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To Hella? Or not to Hella?

topic posted Mon, March 8, 2004 - 1:03 PM by  erik 		Share/Save/Bookmark
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Who's from northern California and who's from southern California?
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erik
offline erik
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  • daMo...
    daMongolian / Greg
    offline 273

    Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

    Mon, March 8, 2004 - 5:31 PM
    NorCal all the way!

    Oh and Rocky, San Jose is definitely Northern. I'd draw the line somewhere between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara on the coast, and south of Tracy and Yosemite inland (yeah, we get all the good stuff! =)

    daMongolian
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    • erik
      erik
      offline 72

      Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

      Mon, March 8, 2004 - 8:10 PM
      The imaginary border between northern and southern is defined by where people start/dont use the word 'Hella' in their vocabulary hence the title of this thread.

      Northern Hellafornia starts at the bottom of the north side of the grapevine and extends up throughout the state. Some people down south say hella but those are the folks went to Cal for too long.
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      • Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

        Tue, March 9, 2004 - 1:35 AM
        Mmm, nah, I'd have to nominate King City for the border between northern California and southern California (lower case: the de facto border), based on my Greyhound experience traversing the state. It gets alien to me at King City.

        However, if I received an appropriately authenticated instruction from a Pavement-led government, I'd probably separate No. from So. at the San Mateo County border. But that's just me.
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  • Scott
    Scott
    offline 31

    Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

    Tue, March 9, 2004 - 1:39 PM
    Born in Sonora. Lived mostly in Merced. Schooled in SLO. Now residing in rent-controlled Hayward. I *used* to say hella and shit-load.

    Personally, I think the Central Valley is a world unto itself (good or bad, you pick) neither North or South. Bakersfield and Stockton are separated only by miles, but far different than my experiences of the Bay Area, Far North Counties, LA or points south.
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  • Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

    Tue, April 6, 2004 - 10:00 AM
    Born at Travis AFB (norCal), then on to Vallejo (norCal) -> South Carolina -> Walnut Creek (norCal)-> Perth, Australia -> Danville (norCal)-> London, England -> Potstam, NY -> Houston, TX -> Danville (norCal)

    One thing I discovered in my travels was that people could always pick out my american accent, but they couldn't figure out where I was from. I think that is what makdes the California accent unique in that we speek a very plane form of english, but we accent it with the words we use. Hell-A or Hell-Of are not normaly words I use, rather I find myself using Ya'll, and no I didn't pick it up living in Houston, I picked it up at the American High School I was at in England. Go figure.

    As to the border... who cares, LA's gonna fall into the ocean soon eough anyway which means we won't have to send them any of our water anymore... ;-) Maybe that will stir the friendly pot if North / South rivalry. :-)
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    • Musi...
      MusicVixen
      offline 59

      Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

      Tue, June 15, 2004 - 5:54 PM
      Hey RedTux,

      Born in Vallejo, then on to Fairfield (living just 3 miles from the main gate at Travis AFB)-> Sacramento -> back to Vallejo -> back to Fairfield -> Sacramento -> South Lake Tahoe -> Vacaville -> back to Sacramento -> Elk Grove (norCal)

      I've moved alot but always stayed in good ole norCal!! :)
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      • ♠Lucky♠
        ♠Lucky♠
        offline 170

        Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

        Wed, July 7, 2004 - 11:46 AM
        Born at Stanford Hospital, NorCal, Hella sounds stupid.
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        • Unsu...
           

          Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

          Fri, July 16, 2004 - 7:19 AM
          Born in Hollywooood . . . lived most of life in LA. Miss Cali... sigh
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          • cLaudia
            cLaudia
            offline 121

            Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

            Thu, July 22, 2004 - 2:23 PM
            I was gonna point out that "hella" and "hecka" are related and interchangeable, and that Prince sang "You're body's hecka slammin'" in "U Got the Look," circa 1987. I am from Northern California, but Prince is not, and yet out of the two of us I am sure that it is he who used the term first. I did not use it until, like, 1989.

            But then I remembered the Escovedo/Sheila E./Revolution connection, which is hella East Bay, potentially shooting a hole in my own argument. Did he get it from us, or did we get it from him? Hmmmm.
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            • Jen
              Jen
              offline 12

              Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

              Thu, August 12, 2004 - 11:20 AM
              I grew up in Orangevale/Fair Oaks area (Sacto burbs) and hella was used widely in middle school circa 1991-92 and reduced in usage for the next four years personally.
              Now I live in Portland Oregon and I get slammed anytime I used the word "totally" even in a legitimate and not overexcited tone around my current friends.
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            • Musi...
              MusicVixen
              offline 59

              Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

              Mon, October 18, 2004 - 2:54 PM
              Funny you posted this info cLaudia K. I was talking to my boss this morning who "swears" that he and his buddies on his high school swim team coined the word "hella" and made sure to use it whenever they were at a meet to see if it would catch on. He said this started in 1987....hmmmmmmmmm.
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  • Unsu...
     

    Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

    Tue, August 17, 2004 - 10:13 AM
    *peeking in the door* Guess I will introduce myself. I am Michelle. Born and bred in Northern California here. My personal opinion is this part of the state has all a person could want and more. Hi !
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    • Tracy
      Tracy
      offline 30

      Re: To Hella? Or not to Hella?

      Wed, August 18, 2004 - 12:14 PM
      Tracy here. Hello all! Born in Sac where I lived until 19. I then lived in SF in the TL for eight months. After that I lived out of a backpack for two years being a snow bum. Auburn, Rocklin, Serene Lakes, Tahoe-Donner, King's Beach, Olympic Valley, Truckee, Nevada City, you name it! I then settled back into downtown Sac and have now moved to a houseboat in Clarksburg, a tiny farming community 20 minutes from downtown.

      I know I use the word "hella" more than i'd like to think. I can't help it, it just comes out. I had to laugh when I heard No Doubt's song "Hella Good" and I completely forgot about the Prince song with "hecka". My SoCal friends, of course, give me a bad time about saying this "hella" word but whatever, like, I totally can't help it. My husband uses the word "Hecksa". I'm not even sure what to say about that one. What words is that supposed to be a contraction of?
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