Regional Slang

[Prana]

The regional food thread made me think of some words that we use here in New England that may not be used in other states and countries, and wondering about words and phrases that others use in daily conversation that may not be common elsewhere.

For example:

If something is REALLY good, REALLY cool or REALLY anything, we might use 'Wicked' in place of 'Really'

I tend to end most statemtents with; 'ya' know?' For example: "I don't really like this weather. The snow is really starting to get wicked annoying. Ya' know?"

If someone is sort of a stupid person, generally annoying, they may be referred to as a 'Tool'. In my group of friends, said person may also be referred to as a 'tool box' or 'tool bag'. If the person is beyond 'toolish', we refer to them as a 'Champion.' This is mainly my close group of friends and aquaintances.

Some people refer to a basement as a cellar. I use both.

Some people call a Grocery store a 'Market', for most, it is just 'the store'.

When I went to college in Rhode Island, they call a water fountain a 'bubbler'. I did not know this, and thought that everyone was very liberal with their pot use.

I'm sure there are many more things that I say that I have no idea are regional, but I'll add them as I think of them. What are yours?

 

[Prana]

Just to add, my MIL is from rural Maine, and actually says things like:

Bajesus! (Jesus!)
Jeesum! (Jesus!)
Jeesum Creesum! (Holy Cow!)
Dooryard (driveway)
Shucky Dang Darn! (Holy smokes!)

I've since adepted all of them and use them as my own lol!

 

[dragonfly411]

Ya'll for you all.

All soda tends to be coke.

When we are really excited or we vehemently agree with something it's "hell yeah!"

Riding refers to any of the following - horses, ATVS, trucks, buggies

They're all rivers

Fat lighter is dry pine that is perfect for lighting fires.

Title town is the home of the gators.

What you call a tool we call a deu*** or an A**hole. Or a piece of Sh**.

Red drums are called redfish.

Deer are called dinner (jk jk but they are dinner).

It is not O-possum, it's possum.

crawfish are crawdads.

Any fish under 6 inches is a minnow.

Gigs are used to gig fish or gig frogs. It's one way to get dinner.

Lifted refers to a truck that has a lift kit on it and is on large tires.

Down there could be anywhere north, south, east, west, top or bottom of a mountain, over a bridge, under a bridge. It's down there at so and so's place.

Turtle is called cooter. I know, I know.

All pigs are hogs.

Curr dogs are any mixture of hound, pitt bull, and lab.

 

[elrohwen]

I grew up in Pittsburgh and yinz was a plural "you" - the same as ya'll in the south.

Chipped ham is shaved ham.

Jimmies are sprinkles (like on ice cream)

Hoagie is a sandwich

Jaggers are thorns, like on a jagger bush. (also, a jag off is a jerk)

Gum bands are rubberbands.

Nebby is nosy.

A buggy is a shopping cart.

If your fly is down, someone might tell you that "Kennywood's open".

There are so many more - I'll have to keep thinking.

 

[Jennifer W]

What an interesting thread!
Most of the really good local phrases and words here are pretty much unrepeatable in polite PS society. We can curse and insult each other in a whole dialect of our own, without anyone ever really taking offense .
Here's a wee sample:

Ya big erse - you're a big arse

****deleted, to save Admin the trouble****

haw, wee man! - generic greeting to anyone under 6ft (slightly impudent)

Haw, big man! - generic greeting to anyone over 6ft or over weight (slightly impudent and probably foolhardy)

Yer erse is oot the windae - I don't believe you (sometimes contracted to merely 'yer erse' for succinct convenience).

Do you think I came up the Clyde on a bike? - sentiment similar to 'do you think I was born yesterday?'

Cludgie - ladies' powder room or gentlemen's convenience

Glaikit - gormless, unintelligent looking, as in... "He's a haun'less great glaikit lump o a man"

Haiver / haverin' - talking cr*p.

Midden - technically a heap of garbage, but generally used to describe anything messy or grimy looking - 'her hoose is a pure midden'
or 'thon's a right shifty wee midden she married.'

Gallus - brave. Not generally a compliment, tends to imply bravado / bravery to the point of stupidity.

Clarty - dirty. A clarty midden or Mrs / Mr McClarty would be describe a slovenly housekeeper

Bauchle - a worthless person, down trodden and untidy looking. A scabby wee bauchle may look slightly clarty.

We probably have some nice dialect words too, but I can't think of any off hand. Scots lends itself to hurling insults, for some reason.

 

[Prana]

Ya'll for you all.

All soda tends to be coke.

When we are really excited or we vehemently agree with something it's "hell yeah!"

Riding refers to any of the following - horses, ATVS, trucks, buggies

They're all rivers

Fat lighter is dry pine that is perfect for lighting fires.

Title town is the home of the gators.

What you call a tool we call a deu*** or an A**hole. Or a piece of Sh**.

Red drums are called redfish.

Deer are called dinner (jk jk but they are dinner).

It is not O-possum, it's possum.

crawfish are crawdads.

Any fish under 6 inches is a minnow.

Gigs are used to gig fish or gig frogs. It's one way to get dinner.

Lifted refers to a truck that has a lift kit on it and is on large tires.

Down there could be anywhere north, south, east, west, top or bottom of a mountain, over a bridge, under a bridge. It's down there at so and so's place.

Turtle is called cooter. I know, I know.

All pigs are hogs.

Curr dogs are any mixture of hound, pitt bull, and lab.

Haha Dragonfly- we also use D-bag and A-hole, probably more commonly than toolbox, tool bag and plain old tool. Opposums are possums where I'm from (generally). Lifted would refer to a lifted car also. The others you mentioned I don't hear around here too often

 

[Prana]

I grew up in Pittsburgh and yinz was a plural "you" - the same as ya'll in the south.

Chipped ham is shaved ham.

Jimmies are sprinkles (like on ice cream)

Hoagie is a sandwich

Jaggers are thorns, like on a jagger bush. (also, a jag off is a jerk)

Gum bands are rubberbands.

Nebby is nosy.

A buggy is a shopping cart.

If your fly is down, someone might tell you that "Kennywood's open".

There are so many more - I'll have to keep thinking.

I know, it's hard to think of them all, and some we probably don't even realize.
To me, Jimmies are sprinkles. But I believe to the folks of RI and MA they are Jimmies. A sandwich to me is between to flat pieces of bread. A grinder would be the same as your hoagie.

Haha "Kennywood"!

 

[Prana]

Jennifer, it's like trying to read a different language hahaha. I love it!

 

[elrohwen]

I grew up in Pittsburgh and yinz was a plural "you" - the same as ya'll in the south.

Chipped ham is shaved ham.

Jimmies are sprinkles (like on ice cream)

Hoagie is a sandwich

Jaggers are thorns, like on a jagger bush. (also, a jag off is a jerk)

Gum bands are rubberbands.

Nebby is nosy.

A buggy is a shopping cart.

If your fly is down, someone might tell you that "Kennywood's open".

There are so many more - I'll have to keep thinking.

I know, it's hard to think of them all, and some we probably don't even realize.
To me, Jimmies are sprinkles. But I believe to the folks of RI and MA they are Jimmies. A sandwich to me is between to flat pieces of bread. A grinder would be the same as your hoagie.

Haha "Kennywood"!

Yeah, a hoagie is usually on a sub roll, as opposed to a sandwich on flat bread, but I've also heard people use hoagie for just about anything.


All of the words are so much better if you imagine them with the accent though! Pittsburgh's accent is one-of-a-kind.

 

[Jennifer W]

Jennifer, it's like trying to read a different language hahaha. I love it!

It almost is a different language, I think. It has its origins in Lowland Scots, which is a distinct language. Our Parliament website was translated into Gaelic and Scots for a while and I could read about 5% of the Gaelic and about 70% of the Scots pages, so it's fairly close to spoken English round here. It's mostly older generations who speak Scots or use the dialect day to day.

My chic and sophisticated Manhattan-born cousins have a Scottish parent and spent many summers here as children. When we meet up, we revert to speaking like this and have been asked to leave more than one smart restaurant...

 

[Prana]

I've thought of a few others:

If something is new, or really nice, we say "mint". If something is necessary, we might say "key". For example- That new BMW is pretty mint. The tinted windows are key.

'Hey!' is used as a general greeting, way to grab attention, or a word of discontent. For example: "Hey! How are you?" "Hey, can you come over here?" or "Hey, don't take my cookie!"

Staties are state troopers

When I was a teenager like 10-15 years ago, if something was really badass, we might call it 'hardcore'

I call a purse a 'pocketbook'

I mentioned before that I call a cellar a basement, but if I'm referring to going into the basement, or something in the basement, I say 'Down Cellar'. For example: "The cookies are down cellar", or "I'm going down cellar to get the cookies"

Some people say yard sales, others say garage sales, I say tag sales. My MIL says that she is "goin' taggin' " lol.

We have a cookout, but most around us have BBQ's.

I call it a parking garage, but I believe other people call it a parking deck?

If you "got into an accident", you had a car crash.

"I'm all set" means We're done, we don't need any help/change

Route is pronounced 'root'. Rarely I hear someone say 'rowt'.

Coupon is 'coopon'. I cringe when I hear 'cue-pon', although a lot of people here pronounce it that way.

I say counter, closet and cabinet. To my DH, they are all 'cupboard'.

A highway is the interstate or any road that you drive your car >65mph.

 

[HollyS]

Dragonfly is definitely living in the South!

We in Texas say many of the same things. I confess that I was orginally a Midwestern Yankee from IL, so when I first moved here, I didn't always know what to think of the local vernacular.

Like:

Fixin' to do for I'm getting ready to do

Eat me some groceries for going to lunch, dinner, etc.

And lunch is dinner and dinner is supper.

How's your mama and them??!! for what's going on?

Sodas are Cokes even if they're Dr. Pepper. (And we're the home of Dr. Pepper.)

Longnecks are beers, and longhorns are steers.

Y'all is single or plural, but all y'all is definitely plural.

 

[elrohwen]

Jennifer, it's like trying to read a different language hahaha. I love it!

It almost is a different language, I think. It has its origins in Lowland Scots, which is a distinct language. Our Parliament website was translated into Gaelic and Scots for a while and I could read about 5% of the Gaelic and about 70% of the Scots pages, so it's fairly close to spoken English round here. It's mostly older generations who speak Scots or use the dialect day to day.

My chic and sophisticated Manhattan-born cousins have a Scottish parent and spent many summers here as children. When we meet up, we revert to speaking like this and have been asked to leave more than one smart restaurant...

I'm actually reading a book on the history of English right now and just finished the chapter on Scots. Gaelic is a Celtic language and different, but Scots is actually a variety of English and has the same roots which I had never known about. I never knew they were different - I guess I always assumed Scots and Gaelic were two different words for the same language. I love linguistic stuff like that.

 

[elrohwen]

Prana, "tag sale" is the bane of my existence. I don't know why I dislike that phrase so much, but it just bugs me! Haha. I had never heard it before moving to CT and the first time I saw a sign I was so confused about what a tag sale was.

 

[Prana]

Jennifer, it's like trying to read a different language hahaha. I love it!

It almost is a different language, I think. It has its origins in Lowland Scots, which is a distinct language. Our Parliament website was translated into Gaelic and Scots for a while and I could read about 5% of the Gaelic and about 70% of the Scots pages, so it's fairly close to spoken English round here. It's mostly older generations who speak Scots or use the dialect day to day.

My chic and sophisticated Manhattan-born cousins have a Scottish parent and spent many summers here as children. When we meet up, we revert to speaking like this and have been asked to leave more than one smart restaurant...

I wish I could speak/understand Gaelic.

I know when I've been in Ireland, some of the local dialect is impossible to follow. You could be having a conversation with someone in what you though was English, and then all the sudden you can't understand a word they said. hahaha. Makes for many interesting moments

Your comment about you and your cousins reminds me of a lot of Jamaican's that I know. When they talk to me, they speak so clearly, but when they speak to another Jamaican- forget it. Even though they are still speaking English, their accents and dialect are so strong that you can't understand!

 

[Prana]

Dragonfly is definitely living in the South!

We in Texas say many of the same things. I confess that I was orginally a Midwestern Yankee from IL, so when I first moved here, I didn't always know what to think of the local vernacular.

Like:

Fixin' to do for I'm getting ready to do

Eat me some groceries for going to lunch, dinner, etc.

And lunch is dinner and dinner is supper.

How's your mama and them??!! for what's going on?

Sodas are Cokes even if they're Dr. Pepper. (And we're the home of Dr. Pepper.)

Longnecks are beers, and longhorns are steers.

Y'all is single or plural, but all y'all is definitely plural.

I love you for Dr. Pepper.

And Dinner in RI was supper to many people. Supper is not a word that I commonly hear in CT.

 

[elrohwen]

My grandma lives in northern MI and always says davenport instead of couch or sofa. Love that word!

Of course she also ends every sentence with "eh?"

 

[Jennifer W]

Jennifer, it's like trying to read a different language hahaha. I love it!

It almost is a different language, I think. It has its origins in Lowland Scots, which is a distinct language. Our Parliament website was translated into Gaelic and Scots for a while and I could read about 5% of the Gaelic and about 70% of the Scots pages, so it's fairly close to spoken English round here. It's mostly older generations who speak Scots or use the dialect day to day.

My chic and sophisticated Manhattan-born cousins have a Scottish parent and spent many summers here as children. When we meet up, we revert to speaking like this and have been asked to leave more than one smart restaurant...

I'm actually reading a book on the history of English right now and just finished the chapter on Scots. Gaelic is a Celtic language and different, but Scots is actually a variety of English and has the same roots which I had never known about. I never knew they were different - I guess I always assumed Scots and Gaelic were two different words for the same language. I love linguistic stuff like that.

Yes, they are quite distinct languages. Also different from Irish Gaelic. Gaelic spoken in Scotland is pronounced gahlig, while that spoken in Ireland is pronounced more like gaeylic.

I have a book of old kirk sermons written in Lowland Scots and it's almost like reading English, but not quite. It's challenging for me to read, although my mother can read it fluently, because it was her mother's first language.

 

[elrohwen]

Jennifer, it's like trying to read a different language hahaha. I love it!

It almost is a different language, I think. It has its origins in Lowland Scots, which is a distinct language. Our Parliament website was translated into Gaelic and Scots for a while and I could read about 5% of the Gaelic and about 70% of the Scots pages, so it's fairly close to spoken English round here. It's mostly older generations who speak Scots or use the dialect day to day.

My chic and sophisticated Manhattan-born cousins have a Scottish parent and spent many summers here as children. When we meet up, we revert to speaking like this and have been asked to leave more than one smart restaurant...

I'm actually reading a book on the history of English right now and just finished the chapter on Scots. Gaelic is a Celtic language and different, but Scots is actually a variety of English and has the same roots which I had never known about. I never knew they were different - I guess I always assumed Scots and Gaelic were two different words for the same language. I love linguistic stuff like that.

Yes, they are quite distinct languages. Also different from Irish Gaelic. Gaelic spoken in Scotland is pronounced gahlig, while that spoken in Ireland is pronounced more like gaeylic.

I have a book of old kirk sermons written in Lowland Scots and it's almost like reading English, but not quite. It's challenging for me to read, although my mother can read it fluently, because it was her mother's first language.

That's very cool! I could definitely read some of the passages in Scots that were in the book - it was much easier to understand if I read it outloud rather than just looking at the words.

I don't know any Gaelic of either variety, but I do know some Welsh! I love Celtic languages.

 

[Prana]

Prana, "tag sale" is the bane of my existence. I don't know why I dislike that phrase so much, but it just bugs me! Haha. I had never heard it before moving to CT and the first time I saw a sign I was so confused about what a tag sale was.

I have no idea where tag sale came from, or why I tend to hear it more than garage sale or yard sale. It's so bizarre!

 

[Jennifer W]

I think how readable it is to an English speaker also depends on when it was written. The further back you go, the greater the differences and there are more words that don't have an obvious 'translation' and that fall out of use as time goes on. I have some written Scots from about 1790 and some from around 1885 and there's a marked difference.

One of the things I loved about studying law is that a lot of old deeds are written in a curious mix of Scots and English. It's like the writer speaks Scots as a first language, knows that English is more 'proper' for formal deeds but keeps lapsing. It can make it very, very difficult to figure out who owns the land in question and on what terms!

 

[Prana]

My grandma lives in northern MI and always says davenport instead of couch or sofa. Love that word!

Of course she also ends every sentence with "eh?"

I don't know why, but this reminded of me of my Grandma who calls jeans 'dungarees'. That word is the bane of my existance. Everytime she says it I can't help but giggle and cringe at the same time.

I've noticed that a lot of people in CT say 'eh' as they do in Canada. I myself am guilty of it. I've been told that I have a Canadian sort of drawl, I guess I say 'aboot' instead of about, for example. I've noticed that many people in VT have a similar accent to parts of Canada.

We should start an accent thread.....

 

[lizzyann]

Prana, are you from CT then? I am from MA.

A Package Store is a place to buy beer, wine, and spirits. I went to school in upstate NY and when I asked where the local Package Store was they looked at me confused and asked me what I wanted to buy? packages? LOL!

I eat Grinders not Subs or Hoagies.

I also say "wicked".

We call "shotgun" when we want to ride in the passenger seat.

I end a lot of sentences with "Do you know what I mean?"

I go to the Grocery Store, not the Market to buy groceries.

To me...A Coke is a Coke, a Sprite is a Sprite, etc etc

I used to work at an ice cream place when I was in high school and we use to laugh when people called the sprinkles "jimmies" or "shots". Because to us it was "sprinkles"

 

[Prana]

Prana, are you from CT then? I am from MA.

A Package Store is a place to buy beer, wine, and spirits. I went to school in upstate NY and when I asked where the local Package Store was they looked at me confused and asked me what I wanted to buy? packages? LOL!

I eat Grinders not Subs or Hoagies.

I also say "wicked".

We call "shotgun" when we want to ride in the passenger seat.

I end a lot of sentences with "Do you know what I mean?"

I go to the Grocery Store, not the Market to buy groceries.

To me...A Coke is a Coke, a Sprite is a Sprite, etc etc

I used to work at an ice cream place when I was in high school and we use to laugh when people called the sprinkles "jimmies" or "shots". Because to us it was "sprinkles"

I am from CT!

I also say package store, and was told by my friend who grew up in the ghetto, that I as ghetto for saying package store. I guess Liquor Store is the more acceptable, less 'ghetto' version?

The CT 'Ya' know?' must be the shortened version of your 'Do you know what I mean?'

 

[dragonfly411]

Ok I've thought of some more.

Here buggies are swamp buggies, which are basically pontoon boat beds, with added chairs and hardware, on 2 ton "running gear" axles and what not, with truck engines and large mud grip tires or tractor tires.

When we want to express that we ate a large quantity of food, we say we put it away.

Bless your heart which was mentioned in the "To each his own" thread.

We don't use denim, no matter the color, they're all jeans.

Refridgerator is always fridge

Fritters btw are small pieces of something that are fried.

Fixin to is about to or going to.

RV's will always be campers.

Mobile homes and modular homes will always be trailers.

People say taters a lot, which always makes me think of Sam Gamgee and Gollum, even though I knew taters before that movie.

LOL Corn fed and heifer - fat.

sticks = back woods = yonder = boonies = middle of no where.

Hollerin = yelling

Holler = middle of no where

LOL Hog Waller - a mud pit down here. Waller is wallowing which is basically how pigs roll and ... well... wallow in mud.

DRANK = alcoholic beverage

When one wants to drink one wants to "Get my drank on".

The woods can either be any woods, or one particular area of woods.



And to quote a friend who re-did a rap song: "I'm from the woods though, like really really really from the woods though"

 

[elrohwen]

A Package Store is a place to buy beer, wine, and spirits. I went to school in upstate NY and when I asked where the local Package Store was they looked at me confused and asked me what I wanted to buy? packages? LOL!

I forgot about this one! This was also really confusing for me when I moved to CT. They always seem small and kind of sketchy with no windows, distinctly different from the other local liquor stores, so for a little while I wondered if they sold p0rn too

 

[elrohwen]

I think how readable it is to an English speaker also depends on when it was written. The further back you go, the greater the differences and there are more words that don't have an obvious 'translation' and that fall out of use as time goes on. I have some written Scots from about 1790 and some from around 1885 and there's a marked difference.

One of the things I loved about studying law is that a lot of old deeds are written in a curious mix of Scots and English. It's like the writer speaks Scots as a first language, knows that English is more 'proper' for formal deeds but keeps lapsing. It can make it very, very difficult to figure out who owns the land in question and on what terms!

I would have so much fun reading stuff like that and trying to figure it out.

 

[elrohwen]

My grandma lives in northern MI and always says davenport instead of couch or sofa. Love that word!

Of course she also ends every sentence with "eh?"

I've noticed that a lot of people in CT say 'eh' as they do in Canada. I myself am guilty of it. I've been told that I have a Canadian sort of drawl, I guess I say 'aboot' instead of about, for example. I've noticed that many people in VT have a similar accent to parts of Canada.

We should start an accent thread.....

Interesting! I can't say I've noticed people saying that here - I'll have to pay attention. The Michigan accent (at least where my family is from) is a fairly unique combo of a Canadian accent with a Wisconsin/Minnesota type accent - they don't say "aboot" though.

The only accent I've noticed in CT (other than people with recognizable NE or NY type accents) is dropping T's in the middle of words. Like the town Shelton becomes Shel-uhn.

 

[Prana]

My grandma lives in northern MI and always says davenport instead of couch or sofa. Love that word!

Of course she also ends every sentence with "eh?"

I've noticed that a lot of people in CT say 'eh' as they do in Canada. I myself am guilty of it. I've been told that I have a Canadian sort of drawl, I guess I say 'aboot' instead of about, for example. I've noticed that many people in VT have a similar accent to parts of Canada.

We should start an accent thread.....

Interesting! I can't say I've noticed people saying that here - I'll have to pay attention. The Michigan accent (at least where my family is from) is a fairly unique combo of a Canadian accent with a Wisconsin/Minnesota type accent - they don't say "aboot" though.

The only accent I've noticed in CT (other than people with recognizable NE or NY type accents) is dropping T's in the middle of words. Like the town Shelton becomes Shel-uhn.

OOOOOh yeah. I'm so guilty of the dropped T.

Many CT people have what I would call 'Lazy' accents. Remember the show Daria? One of Daria's sisters friends had this really long, drawn out type of voice, I notice a lot of that amongst girls of certain CT towns.

The 'eh' isn't really too common, but every once in a while you'll hear someone drop it.

Depending on where you go in CT, other accents will be more notable. My DH has no accent. He speaks pretty clearly. My parents, however, and myself say things like 'kawfee' for coffee. I've got some weird speech things happening that my husband never fails to miss and bust me on, for example, pronouncing Bagel 'beh-gle' instead of 'bay-guhl', Las Vegas 'Las Veh-gis' instead of 'Las Vay-gas', and sometimes I guess I say 'Melk' instead of milk.

 

[somethingshiny]

I use most of the Southern sayings already listed because I grew up in TX. But, living in the Midwest, I've also taken a fancy to many of those phrases too.

drinky = drunk

drink = alcoholic beverage If you want water, you say water.

THE Walmart

store = Walmart otherwise you specify WHICH store

We say the names of specific towns instead of the business within the town. For example Cherry = gas station. They have more than the gas station, so you may also mean the supper club or the Polaris dealer, but you just call it Cherry.

directions include Yonder and Round the Bend

directions are also given using landmarks that no longer exist, "out past the old chicken farm" which hasn't been there since Grandma was a kid

goatf**k = royal screw-up

"by" is used instead of "to" or "at" frequently. Wanna spend the night BY my house? I'm going BY the Walmart.

You always "jump." Jump in the truck, jump in bed, etc.

Push = pushing game through the timber

Shove = being forcibly moved

We don't PUT anything. We "shove," "stick," or "throw."

Round these parts = in this area

In this neck of the woods = in this area

"cow" is only a female that has had a calf, otherwise it's "cattle," "heifer," "steer," "bull," or "calf."


That's all I've got for now. Yeah, I know. Pretty hillbilly, right? lol

I love it!