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Valued Contributor
Posts: 970
Registered: ‎07-26-2019

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings


@Oznell wrote:

@Xivambala,  my hubby is from Chicago area  -- lived there, and in Wheaton and Carol Stream.

 

Can't think of any local sayings he has, but I like some of his pronunciations.  He says "roof"  with the short "oo" sound, as in "look".   I love the Chicago accent, which, ironically, he doesn't really have, although some of his relatives do.

 

Love the Chicago/Great Lakes pronunciation of "Bob".  It's, to my untutored ear, a little like "Bawb".    Or "Bahb" would be closer to it.....  It has some similarities with the classic Buffalo/ Western New York accent....


@Oznell:   I would pronounce these the same as your husband as well. I've traveled all over the country, and find the different accents very interesting. Of course, I don't think I have one, but native Californians, New Yorkers, Bostonians, etc think I doSmiley LOL.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,162
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings

Central Midwest:

Tennis shoes = any athletic shoe

Ope = oops or sorry

Pop or soda for any soft drink

Jeez = frustration

Hey guys = greeting for anyone

Puppy Chow = chex mix sweet treat

Smores = chocolate, marshmallows         graham crackers

Hot dish = casserole

Tailgate = picnic at sporting events

Stop and go lights = traffic lights

 

 

"I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees." Henry David Thoreau
Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,845
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings

I'm from NYC, south Jersey & now Bucks county, PA (near the Jersey border).

 

Hoagies ...for sub sandwiches

Down the shore....Jersey shore.  EVERYONE says it in NJ

Yous  ...for you all

Jimmies...for sprinkles

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,709
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings


@Xivambala wrote:

I grew up and lived in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs for 65 years. Sadly, the only local saying I can think of is "Da Loop"...Downtown Chicago so named after the "L" or elevated trains around the city.

 

Now that I am in south Florida, I really don't notice any local sayings. 


LOL @Xivambala, SoFl has lots of local sayings but none of them can be related here.

The eyes through which you see others may be the same as how they see you.
Valued Contributor
Posts: 692
Registered: ‎03-16-2020

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings


@Kinz wrote:

The Leaf Peeper gave me a chuckle.  I live in MI so we have lots of leaf peepers here too.  I had never heard it used...but I will be saying it in the future. 😁


@Kinz ; 

I'm also from Michigan and I'm going to remember leaf peeper!

Party Store- not a place for typical "party supplies", but rather a convenience store/buy alcohol, pop, snack food

 

"Michigan Left", ex: go 1 mile and make a Michigan left. Is a designated u turn in a divided highway. 

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 90
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings

Oh yes....both good ones!  My granddaughters are always teasing me about my northern/Canada accent....and I don't even live that far north! LOL!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,608
Registered: ‎10-25-2010

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings


@Lake4 wrote:

@Carmie wrote:

@Lake4 wrote:

@CrazyKittyLvr2 , I used to live in Central PA. Some sayings I learned/heard there are as follows:

 

you-uns (used when addressing more than one person)

Wrett up (clean up)

Berm (shoulder of a road)

Bald-igle (an area and high school named Bald Eagle)

 

Sigh...I really miss that area and the people there!

 

 


I am in south central PA and have heard all of those words.

 

The one that confuses me is the word berm.  Berm is a real word and not unusual.  What would people use in it's place?

 

Some  of the sayings others have posted  I don't think are too local.  I have heard most of them.

 

I remember when we were in Louisiana.  My DH asked a store keeper "what time do yunz close?"  The poor guy was so confused..so I countered. " How late are you open?"

 

The dialiac where I grew up and still reside is really distinctive.  I don't speak like a local, but my DH does.  We grew up less than a mile apart.


@Carmie 

That is so interesting about you and your husband! It was also good of you to translate for him when you were in Louisiana. 😊


I think I lost most of my local dialect because I spoke on the phone to people all Over the US and did a lot of correspondence.  I am also a grammar nut.

 

I love to travel and hear the local sayings and I often read how the English language is evolving.  I have an ear for understanding people who speak with strong accents, but for the life of me, I find it difficult to understand some of the people who live in Maine.  

When we visit with our RV, we buy lobsters from the locals who have small stands on the sides of the roads...cash only and you have to negotiate.  At first I didn't think they were speaking English.

 

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,608
Registered: ‎10-25-2010

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings


@sabatini wrote:

@Cakers3,...what about dungarees instead of jeans?

And as another poster mentioned - pocketbooks! "pockahbooks"

 


My mother called jeans dungarees...I think that was an old fashioned term for jeans in her day.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,608
Registered: ‎10-25-2010

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings


@wakefield64 wrote:

Being from Mass, friendly observation. We never called submarine sandwiches grinders, simply called them “subs”.


In PA, a grinder is a sub that has been toasted in the oven.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,608
Registered: ‎10-25-2010

Re: Thinking About Local Sayings

[ Edited ]

Are these cara-mels or car-mulls?

 

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