The two New Jerseys

[mysid]

Since yuan_18 asked, and for the edification of all, let me explain the difference between North Jersey and South Jersey.

First of all, they are North Jersey and South Jersey--skip the word "New" in each name. Where is the border between them? Different people will give you different answers, so the unfortunate people in the center of the state are apt to be confused. The last time the border was defined was the early colonial era during which a diagonal line from northish-west to southish-east divided the land between the Duke of York's colony and William Penn's colony.

Even today, that influence remains. North Jersey tends to be NYC-centric. Our tv and radio stations come out of NYC. We commute to work in NYC. We cheer for the Giants, the Devils, and the Yankees or Mets.

South Jersey tends to be Philadelphia-centric. My South Jersey-born husband is a fan of the Eagles, the Flyers, and the Phillies. New Year's Day for him is the Mummers' Parade; he was quite shocked that I (from North Jersey) had never heard of it. Friends' Meeting Houses (Penn was a Quaker and welcomed fellow Quakers as settlers)are found in many towns.

If you meet someone from New Jersey and you want to figure out which New Jersey he's from, offer him a sandwich on a long roll and give him icy sherbert-like dessert. If he calls them a "sub" and an "Italian ice," he's from North Jersey; if he calls them a "hoagie" and a "water ice," he's from South Jersey.

We live in South Jersey now, so I'm permitting my husband to indoctrinate our children with the "wrong" teams, but I'll be damned if I let them call an Italian ice by the wrong name. I've got to put my foot down somewhere.

Comments

[greenwitch.livejournal.com]

Also note that anyone who calls it "Jersey" is SO not from here. :)

Sprinkles vs. Jimmies, as well. Also, Central Jersey is defined by every single New Jersey stereotype there is (as far as I'm concerned, going to school there) -- overly populated, a highway every other road, U-turns from hell, strip malls right and left, industrialization, etc. A while back I got a bunch of my friends to agree that North Jersey starts north of route 78, but I've got no clue where the border on South/Central is.

Then, of course, you've got the shore people vs. the bennys, which is always a fun thing (bennys being the people who come from north jersey or new york down the shore for the weekends or the summer... hated by all locals, whee, fun).

[jadis31.livejournal.com]

bennys being the people who come from north jersey or new york down the shore for the weekends or the summer... hated by all locals, whee, fun

I live on the route from Philly to the shore... my local corner store sells bumper stickers that read 'if it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?'

they are a terrifyingly popular item.

There have been times, like when I am trying to drive home on a friday afternoon, when I have thought about buying one.

Love and Mints,
Jo

Thanks

[yuan-18.livejournal.com]

Explanation gave me a fairly good idea of South J and North J's differences. (also thanks to eruantale for defining what "bennies" are) Where is a better place to draw the line than at the subject of dessert? None, I tell you!

P.S. Expect something in ur mailbox in a few days ;)