Things Only People From New England Say or Do
Here are the ways to recognize a New Englandah by what they do and say.
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut all fall under the definition of New England. And while our distinctive accents and customs might vary slightly from state to state, there are so many things that unite us. We’re proud of our cold climate, clam chowder, sports teams, and historic roots. Here are 16 other characteristics we feel are essential to our status as New Englandahz.
Baby, it’s cold outside (and we like it)
Fashion
Our idea of a winter coat is wearing a flannel over a T-shirt. Forget gloves—those are for weather wimps or toddlers. For many of us, cold-weather couture consists of shorts and socks with slide sandals.
Thermostatus quo
We can’t bring ourselves to turn on the heat until November, even if it’s been snowing for a week and our spouse threatens us with divorce. The official onset of spring also has nothing to do with the calendar or the temperature. It starts when spring training starts for the Red Sox.
We learn to ski and skate just about the time we learn to walk. And we know how to take advantage of that one week between spring and summer when it’s warmed up enough to sit outside, but it’s still before the black flies come to torment us.
It doesn’t really feel like you’ve been to the beach in August unless you’re numb from the waist down when you get out of the water. We call it “refreshing.” Flatlanders call it “torture.”
Obsessions
Go Sox!
To say the rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox is epic doesn’t begin to cover it. Just try wearing a Yankees hat to Fenway Park. We double-dog dare you. The battle between the two teams has a long but persistent history.
It started 106 years ago, when the highly successful Sox forked over Babe “Bambino” Ruth to the Yanks for $100,000, and the Yankees and Ruth went on to baseball glory. Not so for the Red Sox. Under what is known as “The Curse of Bambino,” the New England team endured a World Series limbo that lasted 86 years. Officially, the curse was broken in 2004 when the Sox finally won the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, but the rivalry between the two teams’ fans continues to this day. Utter devotion to the Sox and the Patriots, for that matter, is kind of a sport in itself around these parts.
Tale of two regions
The rivalry between New York and New England doesn’t end at the ball field. We are constantly competing over who has the best pizza (admittedly, New York), colleges, tourist attractions, and clam chowder (New Englanders won’t even acknowledge the existence of the Manhattan variety).
Old Man of the Mountain
The craggy rock formation in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire—the one that kind of looked like the profile of an elderly dude—collapsed 22 years ago. But that doesn’t stop New Englanders from waxing nostalgic whenever you mention the Old Man of the Mountain. We just can’t let go. It’s still our official state emblem. The old man is on our license plates, state police cars, driver’s licenses, the state quarter, and tacky tourist tchotchkes. Seriously, mention the former landmark and you might just bring a tear to a stoic New Englander’s eye.
Doggos
We know we’re not the only region of the country that cherishes its pups, but we might be the only one that has a lending library for them. This past spring, on the shore of Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to Harvard University, an outdoor take-a-stick-leave-a-stick stand was installed by an anonymous dog lover.
One degree of Adam Sandler
We love spotting New England-native celebrities and posting about our encounters on social media. Everyone seems to know somebody whose aunt had dinner with New Hampshire native Adam Sandler’s cousin at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester. We’re always on the lookout for Stephen Tyler, lead singer of Boston’s own Aerosmith, Connecticut’s Seth MacFarlane, and Maine’s Anna Kendrick. We must say, these homegrown stars are generous when it comes to signing autographs, taking selfies, and supporting local charities.
Don’t even try the accent
Hollywood, we’re telling you, we resent bad Boston accents in films and television. You’re better off not trying. And yes, we have examples: Jack Nicholson in “The Departed,” Mel Gibson in “Edge of Darkness,” and Amy Adams in “The Fighter,” to name a few. Wicked bummahz. Stick to our own, like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in “Good Will Hunting,” Mark Wahlberg in “The Fighter’ and Bette Davis in anything.
Food and drink
New England runs on iced coffee and ice cream, even in a blizzard
We worship at the altar of Dunks. We know they’ve changed their name, but to us, Dunkin’ will always be Dunks, and it’s the only place to get iced coffee with “extra, extra” through the coldest days of winter. Think we’re kidding about our caffeine loyalty? The town of Stow, Massachusetts, changed its name to Dunkin’ for one day this summer to celebrate the opening of a new Dunks, which ended a three-year Dunkin’ drought in town.
Culinary contrarians
We eat the coldest ice cream on the chilliest winter days (many of our outdoor stands stay open all year) and boiling bowls of soup in the summer when all the clam chowder competitions are held—you guessed it— on hot beaches and steamy boardwalks.
Life of pie
Move ovah, scrambled eggs and bacon. We love pie for breakfast and have for centuries. A wedge of pumpkin and apple sat on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s breakfast table in Concord, Massachusetts, and Oliver Wendell Holmes’ plate while visiting the Longfellow House in Cambridge in the 19th century, according to the book “It’s an Old New England Custom,” by Edwin Valentine Mitchell.
The tradition continues today, especially when breakfast includes the small but sweet Table Talk Pies we grew up with. The teeny, tiny boxed confections sold in grocery stores were first produced in Worcester, Massachusetts, more than a hundred years ago, and named for the wish of the Greek immigrant founders that a good pie on the table would accompany good conversation. The pies are still baked in Worcester, where they make over 250 million of the little tarts per year, to be sold all over New England.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
