What are some REGIONAL SLANG-Words/Phrases that are common in your area??

[Corie]

I'm from Ohio and now live in Texas. I always get a weird
look from Southern people when I ask for a 'pop'. What?

I also still say 'you guys' from my years in Ohio. Sometimes,
I'll toss in a 'ya'll' just to mix it up! :)

And my favorite would be the term, 'mugging down'. This would
be when you have a hot and heavy kissing session.

Used in a sentence:
"Wow! They were seriously mugging down on the couch and then
their kids walked in!"

[hez]

We drink pop around here (though we're bordering on soda country). My grandma drinks pop in Michigan, too :)

I have no idea what's regional 'cause other than a couple summers, I've lived my whole life in this state.

Now, ask me about my conversation with a German coworker last month, and how I explained what 'out of left field' meant (similarly, 'in the ballpark' and the associated 'in the parking lot outside the ballpark' and 'across the river from the ballpark' which can only be used in certain cities) ;) That was fun!

[Piglet]

I am in Canada, so we have a few:

Pop instead of soda
Washroom instead of restroom or bathroom
Zed instead of Zee (the last letter of the alphabet ;))
Tuque is a popular expression for a winter hat
My personal fave - double double is a coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugars at our big coffee/donut shop Tim Hortons

And of course, the ever popular, "Eh" (not that I use it all that much - I am an embarassment to Canucks everywhere, LOL).

Here are a few other unique Canadian-isms:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_slang
I had NO idea how many there were! I don't even use half of them.

Also, we tend to spell things with an 'ou' instead of an 'o' - i.e. colour, favour, neighbour, etc.

[wencit]

Along the pop vs soda lines, here's a cool map that shows how the term is divided based on geographic location:

http://www.popvssoda.com/

I live in soda country, but I think the big "Coke" region down South is interesting!

[bostonsmama]

Apparently, Virginians say "y'all" for singular and "all y'all" for plural when referring to people in the direct person. For example, "Y'all take care now. I mean it, all y'all."

I also say "you guys" ALL THE TIME (I spent 10 years in NJ), but not "yous guys" like my family from Philly does.

We say soda, but sometimes we say "sodey pop" when we're talking about it in general, but when ordering, most people will say "I'll have a Mountain Dew" or "I'll have a Diet Coke." And when we order "tea," that's not hot tea, it's iced tea.

If we're in the process of doing something or going somewhere, we say "fixin' to," as in "I'm fixin' ta go to the store, want anything?"

We also say "over to," as in "I'm heading over to the library." I hear other regions say it differently.

"Where you at?" is everywhere. It's literally the first thing everyone says when they answer the phone around here.

Occassionally we'll say "down yonder," "britches"...my DH calls me "sugar britches," and everybody is "honey." My mom, a realtor, calls all her clients "honey." And almost everyone say's "ma'am" and "sir." Southern Hospitality.....love it!

And my favorite..."Well Bless Your Heart!" It can mean everything from real sympathy, to mocking, to a polite F-you!

ETA: here's a great website with some southern regionalisms
http://www.ashlandbelle.com/Southern.html

After looking at the list, we definitely use the following here:
do-hicky: a "whatchamacallit" thing you can't put a name to (as in "Honey, where's that do-hicky you use to unclog the toilet?")

shindig: a party or event we're not too excited about (as in "Nope, can't go, wife says we have to go to some shindig Saturday night.")

a falling out: old argument (as in "Jim & I had a falling out")

sorry: worthless (as in "You're sorry, lying sack of crap!"), and

reckon: suppose (as in "I reckon you're gonna want that back.")

Larissa
***Cheers! Here's to better luck in 2006!***

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."
-James Baldwin

[deenass]

I live in CT, where we have "tag sales" and "cook outs."

I grew up on Long Island, where we had "garage sales" and "bbqs."

[Tracey]

I live on the Gulf Coast and I rarely hear pop or soda. I've also never heard anyone call a Sprite a Coke. We go by brand name.

We have pancakes and not flapjacks.
We have subs and not grinders or hoagies.
Children still say yes ma'am and yes sir. Adults still use these terms for their own older family members and the elderly.
We have huggers and not koozies.

Here is some slang used by some teenagers, but not adults. I imagine most of these are not regional:
grill means teeth

get crunked means get pepped up or get going

hot mess means bad

freak means promiscuous

hook up usually means date or make out and sometimes but not always have sex

folk means friend as in "Waddup,Folk" http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

marijuana is called blunt or drawer (said like "draw"). That last one comes from the phrase "top drawer" and means really strong weed.

The only way I know these things is because I taught teenagers for eleven years. I'm sure I could think of more.

[lmwbasye]

The Army currently has us stationed in El Paso (I'm from NJ "you guys") and the one that drives me crazy here is that they say "right now." Sounds fine, right? Well, "right now" could mean immediately (as I had irrationally thought) or it could mean within the next day or so.

We were also in central TX for awhile at Fort Hood. Texas like to say "y'all" and "fixin to". They also always order a "coke." When you want a "coke", you could mean Pepsi, diet Coke, etc. It's all a coke.

Laura :)

Liam (10/04)

[bostonsmama]

Hey Laura! My father is stationed with the Army in El Paso as well! He's the Garrison Chaplain at Ft. Bliss (in charge of the MPs and pastor of Sage Hall). What unit & batallion is your DH in (my father said you might be under his watch)? Is he ADA? I know a lot of servicemembers go to Bliss to deploy to Iraq. I hope such is not the case for you.

Just curious. Feel free to PM or email me w/ the info if you don't want it on the boards. My DH (who's Navy) and I spent a couple weeks out in El Paso visiting my family, so I know the area decently well. Kind of cool to see another El Paso transplant on the boards.

Larissa
***Cheers! Here's to better luck in 2006!***

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."
-James Baldwin

[heidiann]

I'm from Pittsburgh so heres a few just off the top of my head,
we sad "pop" not soda
we eat "hoagies" not grinders or subs
we say "yunz" for you all
we use "gum bands" for rubber bands ( I have no idea where that came from)
some people say "worsh cloths" instead of "wash cloth" although I despise when people say it that way.
some people say "crick" instead of creek another one that drives me insane.
I'm sure I'll think of more and post later.
Some of our Steeler fans around here say "Go Stillers" Thats when you know your a True Pittsburgher LOL...

Heidi
Mom to Jillian 10/20/05

[lizajane]

i am from virginia, and i insist that it is not the south! ;)

i say soda (i hate the whole coke thing. don't ask for a stupid coke if you want a dr pepper or a sprite!!)
i say you all or you guys, not y'all
i say on the floor, not IN the floor
i say push the button, not mash the button
i say creek, not crick

funny things (getting DH to help me here...)
dh's (female) colleague (and buddy) always calls him "shug" (as in sugar)
dh's mom says, "make a picture" instead of take a picture
dh's parents always say "why don't you git yourself a new..." instead of, "why don't you get a new..."

[Toba]

I can't think of many from here (I live in Southern New Jersey ... too far enough for the NY/Northern NJ accent, ala The Sopranos. I am a born Piney (slang for the Pine Barrens, which just so happens to be the name of a Sopranos episode where Paulie and Christopher are stuck out in the middle of the Pineys while trying to whack a Russian guy ... but I digress), and we have a few little quirks to our language. Most notably, we say "crick" for creek and we say "warsh" instead of wash (but I've been told this is in other regions as well).

My ILs are from way up in Maine (Bangor area) and they have some doozies. Everything, and I mean everything, is wicked. As in, "It's wicked cold out." "That car is wicked fast." "This pizza is wicked good." It's maddening. They also have a slight New England accent on certain words, like car ... pronounced caaaaah.

ETA: Oooh, just thought of another one for my Piney relatives. My grandfather owns this property (it's actually a working cranberry bog) called Hog Wallow ... but my entire family calls it Hog Waller. I grew up thinking that's what the actual name was ... that it was some kind of wall for hogs. *rolls eyes*

~Kimberly Anne~
Noah Nevan, March 12, 2004
*the light of my life*

[ddmarsh]

I am a "pop" Ohioan who still has to pause when her southern sister says "soda."

A couple of phrases in our area that have moved west from Pittsburgh are "red up" (I'm not even sure how to spell it and I refuse to use it) which means to clean up the house. Another is "yins" which, again, I refuse to use and which means "you guys."

One of my favorites was a Wisconsin phrase, I did my undergrad at Marquette, and was "bubbler" for water fountain.

A very local one which completely baffled me when we first move here was the town of Camel. I would hear continuous references to it, just a small area here. About a year after we were here we received a wedding invitation, the church was in a town called "Campbell", like the soup. For the life of me I couldn't determine where it was until someone informed me that "Campbell" was indeed "Camel." It still drives me nuts to hear it pronounced that way!

[pittsburghgirl]

Heidi -
I was going to post some of the Pittsburghese I have learned (I'm originally from Iowa) but you got a lot of it.

But I have to add n'at, which is a tag that gets tossed onto the end of a lot of sentences in Pittsburghese:

Yunz goin dahntahn for the Stiller game n'at?

The first time I heard true Pittsburghese (from the mail carrier) I didn't understand a word.

Marilee
mommy to James
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[lmariana]

Fun thread!

I'm in GA, and I call all sodas/pops "Cokes". :)

"fixin' to" = preparing to, also is in "I'm fixing dinner." = I'm cooking dinner.
"grill out" = barbecuing
and I call people "honey" or "darling" :)

Mariana
Mom to Gabe (8/03) and Atom (10/05)
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[sidmand]

Apparently, "all set" is a Massachusetts one. Having always lived in MA, I didn't even realize it!

We were in Hawaii and the 14-year-old at the ice cream place asked DH if he needed help and DH said "I'm all set." (Meaning no in that instance.) The kid said, "I bet I can tell you where you're from." We didn't think he had a chance and he said "Massachusetts."

I guess it can mean "yes, I've been helped" "no, I don't need help" "we paid our bill and are done" "we paid our bill and need change."

We found out the last part the hard way since we were in Friendly's and had maybe an $11 bill. We only had a $20; the waitress came over and DH said he was "all set" and we never got any change! In retrospect, I can see how "all set" shouldn't mean so many different things and can get confusing, but I never noticed before it was pointed out.

Debbie

Mom to Sawyer!
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[smallestangel]

I'm from Michigan. So it's pop for me. :) When I lived in VA I asked a kid at a Schlotzsky's for a large pop, he did a double take but figured out what I meant. I also call a liquor store a party store. DH has never heard that and thinks "party store" is what you would call a store that sells party decorations only.

My DH who lived in Brooklyn until he was a teen, then moved to NJ also says "not for nothin'". Like, "Not for nothin' but I did try to call you before you left to let you know about the traffic, but you had already left."


Amanda

[Toba]

My husband's cousin's ex-wife's kids (got that? LOL) are Southern. We visted them in DC before they got divorced (they were her kids from a previous marriage) and spent two days with them while we were down there for one of my husband's boring seminars/business conferences. Anyway, her kids said "yes, ma'am; no, sir," to EVERYTHING. If I asked a question that they didn't understand or couldn't hear, it was, "Ma'am?" It made my heart swell and also made me want to sell my house and move down South. I swore that I would make sure my son would say it, now if only he would talk. I would love for him to marry a nice, old-fashioned Southern belle. :)


~Kimberly Anne~
Noah Nevan, March 12, 2004
*the light of my life*

[ett]

>My ILs are from way up in Maine (Bangor area) and they have
>some doozies. Everything, and I mean everything, is wicked.
>As in, "It's wicked cold out." "That car is wicked fast."
>"This pizza is wicked good." It's maddening. They also have
>a slight New England accent on certain words, like car ...
>pronounced caaaaah.
>

I'm in Massachusetts and we use "wicked" a lot too. I never knew it was a regional thing until I went to college in upstate NY and people looked at me funny when I would say things like "wicked good".

[bunnisa]

>We were also in central TX for awhile at Fort Hood. Texas
>like to say "y'all" and "fixin to". They also always order a
>"coke." When you want a "coke", you could mean Pepsi, diet
>Coke, etc. It's all a coke.
>
>Laura :)
>

I'm only an hour from Ft. Hood. I hear "y'all" all of the time, and "fixin' to" on a rare occasion, but I've never, ever heard anyone order "coke" as a generic term for soda. I thought that was a Southeast thing?

DH recently pointed out the Northerner phenomenon of saying "Come with," as in, "I'm going to the store. Wanna come with?"

I'm from MI originally, and I must say I notice that I say "you guys" an awful lot. I am trying to tone it down! :) Regarding the "pop" slang - I never liked the term and started calling it soda back in high school.

One thing I've noticed is many Michiganders call milk, "melk". I couldn't believe how awful the northern accent was until I had been out of the state for a year!

Bethany
mom to one and one on the way!
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[brittone2]

Yep, I grew up about an hour outside of Philly and in college my non-PA friends thought "come with" was pretty funny!

I also say "you guys" sometimes.

[brittone2]

I wait "in line" (grew up in PA and live in NC now) but many of my college friends who were Long Island natives insisted that *they* wait "on line." On line to me means on the computer, like what I'm doing right now ;)

[heatherlynn]

I was going to post these, too! I'm from California, but we lived in Pgh for a few years. What about sweeper for vacuum?

Now we're in Massachusetts -

pocketbook for purse
bubbler for water fountain
No sir! for No way!
It's not the freeway here like in California

I'm sure I'll think of more.

H-
Heather
dd 3/98
ds 8/04
dd 11/05

[heidiann]

Marilee,
LOL.... yeah we sort of have our own language here. But once your here for awhile you start talking Pittsburghese.

Heidi
Mom to Jillian 10/20/05

[heidiann]

seriously does no one else call their vacuum a sweeper? Thats strange I thought everyone refered to it as a sweeper. learn something new everyday.

Heidi
Mom to Jillian 10/20/05

[jerseygirl07067]

When I grew up in NJ:

"You guys"
the beach was called "the shore", but the way we talked it sounded like the "Shauw"

Now in FL:

when someone is going to do something, they're "fixin'" to go do it. I hate that expression. Also, Y'all is very common here too.

Marcy

[jerseygirl07067]

When I grew up in NJ:

"You guys"
the beach was called "the shore", but the way we talked it sounded like the "Shauw"

Now in FL:

when someone is going to do something, they're "fixin'" to go do it. I hate that expression. Also, Y'all is very common here too.

Marcy

[heatherlynn]

Wicked! I hear that _all_ the time here in MA!

H-
Heather
dd 3/98
ds 8/04
dd 11/05

[MommyAllison]

>One thing I've noticed is many Michiganders call milk, "melk". I couldn't believe how awful the northern accent was until I had been out of the state for a year! <

This cracks me up - I also say "melk" and am originally from Wisconsin. I never realized I said it til DH told me - I wonder if thats where I got it?

Allison
http://b1.lilypie.com/XvRAm8/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[lmwbasye]

Larissa,

I PM'd you.

Laura :)

[AmyZ]

LOL -- I once had a 10 minute conversation with a friend and she is talking about her "sweeper" and I'm thinking... is that a special kind of broom??
Another strange thing about Pittsburgh (I come from NY) is that people leave out the words "to be" for example...

I would say, "Those papers need to be faxed"
Pittsburgh person says "Those papers need faxed"

Or I say, "I really need to get this done!"
Pitt says "This needs done!"

My husband has actually started saying things like that ... *sigh*... I just hope my daughter doesn't start to say "n'at"

Amy Z

"Ma!" to Eliana May 2/5/04
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[jayali]

I'm a born and raised Brooklyn Girl, now living in NJ.

I love going "down the shore" in the summer. Back in Brooklyn it was just "going to the beach".

Being an Italian from Brooklyn we had "slices" of Pizza instead of "pieces" and my favorite was a "slice of square" instead of piece of Sicilian".

Our slang was really more of an ennunciation thing. Like "ganool" instead of Cannoli. We eat "Rigot" instead of Ricotta.

Not sure if those count of slang, but when I lived in Atlanta people always had a hard time understanding me!

[JElaineB]

Huh, I never realized "all set" was a Massachusetts thing. I guess I've been confusing people for years (haven't lived in Mass full-time since I went to college in 1987).

A couple more from Massachusetts/New England:

Jimmies instead of sprinkles
Frappe instead of milkshake

My family at least used "tonic" often instead of "soda", and never "pop". When I moved to Oregon it was so weird to hear the word "pop" for some reason. I'm in Iowa now and I hear both, though I would say pop is more common. I still use soda most of the time myself.

In New England (went to college in New Hampshire til '91) we called all 4-lane roads "highways". Here in Iowa they are all "interstates". Highways are 2 lane local or state high-speed roads.

One Iowa thing I don't understand is "yet". My husband uses it all the time, whereas I would use "still". For example, I would say "We still have to go to the store." My husband says, "We have to go to the store yet." Drives me up a wall for some reason.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[american_mama]

Sadly, I either have no regionalisms from my hometown (Syracuse, NY) or can't recognize them. But I have noticed some from other places I have lived:

Richmond VA:
car crash or accident is a wreck
parking garage is a parking deck
dirty pool is to trick someone or treat them unfairly
Occasionally, you hear "I was like to die" which means "I was so embarassed I felt like dying" or something like that.

Minneapolis
spendy = expensive

I did think of one from my hometown. In central NY, every single bakery and grocery stores will sell half moon cookies, which are large white cake-like cookies frosted with half vanilla and half chocolate frosting. In New York City, they are called "black and whites," but in my area, they are always half moons.

Also, this is off topic, but in Belgium where we lived last year, the people speak excellent English but all say "interesting" when they mean "a good deal." When a salesperson was explaining different phone plans, she would say "Since you make a lot of international calls, this plan is more interesting." I could never figure out why that error was so ubiquitous.

Also, one of the name threads here made me realize that in the south, it's common for some people to always be called by their middle names and/or for a middle name to be a family last name. So you see a lot of names starting with an initial (J. Robert Smith, for instance) and you never know what the J is for or why it's there. Or you meet people with highly unusual names, which are actually middle names. I worked at a law firm (a small one even) once where a man was called Butler (even though his name was Don), a woman was called her middle name Player (even though her name was Claire) and another woman was called her middle name Brakke even though her name was Ann.

[heatherlynn]

that's right! i forgot about the "to be" thing.

h-
Heather
dd 3/98
ds 8/04
dd 11/05

[JTsMom]

Yinz stole all my words! LOL When we moved from Pittsburgh to FL when I was 11, nobody could understand a word I said. It took me months to figure out how to speak English. The first night we were here, we went out to eat and my mom asked, "What kind of pop do yinz have?" and the waitress looked at us like we were from Mars. :)

I think the accent alone creates words.

keller for color
woosh/worsh for wash
etc

Every once in a while, someone will still ask where I'm from with my crazy accent, but I swear I don't have one. I can pick out someone else's a mile away, but I don't hear my own.

[lmariana]

Yup, car accidents are "wrecks" here in GA too. I also park in the "parking deck" at Ikea.

My husband and his family say "honestly" to imply genetic relation. As in, "he gets his bad temper honestly", implying he gets it from his parents. I had never ever heard that before. They grew up in Indiana. Anyone else use "honestly" that way?

Mariana
Mom to Gabe (8/03) and Atom (10/05)
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[MelissaTC]

LOL. I wait on line too and I am from NY (not LI though).

[lilycat88]

I'm in Indiana and I do notice "honestly" used that way. I don't tend to use it much but have time to time.

Also, not a phrase from here but from southeast Missouri where my DH is from. A friend of the family threw us an engagement party. They kept taking about it being a "drop in". I've never heard an "open house" called a "drop in". People up here who saw the invitation were like WTF is a "drop in". That part of Missouri is more like Alabama than Missouri so I can only think it must have some southern history.

[mama2galpals]

i'm from LI (but now in NJ) and we wait "on" line too. also on LI it was a hero but here it's a sub and they come in large and small whereas only one size on LI. also, my LI accent is still thriving with me trying not to pronounce more as maw still!

i also noticed a friend of mine from CA would pronounce orange with an or sound. not so here. it's pronounced "arrange" here. :)


rita
mommy to
olivia '97
stella '00
emma '03

the truth may hurt your feelings, but lies will break your heart.


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[cmdunn1972]

One thing that drive me nuts about the Philly area is hearing "youse guys". The phrase grates on my ears!

I'm originally from St. Louis and got to the Philly/Poconos area by way of NoVa. At least "y'all" can be misconstrued as a contraction (of sorts). I never heard "youse guys" except here. However, I have heard "y'all" spoken in VA (including the DC 'burbs), the rest of the South, and most of the Midwest.

Also, we St. Louisans say "soda", not "pop" (as in Chicago and Kansas City), or "coke" (as in TX). Speaking of TX, while I've heard people say "fixing to..." I've been under the impression that it's pretty much Texas/Oklahoma slang. Of course, I may be biased since I heard that while attending college in SW Missouri (not dialect-wise far from TX or OK -- or Arkansas for that matter).

This is nowhere near regional, but I didn't come from a hunting family like my small-town ILs did. DH's late brother used to always laugh at me because I would say "catch" instead of "shot" a deer. I think that was just me talking crazy though. ;)

ETA: In StL, we always called the German immigrants "scrubby dutch" because German immigrants in StL ethnic neighborhoods were always sweeping the sidewalks and were otherwise tidy. Also, a Hoosier in StL is NOT a person from Indiana, but an urban redneck. (I have no clue how that one came about! It's certainly not a criticism of those from Indiana.)

[brittone2]

Fortunately I lived far enough outside of Philly that I never heard "yous guys" more than a handful of times, and that was only on trips to the city itself.

It might be more of a south Philly thing?? In any case, I'm right there with you..."yous guys" is just painful to hear ;)

[cmdunn1972]

I always thought it was Penna Dutch, but since I'm not native to the area I could be mistaken. I'm actually north of Philly, closer to the Poconos, really.

[MelissaTC]

I am from the Bronx/Yonkers and a sandwich was a hero too.

[ribbit1019]

Born and raised Ohioan, however I have noticed that my Youngstown relatives use a lot of the Pittsburgh slang 'you guys' have mentioned.

Shopping cart=Buggy in PA too (sisters northern pittsburgh area boyfriend taught me this,lol)

Hmm, we say pop instead of soda or coke, subs not grinders or haogies, we vacuum around here though some do say sweeper.

My dad born and raised Clevelander says Glove Box and Ice box for the glove compartment and refrigerator, not sure if that isn't just old slang though.

Hmm, there are a ton others I am sure. I have been told by my friend that now lives in Vegas that our use of the long 'A' in some words differs from out there. I haven't heard it but she has lived out there for 3 years so I guess she would know.

Christy
Maddy born 6/09/04
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Little Man due 3/02/06
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Co-Owner Ribbit Baby

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[TaChapm]

I grew up in North and West Texas, live in Central Texas and married a man from East Texas. The slang varies so much within the state. Sometimes when I go to East TX I honestly think that they act so back woods because they think it is cool to be so country. (I am a country girl and it bothers me)

I'll admit to saying Yall and "Coke" in general for a soda pop. I never order a coke (I always order a Dr. Pepper) but when I say I am addicted to Sonic's cokes I am actually addicted to Sonic's Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. :) All of my dad's family is from Nebraska so they are POP drinkers. When we went there this fall after Tyler was born Jackson actully picked up saying POP.

As a waitress I always had people order a coke and then say Dr. Pepper, Sprite etc. They would also order a couple of hamburgers (2) or a few burgers (3). That always irritated me.

We lived in Louisiana for a year after we were married and that is a whole new ballgame there. I had a hard time even understanding people. It is the Cajun thing I guess.



Tara
Mommy to Jackson 11-10-02
Tyler William 6-9-05
OMG!!! Baby #3 Due September 5, 2006!

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[MegND95]

I grew up in Cincinnati, but have lived in FL, VA, MD and now IL, so this thread is hysterical. I had forgotten many of the Southernisms that so perplexed me when I moved there.

Here is one from my hometown: using the word "please" in place of "excuse me?" or "pardon me?" or "could you repeat that?" For instance, if I did not hear what you said, I would say "please?" When I went to college, my friends would say "please what???" No one knew what I was saying, and I quickly dropped that from my conversations. They still tease me about it!

[nupe]

in the rest of the US versus "pitch-in" in the midwest, when everyone makes a dish and takes it to the party.

Nupe

[cmdunn1972]

That's intersting. I went to college in SW Missouri and grew up in StL, but I've never heard that phrase before. It must be a very localized thing.

[bunnisa]

>in the rest of the US versus "pitch-in" in the midwest, when >everyone makes a dish and takes it to the party.



That's a potluck in MI! :)

I've heard "covered dish supper" in other parts.

Bethany
mom to one and one on the way!
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"And children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and fiercely to be fought for."
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[lmariana]

I think this is probably just a Cuban or Puerto Rican thing, but to us "coffee" is espresso. I had the worst shock in my life the first time I ordered a "coffee" and got the watered-down American excuse for coffee that people somehow consume!

Mariana
Mom to Gabe (8/03) and Atom (10/05)
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[laurena]

It's Potluck in the Chicago area, too.

I've picked up these from listening to my IL's from MN:
hot dish instead of casserole
Groom's Dinner instead of rehearsal dinner
greet instead of say hello (as in greet your mother for me)
not really slang, but: Duck, duck, grey duck instead of duck, duck, goose

there are more, but I really try to block them out of my mind.

[lilycat88]

Not from Indiana but one that sticks in my mind. I had a sorority sister from Connecticut who called grilled cheese sandwiches "cheese toasties". She said it was common there but I've never heard it anywhere else. Was that just a weird thing about her...that's entirely possible :-)

[cmdunn1972]

That's true in South America, too, including Brasil.

DH and I honeymooned in Rio, and down there "cafe" (coffee) is espresso. If you want milk, as in Spanish it translates to "morning coffee". Interestingly, at the hotel that we stayed in while in Rio espresso with milk was the norm at the breakfast service. They were self-serve, with pots of espresso and milk on the table.

Mariana, I've heard Latinos talk of "Spanish coffee", but I'm not sure exactly what that is. I'm not sure if it refers to a special recipe or method of fixing coffee or simply a traditional brand from Puerto Rico. Would you mind enlightening me? TIA! :)

[SewSarahSew]

I few Minnesota-isms that I learned after going to college in Ohio:

- pronouciation of roof as ruff and root (of a chord in music, or a the category of vegetables) as rut
- MinnesOOta (long o)
- dangling prepositions with the word 'with'. Everyone says, 'Are you coming with?' My college friends didn't stop teasing me about that until I learned to say 'Are you coming with ME?'

I've always said melk instead of milk. I've never even thought about that one!

And a few other things that drive me crazy:
- pronousing Italian with a hard /I/, accenting that first syllable, instead of the 2nd syllable: i-TAL-ian
- I live in WISconsin now. Newcomers to the state seem to say WESconsin.
- I learned to call it OR-e-gon in school, but aren't you suppposed to pronouce it Or-i-GON?

[juliasmom05]

I say spendy as well and I am from CA. I never thought it was odd until DH (who is also from central NY) commented on it.

Marci

Mom to Julia 4/05

[kdeunc]

It was always covered dish to me in NC.

[mamicka]

In IL we call that a potluck as well. I've never heard of "pitch-in" & I've lived all over the midwest. Where have you heard this?

Allison

[mamicka]

The one that *so* irritated me when we lived in the GR, MI area:
"an' that"
which I believe means etc or "and so forth".

I've never heard that anywhere else.

Also, sliders instead of sliding doors. Not sure why that one bugs me.

Allison

[hobey]

>- I learned to call it OR-e-gon in school, but aren't you
>suppposed to pronouce it Or-i-GON?
>
Nope. Emphasis on the OR...drives me nuts when people pronounce it Or-i-GONE (as in gone away). :) Not a native Oregonian (from the midwest w/ a non-accent) but I've noticed many Midwesterners pronounce it Or-i-GONE.

Raquel
Nathan's Mom 12/19/03

[aliceinwonderland]

hmm. I have lived in Philly for 1.5 yrs now and have yet to hear that...I need to pay more attention.

I though the Boston accent was pretty funny. I also learned that "wicked cold" or "wicked smart" were local expressions :)


ETA that when I go to Indiana, I need to have my DH translate sayings for me.

[cmdunn1972]

LOL In Indiana, being a Hoosier is a good thing! Not so in my native St. Louis. ;)

I'm wondering if that phrase isn't as common in Philly proper as it is in the outskirts?

[smilequeen]

Yep, Hoosier is the only thing I can think of from St. Louis too. Other than maybe T-ravs for toasted ravioli :) And SODA SODA SODA. The word pop is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me ;)

[cmdunn1972]

LOL "T-ravs". That reminds me of the summer break from college when I waitressed. Toasted ravioli was on the menu, and we were taught to write "t-ravs" as shorthand on the order slip.

The hoosier thing gets strange looks from anyone not from StL. They wonder what we have against people from Indiana, when in fact it has nothing to do with the state.

The only time I ever heard "pop" in StL was either from people from Chicago or KC. In fact, I thought it was funny as a kid when I was told (by another kid, so who knows how accurate that was) that if you asked for a "soda" in Chicago you would get an ice cream soda. ;) "Pop" always made me think of popcorn (or "Pop goes the weasel", depending on my mood). :)

ETA: My parents tend to pronounce "or" in words with the "ar" sound. For instance, they pronounce the park where the Zoo and the Muny are located as "Farest Park". Also, they talk about "Highway Farty" and "Highway Farty-four". Somehow, that pronounciation didn't get passed down to our generation, though. My sister, brother, and I don't do that.

We also knew people who pronounced "milk" as "melk". I always thought is was an IL thing, but I could be wrong.

Speaking of nails across the chalkboard, it drives me NUTS when non-St. Louisans pronounce our dear city as "St. Louie" (unless they're talking about the song).

Also, do you say "Missour-EE" or "Missour-AH"? I'm a "Missour-EE" kind of gal, but a lot of the more rural kids that I went to college with said "Missour-AH". :)

[cmdunn1972]

You might be interested in this article from wikipedia.com. It's more or less a linguistic breakdown of accents across the US:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English_regional_differences

There's a special section about Minnesota (and vicinity), as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English_regional_differences#North_Centra l_American_English

[smilequeen]

EWWWWW Missour-AH is the WORST, the WORST. Total hoosier thing to say ;) LOL. It is common down here in Springfield. Drives me the most nuts when people in government say it like that. I swear St. Louis doesn't belong in Missouri ;)

[Valerie99]

I grew up in West Texas, and lived in the Dallas area for most of my adult life until moving to southern Louisiana last year, so I have quite a few to add!

The overuse of the word "for" was irritating in the beginning here in LA, but now I find myself using it:
Instead of saying "When I was pregnant with John..." they say "When I was pregnant for John..."
Instead of "Mrs. Jones is a patient of Dr. Smith's" they say "Mrs. Jones is for Dr. Smith". I'm a nurse, so I hear this all the time in shift reports.
It's also used to identify paternity - "I'm pregnant for Billy Jack" instead of "Billy Jack is my baby's father". I guess I like it better than "Billy Jack is my baby daddy" which I heard all the time in Dallas.

Save is also used all the time instead of "put away"
Save the dishes, Save the laundry, Save your toys...

Nanny is used for godmother. When I first moved here, I thought everyone must be rich because each of their children had their own nanny! Nanan is French for godmother, so I guess it just got shortened to Nanny.

Cher - pronounced "shah". Still can't quite figure out what this means, but "cher bebe" is a common expression applied to babies and children, so I'm guessing it means sweet or something. It's a term of endearment, but that's all I really know.

Boo is another term of endearment. Can be applied to children or adults.

When the nurses answer call bells, they say "May I help", instead of "May I help you?"

Elderly women are referred to as MaMaw, and elderly men as PaPaw.

Also, instead of getting in the car they say "Get on the car" or instead of getting out of the car they say "Get off the car" or "Get down"

Instead of mopping or sweeping they pass a mop or pass a broom.

Saying "I will make 30 this year" instead of "I will turn 30 this year"

Not to mention the made-up, half French/half English words everyone understands but me! As in consons (underwear), fracashed (upset), Tauntie (aunt), Meenoo, Meenoo (here, kitty, kitty), ax (ask), noonie (pacifier), or babbins (pouting).

But, I must say I love it here! And everyone is very polite and well-mannered, which is refreshing after living in Dallas for so long!

[cmdunn1972]

Springfield's definately another world as compared to St. Louis. When I lived there, some of my friends (who were natives) called Springfield "the world's largest small town" LOL. You don't have to travel far to get into total farm country. :) Doesn't help with the ambience you get from Bass Pro Shops and Branson being at your back door. ;) (Bass Pro Shops is a great place to go for a good pair of hiking boots, btw, so I don't mean to slight it too much.)

Speaking of policitians mispronouncing the name of their own state, I heard that Sen. Danforth used to pronounce it Missour-EE until he started running for the US Senate office. I remember how much my Grandma used to rant about it, though she was a die-hard Democrat who thought he was iffy before that anyway. LOL

I always thought that Springfield had a good mix of KC influence, so hearing people say "pop" instead of "soda" is much more common there. You also get a good mix of Chiefs fans. (Don't know about Royals fans though. They tend to get a wee bit overshadowed by Cards fans. LOL)

Another difference is that StL is much more of a Catholic city. Springfield is definately "buckle fo the Bible Belt" country, with AoG and Baptists being the dominant denominations. That was evident when I noticed the preaching that went on weekends in the city square where the bars were. As a Catholic I was in the minority, and actually had people question whether I was actually Christian for the first time ever. (I was accosted by a pair of SW Baptist Univ. students roving the campus. Ironically, I might say their attitude towards Catholics bordererd on non-Christian. LOL)

[nicoleandjackson]

I've lived around Chicago my whole life, but I've been suburbanized :)

We are "pop" drinkers, drink "melk", and attend "potlucks" as well. We drive on the "expressway" if it's free, or the "tollway" if you have to pay (but more likely referred to by name: "The Ike", "The Edens", "The Kennedy", etc.) "You guys" is any group of two or more people, regardless of gender. We string together several different directions to tell you where to go ("The Jewel is down over on 75th street.) Which reminds me, groceries are very unique in Chicagoland (as my former sales reps would attest to)--you either shop at Jewel or Dominicks and are crazy loyal to one or the other--therefore, you announce that you're going "to the Jewel" or "to the Dominicks" when you need to shop for groceries.

Some of my hard-core relatives who have not yet moved from "The City" park their cars in the "gratch" which is to be opened with a "gratchkey" and is located "down over dare in the alley".

Nicole
Mommy of Jackson 4/30/02


Who's the Biggest Boy? It's Jackson!
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