Local words or phrases that you hate

[dowchick]

Dude. Dude! Duuuuuuuuude.

*gets out hammer*

Dude is a word that has gotten stuck in my vocabulary. I have also recently started saying "for realz, yo". It drives my husband nuts but I picked it up from our 15 year old daughter. I tried to fight it but gave up. I am a dork.

 

[Art 1]

"funna". There are people around central Fla. that say "funna" instead of "going to".

 

[bcla]

In high school I recall a classmate who just moved to the US from Hong Kong. His English language skills were fine as he'd grown up attending English language schools under British rule. However, once in class he as me "Could I borrow a rubber?"

 

[NFLDERS]

Oh Really? This one irritates me the most!

 

[mom2cinderella]

I have also recently started saying "for realz, yo". It drives my husband nuts but I picked it up from our 15 year old daughter.

I say that on purpose to annoy my kids. Cuz I got swag, and anyway YOLO.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Forgot one and I don't know how because it's the one that drives me the craziest... "I'm standing on line". No, you're standing in a line, not on a line.

Reminded me of the opening part of " Everyone Loves Raymond " when he says we live IN Long Island ..no you dope you live ON Long Island

 

[jrmasm]

I say that on purpose to annoy my kids. Cuz I got swag, and anyway YOLO.

It's all gucci!

 

[bcla]

Reminded me of the opening part of " Everyone Loves Raymond " when he says we live IN Long Island ..no you dope you live ON Long Island

George Carlin had an interesting take.

About this time, someone is telling you to get on the plane.

Get on the plane. Get on the plane.

I say, [edited for content] NO WAY, I'm getting IN the plane! IN the plane! Let Evel Knievel get ON the plane! I'll be in here with you folks in uniform! There seems to be less WIND in here!

 

[Luvchefmic]

George Carlin had an interesting take.

He was so funny I remember that one Hard to believe it will be 6 years this June that we lost him

 

[mrsklamc]

Isn't Long Island also the name of the burrough/neighborhood and not just the geographical feature? So the same thing as saying 'I live in Orlando.'?

 

[Turn the Page]

There is a game here in Indiana that in Nebraska we would refer to as some type of 'tossing bean bags.' We were pretty stunned the first time someone asked us if we wanted to 'play cornhole.'

Same here. In Michigan we called it bean bag toss. The first time someone in Kentucky asked if I wanted to play corn hole I thought "wow that sounds painful."

 

[married2mm]

Same here. In Michigan we called it bean bag toss. The first time someone in Kentucky asked if I wanted to play corn hole I thought "wow that sounds painful."

I'm the UK and thoroughly enjoying this thread.

Some posts however,I simply can't work out-e.g. what does corn hole mean?

For a small country we have many dialects,accents,regional phrases..
Most are quite delightfully colloquial and can be understood.

However,some slang words and phrases are baffling-even when you live in the area.
As a previous poster said-too many to list

 

[cybrkitn]

Let's not forget "N'at" or pronouncing OW as AH (ie...DAHN instead of DOWN).

That one drives me NUTS! Especially when people pronounce Dawn and Don the same way. Dawn is pronounced d-AWE-n. It's not pronounced with a short o vowel sound as in Don nor with an "ow" sound.

My brother's name is Donald (as was my father's) and my name is Dawn. Any time someone from out-of-state called and asked for "Don" I would have to ask them Dawn or Donald b/c both sounded the same to me when I heard the caller say the name. Thankfully, I haven't had that problem now that I have a family of my own.

 

[marcyinPA]

There are a few people in Buffalo who say "yous" as in, "Are yous done with that food?" Makes me cringe. Even better, "Yous guys" or "yous guyses."

Also, "can I come with?"

"I don't know where she's at."

Cringe!!

They must be from my area of PA! Haha. Add "my-en" to the list. As in "that coat is my-en." (mine). Big cringe!!

 

[wallawallakids]

I agree with so many on here!! One that makes me crazy is when people say "anyways". Ugh.

And I have been working so hard to get my children to say "I did well". Not "I did good." Makes me INSANE!!!

ETA: This doesn't bother me that much, but it makes my mom crazy when people call a creek a crick. Or a roof a roof (like a dog's bark). Haha. She goes bananas. Apricot pronounce APricot (Long A) gets me though.

 

[wallawallakids]

Also, Ladies. Like in "ladies night" or "How are you ladies doing?" Not sure why, but it feels like a creepy guy saying it every time.

 

[pjlla]

Chimley instead of chimney...my mother says this and it drives me bonkers. I never corrected her or mentioned it, but when she says it I want to.

That's not a regional one because my born-and-bred in MA Dad says that... we always assumed it was some sort of speech impediment.... but maybe he grew up hearing it said that way by someone else??

"The Carolinas". This place does not exist, NC and SC are two distinct states that are not even all that similar. I don't hear this locally because we natives know the difference, it's always outsiders.

I tend to think of this as just kind of referring to a region of the country... just like folks say they are visiting New England.... it is a large region with lots of differences between the states. But it is still easier to refer to the entire area as NE.

I'm the UK and thoroughly enjoying this thread.

Some posts however,I simply can't work out-e.g. what does corn hole mean?


It is a bean-bag toss game.... somethings I haven't seen since I was a kid, but it seems to be making a comeback for adults. Basically you have a board at a slant with holes in it and you try to throw a bean-bag through the hole. Not sure why it is making a comeback because it seems pretty dull to me, but it isn't for me to judge! Not sure why it is called "corn hole" in some areas.

For a small country we have many dialects,accents,regional phrases..
Most are quite delightfully colloquial and can be understood.

However,some slang words and phrases are baffling-even when you live in the area.
As a previous poster said-too many to list

**************

Not so much around here, although my Dad's strong Massachusetts accent caught my PA SIL by surprise the first time they dined together and he asked for a "fork".... but it sounded like another four-letter word that starts with "f" and rhymes with truck.

And speaking of PA.... apparently down there the song isn't "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"..... they say "leave it snow"!! WHAT??

Few more pronunciation peeves of mine include "pacific' instead of SPECIFIC, and "probly" instead of PROBABLY and "axe" instead of ask.... but I tend to be a bit of a grammar nazi so I could go on and on about this!..............P

 

[bebelle]

Slippy.....the word is slippery!

 

[Mel522]

It is a bean-bag toss game.... somethings I haven't seen since I was a kid, but it seems to be making a comeback for adults. Basically you have a board at a slant with holes in it and you try to throw a bean-bag through the hole. Not sure why it is making a comeback because it seems pretty dull to me, but it isn't for me to judge! Not sure why it is called "corn hole" in some areas.

It's called corn hole because the bags, which are thrown into the hole, used to be (and sometimes still are) filled with corn instead of beans.

 

[njmom47]

There's a great mix of cultures, languages, and dialects in southwest FL, so I've gotten pretty good about figuring out what people mean when they say a word I don't know. But when I first moved here I was completely stumped the first time someone was referring to their buggy. The only thing I could think of was a horse & buggy and that didn't make sense in their context. They meant a shopping cart for those that don't know. That's one of the only local word that I don't like, and it's really hit or miss if people say the word.

I'm from Indiana originally, and it was like nails on a chalkboard when someone would add an R to wash (warsh, Warshington). UGH!

Haha, here in NJ in the supermarket industry, we call them carriages, and when a worker has to put back items that customers didn't want or left at the register, we have "a carriage of returns." My friend moved to Fl and worked in a supermarket, and they called it "a buggy of go-backs" which I thought was hilarious.
Here in NJ, "down the shore" is a term used by the, um, out of towners, so when anyone that grew up here says it, I get . I live AT the Shore, therefore I don't have to go "down the Shore" as I am here and have been my entire life. Locals go to the beach!!!!
*LBI Jim....