Whenever The Sun runs an article or photo caption that mentions people sitting on stoops, I cringe. I know that I will soon be hearing from longtime readers of the paper complaining that Baltimore rowhouses have steps, not stoops, and that the writer who wrote stoops is betrayed as an outlander.

As reporters cycle through the chains that own so many American newspapers, sometimes staying no more than a couple of years in any one place, they lack the time (and inclination?) to familiarize themselves with the language and customs of their temporary cities. The credits with their bylines might as well read Not From Here.

But anyone who wants to achieve credibility with the readership ought to find out what the readers call their soft drinks — soda, pop, tonic — and their sandwiches — subs, grinders, po’ boys, hoagies.

Anyone who wants to render quotes accurately will need to develop an ear for the syntax of speakers in the area. In Pittsburgh and the German-heritage areas of Pennsylvania, for example, a speaker may say that the car needs washed.

Sensitivity to these little touches shows the reader that you have taken the time and trouble to get acquainted with them, that you are not some outsider indifferent to their customs. Or worse, that you harbor some degree of scorn for them.

And let us, please, forgo the use of locals (rhymes with yokels) to refer to residents of an area. It is inherently condescending. It telegraphs to the reader, "I’ve come to this sleepy little burg for a day to write about the quaint customs of these ho-hums, and I am going to get out of here as fast as I can."

Better drop sleepy from the adjectives describing small towns or rural areas while you’re at it. Unless you are some cosmopolitan familiar with the mores of New York, Paris, Rome and the other great cities, you probably didn’t come from anyplace more impressive yourself.