Post by phoenixrising on Sept 15, 2012 8:08:43 GMT -5
I went to college in Western PA, and there is a TON of stuff there! Instead of just using "you" as a plural, they say "y'uns," which is pronounced "yinz." They say "pop," instead of soda. Rubber bands are gum bands. Also, they leave out "to be" sometimes, as in "My hair needs cut" instead of "My hair needs to be cut." Those are the big ones that stick out.
Here in Eastern PA, there is a lot of North Jersey and Long Island influence. However, there is a lot of PA Dutch influence as well. Examples: being rammy means being agitated, being rutchy means being twitchy. We also often add "the" to the front of things (the Walmart) and even an "s" to the end (the Walmarts). We eat hoagies and drink soda. And Italian ice and water ice are two different things.
They just say "highway." They aren't all free here! Paying for tolls is also something I had to get used to.
Instead of saying, "take the 93," they would say "take 93" or "take I-93."
This is also a major difference in Nor Cal and So Cal. In Nor cal, we dont add "the" in front of the freeway name.
I grew up in So Cal and have lived in Nor Cal for about 8 years now. I am now slowly dropping the "the" in front on some freeway names but haven't completely given it up. My hybridized version drives my friends up here nuts.
I think it is a matter of picking up what I hear around me. So, I'll say 17 and 280, but the 5 and the 101 because I spent 25 years hearing those freeways with "the" in front of them. So when I go to work, I take the 101 to 880. People who don't know where I grew up look at me funny when I do that.
Came back to add that, at least in my area of PA, if you ask for a "Lager" at the bar, you'll get a Yuengling. It took me a few years to realize that other beers are also lagers...
Also, I had no idea until this thread that "rutchy" and "rammy" were regionalisms. This is what happens when you don't move out of the tri-state area.
Post by dcrunnergirl on Sept 15, 2012 14:34:04 GMT -5
I grew up in the Boston area. The ones that people ask me about are:
Elastic = rubber band, hair elastic Tonic = soda Jimmies = chocolate sprinkles Rotary = roundabout, traffic circle Carriage = stroller Bureau = dresser Draw =drawer Directional = car turn signal Supper = dinner Bubbler = water fountain Trooper = State police officer Bang a U-ey = make a u-turn All set = ready to go
The first summer I lived in New England I heard people ordering ice cream with "jimmies" I had no idea what that meant. Now I know it is sprinkles. I'm from IL and we always just called them sprinkles.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but just to clarify: Jimmies are chocolate. Sprinkles are the colored things, even in New England. We New Englanders just know better than to eat the colored ones!
Has anyone mentioned tonic yet? I rode the train halfway across the country before I realized why they kept serving me "tonic water" when I was asking for a coke.
Barbecue = pulled pork; it is a noun here and not a verb Hose pipe = garden hose Ticket = check (like in a restaurant) Fall out = Pass out (like in a medical sense... learned that this week!) Coke = Soda, any kind Mash = Press Fixin' to = About to Tennis shoes, instead of sneakers/trainers Chester drawers = chest of drawers Toboggan = Knit hat, like what you wear in the winter. This threw me for a loop the first time I heard it. Have your picture made = have your picture taken Showed his/her ass = Pitch a fit, usually publicly Being ugly = being mean/nasty Blessed him/her out = curse someone out Do what? = "Excuse me" or "What did you say?"
I'm from eastern PA north of Philly and recognize a bunch of these. We wear sneakers, eat hoagies, water ice. I also say the route numbers when referring to roads "take 95 to 1", and I call a rotary or circle a "turnaround".
I went to college in central PA and there were a lot of terms I was unfamiliar with. Pop=soda (which I now call it pop instead of soda and my husband gives me the side-eye). Sweater=sweatshirt/hoodie (which stuck too). Tennis shoes=sneakers. Yins is the equivalent of y'all from the south. Here we say "you guys" your "you's" (use).
Growing up in Hawaii there were many words and phrases that differed from the terms used on the mainland. A few that come to mind are "rubbish" for trash or garbage and "slippers" for flip flops or sandals.
OMG, I am dying. My friend from Hawaii recently sent me what looked like sandals, but the box said slippers. I told my husband that I really wanted to wear them out and about, but the box said they were slippers, so they must not be meant for that purpose. Too funny.
Also, I call it tin foil too, and I'm from the Chicago area.
Barbecue = pulled pork; it is a noun here and not a verb Hose pipe = garden hose Ticket = check (like in a restaurant) Fall out = Pass out (like in a medical sense... learned that this week!) Coke = Soda, any kind Mash = Press Fixin' to = About to Tennis shoes, instead of sneakers/trainers Chester drawers = chest of drawers Toboggan = Knit hat, like what you wear in the winter. This threw me for a loop the first time I heard it. Have your picture made = have your picture taken Showed his/her ass = Pitch a fit, usually publicly Being ugly = being mean/nasty Blessed him/her out = curse someone out Do what? = "Excuse me" or "What did you say?"
I'm originally from NC. You're making me homesick!
Post by biogirl21 on Sept 15, 2012 18:03:45 GMT -5
In MI we call the interstates I-94, I-69, US23, ect... Pop>soda They're called carts, I hate it when people say buggy! Most other things I can think of are accent related. Most people say "fur" when they mean "for", for example.
Barbecue = pulled pork; it is a noun here and not a verb Hose pipe = garden hose Ticket = check (like in a restaurant) Fall out = Pass out (like in a medical sense... learned that this week!) Coke = Soda, any kind Mash = Press Fixin' to = About to Tennis shoes, instead of sneakers/trainers Chester drawers = chest of drawers Toboggan = Knit hat, like what you wear in the winter. This threw me for a loop the first time I heard it. Have your picture made = have your picture taken Showed his/her ass = Pitch a fit, usually publicly Being ugly = being mean/nasty Blessed him/her out = curse someone out Do what? = "Excuse me" or "What did you say?"
I'm originally from NC. You're making me homesick!
This is also a major difference in Nor Cal and So Cal. In Nor cal, we dont add "the" in front of the freeway name.
I grew up in So Cal and have lived in Nor Cal for about 8 years now. I am now slowly dropping the "the" in front on some freeway names but haven't completely given it up. My hybridized version drives my friends up here nuts.
I think it is a matter of picking up what I hear around me. So, I'll say 17 and 280, but the 5 and the 101 because I spent 25 years hearing those freeways with "the" in front of them. So when I go to work, I take the 101 to 880. People who don't know where I grew up look at me funny when I do that.
Yes! I went to school in so cal and the freeways that are only down there I will use " the" just because I never heard them without it.
Growing up in Hawaii there were many words and phrases that differed from the terms used on the mainland. A few that come to mind are "rubbish" for trash or garbage and "slippers" for flip flops or sandals.
OMG, I am dying. My friend from Hawaii recently sent me what looked like sandals, but the box said slippers. I told my husband that I really wanted to wear them out and about, but the box said they were slippers, so they must not be meant for that purpose. Too funny.
Also, I call it tin foil too, and I'm from the Chicago area.
Yes, and if she pronounced it she'd say it "slippahs." It definitely took some getting used to!
Loved this! In NY, grandma was often nanny/nannie/bubbe or the Italian nonna. In PA, pop-pop and mom-mom is the rage.
My aunt lives in PA and chose to be called Mom-mom when her grandkids were born. We had never heard that before and thought she made it up. Bubbe isn't regional- it's Yiddish. Askenazic Jews all over the world use it.
I read online once that New Jersey people will get what this sentence is saying, but others might not be able to (I tried it on a Western Pennsylvania friend once and he didn't get it):
Jeet yet? No, jew?
(it's just a pronunciation thing, nothing to do with Jewish people)
H and I always giggle when we hear our NE friends use the term 'jimmies' for chocolate sprinkles. Where we grew up, it's slang for condoms. So, like, not something I would want on ice cream.
I'm from Western PA and don't know anyone who says pop or pocketbook.
Huh. Interesting. I live in the Philly area, so we're strictly "soda" territory, but my cousins in Harrisburg, Erie, and Butler all say "pop." I always thought anyone outside of SEPA said "pop."
I have no idea where the pocketbook dividing line usually is. :-)
H and I always giggle when we hear our NE friends use the term 'jimmies' for chocolate sprinkles. Where we grew up, it's slang for condoms. So, like, not something I would want on ice cream.
Yeah, my mother always called them jimmie hats.
I have no idea when what I say is a regional thing. But from what has been posted here..
hair tie the 405 shopping/grocery cart or basket
I do say gnarly and sweet fairly often.
Somethings my native Californian grandma says: Coke = soda Kleenex = tissue warsh = wash
Oh yeah, people give me strange looks here when I say "freeway" and "the [insert highway # here]." It's a habit I can't break from growing up in SoCal.
I went to school in so cal (I'm from nor cal) and that's how you could tell the difference b/t nor and so cal folks ... the 580 doesn't make sense but the 10 or the 57 makes sense. I totally confused people b/c I grew up in a house where ALL so cal freeways were preceded by the word 'the'
I read online once that New Jersey people will get what this sentence is saying, but others might not be able to (I tried it on a Western Pennsylvania friend once and he didn't get it):
Jeet yet? No, jew?
(it's just a pronunciation thing, nothing to do with Jewish people)
I understand it! lol I'm from south central PA.
We have a lot of PA Dutch influence in my area, so we say a lot of funny things.
"The milk is all."=the milk is all gone Pocket book= purse Subs are sandwiches on long rolls barbecue is what we call sloppy joes outen the lights=turn the lights off (I don't use this one myself, but hear it often)
H and I always giggle when we hear our NE friends use the term 'jimmies' for chocolate sprinkles. Where we grew up, it's slang for condoms. So, like, not something I would want on ice cream.
Has anyone mentioned tonic yet? I rode the train halfway across the country before I realized why they kept serving me "tonic water" when I was asking for a coke.
I'm not sure I'm following what happened here. You wanted a Coke and you got the quinine mixer water that people use here for mixed drinks?
I grew up in S. Oregon calling all sodas as "pop" but switched to calling it soda after moving in with my H (who grew up in N. Oregon). I'm not sure if in my case soda vs. pop was regional, or just familial. But the whole Coke == all types of cola, root beer, Sprite, etc. is annoying and confusing!
Also, what is water ice or Italian ice? Is this referring to a snow cone or shaved ice?
Post by LauraMoser on Sept 16, 2012 14:29:24 GMT -5
I remember the first time I ever heard soda referred to as pop. I had traveled a few hours north of where I live, towards NW PA. Someone had asked me if I wanted a pop. I replied with something along the lines of "a lolly pop? Or a popsicle?" I had no idea what the man meant. I was 12 or so at the time.
And a PP mentioned that Harrisburg calls soda pop, but I live not too far from there and never heard anyone from that area call it pop. Weird.
I say soda, sprinkles, sneakers, water fountain, Italian ice, subs, parkway.
I refer to numbered roads as "route x" or just the number, depending on the road. Like, 95, 287, 80 don't need route in front of it, but route 18, route 1, route 9 do. I don't know if that's regional or my own thing, though.