Word difference thread...

[lizzyann]

The pronunciation thread got me thinking about how people in different areas of the world/states call things completely differently. For example, I am from Western Massachusetts and we have "grinders" (subs/sandwiches), "package stores" (place to buy beer or liquor), and we call it "soda" not "pop". Do you know of any like this?

 

[Matata]

I grew up in Pittsburgh where we had hoagies, other types of sammiches such as chipped-chopped ham, roads are paved with ashfelt, and everybody's favorite kellers are the black & yellow of the Pittsburgh Stillers terrible tahl (a tahl is what you dry off with after a shower or bath), and pipple sit on couches not sofas.

 

[mogster]

Queuing -- in line vs. on line.

 

[Kaleigh]

I am outside of Philadelphia and we call them Hoagies. Wawa makes the best.

Liquor is sold at State stores.

Beer at beverage stores and no not sold in Super Markets..

PA is a wierd state, but love it none the less.

Fun thread...

 

[yssie]

I am outside of Philadelphia and we call them Hoagies. Wawa makes the best.

Liquor is sold at State stores.

Beer at beverage stores and no not sold in Super Markets..

PA is a wierd state, but love it none the less.

Fun thread...

I went to Geno's for the first time last month. First "real cheesesteak" and it was soooo good - I *get* it now

 

[VapidLapid]

Im my home, silver backed glass is a mirror. When I hear people say "meer" I immediately come to a low estimation of them, from which it is difficult for them to redeem themselves.

 

[Mayk]

I'm from a small southern town... A little bit country. The last meal of the day is "supper" not dinner...

 

[Rosebloom]

Im my home, silver backed glass is a mirror. When I hear people say "meer" I immediately come to a low estimation of them, from which it is difficult for them to redeem themselves.

How's this for odd? I tend to call reflective surfaces "meers" but the transitive verb gets pronounced "meer-or". Of course I also tend to accidentally call windows "mirrors" so clearly I'm all messed up on this one.

I also call attorneys "law-yers" instead of "loy-yers". But I'm trying to nix that. (You can take the girl out of Texas, but...")

My husband's family says "this shirt needs ironed." I can't help myself. I always say, "oh, it needs to be ironed?"

 

[Chewbacca]

The ones I run into online the most are 'bangs' which we call a fringe, 'thongs' which we call jandals, 'soda' or 'pop' is called fizzy drink and of course 'Mom' = Mum!

Places that sell liquor (of all kinds) are called bottle shops. Supermarkets are grocery stores. A sandwich is a sandwich, sandy, or sanga!

 

[yennyfire]

Living in the South, I hear a lot of "I'm gonna git me some"....and "I'm fixin ta"...

Theatre is "thee-eight-er", cement is "see-ment" and vehicle is "vee-hickel". We moved here when I was 8 and I failed spelling because I couldn't understand half of the words coming out of my teacher's mouth! My Mom had to go in and find a tactful way to help me understand what was being said!

 

[sonnyjane]

I grew up in Pittsburgh where we had hoagies, other types of sammiches such as chipped-chopped ham, roads are paved with ashfelt, and everybody's favorite kellers are the black & yellow of the Pittsburgh Stillers terrible tahl (a tahl is what you dry off with after a shower or bath), and pipple sit on couches not sofas.

My mom and grandparents are born and raised Pittsburghers ... "Are yinz comin' over for dinner?"

 

[KaeKae]

I was born in Brooklyn, NY, to two Brooklyn natives, and was raised in NJ. We:

ate subs
bought all alcohol at the liquor store
drank soda
wore sneakers (not tennis shoes, unless we were actually playing tennis)
people sat on the couch (unless it was part of a sofa and loveseat set)
looked in the mirror
ate dinner in the evening
used carts at the food store where they put our things in a bag
the proper term for a group of people was 'you guys'

 

[JewelFreak]

My husband's family says "this shirt needs ironed." I can't help myself. I always say, "oh, it needs to be ironed?"

Isn't that a British-ism?

I'm from northern NY state & we always sat on the couch. Sofas were for grandmothers, who also put drapes in their windows, when we had curtains.

Even meeterologists (folks who give you a ticket when you parked too long?) here in the south predict the tempacher.

Some people "take and" do lots of things, such as "take and drive to the market," or "take and call your mother..."

When I was a kid, we drank pop.

We wore long dresses to proms, not gowns, oh gawd, wouldn't be caught dead in a gown!

 

[davi_el_mejor]

There's a distinct difference between a creek and a crick (Both are small flowing bodies of water, but don't ask me what the difference is... but there is one)

 

[JewelFreak]

I know, Davi. A crick is the one you're up with no paddle.

--- Laurie

 

[lizzyann]

I am outside of Philadelphia and we call them Hoagies. Wawa makes the best.

Liquor is sold at State stores.

Beer at beverage stores and no not sold in Super Markets..

PA is a wierd state, but love it none the less.

Fun thread...

Kaleigh, so you have to go to two different stores to buy liquor and beer? We can't buy at a grocery store either.

Also, when we go to our package store, we call it "doing a packy run"

We also use "wicked" as an adjective a lot!
Wicked cute outfit, etc

 

[rubybeth]

These word differences are known in linguistics as 'regional vocaulabularies' or 'regionalisms' and you can find lists of them like this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_vocabularies_of_American_English I am from Minnesota from prefer to say 'soda' instead of 'pop' and 'running shoes' or 'sneakers' instead of 'tennis shoes.' I studied English in college, and took a linguistics course and also a course on the History of the English Language, which was fascinating.

My sister lived in Pittsburgh for graduate school, and wowsers, they have a lot of regionalisms there. "This needs washed" among others were things my sister had to learn pretty quickly, because she was in schools doing language testing for her degree in speech-language pathology, and couldn't mark kids' answers as incorrect just because they were using regionalisms.

 

[Loves Vintage]

I'm from CT. I say carriage. DH is from upstate NY. He says cart. I think most people say cart.

 

[JewelFreak]

"Carriage" for what, LV? Or "cart?" A cart is a little informal guy but a carriage is a grander deal pulled by horses, where a cart can be pulled by one horse (bigger cart) or dogs or a pony or a donkey, no? We lived in CT for 10 yrs & I never heard carriage used for cart. (Actually, don't remember talking with anybody about carts either! )

 

[aviastar]

I'm from a small southern town... A little bit country. The last meal of the day is "supper" not dinner...

Oh yes, my Grammy needs to collect her pocketbook, so we can all head out to supper. She'd like to pay for dinner, for all y'all, with cash money, so we also need to stop at the teller-machine.

 

[AGBF]

"Carriage" for what, LV? Or "cart?" A cart is a little informal guy but a carriage is a grander deal pulled by horses, where a cart can be pulled by one horse (bigger cart) or dogs or a pony or a donkey, no? We lived in CT for 10 yrs & I never heard carriage used for cart. (Actually, don't remember talking with anybody about carts either! )

I assumed she was talking about grocery carts/carriages...but then I have one on my charm bracelet. I could just be brainwashed. If so, forget I spoke!

Deb/AGBF

 

[janlwf]

There were so many distinct word differences from being a rural island population for several hundred years, that a full Dictionary of Newfoundland English was written about my home province! http://www.amazon.ca/Dictionary-Newfoundland-English-Edition-supplement/dp/0802068197

The Dictionary of Newfoundland English, first published in 1982 to regional, national and international acclaim, is a historical dictionary that gives the pronunciations and definitions for words that the editors have called "Newfoundland English". The varieties of English spoken in Newfoundland date back four centuries, mainly to the early seventeenth century migratory English fishermen of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, and to the seventeenth to the nineteenth century immigrants chiefly from south-eastern Ireland.

 

[Loves Vintage]

"Carriage" for what, LV? Or "cart?" A cart is a little informal guy but a carriage is a grander deal pulled by horses, where a cart can be pulled by one horse (bigger cart) or dogs or a pony or a donkey, no? We lived in CT for 10 yrs & I never heard carriage used for cart. (Actually, don't remember talking with anybody about carts either! )

I assumed she was talking about grocery carts/carriages...but then I have one on my charm bracelet. I could just be brainwashed. If so, forget I spoke!

Deb/AGBF

I was indeed referring to grocery carts/carriages. I found this on wiki, which somehow makes me feel better about my use of the term carriage!



The names of a shopping cart vary by region. The following names are regional-specific names for shopping carts:

Shopping cart – the United States and Canada.
Trolley/shopping trolley – the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and some regions of Canada.
Barrae - Some places in Scotland
Carriage/shopping carriage – New England region of the United States.
Buggy – Some regions of Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Colorado, parts of the Southern United States and Pittsburgh; the latter case often being considered a word related to Pittsburghese.
Bascart/basket – various regions.
Wagon – New York, Hawaii

 

[ViolaDiamante]

My grandmother uses the term "davenport" for a couch or sofa. We're from Washington state, and normally use couch. I'm not sure I've even heard anyone else use "davenport." Is that an age thing, or is that commonly used other places?

 

[Okie_girl]

I'm from a small southern town... A little bit country. The last meal of the day is "supper" not dinner...

Oh yes, my Grammy needs to collect her pocketbook, so we can all head out to supper. She'd like to pay for dinner, for all y'all, with cash money, so we also need to stop at the teller-machine.

Another southerner here, well, transplanted southerner, I guess. I still to this day say pocketbook. I use a buggy at the grocery store. Pop or soda is Coke, as in, what kind of Coke would you like? My mother, born and raised in Alabama, always said "carried," as in, "I carried a jello salad to the potluck Sunday."

I'm generally either "fixin' to" (or, *really* southern...fittin' to) or "aimin' to" do something.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

I was having this same sort of discussion with someone from Wisconsin (I'm from Maryland). We were talking about work and how I needed to 'call off' work for the next day and they asked me if I should 'call in' instead.

I drink soda, get liquor from the liquor store (although I want to go on a packy run just for people to look at me funny!), we wear sneakers, sit on a couch and eat subs. Some people in my family have been known to say wutter (water) and crick (creek), although I try to tune that out lol

 

[jazzoboe]

I grew up in Pittsburgh where we had hoagies, other types of sammiches such as chipped-chopped ham, roads are paved with ashfelt, and everybody's favorite kellers are the black & yellow of the Pittsburgh Stillers terrible tahl (a tahl is what you dry off with after a shower or bath), and pipple sit on couches not sofas.

I have spent some time in Pittsburgh for grad school in the past few years and definitely get a kick out of all the regionalisms there. One professor even brought up some videos to teach us the lingo. I thought you might enjoy these if you haven't seen them:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADyXkIFn-I8

And for the holiday season:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asK9twaaQq4

I live in the Cincinnati area, though, and we're pretty boring with these things. Although, my husband, who has also lived in this area since he was 6 says things that make me scratch my head sometime. Like calling a shopping cart a buggy. No idea where he's picked these things up...