Regional Colloquilisms

[allie&mattsmom]

Oh forgot this one. My friend who grew up in Chicago (not far from here, about 2 1/2 hours) always says she is going the the "wash room" and we around here say we are going to the "rest room".

 

[Karel]

In NJ, we go "down The Shore" in the summer. ay.
NY is "The City" because to us there is only one.

What is a "hoagie" in Philly is a "sub" to us

Wealsotalkreallyfastbecausewe'realwaystryingtogetontheroadquickbecausethereissomuchtrafficeverywhereeventhoughpeopletalkabouthownastyNJisthepopulationjustkeepsgettinghigherandhigherandwealllivecloserandclosertogether...

Actually, here is South Jersey The City refers to Philly, especially by all the people who left Philly to move here. This took me some time to get used to, because NYC was always the City to me.

But it's always been a hoagie to me (even when I buy them at Subway...)

The one I learned when I moved here was 'taffy' for lollipop. I've lived all over NJ so it must be a South Jersey thing.

Plus we talk slower down here 'cause the traffic is not quite as bad...

 

[Liberty Belle]

I always say "Do you want to come with?" And my husband replies,"Where? to the land of the hanging participle?"

I'm from South West Michigan and we say "do you want to come with," too. People here in Kentucky look at me like I'm nuts.

 

[VirtuallyMe]

We have many here in Louisiana that vary from place to place in the state.

Save the dishes = empty the dishwasher- you can also save groceries when you get home from the store and put them away

go by mommas = go to my mothers house

Git down= to get out of the car and go visit- as in we went by my mommas but didn't git down because her car wasn't there

Cher (pronounced Sha) = how cute or a term of endearment

pick up= as in to put things away

coke= any carbonated beverages

momma and daddy= what we call our parents whether we are 3 or 93 and if we are male or female-

buggy= shopping cart

sno balls= snow cones

I'm fixin' to do something= I'm about to to something

where yat?= Where are you at?

gris-gris= the evil eye or something bad

boogyman or boogerman= the monstor in the closet or under the bed that is only seen by small children who don't want to go to bed yet

Nanan and Paran= (not sure if those are spelled right) but they mean Godmother and Godfather

crawfish= crayfish, mudbugs etc

Do you want your poboy dressed? = Do you want your large sandwich with mayonaise, mustard and cabbage?

I'm sure there are many more- some of the "Cajun" areas use a lot of words and phrases that are partially ancient French and partially English.

The more rural the area the more of these you seem to find- but New Orleans is home to many of them too.

 

[Stinkybell]

here's another Jersey one - South Jersey/Phila -

wooder, as in water ice or glass of water.

It's funny, my daughter says it correctly, I don't know where she learned that. I'm also telling her it's wooder, not water.

And we also go down the shore, even if we are headed North, lol!

Plgrn - my father also used to call pizza a pie, he was from Trenton, NJ, and they called them tomato pies instead of pizza.

 

[mamacatnv]

Fribble !! This would be in reference to that awesome milk shake like drink that they make at Friendlys!! Friendlys being based in New England (MA) I can understand why your DH from NH calls it a fribble!

Yep, he dreams about them! There was a Friendly's in FL on our last visit and along with the Dunkin Donuts DH was convinced he had died and gone to heaven.

 

[katymae]

I'm in Houston. Here's some that I say all the time:

I'monna - meaning "I'm going to..."

And down here, my mother's sister is my "ant" not my "ahnt"


My mom's from AL (hasn't lived there for like 40 years) and she still says "over yonder" all the time. Drives me and my brother totally crazy!

Fun thread!!

 

[THE HAT]

1. Words that end in "er" are pronounced "ah." Mainer = Mainah. Car = Cah. Mother and Father = Muthah and Fathah. Water = Watah. You get the drift.

2. Conversely, words that end in "a" are sometimes, but not always, pronounced "er." California becomes Californier. Idea becomes idear.

3. Drop the "g" in "ing." Stopping and starting = stoppin' and startin', or more correctly, stoppin' and stahtin'.

4. Broaden a and e sounds. Calf becomes cahf. Bath becomes bahth. Can't becomes cahn't.

5. Drag out some one-syllable words into two syllables. There becomes they-uh. Here becomes hee-ah.



Getting the accent down is not all there is to speaking like a Mainah. You also need to learn some Maine lingo. Here are a few of my favorite Maine words or phrases.

Apiece: An undetermined distance: He lives down the road apiece.

Ayuh: Yup. Sure. Okay. That's right. You Bet.

Bug: Lobster

Cah: A four wheel vehicle, not a truck.

Chowdah: Chowder

Crittah: Any furry animal

Cunnin': Cute

Finest Kind: The very best

From Away: Not from Maine

Gawmy: Awkward or clumsy

Numb: Dumb. Stupid.

Pot: Lobster Trap


Quahog: Thick-shelled clam (pronounced co-hog)

Scrid:A tiny piece

Steamers:Clams

Wicked: Very. To a high degree, such as wicked good, wicked bad, wicked exciting, etc.

dooryard: driveway

camp: any house on the lake either seasonal or year round. to be in a tent is camping, or maybe even in a camper at a campground, but a house is camp.

 

[sugarpie]

In southeastern WI we say "soda" for soda pop but everywhere else in the state, it is called "pop."

We call water fountains "bubblers" and we're always going "up to ______" on the weekends. Even if we live north of where we're going, we say something like, "Oh, I'm going up to Madison this weekend" even if it is actually south of where we are.

My DH is from Kohler WI, the land of soda, bubblers, going into town (when he's leaving our town to go to a bigger town), and the most annoying of all "going by"!!! Instead of saying "Would you like to visit your grandma?" he says "Would you like to go by your grandma?" It drives me absolutely crazy.

 

[disneymama73]

My DH is from Kohler WI, the land of soda, bubblers, going into town (when he's leaving our town to go to a bigger town), and the most annoying of all "going by"!!! Instead of saying "Would you like to visit your grandma?" he says "Would you like to go by your grandma?" It drives me absolutely crazy.

Hey, you don't go by your grandma's?!

 

[sugarpie]

Hey, you don't go by your grandma's?!

Not really. When he's asking me if my mom is going to babysit he'll say, "Are the girls gonna go by your mom?" I never know what he's talking about. Well maybe I do, but I will never admit to knowing what he means by his gibberish.

 

[Amity 3]

when I lived in IL:

sodas were pops
sofas were davenports
dinner was supper
glove compartments were glove boxes
refrigerators were iceboxes
I first heard the phrase 'wallered-out"

here in FLA:

shopping carts are buggies
everyone calls roads by their number (state road 60)

and they use this phrase "y'all". even better is the phrase "all y'all" which can be used for a large group of people or an improvised F-bomb curse.

 

[MrsKreamer]

We have many here in Louisiana that vary from place to place in the state.

Save the dishes = empty the dishwasher- you can also save groceries when you get home from the store and put them away

go by mommas = go to my mothers house

Git down= to get out of the car and go visit- as in we went by my mommas but didn't git down because her car wasn't there

Cher (pronounced Sha) = how cute or a term of endearment

pick up= as in to put things away

coke= any carbonated beverages

momma and daddy= what we call our parents whether we are 3 or 93 and if we are male or female-

buggy= shopping cart

sno balls= snow cones

I'm fixin' to do something= I'm about to to something

where yat?= Where are you at?

gris-gris= the evil eye or something bad

boogyman or boogerman= the monstor in the closet or under the bed that is only seen by small children who don't want to go to bed yet

Nanan and Paran= (not sure if those are spelled right) but they mean Godmother and Godfather

crawfish= crayfish, mudbugs etc

Do you want your poboy dressed? = Do you want your large sandwich with mayonaise, mustard and cabbage?

I'm sure there are many more- some of the "Cajun" areas use a lot of words and phrases that are partially ancient French and partially English.

The more rural the area the more of these you seem to find- but New Orleans is home to many of them too.

Mustard and cabbage on your poboy??!! What part of the state are you from, I have never heard of that...neat!

Our dressed is mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pickle

gumbo weather-when it gets cold outside...to us cold is below 55 degrees

slap ya mamma-really good...usually referring to food

 

[PlutosFriend]

And here in IL, it's POP!

Soda in MO.
Tennis shoes to wear on your feet, and they aren't for playing tennis
There used to be a test on line that would ask funny questions like this and would give you results about being a Yankie or Dixie.

 

[Philagoofy]

sk8ingmom
Salmon Run - Time of year when no work is actually accomplished because everyone is out fishing (silver run, pink run, king run - it's like April through Sept.)

Moose Season - Time of year when no work is actually accomplished because everyone is out hunting (Sept - Nov.)

Yo, youse guys up in Alaska don't do much work there do youse?

Spaghetti sauce is called gravy, usually by those from the Italian neighborhoods in South Philly.

And we do like those wooder ices.

A "cheesesteak with" is a steak sandwich (very thinly sliced steak on a steak roll) with onions.

Scrapple, umm, delicious. But I won't tell you what it's made of. Best not to know.

Then there is the Iggles, you know, the pro football team.

 

[PlutosFriend]

I'm pretty sure this is centered in and around the St. Louis area only. We call white trash people "Hoosiers". It has nothing to do with Indiana (at least I don't think so ) and I'm not even sure what a real hoosier is.

Oh yes, yes! Hoosiers
LOL!!!

 

[PlutosFriend]

I used to work with a woman who said "fixin' to," only she slurred her words and it always came out "finna." Every day I'd heard, "Are you finna go to lunch?"

This one drives me nuts for some reason

 

[LadyBears]

From MA/RI

Frappe-because we don't have milkshakes.

Cenna-"I live near the center of town"

Rubba-male protection

Beeah-what we drink Fridays at the bah

Heeah-where we're at now

Pissah-special,cool

Yaahd-unit of measurement or where we have bbqs

Triple Deckah-housing units,3 units one above anotha

Floah-that which we sweep and mop

Packie-You buy I'll fly-where you purchase alcohol,liquor store

Wicked-awesome cool--Used with Pissa most often(wicked Pissa)

Carriage-we use these to go grocery shopping instead of carts

Elastics-to you they may be Rubba bands

Rubbish-another mans trash...

Jimmies-you put sprinkles on ice cream we put jimmies

Tonic-soda

Bubblah-is our drinking fountain

Grinda-Hoagie,sub

Nackin-what we use to wipe our chins while eating a Grinda

Tahmayta-tomato

Paytreeit-#1-we rule!!

Jeetyet-Did you eat yet?

Jeew-Did you?

Yawannah-Want to?

Cellah-we don't go in the basement fah nathin.

Dinnah(suppah)-interchangeable whatever meal we decide to eat when we decide to eat it

Sum mowah-some more

Ovatheya-over there

pellow-what we rest our heads on

NoMah-Red Sox shortstop

Tanked-did bad,got drunk-have to folloe the conversation to know how its being used

Pokkabook-female don't carry purses

Mustid-to put on our Sanwitches

Khakis-what we use to start our cah

Awn-on

Awed-opposite of even

Shahks-interchangeable-there are either shahks in the watah or we need new ones for our cah

The 9's-the place where everyone knows your name almost every town has one-99 restaurant

Reaf-what we hang on our door at Christmas

Steamahs-shellfish eaten in the summah for me it was Brown's between Sals and Hamton

Burgah-burger except like Boogah

Snickas-candy bar

Schmuck-our nice way of calling someone a Numb*ss

lobstah...goes wiicked good with steamahs and beeah

bzah - odd

flahwiz - I got some beautiful roses for Valentines Day

hahpahst - 30 minutes after the hour

shuah - of course

Ahnt - your uncles wife

chowda does NOT come with tomatoes!

Av - any avenue with a long name (we don't say Massachusetts Avenue)

b'daydas - you can serve them mashed, whipped or boiled "Go down cella & get me some b'daydas"

digga - to fall - "He slipped & took a digga"

Cumbies - a Cumberland Farms mini mart

bang - to make an abrupt turn - He went to bang a left & take a uey.

uey - to make a u-turn

hang - to make a normal turn

blinka - the turn signal

whole notha - a complete replacement - "I got a whole notha computa"

cawna - where 2 streets meet

decked - dressed nicely "She was all decked out"

cawfee regulah - coffee with some cream & 2 sugahs

barrel - what you put the gahbidge in

book/bookit- to get out quick - "the cops came & we booked outta there"

brar - female undergarment

B's/Da Broons - local NHL team

onna-conna - "I can't go out Saddadee onna-conna my Mom's wicked pissed at me"

Saddadee - the day after Friday

penuche - the best fudge made from brown sugah

quayuh - dorky, stupid, NOT a synonym for gay

 

[arminnie]

Here in Northeast Ohio

Devil Strip: that area between the sidewalk and the street.

This reminded me of another one from New Orleans :
Neutral Ground - called the median elsewhere

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Plgrn - my father also used to call pizza a pie, he was from Trenton, NJ, and they called them tomato pies instead of pizza.

And some people will tell you that tomato pies are pizza without cheese or other toppings. Used to work with a guy who, whenever we ordered pizza at work, it had to be from a place where he could get a tomato pie. I remember when I was young, passing a place with a sign that said "tomato pies" and my parents, both raised in Trenton, having to explain what in the world that meant.