I was born in Phila. and moved to South Jersey soon after. When asked where I'm from, I always say South Jersey, never joisey. Some people think it's a different state from North Jersey where they tend to have a New York accent. In college (Trenton), my kind (from SJ) where called southern belles because of our 'accent'. Just ask us how to say water!
LAU

Now I live in "Chicargo" but I'm from NJ which we jokingly call "Joisey" which we thought was mocking the "New Yawrk" accent. When I open my mouth people in Chicago think I'm from New York, whereas people from New York know I'm from Chicago.

New Joisey, where Jimmy Hoffa is buried under the cement.

Just kidding!

It's "unner" da cement; doncha know nuttin'?

Mobility and mass communications are rapidly blurring the accents of many native Jersey speakers. Interestingly, the "Joisey" pronunciation most likely has its roots in Irish Gaelic and was most often found in people who made their living on the docks of New York harbor, whether it was Manhattan, Brooklyn or Joisey City.

to answer the original post q. i call new jersey home!!

few people in new jersey have the exaggerated accent. it is just a joke and no biggie,

dare i say what is worse, someone saying joisey or asking what exit?????

I was born and raised in New Jersey and have always called it New Jersey.

I do think the state gets a bad rap. After all, Tony Soprano chose it as a place both to live and to work!

I lived in Queens until I was 8 and then moved to NJ; family is still there. Anyway, I go back and forth between calling it Jersey and New Jersey. Never have I called it Joisey. I do have an accent in which I say dawg, cawfee, tawk, etc. I've worked very hard over the years to mask that, but when I go back there, and am around certain relatives, I tend to slip.

Interestingly, not a single poster raised the issue we Philly residents get all the time. Whenever people go across the Delaware River, they say they are in "South Jersey." Not "southern New Jersey," just "South Jersey." It's almost as if they want to make it clear they're nowhere near the Newark area. I had never heard the term before I got here five years ago, but very quickly noticed it as standard description.

Also, when you go in the direction of Cape May, you say you are going "down the shore." Not "down TO the shore," just "down the shore." The first time I noticed it I thought it was a slip up. Then I noticed it happening all the time.

vcl: up in da U.P. here, they would say "under da cement, eh?"

Paul Rabe:

Not all of North Jersey is near Newark. That's not why they say South Jersey. You're either from South Jersey, Central Jersey, or North Jersey.

pointless -- who cares?

I was born and raised in New Jersey, then moved all around the country before I finally settled in the mountains of North Carolina and now call that area home.

I've never taken offense at any joke aimed at New Jersey, even when I lived there. I grew up in a town where almost everybody made fun of the state from time to time.

When asked where I was from, I always responded "South Jersey" or "Jersey".

As for accents, when I was 17 years old I was hitchhiking near Asheville, North Carolina. An elderly farmer picked me up in his sputtering pickup truck and gave me a ride. After just a few minutes of conversation, he said, "I bet I know where you're from."

I told him to guess. He smiled and said, "Somewhere in South Jersey right across the river from Philadelphia. Near Cherry Hill and Moorestown."

I was flabbergasted, and asked how he knew. He told me that when he was in his late teens he took part in a cattle drive that ended on the banks of the Rancocas River, where the livestock was then loaded onto barges to be taken to Philadelphia. Incredibly, the end of the cattle drive took him right to the town where I grew up!

He ended up staying with a family in town for several months before he returned home, and he had picked up on the "unique" way I pronounced several different words.

But he said the dead giveaway of where I was from was when I referred to water as "wooder".

Stevebarr, I grew up in the same area of Jersey (which is how I sometimes refer to it) and I had to tell you that your response gave me a big laugh. I don't even like to say the word "water" because I am so conscious of mispronouncing it as "wooder" that I over-compensate and it ends up sounding even worse! I have heard a lot of jokes about New Jersey. I moved away and ended up in another state that has been joked about ever since the "chad" incident....can you guess? Ha ha....just my luck.

wow- the orignal post is almost 2 years old! How did you every find this thread to bring it up again?? Just wondering?

Notice that "Stevesmoker" found this old thread, lol! ;-) Anyhow, I call Jersey "home"!

DebitNM: I don't know. I was checking the responses to my question about Seattle and this came up next to it. It looked interesting, since I'm from NJ, so I read some of it. I kind of flipped to the last response and that's when I read Stevebarr. By the way, I miss NJ sometimes, just not in the winter, when it is unbelievably beautiful in Florida!

We live near Philadelphia. We call it 'downtheshor'

Jersey, fuggedaboutit!

You mispronounced that....in Jersey, it's "fuggedaboudit!"

Jersey? Which exit?