North Carolina Culture & Language

Two things reliably start a conversation here. The first is basketball: the rivalry between North Carolina, Duke and NC State is followed with an intensity that surprises visitors, and the Research Triangle is its geographic centre.

The second is barbecue, and the divide is real. Eastern North Carolina cooks the whole hog and dresses it with vinegar and pepper. Lexington-style, in the Piedmont, uses the shoulder and adds tomato. People hold positions on this.

NASCAR grew out of the Piedmont, and Charlotte remains the sport's operational home.

In the mountains, old-time and bluegrass traditions are still played rather than preserved, and the craft scene around Asheville — pottery, glass, furniture — descends from a genuine regional trade rather than a tourist market.

English, with a range of regional accents — the mountain and Outer Banks varieties are distinct enough that visitors notice them. The Ocracoke brogue in particular is a recognised dialect with its own history.

Spanish is widely spoken, especially in the Piedmont.

Nothing is required of a visitor linguistically, though "y'all" is genuinely the second-person plural here and not a performance.