So cycling is political act??

[owlice]

jessmarimba, well, heck, Virginia is definitely included in the Appalachian states! I don't usually hear that construction from Virginians, but that could be because I hear people from northern Virginia about a bazillion times more than people in other areas of Virginia (and most of them are from someplace else, anyway). Or not. I'd expect to hear that construction more in the southwestern part of VA than in Richmond; Tennessee might have done it to you, too, but listen for it in your mother's speech. I'd be curious as to whether she uses it. If you hadn't noticed that phrasing before, you'd have probably noticed it in college (or in your reading), so I think it likely you grew up hearing it. Heck, listen for it in your dad's speech, too; with his family's long history in Virginia... well, I'm wondering where those folks came from and whether there were Scots speakers in the mix.

And the construction you're after for the dress is "that dress wants washed."

[marni]

my own regionalisms are an inability to say a sentence without an automatic "ya know" (SoCal in the 1950 and later) and an acquired use of "yu'ns for you all which is a north carolina coastal useage but very similar to my second languages (dutch) useage of "jullie" for you as a group (third person plural.)

marni