I love spring/summer nights when we can grill. It's just such a nice feeling to have the kids outside playing and Steven grilling something that is making the air smell yummy.
HOWEVER, in California, people call this activity "barbequing". When someone first said that, I thought that they were putting bbq sauce on something. Like the food you get at Country's or Hog Heaven? You know, a pulled meat sandwich with BBQ sauce on it. I was so confused!
It turned out that people here refer to the activity as "barbequing" and the grill is called the BBQ.
Now, I can adjust to a lot of things in CA. And I don't make fun of things in CA because I feel that when you move to a new place, the worst thing you can do to alienate yourself is to make fun of a word or something about a place. Even though my "FRIENDS" make fun of the way that I say water, I just try to embrace CA and I really like it here.
EXCEPT....I refuse to call that activity anything besides grilling. I used to say that I was "grilling out". But,I've shortened the term so that I don't get quite so many stares when I talk.
Here's the heartbreaker. Last night, Maggie was playing outside while Steven GRILLED. Maggie ran up to him and asked him if the "barbeque was hot". WHAT? My baby's been converted.
I guess this is how my parents felt the first time I said "Lafayette" when we lived in Louisiana. I was more ingrained in the culture because I went to school and my peers were from Louisiana.
So, the question of the day...what do you call it?
Barbequing or grilling
P.S. This in no way will ever change what I call it.
12 comments:
Just an FYI, people here in Texas call it bar-b-quing also. I call it what it is. I would say "let's grill some burgers" or "how about grilled chicken tonight?". People are serious about there bar-b-que here. Some have a pit (which is what I call mine or grill) on wheels and a trailer. There are some businesses that do only pit making! It's crazy!
BBQing is what it is!
DUH, it's a grill and you grill chicken, hamburgers, etc. If you put barbecue sauce on something, then you are barbecuing. If you grill pork, pull it apart and put barbecue sauce on it, then you still "grilled" the meat.
Yvonne, it must be that your friends are from California or south Texas calls it something else because those of us who grew up in North/west Texas call it a Grill.
It is a grill/grilling...
It is simple...you EAT BBQ...you COOK on a grill...or I will give you...BBQ grill...
It's definitely "grilling out" and BBQ is a sauce you put on it! So funny!
And Beth, I get what you're saying about not wanting to alienate yourself by making fun of things that are done different here but as a TRUE Georgia girl I cannot remove these from my vocabulary:
y'all, all y'all, fixin' to, big ol' truck (etc), buggie (not cart).... I could go on forever! hahaha
I have been in California too long, and as a result sometimes have trouble remembering the proper term. I find myself confused about which word to use! Which one is from Georgia, and which one is ingrained in me by the communist state of California!? To be sure that I never start saying the wrong (communist) one and fully convert, I make sure they stay balanced in my vocabulary.
I have a checklist I carry in my pocket. Every time I use either word, I put a mark on that list. The next time I need to refer to the activity, I refer to the list to see which term is in the queue (not the barbecue...the queue).
I have mistakenly used the same term twice in a row before, but my handy sheet reminded me to use the other term until dark and light forces were balanced again.
I think if I swayed too far one way, one culture would be out-balanced and they'd edit dictionaries everywhere. Such pressure.
Well, I'm with you and your Mama on this one Beth! It's grilling... and to be more specific, we say "grilling out" as well. Barbeque is a sauce.
I once had some former Californians laugh at me when I asked Kris to "mash" the button to roll the window down.
Valerie you forgot "y'all's" such as in: "Is that y'all's car." A real redneck wills say "y'alles" as in "Is that y'alles car." But as I am sophisticated and from the big city of Atlanta, I say "y'all's."
As for "mash," Brandy. Well, DUH! Everybody knows you say "mash." Like when you are on the elevator and someone else steps in and they say: "Would you mash three for me, please?"
I think I am going to re-name my blog, "Well, DUH!"
wow. who needs public school to get so much out of Language Arts, or is this Social Studies??...
As a native Californian, I had no idea people DIDN'T call it barbequeing. I'd heard the term "grilling" before.. but chalked that up to preppy folks that read Sunset Magazine or something. Who knew it was a Suthern' thang.
Never heard the term mashing though. :/ That's a weird one.
But the one word that makes me smile the most is "buggy". I don't know why but that tickles me everytime you say it. And fwiw.. I've never thought twice about the way you pronounce "water". I'll havfta pay more attention to that next time. lol.
We call it BBQ up here in Canada (where I live anyways) We have a BBQ (actual "grill") in the backyard, we invite people over for a BBQ and we BBQ steaks or chicken or what have you.
I do have an indoor grill, which I call a grill, but the meat is still BBQ'd. LOL
We live about 5 hours from where we were born in the next province over, and there are actually alot of words that I refuse to absorb. Such as a hoodie ( they call it a bunny hug here, and I refuse to call it that)
In my family we call it "Cooking out". EX: "We're having a cook out at mama and 'em house tomorrow. Y'all wanna come?" I guess that makes me a bigger hick than anyone.
By the way, can you get REAL BBQ in California?
The "cook out" thing was from me. I don't know how I screwed that up!!!!
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