Thank you James. I am 85yr old and a native of San Francisco. This message is a keepsake for all of us who live elsewhere these days. Allene Watt Kirschman ----- Original Message ----- From: "James R. Smith" <[email protected]historysmith.com> To: <[email protected]>; "SF Genealogy" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 8:40 PM Subject: [CASANFRA] Native San Franciscan............ > Just received this from my sister. Thought a few might enjoy it. > > Pass the French bread, > Jim > > FOR ALL FRIENDS RAISED IN THE CITY > > If you have spent any time in bookstores lately, you might have noticed > that there are books on San Francisco's past, present, and future; books > that tell you where to eat, where to drink, where to drive, where to > take a bus, where to stay, what to look at, and even how to cook in the > San Francisco style, whatever that is. But no book tells you how to act > like a native San Franciscan, because it is widely assumed that the > breed, if it ever existed, is extinct. > > One book, "San Francisco Free and Easy," subtitled "The Native's Guide > Book," says on the first page, "San Franciscans are notorious newcomers. > You'll find few people here with the sort of roots common to East Coast > cities". Another, written by a carpetbagger named John K. Bailey, is > called "The San Francisco Insider's Guide." It begins, "On! my first > visit to San Francisco, 15 years ago...." Fifteen years ago? I know a > cat who's lived in San Francisco longer than that! > > A terrible thing has happened to native San Franciscans. They have > become strangers in their own city. Their whole culture is in danger of > being swallowed up by foreigners from New York, Ohio, New Hampshire, > Denver, and other places Back East -- not to mention Hong Kong, Taiwan, > Vietnam, the Philippines, Russia, India, and Mexico. These newcomers all > assume everyone else is a newcomer. > > The first thing to go is the language. Despite everything you've ever > heard, there IS a distinctive San Francisco way of talking and it is > important to make note of it, for the record, before it becomes as dead > as the Latin they teach at S.I. Here's how to talk like a San Franciscan. > > The first lesson - learned at birth - is never to call it "Frisco" or > "San FRANcisco." Most resident tourists have settled on something that > sounds like an Anglicized version of the Spanish San Francisco, but > natives run the two words together, and it comes out "Sanfrencisco." It > may also be called "thecity," which is one word. It is never called > "the city," which is two words and tacky. > > Another way to tell true, native San Franciscans is that all native San > Franciscans know something about other native San Franciscans. This > cannot be faked. The first test comes when a native San Franciscan is > introduced to someone he does not know at a party. Sooner or later, one > will ask the other where he or she is from. > > The correct dialogue goes like this: > > > Q: Whereya from? > > A: Here. > > Q: Oh yeah? Whereja go to school? > > A: S.H. > > Q: Oh yeah? D'ya know (fill in name of acquaintance)? > > At once, the two people realize they are both natives and doubtless have > friends, experiences, and a whole subculture in common. > > There are several keys to this small bit of conversation. First, as > I've already mentioned, the true native runs all the words together. He > never says, "Where are you from?" because that is the way they talk Back > East (which is anything East of Denver.) When he asks where you went > to school, he means high school - not college, not trade school, and > certainly not P.S. 178. The correct answer is one of several San > Francisco high schools. "S.H.," of course, means Sacred Heart High > School (now known as Sacred Heart Cathedral), which not only reveals > your high school but often what district of the city you came from, and > other details. > > If, for example, the answer is "S.I." you know the guy went to St. > Ignatius High School (or College Preparatory, if after 1969) and was > probably raised a Catholic and is from an upper-middle-class family. > > If the answer is "Riordan," you know the guy went to the superior > Catholic "boys-only" school, and is from a family that is not only > hard-working and intelligent, but which also has the finest blend of > personality and sense of humor of all the Catholic institutions. > > If the person says "Poly," they probably grew up in the shadow of Kezar > Stadium in Golden Gate Park -- the site of many memorable high school > football games, or in the Haight-Ashbury. > > If the response is "Mission" or "Bal" (for Balboa High), you know he is > from the Mission District, and his father was probably a member of the > working class, called "a workinman" in the San Francisco dialect. > > If the response is "High on the Hill" you knew they came from the > Sunset, Woods or Richmond and went to Lincoln, the only important thing > was winning "The Bell" game from their cross town rivals, Washington. > They knew were "the Pits" and "the Circle" were. > > If he went to Galileo, he is probably a North Beach Italian, and not a > Mission District Italian. > > Women, too, can be identified by the school they attended. If they went > to Mercy (on 19th Avenue), they probably grew up in the Sunset or in > Daly City, or maybe even in St. Francis Woods or Forest Hill. > > If she responds "Prez," she went to Presentation High School on Masonic, > and may have grown up in the Haight or the Richmond. > > One has to be careful, though. Some women, if asked where they went to > school, will respond that they went "to the madams." A tourist will > immediately leap to the conclusion that the poor woman was raised in a > whorehouse, but natives understand immediately what this woman means: > She attended Convent of the Sacred Heart, conducted by a ritzy order of > nuns, and is doubtless from a wealthy family. She is not necessarily a > Catholic, however. Diane Feinstein went to the madams. > > The next thing to note about this conversation is that the proper > response to a remark is "Yeah?" not "You don't say so?" or "Is that > right?" San Franciscans say "Yeah" a lot, but it doesn't always mean yes. > > Now you are ready for your geography lesson. Oakland, Berkeley, and all > those other places are "across the Bay." The largest city in Santa Clara > County is "Sannazay," not "San Jose." Sannazay is on the way to > Sannacruise. To get there, you have to go down the Peninsula, past South > City, Sammateo, Rewoodcity, Paloalto, and a whole buncha other towns. > "The River" is the Russian River, and no other, but "the Lake" is Lake > Tahoe (if your family was wealthy); otherwise, "the lake" is either > Clear Lake or Lake Berryessa. The town on the river is called > "Gurneyville," even though the correct pronunciation is Gurnville. San > Franciscans know the correct pronunciation, but choose not to use it. > If corrected on this, a native will likely say, "If those guys up there > are so smart, what'er they doin' livin' there? People who live in > Gurneyville all year are a buncha Okies anyway." (It should be noted > that being called an "Okie" - as in persons from Oklahoma or anywhere > south -- is among the worst insults a San Franciscan can offer; it means > a person lacks taste or sophistication. > > Natives are often asked for directions, sometimes by tourists and often > by pseudo-natives. A San Franciscan of course, has no idea where > anything across the Bay is, but he knows all about San Francisco. > > To start with, unless a street is tiny, like Saturn Street or Macrondray > Lane, it is never called by its full name. You never say "Taraval > Street," for example, only "Taraval." When you direct someone to go > "out Geary," it means you go West. You know, toward the beach. One > never goes "in Mission," or "in Geary." To head in the general direction > of downtown, one goes "down Mission" or "down Geary." It is "the > beach," too, not the seashore or the coast. The coast is down the > Peninsula, near Sharp Park. There are no beaches on the Bay, despite > evidence to the contrary - only on the ocean. San Franciscans know there > are 30 numbered streets and 48 avenues; they know Arguello is First > Avenue and Funston is 13th Avenue. They know that First Street is not > the first street, and that Main is not the main street. The Richmond > district is always called "The Richmond," and the Sunset District is > always called "The Sunset," but Noe Valley has no article in front of > its name; neither does downtown or North Beach. No one knows why. But > natives do know it is always 24th pronounced "twennyfourth") and > Mission, not Mission and 24th. It's Second and Clement, not Clement and > Second. The street is not pronounced "CLEment" but "CleMENT." There is > no need to make a distinction between Second Street and Second Avenue in > this case, since San Franciscans know that Second Street and Clement do > not intersect. > > They know several other things, too: that Alcatraz is not called "The > Rock," that Yerba Buena Island is called "Goat Island" or "YBI," that > French bread is not called sourdough bread and never was. The name > "sourdough" was invented by advertising guys from Chicago or someplace. > They know that Italians do not eat pizza. They eat spaghetti, > tagliarini, or some other stuff, mostly in North Beach, but sometimes in > small places in the Mission. > > Most of us grew up under the delusion that everybody was a native San > Franciscan. [Interjection time: *No* we did not! We assume most people > are foreigners.] It was the largest small town in the world, and we > thought it the only city that counted. Occasional tourists complimented > us on the city, but we never dreamed they'd move here and take over. > > One native San Franciscan, after she bought a house in the Richmond, one > of her new neighbors asked her where she was from. "I moved out here six > months ago," she said. "Oh, from the East or Midwest?" the neighbor > asked. "No," she said, "from California and Buchanan." > > There is only one way to be a native San Franciscan. You gotta be > born here. "Anybody," my grandfather used to say, "can be born in > Oakland, or Back East. It's an honor to be born in Sanfrencisco." > > -- > > James R. Smith > > Author: San Francisco's Lost Landmarks > > ISBN: 1884995446 > > www.HistorySmith.com <http://www.historysmith.com/> > > > > ************************** > Visit SFGenealogy.com! > http://www.sfgenealogy.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

My gosh. I can't slip out of town without missing something. My San Francisco roots go back to the 1850s. My greatgreatgrandfather was born in the City in 1873. Some may remember my mentioning Kappeler Court. It was named for my greatgreatgreat grandfather and disappeared around 1910. Most of my cousins can say they were born in the City and still do with pride even tho their parents journeyed up the peninsula to have their babies in the City. After moving from the Mason St. area, the family lived in Bernal Heights (there was a horse barn in the back of the house), then later in the Excelsior District (Balboa HS graduates). I don't live in the City, but in Santa Cruz. But my brother can't be pried out. He even got on the news when the fire consumed that Marina block of apts after the Loma Prieta earthquake, hauling hoses. I had no idea I was pronouncing all those names correctly. But if someone can explain why my Dad said "Marin County" as if it was said "Marine County" I'd sure appreciate it. P.S. My SF pride is that I can get from one point in the City to another by zigging over the right hill. I try not to go farther. Allene K <[email protected]> wrote: Thank you James. I am 85yr old and a native of San Francisco. This message is a keepsake for all of us who live elsewhere these days. Allene Watt Kirschman ----- Original Message ----- From: "James R. Smith" To: ; "SF Genealogy" Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 8:40 PM Subject: [CASANFRA] Native San Franciscan............ > Just received this from my sister. Thought a few might enjoy it. > > Pass the French bread, > Jim > > FOR ALL FRIENDS RAISED IN THE CITY > > If you have spent any time in bookstores lately, you might have noticed > that there are books on San Francisco's past, present, and future; books > that tell you where to eat, where to drink, where to drive, where to > take a bus, where to stay, what to look at, and even how to cook in the > San Francisco style, whatever that is. But no book tells you how to act > like a native San Franciscan, because it is widely assumed that the > breed, if it ever existed, is extinct. > > One book, "San Francisco Free and Easy," subtitled "The Native's Guide > Book," says on the first page, "San Franciscans are notorious newcomers. > You'll find few people here with the sort of roots common to East Coast > cities". Another, written by a carpetbagger named John K. Bailey, is > called "The San Francisco Insider's Guide." It begins, "On! my first > visit to San Francisco, 15 years ago...." Fifteen years ago? I know a > cat who's lived in San Francisco longer than that! > > A terrible thing has happened to native San Franciscans. They have > become strangers in their own city. Their whole culture is in danger of > being swallowed up by foreigners from New York, Ohio, New Hampshire, > Denver, and other places Back East -- not to mention Hong Kong, Taiwan, > Vietnam, the Philippines, Russia, India, and Mexico. These newcomers all > assume everyone else is a newcomer. > > The first thing to go is the language. Despite everything you've ever > heard, there IS a distinctive San Francisco way of talking and it is > important to make note of it, for the record, before it becomes as dead > as the Latin they teach at S.I. Here's how to talk like a San Franciscan. > > The first lesson - learned at birth - is never to call it "Frisco" or > "San FRANcisco." Most resident tourists have settled on something that > sounds like an Anglicized version of the Spanish San Francisco, but > natives run the two words together, and it comes out "Sanfrencisco." It > may also be called "thecity," which is one word. It is never called > "the city," which is two words and tacky. > > Another way to tell true, native San Franciscans is that all native San > Franciscans know something about other native San Franciscans. This > cannot be faked. The first test comes when a native San Franciscan is > introduced to someone he does not know at a party. Sooner or later, one > will ask the other where he or she is from. > > The correct dialogue goes like this: > > > Q: Whereya from? > > A: Here. > > Q: Oh yeah? Whereja go to school? > > A: S.H. > > Q: Oh yeah? D'ya know (fill in name of acquaintance)? > > At once, the two people realize they are both natives and doubtless have > friends, experiences, and a whole subculture in common. > > There are several keys to this small bit of conversation. First, as > I've already mentioned, the true native runs all the words together. He > never says, "Where are you from?" because that is the way they talk Back > East (which is anything East of Denver.) When he asks where you went > to school, he means high school - not college, not trade school, and > certainly not P.S. 178. The correct answer is one of several San > Francisco high schools. "S.H.," of course, means Sacred Heart High > School (now known as Sacred Heart Cathedral), which not only reveals > your high school but often what district of the city you came from, and > other details. > > If, for example, the answer is "S.I." you know the guy went to St. > Ignatius High School (or College Preparatory, if after 1969) and was > probably raised a Catholic and is from an upper-middle-class family. > > If the answer is "Riordan," you know the guy went to the superior > Catholic "boys-only" school, and is from a family that is not only > hard-working and intelligent, but which also has the finest blend of > personality and sense of humor of all the Catholic institutions. > > If the person says "Poly," they probably grew up in the shadow of Kezar > Stadium in Golden Gate Park -- the site of many memorable high school > football games, or in the Haight-Ashbury. > > If the response is "Mission" or "Bal" (for Balboa High), you know he is > from the Mission District, and his father was probably a member of the > working class, called "a workinman" in the San Francisco dialect. > > If the response is "High on the Hill" you knew they came from the > Sunset, Woods or Richmond and went to Lincoln, the only important thing > was winning "The Bell" game from their cross town rivals, Washington. > They knew were "the Pits" and "the Circle" were. > > If he went to Galileo, he is probably a North Beach Italian, and not a > Mission District Italian. > > Women, too, can be identified by the school they attended. If they went > to Mercy (on 19th Avenue), they probably grew up in the Sunset or in > Daly City, or maybe even in St. Francis Woods or Forest Hill. > > If she responds "Prez," she went to Presentation High School on Masonic, > and may have grown up in the Haight or the Richmond. > > One has to be careful, though. Some women, if asked where they went to > school, will respond that they went "to the madams." A tourist will > immediately leap to the conclusion that the poor woman was raised in a > whorehouse, but natives understand immediately what this woman means: > She attended Convent of the Sacred Heart, conducted by a ritzy order of > nuns, and is doubtless from a wealthy family. She is not necessarily a > Catholic, however. Diane Feinstein went to the madams. > > The next thing to note about this conversation is that the proper > response to a remark is "Yeah?" not "You don't say so?" or "Is that > right?" San Franciscans say "Yeah" a lot, but it doesn't always mean yes. > > Now you are ready for your geography lesson. Oakland, Berkeley, and all > those other places are "across the Bay." The largest city in Santa Clara > County is "Sannazay," not "San Jose." Sannazay is on the way to > Sannacruise. To get there, you have to go down the Peninsula, past South > City, Sammateo, Rewoodcity, Paloalto, and a whole buncha other towns. > "The River" is the Russian River, and no other, but "the Lake" is Lake > Tahoe (if your family was wealthy); otherwise, "the lake" is either > Clear Lake or Lake Berryessa. The town on the river is called > "Gurneyville," even though the correct pronunciation is Gurnville. San > Franciscans know the correct pronunciation, but choose not to use it. > If corrected on this, a native will likely say, "If those guys up there > are so smart, what'er they doin' livin' there? People who live in > Gurneyville all year are a buncha Okies anyway." (It should be noted > that being called an "Okie" - as in persons from Oklahoma or anywhere > south -- is among the worst insults a San Franciscan can offer; it means > a person lacks taste or sophistication. > > Natives are often asked for directions, sometimes by tourists and often > by pseudo-natives. A San Franciscan of course, has no idea where > anything across the Bay is, but he knows all about San Francisco. > > To start with, unless a street is tiny, like Saturn Street or Macrondray > Lane, it is never called by its full name. You never say "Taraval > Street," for example, only "Taraval." When you direct someone to go > "out Geary," it means you go West. You know, toward the beach. One > never goes "in Mission," or "in Geary." To head in the general direction > of downtown, one goes "down Mission" or "down Geary." It is "the > beach," too, not the seashore or the coast. The coast is down the > Peninsula, near Sharp Park. There are no beaches on the Bay, despite > evidence to the contrary - only on the ocean. San Franciscans know there > are 30 numbered streets and 48 avenues; they know Arguello is First > Avenue and Funston is 13th Avenue. They know that First Street is not > the first street, and that Main is not the main street. The Richmond > district is always called "The Richmond," and the Sunset District is > always called "The Sunset," but Noe Valley has no article in front of > its name; neither does downtown or North Beach. No one knows why. But > natives do know it is always 24th pronounced "twennyfourth") and > Mission, not Mission and 24th. It's Second and Clement, not Clement and > Second. The street is not pronounced "CLEment" but "CleMENT." There is > no need to make a distinction between Second Street and Second Avenue in > this case, since San Franciscans know that Second Street and Clement do > not intersect. > > They know several other things, too: that Alcatraz is not called "The > Rock," that Yerba Buena Island is called "Goat Island" or "YBI," that > French bread is not called sourdough bread and never was. The name > "sourdough" was invented by advertising guys from Chicago or someplace. > They know that Italians do not eat pizza. They eat spaghetti, > tagliarini, or some other stuff, mostly in North Beach, but sometimes in > small places in the Mission. > > Most of us grew up under the delusion that everybody was a native San > Franciscan. [Interjection time: *No* we did not! We assume most people > are foreigners.] It was the largest small town in the world, and we > thought it the only city that counted. Occasional tourists complimented > us on the city, but we never dreamed they'd move here and take over. > > One native San Franciscan, after she bought a house in the Richmond, one > of her new neighbors asked her where she was from. "I moved out here six > months ago," she said. "Oh, from the East or Midwest?" the neighbor > asked. "No," she said, "from California and Buchanan." > > There is only one way to be a native San Franciscan. You gotta be > born here. "Anybody," my grandfather used to say, "can be born in > Oakland, or Back East. It's an honor to be born in Sanfrencisco." > > -- > > James R. Smith > > Author: San Francisco's Lost Landmarks > > ISBN: 1884995446 > > www.HistorySmith.com > > > > ************************** > Visit SFGenealogy.com! > http://www.sfgenealogy.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ************************** Visit SFGenealogy.com! http://www.sfgenealogy.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message