BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you grew up in Western New York, it's something that's probably happened to you while traveling.
"There's been times where people identify me a Buffalonian, like a bartender or someone at a restaurant, and they're like where are you from, Buffalo or Rochester? And I'm like how do you know? Because the Buffalo accent's a real thing," Buffalo News Political Cartoonist Adam Zyglis told 2 On Your Side.
"So I have one where it's like as if we have a Buffalo gland in our sinus, because it makes us pronounce words like car differently than other people."
You know you're from Buffalo if your local accent sounds like a sinus infection. Or, if you say "the" in front of highway names. Or, if dipping your wings in the wrong sauce could earn you a scarlet letter.
These are just a few of the ideas that will appear in the Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist's first book. Zyglis told 2 On Your Side he was looking to do something non-political for the long form project. He's calling it his cartoon love letter to Buffalo, with some tough love sprinkled in.
"I kept coming back to my roots here, and how can I do something that could kind of speak to that and kind of tap into the community a little bit," he said.
It's called, "You Know You're From Buffalo If," and it's scheduled to come out in the fall. First, Zyglis is asking for a little help from the public to finish it. He's looking for ideas he can't leave out.
"I grew up in Alden. I'm a die hard Buffalonian but also I represent one demographic, one age, so I associate my Buffalo identity with certain things, but I can't speak for everyone. So that's why I love when people are writing to me, like don't forget about this," he said. "I want a good mix to represent everybody."
If you have an idea for Adam's book, email it to youknowyourefrombuffaloif@gmail.com. You can pre-order it here.