The Slice Now Is It ‘Moss-Cow’ Or Should It Be ‘Mos-Co’?

Moscow’s Erica Neuendorf told us how to spot a true Idahoan.

“Real Idahoans pronounce the name of our state capital ‘Boy-see,’ whereas every out-of-stater I have ever met uses the pronunciation ‘Boy-zee.’ “

Here’s a kid with style: We heard about a 6-year-old named Amy who, while battling chicken pox, decided to wear her “101 Dalmatians” pajamas, “To match my spots.”

Slice answer: What tips you off right away that someone who just moved to the Spokane area is not going to be happy here? “When they say ‘That’s not the way we did it in (fill in the blank).’ ” - Wanda Leonard, Hayden Lake

Things That Made Our Day Department: 1. We were waiting for a table at the Thai Cafe, which was full at lunchtime Monday. And a pair of strangers invited us to join them.

2. These two teenage boys were looking through a day-care center’s windows and smiling as they watched the little kids doing their thing.

One reader’s favorite movie lines:

1. “Toto, too.”

2. “I’d kiss you, but I just washed my hair.”

The great dividers, continued: Terry Mangan, Robert Herold, gay rights, dancing, immunization, espresso drinks, Shakespeare, public shoreline access, caring about spring training, things that don’t taste like chicken, city council meetings on TV, hats, Las Vegas, facial hair, interest in Big Sky Conference sports, Ham on Regal, Red Lobster, federally subsidized rugged independence, cigars and the Hagadone influence.

Overheard: “How’re you feeling today, better?” “Yeah. Thanks. Don’t get German sausage at the boat show.”

Don’t take any wooden rodents: Several readers responded to the story about the petrified squirrel on the North Side power line by reporting that it’s really a piece of wood. We shared that with the woman who originally told the tale. So she took her binoculars to the scene for a closer look. She discovered the revisionists were right. “I feel like an idiot,” she said.

We know the feeling.

Today’s Slice question: What’s the ultimate Inland Northwest putdown? (Our pick: “You spend a lot of time indoors, don’t you?”)

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: The Slice appears Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. No, we didn’t forget that it’s Valentine’s Day. We’re just tired of hearing about it and figured you might be, too.