Say you’re from Montana without SAYING you’re from Montana

I lived in Coos Bay Oregon for about a year and a half. First day I was on the air for a listener call-in show, the listeners all called me to ask me where in Montana I was from and ended up calling me Montana instead of Tammie.  It totally freaked me out they knew where I was from, and they all said I had a Montana accent, and used different phrases than the folks in Oregon.

So I thought I'd put it to the test, and see how we can tell people we're from Montana without actually saying it, and here's what you said.

You mean they aren't, Trish Ann?

Lacretia nailed it!  That was one of the ways they outed me in Oregon, I said Eugene was about an hour and a half away. They said 55 miles.  (Really narrow 2 lane road.  Takes about an hour and a half.)

Isn't that the truth, Keira?  When I was 16 my family went to New Orleans, and the first thing the cab driver asked us was if we'd been in many cars since we ride horses everywhere.  Second question, Do you have a bathroom in your house yet or still an out-house.  (To that, I could say both.  We both on the farm.)

Words we say that give us away

I learned really fast that people call a crick, a crEEk.  A crick is something you get in your neck, if you don't live in Montana.

Bag.  I'm told over and over we say this like beg.  I just don't hear it.

Roof apparently we say this differently as well.

Gopher I'm told these are Prairie Dogs, but they look like Gophers to me.

Outfit/Rig If you're not from Montana, the first means clothing, and the second has something to do with sailing or something

I'm sure there are loads more, gunna run to the store in my outfit and get some steaks for a couple 2-3 bucks.