayed so the cotton crop could be picked. School was resumed after the crop was done. I never eat turnip greens or collards without CORNBREAD, a slice of onion, a a little pepper sauce.
    Does anyone remember eating “tomato gray” for breakfast? Most men in Alabama still hold open a door for a lady to enter ahead.
    Alabamians are not afraid to pray at athletic events or in public restaurants.
    These are things I hold dear and close to my heart. I am proud to have been born and still live in Alabama.

  33. Where u have friends determined on their football team.
    Where almost EVERY teen has braces.
    Where u know exactly where everything and everybody lives, but never ever could name the street.
    Where u know what the ‘death trap of I-20′ is.
    Where ur 80 yr old neighbor is being nice and “weed eats” for ya.
    Schools r out for race weekend.
    Someone always knows someone who was or is famous.
    Where the day after the iron bowl the losing team is silent and packs all their Alabama junk for a year while the Auburn talk about how great the game is.(WAR EAgLE);)
    Where everybody has a nickname like chicken or something’ 2 do with food.
    Where u learn 2 drive a four wheeler at 5.
    Where u complain about the slow internet.
    Where they close schools for 1″ of snow.
    You have been to Bojangels.
    You have watched the Grizwald family movies 2837489493 times.
    Where Sunday school starts at exactly 9:45AM or it’s world crisis.
    everybody has eaten at Pineapple Willies.
    Where ur Grandmother’s medicine was wisky.
    Where u know what happens on Sunday at Mountain Top.
    All girls can throw a football.
    Where u get judged by what football sticker u got on ur truck.

    I’m glad I grew up in Alabamer.. WaR EAGLe!!!!:):):):)

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