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.