Different words from different parts of the country
 

When we moved here I began to hear words foreign to me, but everyday words in other parts of this country. Because we are a mix here in The Villages, we have different words for some things.

I had to look it up when someone called someone "fresh" and I found that "wicked good" was as very, very, very good as you could get if you are from Massachusetts.

I am from Ohio where we call kinda not important accessories and a lot of them "knick knacks". My neighbor calls them "Tchochkes". We gather people together in Ohio a lot with a potluck which means that you just bring what you want to a dinner or are divided by the alphabet into desserts, salads and main dishes. Here I have seen Potlucks where you are directed exactly what to bring....takes the "luck" out of it for me....or some people have never been to a potluck and that leaves me speechless. I frequently bring a dish called Johnny Marzetti that people from Ohio recognize at once.

People pause when I say "please" which in Ohio means "huh" or "what?" and there are even certain ways of proununciation different from mine. Pittsburgh people say "dontahn" for down town and we all know that Boston folks Pahk their cahs.

What words, customs, attitudes or ways that are different or new to you have you encountered here in this mini melting pot?

I remember reading a book I got as a gift about How to talk Minnesotan when I was about to move to Minneapolis-St. Paul to attend law school at the University of Minnesota. This book by Howard Mohr was as seen on Garrison Keillor's show Prairie Home Companion. [ame]http://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Minnesotan-Visitors-Guide/dp/0140092846[/ame]

Only encountered this kind of speech though once in a while. Seldom around the University of Minnesota did I hear someone talking like this but the farther I got away from the urban areas....

There are a lot of people from the Gopher State here in the Villages.

I was born and raised in central New York. Folks from that part of the country have flat A's For instance aunt is pronounced ant. They also have there own version of a sandwich. Its called a sangwich. They all like to add drama when they speak as in All I know which is really suppose to be All's I know. Locally in my hometown is the word jabeep. What is a jabeep think Joey Buttafuoco.

I am not in TV yet, but noticed differences in parts of NY, such as, stoop vs porch; pop vs soda; basement vs cellar. I was surprised the first time I heard some say they stood "on line" vs "in line". I think that is a downstate NY term. Also, I worked with some from Michigan who was shocked that noone knew what Ham Buns were. Other than her, I have never heard of Ham Buns!

I'm from Michigan. Have no clue what a ham bun is.

Ever have a "Jiggs Dinner"? Popular on St Patricks Day in NW Ohio...cornbeef and cabbage.

Jiggs and Maggie? The old comic strip character? Never heard of a Jiggs dinner and never had corned beef and cabbage. Ever. Until arriving here.

Bonny,

She explained that it was simply a ham sandwich on a hamburger bun. She told me that it was always served as part of a picnic, potluck, after church activity, etc. Anyway,never heard of it before or after.

Also, as a native of Michigan, ever heard of the word "main't"? Was she, perhaps, pulling my leg?

Those Brits! I can't understand 'em a wee bit.

I was raised in Northern California and was introduced to the concept of hotdish when I moved to North Dakota, then northern Minnesota. (I also had to regularly call my sister back home to chortle about how funny everyone talked!) Nothing in that book is wrong, you betcha. The movie Fargo cracked me up as well. It's funny because it's true.

Let's see....

stoop vs porch: Have used both terms but prefer porch. Get less backaches porching!
pop vs soda: Doesn't matter much to me the descriptive word that comes out of a persons mouth. It's the taste coming out of the drinks container that counts.
on line vs in line: Did this speech differential stay relevant once modems came on the scene?

I'm not from Michigan nor do I know what a ham bun is, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once!

BTW, Don't anybody worry about me! Doc says I'll probably be back to normal soon... probably. :loco:

LOL!!!! Here's hoping for a speedy recovery!

When I moved to PA I heard people who didn't know the difference between "let" and "leave". They would leave the dog out before going to work and I thought the dog was out all day, but it only meant that the dog was let out and then back in. They also say 'all' for finished, as in "Get some cake before it's all." They also say "gip" the line which means to get into the middle of it instead of going to the end. We would say "cut" in line for the same idea where I'm from.
The pronunciation thing is different for sure here. In this area they all pronunce the fish "haddock" or "hammock" and "Lennox" etc. with the accent on the second syllable as in "had DOCK" and "ham MOCK" and "Len NOX" and I have always heard it said "had ick", "ham ick" and "Len nix".

I heard a sweet southern lady say recently, "Oh, when ah fell out and hit mah hay-ed, ah needed a lot of stitches."

"Fell out".....I heard this for the first time years ago in Indiana and it took awhile to learn that meant "passed out" or "fainted"!

And how about how friends in Pittsburgh and area say "torenament"...."have to take the kids to a soccer torenament".

.....And then we'll have THANKSgiving dinner (not Thanksgiving)....

It's all fun! We live in a great country!

Isn't that how you say it? That is how I SAY it.

When I was a kid we didn't like "dishing" in line. At Disney, dishing in line is a terrible pain in the neck and seen a LOT.

Also as a kid we were asked to "rid up the table" which means to take everything off of it and put it away and take dirty dishes to the sink.

We had a lot of left over German words, schmear kase was cottage cheese and bumbershoot was umbrella and fer cuts? was something past it's prime or broken.

One that stumps people is a word to describe a drinking fountain.In massachusetts we call it a bubbler.We also call sub sandwiches...grinders.

Long Islanders call a sub a hero. I thought that in MA a sub was a cold hero and a grinder was a hot hero.

What is dish the line?

Downstate NY drinks soda, but when we lived in the Bronx we'd order a "2 cent plain" (seltzer), on LI they didn't know what that was, they also didn't drink seltzer.

When I lived in NC and they were leaving to go somewhere they would "get gone".

I have never been to a potluck.

That's when you cut/jump in line in front of others who are already there.



Another thing heard around various parts of the country: "creek" pronounced like "crick".

Bill :)

This could be a long, long, long thread.

Here in TV they call living on a retention pond "waterfront". On LI we call retention ponds SUMPS, nobody wants to live on the SUMP, so they put a big high fence and shrubs to hide it-LOL

Hi Gracie, I believe the word tchotchkes is of Yiddish origin and is usually meant to donate something of poor quality like a cheap souvenir. In Yiddish, it is also sometimes used to refer to a girl who acts cheap.

From Philly area and unfortunately, I do sometimes talk like dis (this): (from website called Philly Slang:

Aaeg - Egg
Addi-tood - Attitude
Aeneeding - Anything
A-ite - Alright
A-ready - Already
Arnch - Orange (Pattie) Also "Aren't you" as in Arnch you glad to see me?
Ac-a-me - Acme Market
Alrighty - Stop it already with alrighty! The word doesn’t exist.
Arn or Eye-urn or Eyern - Clothes Iron.
Aster-ick - Asterisk
Ath-a-lete - Athlete
Ats All, Dat’s All - That’s all
Bat-tree - Battery
Baff-room - Bathroom
Beggles - (Submitted by Sarah, 10/02))
Bee-yood-ee-ful - Beautiful
Big Ma-hoff - An ostentatious person; a big shot
Birff-day - Birthday
Bref-fist - Breakfast
Casina - Casino
Chimley - Chimney (Pattie) rare usage.
Caus - Because
Colbert - Sewer (Tom Burke, changed from Colbin, Aug 06 see feedback, Feedback Jun 07 says proper word is Culvert)
Coont - Couldn't
Cooughee - Coffee
Con-fra-bill - Comfortable
Con-ter-versy - Contraversy
Crown - Crayon
Cump-nee - Company
Dahnashure - At the beach as in Lannick Ciddy, OhCee, Whilewould and the
like. The alternative is upamount'ns to the poke-noes
Def-lee - Definitely
Dis, Dat, Dey, Dees, Doze, Dem, Dough - This, That, They, These,
Those, Them, Though
Dint - Didn't
Do-in - Doing, as in "Hal ya doin?"
Draff - Draft
Draw - Drawer
E - He
Earl - Oil
Figger - Figure
Fighdollas - Five Dollars (Patti)
Fluffia - Philadelphia
Fridge, Ice Box - Refrigerator
Fuss-trated - Frustrated
Ga head, GeHead, Gaw head - Go Ahead
Goff-forbid - God forbid
Gun-all - Canoli (the delectable Italian pastry)
Haff - Have
Hal? - How?
Hunnert - Hundred
Husbint - Husband (Pattie)
I-dear - Idea
Iggles - Eagles
Ice-ning - Icing
Ir-regardless - Regardless
Jeet? - Did you eat? No, Jew?- No, did you?
Kel-ler - Color
Lannick Ciddy or Lantic Ciddy - Atlantic City
Laasch, Las - Last
Leck-tric - Electric
Leven - Eleven
Lie-berry - Library
Lot-tree - Lottery
MAC - Local version of an ATM (automated teller machine)(Thanks Tommy)
Meer-oe - Mirror
My-en - Mine
MayazWell - May as well
Newsey - Nosey
Nuthin, Nuttin - Nothing
Offen - Often
Ollars - Dollars
Olney - A neighborhood in the Northeast, pronounced AH - LEN - EE or AH - LEH - NEE
Paa-ler - Parlor or living room
Pay-mint - Pavement
Pea-nits - Peanuts
Petique - Petite
Pix-ture, Pitcher - Picture
Pock-a-book - Purse
Plug - Fire Hydrant, specifically when used for first or third base in streetball or a boundryline. Limited neighborhood use, possibly south philly.
Prob-lee - Probably
Rawn - Ruin
Re-dic-liss - Ridiculous
Reg-a-ler - Regular
San-wich, Sang-wich - Sandwich
Sim-u-lar - Similar
Soar, Sol - Saw
Sow-Philly - South Philly, leave off the TH (Thanks Jessica)
Sparra-grass - Asparagus
Taawk - Talk
Tal - Towel
Took-en - Taken
Tree - Three
U-mid - Humid
U-min - Human
Ward-er or Whadder or Wooder - Water, H20 (Thanks Brooke for Wooder)
WaWa - A local conveniance store similar to but better than 7-11(Thanks Tommy)
Whaddya? - What do you?
Which-a-ma-callit - The name of a person, place or thing that Alzheimer’s has removed from your memory bank
Whoodaya? - Who do you?
Winda, Win-dill - Window
Wit - With
Wit-out - Without
Woont - Wouldn't
Yesta-day - Yesterday
Yea - Yes (Thanks Jessica)
Youse, Yziz - You (plural)
Zink - Sink (Patti)

Pocketbook (MD) and purse in the west, also wallet and billfold, toMAYto and toMAHto, eXcetera (CA) and etcetera, re-lah-ter for realtor, "he goes" (CA) rather than "he says", going "down the ocean" (Baltimore, MD) and "going to the beach" (CA), "red or green" meaning which color of chili do you want on your dinner in NM (green is more popular and usually hotter), freeways - usually identified as "the 5" or "the 405", never I-5 or I-405, and "surface streets" (CA) and expressways and roads or streets on the east coast

Haha! It's all in the spin, Patty!

So true! Growing up in upstate NY and New England, I was looking at properties in Florida, and I was excited to see so many "lake front" properties listed. But when I looked at the details and maps, I realized it was what we might call "swamp" or "lagoon" at best, with no extra charge for the alligators! Still, they have beautiful wildlife once you adjust your expectations.

Had not heard the term boy howdy since I left southern Illinois until a sweet lady from Ohio used the same term. Boy Howdy it was good to hear it again!

Texans are "fixin to go" rather than getting ready to go. All sodas or pop are referred to as Coke. Want a Coke? Yes. What kind? Dr Pepper.

In Brooklyn they check the erl in the car and flush the terlet.

In Massachusetts:
grinder = sub sandwich
bubbler = water fountain
elastic = rubber band
soda = pop
cellar = basement
wicked good = awesome!
And of course we do not pronounce our r's... lol

When I first moved to the south, after having grown up in the west, everyone asked me "You alright?", or "You okay?" I thought that they all thought I had been sick. In California, the same question would have been worded "How are you?"

This thread is hilarious!

Except the ones that aren't there. I recall as a kid listening to JFK talk about the Cuban missile crisis and wondering where the heck Cubar was.

When I wa growing up, I learned the hard way that a milk shake didn't have any ice cream, just milk and flavoring. But a frappe did. Then I met someone from Rhode Island who ordered a cabinet at the ice cream shop. Huh?

Not so much nomenclature, but attitude, was that when we were going into Boston (about 65 miles!), we took the car in for a check-up. Then I got to CA where it was no big deal to go from San Francisco to LA for a weekend. That's also where I learned travel is measured in time, not miles, and for good reason.

My mother used to say "Lawsy Mercy" My son thought it was so funny that he still repeats it.

in Ky fixin to go instead of ready to go is because ya can't get them to stop talking so they are always.... fixin to go...but the best one for me was if i did something very wrong like take my horse out when a storm was coming.. my aunt would say when i get ahold of you "i am going to slap you into next tuesday.."

And who is really named Lindar?

Mine is actually more British -- they don't got to the hospital, they go to hospital. If on the freeways (yup, I'm from California), you don't travel in a direction it seems (that is, you don't go north or south), the freeway signs say The North, The South (guess hospitals don't need articles but directions do?).

The Villages truly confused me -- I was always under the impression that an avenue was a minimum of 10 blocks. Not here, I've seen 2-block avenues.

I always loved that folks from Jersey don't live in a town, they live off an exit. More than once I've heard take "Exit 135 [fill in appropriate number] and that's where we are."

First time I heard a soda called a pop, I literally looked around for my classmate's father.

Now, can someone please explain to me why island is pronounced "aye land" and not "is land" and Arkansas is "ar can saw" and not "ar can sass"? Didn't understand that when I first heard those words (and understood to what they were referring) and still don't understand the logic behind those pronunciations.

When I moved from Texas to Georgia I found the women carried pocket books....I carried a Purse. If my car wouldn't start, they thought it wouldn't crank. Since my car wouldn't start/crank they would offer to carry me to work. That sounded a little weird to me but then I found out that meant take me to work.

On Long Island if you ask where people live they tell you the name of the developement. They'll say "House Beautiful" or "Colonial Oaks". We didn't live in a developement, I always felt left out.

Maybe the worst pronunciation of island is good old Lawn Guyland-lol.

This is So Much Fun
 

What fun this is --

I'm from Baton Rouge, La

"soft drinks" not "soda", that is "soft drinks" as opposed to "hard drinks" meaning liquor

"crayfish" like it rhymes with "aw" not "crayfish" like it rhymes with "a".

"mayonnaise" like "my-o-nase" not "ma-o-nase"

and it's always nice to get a little "lagniappe" - something extra, a Baker's dozen

and of course "y'all" is the plural of "you"

we "fix" dinner, we do not "make" dinner. I was with a group of knitting friends once and was asked what I was "making" for Christmas. I immediately started talking about all the things that I was knitting, until I realized that was not at all what I had been asked. The question was about what was I "making" for Christmas dinner for food to eat. I guess if I had been asked what was I "fixing" for Christmas I would have understood that the question was about food and not knitting, but then again that was my fault for not adapting to the language of the place where I was at the time.

Southerners are always apologizing as in "Oh, I'm so sorry. That was my fault." There have been times in other parts of the country where I have been chastised as in "Stop apologizing all the time." I don't know any other way to talk.

and digressing from the language a bit:

Southerners eat sugar on cottage cheese. At boarding school in Washington DC, I once asked for more cottage cheese for lunch. I was told that I could have some only if I ate it the "right" way and that was without putting sugar on it.