Buggy—-shopping cart
Red up—-clean up
Keller—-color

You all. “Yun’s come over after dark.

that's the most cunnin'est ki'en I evah seen." (Cutest baby cat.)

in my yoot in Boston.

So ayuh, Maine.

Someone who comes to the beach and has a surfboard, but never surfs, or that surfs poorly and annoys the local seasoned surfers

- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hodad

Not sure if is still in use, but it filtered down to the elementary school level in the 1960s

More crunch crunch, please!

In other words, I need more ice for my drink!!

The first time I used this saying, my bartender looked at me kind of 'what?!', he had never heard the saying, this was the first time I realized that not many people had heard this saying.

It means “I don’t mind at all to help.”

Was baffled that their words implied no but were eager to help. Seems so contradictory.

I used it once (and only once) at a meeting in another state, when I offered to chair a sub-committee. The looks of disbelief were pretty funny! Now I rarely use it, and only in Kentucky!

Yooper (a person from Michigan's Upper Peninsula)
Hoser/Hosehead (usually a Canadian)

When I first started going east ir south, and people said soda I thought they were talking about club soda.
Pop is all anybody called it around here, too.

Sodas have ice cream in them.

That's how I remember it, too.

they are trolls (under the bridge). Some called flatlanders or fudgies.

the tourists fudgies.

Lovely city but crowded, but not as crowded as Traverse City. TC was packed even on the weekdays. We also spent 3 days in Paradise in the UP. Went to Whitefish Point, Tahquamenon Falls, Crisp Point and Seney NWA. I've probably crossed the Mac 50-60 times.

I knew some people who had a home in Leland MI for about 6 months of the year, 6 months back home in OH. They called themselves semi-perma-fudgies.

growing up, you could roll a cannonball down the street after Labor Day and not hit anyone. It's nice to see that The Weathervane is still there -- I had my first legal drink there, a Harvey Wallbanger, lol. I don't think I've had one since. I hit the sweet spot in the law when they lowered the drinking age to 18. But then they raised it after I turned 21. Memories of a misspent youth.

We walked the waterfront, a nice looking place. Had a quick bite at The Villager Pub.

I remember being there about 64. Young State Park, the Ironton Ferry, hunting for "toskey stones"...good times!

I remember hearing that tale.

My ex-wife had a grandfather who was a lake captain on the Toledo-Duluth run. Another relative of hers was a steward from Frankfort MI to Kewaunee WI.

That's a weird one and I've lived in a lot of places/states. Bubbler is totally unique to WI and I have never heard used for drinking fountain anywhere else! "Go to the bubbler and get a drink"

About to do something.

That's another southernism. Pronounced: yes-sir-ee-bob. Lol.

nt

But that was usually called an ice cream soda rather than just a soda.

I never heard the word "soda" for that drink until I was in Florida at 16.
Later on the east coast in college.
Everybody called it pop around here.

Been to many restaurants in Boston, but that never came up, so I didn't know that.

a buritto with red and green chile sauce.
Oh yeah, New Mexico

Olympia Beer, learned it from interior Alaska.

When I first started working at my final job in a pediatric practice in one of the Chicago suburbs, it took me a while to figure out what the hell mothers were talking about when they would say, "He had a fever for 3 days, and then he got sick."

I'm thinking, if the kid had a fever for 3 days, weren't they already sick? Made no sense until I finally worked it out that no one around here says vomiting, puking, barfing, or throwing up. No idea why.

Borrow pit which came out as bar pit for ditch alongside a road
Pert near meaning almost
Weeze meaning you and I
Going to the show meaning going to the movies
Drag Main meaning cruising
Pop soft drinks
From my upbringing in Eastern Oregon
Enjoying reading all the posts😊

716: the area code used most frequently in Buffalo. Frequently used numbers appear on windshields of vehicles or mentioned on the radio stations or television


The 33, 190, 290, 990. Major roads to travel. There's more numbers for major roads here in Buffalo, I only named a few


Crick: If it’s a small body of water, like a stream, Buffalonians will likely call it a crick. That’s just their way of pronouncing the word “creek.” This is real and happens frequently. I also ask, "Are you saying creek?" to clarify


I'm dead: something so funny, you literally cry from laughing so hard


Buff City: Nickname for Buffalo, NY


Nickel City: Another Nickname for Buffalo, NY


Queen City: Another nickname for Buffalo, NY


The Ralph: Ralph Wilson Stadium. I have no clue what the born Buffalonians will refer to it once the new stadium is built


Bills Mafia: The most devot Bills fans that purposely fall on tables to break them in the spirit of games. I don't know why. I'm not a football fan. I don't care if the Bills Mafia purposely break their own necks just as long as they stay out of my lane

"Over by". In Chicago it's not sufficient to say something
is located "by", it has to be "over by".

Here's WGN's Mike Lowe speaking "Chicagoese".

Not a word, but a phrase. Go down to where (fill in the name of a closed establishment) and turn left.

Kennywood’s Open - your fly’s open

Makes me laugh every time.

live about 4 miles for Kennywood. The chipped ham must be Isaly's chipped chopped ham. No substitutes.

being facetious the first time I heard it as in "I like that." "So don't I!"
"Tonic" for soda/pop
"Spa" for soda fountain
Pronounced "Frap" (spelled frappé) for milkshake
"Time" for a party in someone's honor ("Are you going to Bob's time? " )

I heard all of these while living in and around Boston.

A long time ago, I was on a work trip in Connecticut, & we stopped at a small restaurant for lunch. The sign at the counter advertised "grinders." I asked, "What's a grinder?"

The girl behind the counter looked at me like I was insane or mentally challenged. She replied, "Uh, a big sandwich."

I replied, "Oh, a HOAGIE!" That's what we called them where I grew up. (I ordered one.)

I grew up in Monroeville!

When the sun appears briefly on an otherwise cloudy or rainy day. Often heard in weather forecasts (e.g., “Cloudy with showers and a few afternoon sunbreaks”).

Ubiquitous in everyday conversation in Hawaii, ‘da kine’ is a multi purpose term that Wikipedia describes well:

Meaning messed up, confused, odd, out of place.

More of an Appalachian term but my father, born on a farm in NW Ohio, used the term often. He also used the term washroom rather then bathroom which is a Canadian usage.

It is short for "apizza" which was what pizza was originally called in the part of Sicily, where (it is said), the "real pizza" is from. I had never heard that before I moved to New Haven. Some people here believe that it set a high standard for all pizza you get in New Haven so even if you don't go to Sally's or Pepe's for your "authentic" NH pizza, every other pizza maker had to make a really good "pie."
After 30 years, I am used to it so it's just good pizza to me.

Crick (creek) and bob wire (barbed wire) In rural areas of northwestern PA (Erie County) where some of my father's relatives lived.

My paternal grandfather's family moved in each generation, from rural southern Missouri to rural southern Ohio near the Ohio/Kentucky border, and then to rural northwestern PA. He switched sometimes between standard English and a dialect of some kind.

In the dialect, he said "ain't" but with an "h" in front -- "hain't." It was definitely a negative verb and not the "haint" that some dialects use for the word "ghost." For some irregular verbs, he just added a "d" or "ed" to the present tense to make the past tense. "I seed" instead of "I saw." Or, "I heared" instead of "I heard." Or, I knowed" instead of "I knew." Instead of saying "man" or "guy" he said "fella." For women, it was "gal." The word "such" was "sech."

So, he might say, "I hain't never heared a sech thing." Or, "I seed that fella yestaday what married that gal from the city."

He could and did speak standard English, too. He read a lot, mostly on history, and was well informed. I don't know where he got the dialect from. Maybe his parents or grandparents.

I grew up in the city, Erie. We always said "pop" for carbonated soft drinks. We said "formal" for a woman's ankle length dress worn on formal occasions. In my senior year of high school, we visited my brother in Philadelphia. I shopped for my prom dress while we were there. The clerk did not know what I meant when I asked about a formal until I said, "It's for my senior prom." Then she said, "Oh, you mean a GOWN."

Also in Philly, I ordered French fries and asked what kind of pop the diner had. More confusion until the waitress said, "You mean soda?"

I have guessed that it might have been an Ozark dialect from his maternal grandparents who had lived in Missouri. Or Appalachian from his own parents on the Ohio/Kentucky border. Or maybe a mix of the two. It was not from around Erie County, PA where I never heard it except from my grandfather.

I haven't heard that usage in other places I have lived.

Water fountain- bubbler, pronounced "bubblah"
Submarine Sandwich- grinder
Turn signal - blinker, or in Boston "blinkah"
Liquor Store- Packie, short for Package Store.
Making a U-turn - Bang a U-ey"
Dunks - A nickname for Dunkin' Donuts
Frappe - athick milkshake made with milk, flavored syrup, and ice cream
Fluffernutter - A sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme
Masshole - A derogatory term for a Massachusetts resident
Parlor - A Boston living room, pronounced "pahlah"
Pisser - A term used to describe something awesome, especially when paired with "wicked"
Wicked - A term used in place of "really
Soda - tonic

Clicker" - a remote control, "clickah"
"Dolla drafts" cheap beer, like happy hour
"Hosie" which is a way to call dibs on something
"I could care less"
"In Town"
"Jimmies" which are chocolate sprinkles
"Nor'easter" a winter storm

Found this out waitressing many years ago. A woman asked for a coffee cabinet. I told her sorry, we don't sell furniture.

I live in E Central Arkansas but my Dad was from the Piney Woods around Fordyce (Go Redbugs) and no amount of education dented his speech.
Dropping letters or entire syllables from words. For instance; amblants for ambulance; sheenery for machinery; hunnert for hundred.
Adding an r at the end of words- names especially, that end in a or a sound*; Emmer for Emma; Beular for Beulah; Guster for Augusta.
By the by, a Redbug is a chigger and the Fordyce High school mascot.
*Exception: Arkansas does Not add an r to the end. It is pronounced ARkinsaw!

Maybe there's some San Francisco terms, but I don't live there.

Benny - person who visits the Shore but doesn't live there

Jughandle - what NJ drivers use instead of making left turns

Pork Roll / Taylor Ham - pre-cooked, seasoned pork product usually fried for a breakfast sandwich.

Goosey Night - Night before Halloween when kids go out and do pranks. Goosey Night is mostly used in Bergen, Passaic and Sussex counties. It's called Mischief Night in Central NJ and Cabbage Night in South Jersey.

You guys - NJ equivalent of y'all.

Kinda like the Eagles/Giants border. South Jersey (and Philly area) calls it pork roll.

but when I went to Rutgers in New Brunswick people always called it pork roll.

A Southern saying I've cheerfully adopted. The meaning is all in the context. It can be an expression of sympathy, or convey that someone is a complete idiot.

"I'm sad today, my dog died." "Oh, bless your heart."

OR: "I think Ron DeSantis is hot." "Oh, bless your heart!"

Kolacky-a bun/roll with a fruit or poppy filling
Vomacka-a certain soup

Highway names... especially Interstate... are always always "THE four oh five" or "THE ten". Now starting to permeate northern California too... but 30 years ago it was strictly an LA thing.

BTW, never ever call San Francisco "Frisco" or "SanFran" or anything like that. At least when your are in or near San Francisco.

Possibly repurposed surfer slang

I was just going to post that there's always a "The" in front of the freeway. I don't even know how I's say it without a "The".... Interstate 405?????huh

I've spent my entire 37 years here in SoCal and I've NEVER heard a native say "Cali". My experience has been SoCal. I don't know what folks up North say...."NoCal"?....Maybe they say "Cali".....which brings me to the next thing.....

It seems like anything North of Pismo Beach(I live in L.A.) is referred to as "Up North.".....as in: "What'd you guys do this weekend?" "We went "Up North"....

GREAT POST, dem55!

The Kentucky Derby happens in Lu-ah-vull Pronouncing Louisville any other way is like a flaming neon sign that says "Not From Kentucky"

There is the usual 'Coke' for everything that bubbles of course

Others:

springs bubble up from the ground, they flow into a"branch" which flows into a creek which eventually gets to a river

chitterlins: pig intestines cleaned and either fried or boiled. Also used as sausage casing. Also nasty
dodger bread: cornbread made with cracklins only available at hog killing time.
cracklins' : the crunchy little bits which float to the top when making lard> You can crack a tooth on them if you are not careful.
red-eye gravy Country ham gravy with coffee added
in my particular neck of the woods: "the monument" The scaled down copy of the Washington Monument, located at Jefferson Davis State Park (he was born there)
cisterns: collection point for rain water. the gutter pipes feed into the top of a hand operated pump, which sits on top of a concrete slab, which is the cover for a large tank. The water is cold due to the tank being underground. The cistern is the source of water for the house if there is no running water

Redbud, dogwood, strawberry and blackberry winters: cold snaps occurring after the blooming of each plant. Certain crops are planted according to the cold snaps. The warming between each cold period gets longer as spring progresses.

dark fired: tobacco which is cured in a closed dark barn, using sawdust made of aromatic wood. It is only grown in Western Kentucky and is mostly used in pipe or cigar products
burley: another strain of tobacco, which is air cured in an open barn
one-sucker: a different strain of air cured
plant bed: where garden and tobacco seeds are planted in February, covered in cheesecloth then steamed to warm the soil.
sorghum : molasses made from the sorghum plant, mostly grown in far southwestern kentucky

Last edited Sun Jan 19, 2025, 09:59 PM - Edit history (1)

can go to Giant Iggle (eagle) and get some.food for the Stealers game. I would know exactly what unzers were talking about.

Do they still have those Eat and Get Gas places?

stops.

NM, a term used by Hispanic residents to express surprise (kind of, it’s hard to translate but you’d get the gist if you lived here a few months).