Regional phrases

"Where yiz gone?"
"We're gone downa shore".
"Wahl-wood?"
"Nah, down the casinos".
Translates to:
"Where are you (plural) going?"
"We're going down the shore" (people not from this area say "to the shore" or "to the beach" or "to the ocean" - whatever). We say "down the shore".
"Wildwood?"
"No, to Atlantic City". People don't even say Atlantic City much, if they don't call it "A.C." - they just say "to the casinos" or "down the casinos".

kland01s

susanll


Going to the Cities

Headed up nort

We use these terms too with Chicago being "the city" as in to going into the City and "Up north" being anywhere in Northern Wisconsin.

Rural Minnesotans all refer to Minneapolis/St. Paul as the Cities in the plural with emphasis. Never heard that reference for a single city. Up to the lake is more Minnesotan than Up north as if everyone understands which of the 10,000 lakes (or 15,000) is being referred to.

"Carry" has a meaning in the South that is unheard of in the North, and caused these New Yorkers a bit of confusion one day. 
 
We had asked a store clerk for directions to a BBQ  and a bystander, understanding our confusion at her directions, said, "I'll carry you over there". We understood that to mean he would take us in his car, but what he meant, and what he did, was to have us follow him in our car to the BBQ. The incident gave new meaning to "carry me back to old Virginny", which we now understand to mean, "show me the way". 
 
Cheers, John 

Davydd

kland01s

susanll


Going to the Cities

Headed up nort

We use these terms too with Chicago being "the city" as in to going into the City and "Up north" being anywhere in Northern Wisconsin.

Rural Minnesotans all refer to Minneapolis/St. Paul as the Cities in the plural with emphasis. Never heard that reference for a single city. Up to the lake is more Minnesotan than Up north as if everyone understands which of the 10,000 lakes (or 15,000) is being referred to.

 
Ya, sure yoo betch'a  dontchya know!

My dad who was from Tennessee referred to pepsi etc. as sod-E water.
 

My dad who was from Tennessee referred to pepsi etc. as sod-E water.
 

This map explains regional differences for Soda vs Pop vs Coke
 
Basicallly the south is coke, the north is pop and the west and east cost are soda dominated. I grew up in Indianapolis and called everything coke. The map bears out the southern pocket coke intrusion into central Indiana. Soda and pop sounded strange to me when I first moved east (RI) and heard soda and then Minnesota for pop. I suspect some 40-50 years ago the differences were even more distinct. I solved my confusion. I don't drink the stuff anymore.

beer is beer everywhere, isn't it?

No,in Boston area its "bee-yah"

bill voss


beer is beer everywhere, isn't it?

A brewski?
 
My general question in a pub is, "Whadda you have on tap?" Once I hear the usual MillerBudCoorsLite I then have to ask, "Do you have any micro or craft brews?" Then after I get the blank stare, I say, "Do you have Guinness?" If I can't get any of my questions answered, I punt to the best ale in a bottle they have and most likely will never come back.

Growing up in the NYC area, I remember that we went...
"into the City" (Manhattan)
"out to the Island" (Long)
"down to the Shore" (New Jersey coast)

Older couple driving from Knoxville to Chattanooga.  Just north of Chattanooga is a little town of Ooltewah.  Couple has a little disagreement about the pronunciation of the name so they decide to stop at a food joint and ask one of the locals.  They go to the counter and ask the girl behind it, "Would you be so kind as to pronounce the name of the place where we are?"   Her reply, " Sure,  Bu-rr-ger - Ki-ng."

harriet1954


"Where yiz gone?"
"We're gone downa shore".
"Wahl-wood?"
"Nah, down the casinos".
Translates to:
"Where are you (plural) going?"
"We're going down the shore" (people not from this area say "to the shore" or "to the beach" or "to the ocean" - whatever). We say "down the shore".
"Wildwood?"
"No, to Atlantic City". People don't even say Atlantic City much, if they don't call it "A.C." - they just say "to the casinos" or "down the casinos".

 
 
It's interesting, nowadays in the NYC area you would have to visit the nursing home or the cemetery to find people who would say the archaic "youse"  I haven't heard anyone use that term in decades

Davydd

bill voss


beer is beer everywhere, isn't it?

A brewski?

My general question in a pub is, "Whadda you have on tap?" Once I hear the usual MillerBudCoorsLite I then have to ask, "Do you have any micro or craft brews?" Then after I get the blank stare, I say, "Do you have Guinness?" If I can't get any of my questions answered, I punt to the best ale in a bottle they have and most likely will never come back.

 
I've done the same, but have simply walked out instead of settling for a a bottle.

One thing I always get a kick out of when visiting my sister-in-law in Texas is the difference in the pronounciation of the word "oil".
 
In my still-lingering Brooklyn accent (after 26 years in NJ), I say "oy-ull". In Texas they say "awl".
 

In the South, there is *fixing to" as in "I'm fixing to go to the store". This is frequently pronounced "finna" as " I'm finna go now." 

Forgot to add the rules for "Y'all"
y'all-plural, never singular
Y'all come over here.
all y'all- a group
All y'all on the left come with me.
You all- special case used to signify each member of a group
You all should have a form.

In Chicago ( South Side), " Over by dere."  Translated, "Over by there"
 
Rest of the country, "Over there."

Thanks for some of these memories.
 
"Youse guys" is still in use today.  I watch a TV program on Create with a young(ish) Tommy Mac showing how to make things out of wood.  He brings back memories of "Bostonianeese."
 
And the mention of both "South Bay" and "Lancastereese"  as in "Down Below" and "Down the Hill"  had me laughing.
 
I thought of something said in a home 'north of the cities' in MN ... "Throw the baby down the stairs a sweater."  Never anticipate, wait for the WHOLE statement before reacting.
 
Photto

When I was a kid in East Texas if something was obvious and couldn't be missed, it was "Bigger than Dallas" as in "It was sittin' right there, bigger than Dallas."

Here in the Northern Boundries, people replace "that's" with "for" a lot.
 
When I would say "That's cute", my wife says "For cute.'
 
For cold.  For hot. For not right.  For delicious.  For all done.
 
And there's a ton of Americans living up here with far stronger "Canadian" accents than many Canadians I know.