Just for fun and because we are playing with words today...

[NastyWoman]

I would like to learn some more regional expressions after finding this:

A State-by-State Guide to the Most Hilarious (and Annoying) Slang Across the U.S
www.yahoo.com/travel/for-copy-50-slang-words-in-every-state-113285815677.html

So who is going to help me develop my vocabulary and the state of origin (for the expression)?  I hope this goes faster than sh*t through a goose --- courtesy of one of my co-workers who is from Texas

[Tiny]

Illinois

A “sawbuck” refers to $10 in this state, and “brewskies” are what you spend your sawbuck on down at the local bar.

No one uses either of those words.    Maybe out in the cornfields (outside Chicago) but definitely NOT in the Chicago area.   OK, some people call the surrounding area around Chicago "Chicagoland" but I've ONLY heard that in commercials.  I've never heard it in conversation.

Cornfields - what's beyond the metropolitan Chicago area.   I've heard that joked about in actual conversations.     

[Icelandic Woman]

Colorado

In a state filled with nonnatives, a “gaper” is a tourist gaping at the snow and mountains. Coloradoans, both the natives and the trespassers (I mean transplants), are also known to shorten the name of every town and landmark in the state. Fort Collins becomes “The Fort,” Colorado Springs becomes “The Springs,” Breckenridge becomes “Breck,” and the Poudre River is just “The Poudre” (pronounced “POO-der”).

I have never heard the term gaper but I am familiar with the shortened names.

[The Captain]

Mar 12, 2015 15:15:38 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Illinois

A “sawbuck” refers to $10 in this state, and “brewskies” are what you spend your sawbuck on down at the local bar.

No one uses either of those words.    Maybe out in the cornfields (outside Chicago) but definitely NOT in the Chicago area.   OK, some people call the surrounding area around Chicago "Chicagoland" but I've ONLY heard that in commercials.  I've never heard it in conversation.

Cornfields - what's beyond the metropolitan Chicago area.   I've heard that joked about in actual conversations.     

I will have you know I live about an hour south of the Wisconsin border thankyouverymuch!  We have much, much more than cornfields, there's soybeans and some strawberries, and - oh hell who am I kidding.

FWIW I also lived in the southern suburbs and have heard both the term sawbuck and brewskies used.  The guys on the train platform often talk about getting together for brewskies after work on Friday.

It's hard to tell what is local slang sometimes because you are so used to it.  I understand subs are called grinders in some parts of the country.  We drag our hot dogs through the garden and like our Italian beefs wet (or take them for a swim).

Pop is the fizzy stuff you use as a mixer with vodka or rum and soda is used for baking.

questions?

[Chocolate Lover]

Mar 12, 2015 15:25:21 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Mar 12, 2015 15:15:38 GMT -5 Tiny said:

No one uses either of those words.    Maybe out in the cornfields (outside Chicago) but definitely NOT in the Chicago area.   OK, some people call the surrounding area around Chicago "Chicagoland" but I've ONLY heard that in commercials.  I've never heard it in conversation.

Cornfields - what's beyond the metropolitan Chicago area.   I've heard that joked about in actual conversations.     

I will have you know I live about an hour south of the Wisconsin border thankyouverymuch!  We have much, much more than cornfields, there's soybeans and some strawberries, and - oh hell who am I kidding.

FWIW I also lived in the southern suburbs and have heard both the term sawbuck and brewskies used.  The guys on the train platform often talk about getting together for brewskies after work on Friday.

It's hard to tell what is local slang sometimes because you are so used to it.  I understand subs are called grinders in some parts of the country.  We drag our hot dogs through the garden and like our Italian beefs wet (or take them for a swim).

Pop is the fizzy stuff you use as a mixer with vodka or rum and soda is used for baking.

questions?

Yes, why would you call Cokes pop? 

[Tiny]

LOL!  We have gaper's block on the expressways when there's an accident.   Basically, traffic slows down because people slow down to look at an accident (or something that's happened on the side of the road or near the expressway - like a building that's on fire).   There's no actual reason on the road for traffic to slow down or come to a stop - hence a gaper's block.  
And,the expressways are usually called by their names and not their numbers.   So you got things like the Circle interchange, the Ike (the Eisenhower Expressway), the Elgin Ohare, the Bishop Ford, the Ryan, the Kennedy, the Stevenson.     
 
You'll hear traffic info with times from Hubbard's Cave into/out of the City (on the Kennedy) and sometimes you'll hear times from the Post Office  when coming in/out on the Ike.   

www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2009/09/23/what-is-hubbards-cave-2/

and this was kinda fun:
www.domu.com/blog/decoding-chicago-area-traffic-reports

[Tiny]

Mar 12, 2015 15:25:21 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Mar 12, 2015 15:15:38 GMT -5 Tiny said:

No one uses either of those words.    Maybe out in the cornfields (outside Chicago) but definitely NOT in the Chicago area.   OK, some people call the surrounding area around Chicago "Chicagoland" but I've ONLY heard that in commercials.  I've never heard it in conversation.

Cornfields - what's beyond the metropolitan Chicago area.   I've heard that joked about in actual conversations.     

I will have you know I live about an hour south of the Wisconsin border thankyouverymuch!  We have much, much more than cornfields, there's soybeans and some strawberries, and - oh hell who am I kidding.

FWIW I also lived in the southern suburbs and have heard both the term sawbuck and brewskies used.  The guys on the train platform often talk about getting together for brewskies after work on Friday.

It's hard to tell what is local slang sometimes because you are so used to it.  I understand subs are called grinders in some parts of the country.  We drag our hot dogs through the garden and like our Italian beefs wet (or take them for a swim).

Pop is the fizzy stuff you use as a mixer with vodka or rum and soda is used for baking.

questions?

South and Southern Suburbs --- there's your problem right there.   LOL! I don't mean those as fightin' words. I hang with alot of Northsiders and it appears there is a, ah,  friendly rivalry,   between them and everyone else.    

I'm officially a 'Burb-ite  (as I live in a suburb of Chicago)  - but I haven't heard that derogatory term used in a couple of years.  So, I'm basically throwing stones in my glass house.

I have been to areas outside the Chicago area and I must admit the "cornfields" are very nice places with nice people. 

[NancysSummerSip]

Pop is the fizzy stuff you use as a mixer with vodka or rum and soda is used for baking.

questions?

Yes, why would you call Cokes pop?

You are both wrong. It's soda.

[Chocolate Lover]

Mar 12, 2015 16:08:01 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Pop is the fizzy stuff you use as a mixer with vodka or rum and soda is used for baking.

questions?

Yes, why would you call Cokes pop?

You are both wrong. It's soda.

Nope. It's Coke. Always and forever 

[NancysSummerSip]

Mar 12, 2015 16:09:02 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Mar 12, 2015 16:08:01 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

You are both wrong. It's soda.

Nope. It's Coke. Always and forever 

Nope, it's soda. And it goes with a sub. Not a hoagie or a hero (a po'boy is a totally different and delicious beast, however, but it has to be of Louisiana origins.)

[kittensaver]

The expression the article picked for California is actually kinda lame.

However, if you ever want to provide a dead giveaway that you are NOT from California, call it "Cali."

*Shudder* no local or native would EVER use that term. EVAH. *shudder again*

Same with "Frisco." NO ONE CALLS IT THAT, PEOPLE!  Well, no one except white tennis-shoed, fanny pack-wearing tourists who just fell off the turnip truck. Call it by it's full name. Or be a Hipster-Person-In-The-Know and call it simply The City.

[The Captain]

Mar 12, 2015 16:13:12 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Mar 12, 2015 16:09:02 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Nope. It's Coke. Always and forever 

Nope, it's soda. And it goes with a sub. Not a hoagie or a hero (a po'boy is a totally different and delicious beast, however, but it has to be of Louisiana origins.)

Excuse me if I can't take someone seriously who thinks NY makes a better pizza than Chicago

[kittensaver]

Didn't we have the Great Soda vs. Pop Debate already?

[NancysSummerSip]

Mar 12, 2015 16:22:11 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Mar 12, 2015 16:13:12 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Nope, it's soda. And it goes with a sub. Not a hoagie or a hero (a po'boy is a totally different and delicious beast, however, but it has to be of Louisiana origins.)

Excuse me if I can't take someone seriously who thinks NY makes a better pizza than Chicago

Hey, that was a split decision. DH liked what passes for pizza in Chicago. I'm a NYC pizza person all the way.

[Chocolate Lover]

Mar 12, 2015 16:22:17 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Didn't we have the Great Soda vs. Pop Debate already?

Yeah, but if we had something better to do we wouldn't be here 

[lynnerself]

Oregon

People we used to call “tree huggers” are now described with the adjective “granola” in Oregon. “Stop being so granola and eat your hamburger.”

I've actually heard this, but more in the media than by real people.

We are trying to promote a new name for a beer style: "CDA" Cascadian dark ale.

[Virgil Showlion]

In Toronto, everybody calls pizza "pizz". If you're ever in Toronto, tell your server you want the chef's pizz and they'll think you're a local.

[Icelandic Woman]

Mar 12, 2015 16:24:38 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Mar 12, 2015 16:22:17 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

Didn't we have the Great Soda vs. Pop Debate already?

Yeah, but if we had something better to do we wouldn't be here 

Yep! And coke is always coke but every other kind is pop.

[t-dog]

I have never ever heard anyone in CA say they "gotta get flat" and I have lived here for the bulk of my life.  As noted above, SF is "the City "

[Cookies Galore]

Mar 12, 2015 16:29:12 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

Oregon

People we used to call “tree huggers” are now described with the adjective “granola” in Oregon. “Stop being so granola and eat your hamburger.”

I've actually heard this, but more in the media than by real people.

We are trying to promote a new name for a beer style: "CDA" Cascadian dark ale.

CDA, yum!

[Bonny]

Mar 12, 2015 16:17:16 GMT -5 kittensaver said:

The expression the article picked for California is actually kinda lame.

However, if you ever want to provide a dead giveaway that you are NOT from California, call it "Cali."

*Shudder* no local or native would EVER use that term. Evah. *shudder again*

Same with "Frisco." NO ONE CALLS IT THAT, PEOPLE!  Well, no one except tourists who just fell off the turnip truck. Call it by it's full name. Or be a Hipster-Person-In-The-Know and call it simply The City.

I'm a native and have never heard "gotta get flat".

Grew up with all the surf terms like "gnarly" and "rad". Sick to death of the overuse of the word "awesome". The Grand Canyon is "awesome" as in literally causing awe. Very little else is.

And a regional difference between Northern and Southern California is using the article "the" in front of a Freeway number; i.e. "The 101" in So. CA, just "101" in the Bay Area.

"Sig alert"  is a Californianism.  lurkyloo used it in her house hunting thread and I wondered if the locals will understand her?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sig_Alert

[myrrh]

Nuh-uh, everything is coke.

What kind of coke do you want?

Dr Pepper.




FWIW I'm from New Mexico and never heard the term Carrucha before. I wonder where the author got all this stuff from?
PS. Soda is acceptable as well. I guess.

[Cookies Galore]

Sigh...

Soda
Hoagie
Jimmie
Jawn (it's a catch-all word)

[Tennesseer]

Mar 12, 2015 16:22:11 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Mar 12, 2015 16:13:12 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Nope, it's soda. And it goes with a sub. Not a hoagie or a hero (a po'boy is a totally different and delicious beast, however, but it has to be of Louisiana origins.)

Excuse me if I can't take someone seriously who thinks NY makes a better pizza than Chicago

New Haven (CT) has even better pizza than Chicago or New York. The pizza mecca in the U.S. is Sally's Apizza on Wooster Street. Runner up is Pepe's, just a few doors down from Sally's.

[Bonny]

Mar 12, 2015 16:29:12 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

Oregon

People we used to call “tree huggers” are now described with the adjective “granola” in Oregon. “Stop being so granola and eat your hamburger.”

I've actually heard this, but more in the media than by real people.

We are trying to promote a new name for a beer style: "CDA" Cascadian dark ale.

Pffft we (Californians) were called the land of fruits and nuts  or Granolaheads before a bunch of us moved to OR.

Californication = turning an area into an expensive megasprawl like the greater Los Angeles area.

The Left Coast = The West Coast with a swipe at our left leaning politics. Also a swipe from the East Coast aka "the Right" (vs wrong) Coast.

Bi-Coastal Creature = Someone who lives on one coast and commutes to another or someone who has spent equal amounts of time on both coasts.

[lurkyloo]

Actually, sigalert is a website    Apparently much more accurate than google for current traffic conditions, as DH found to his great sorrow (he believed google, poor guy).

[Deleted]

I'm glad to see you guys also have never heard of your local slang. I have never heard the butter/biscuit one they cited for Alabama either.

I did read some my husband uses. Wasn't it Vermont that said something about u-ie for a u-turn? He's originally from NJ, and he says that all the time. I look at him like he's nuts. I try to point out that it's best to blend in as much as possible!

[Virgil Showlion]

Question to All: What would people in your area call the following pastry?



It's deep-fried dough covered with cinnamon and sugar. Common at fairs and exhibitions, etc., but different places call them different things.

Also, I might as well ask: in Canada, the expressions "not bad" or "not too bad" mean "good". Voice inflection counts a bit, but generally speaking if a Canadian replies "not bad" in response to what they think of a brand of salt n' vinegar chips, they do like the chips.

I'm told that this same convention doesn't apply in the US. Supposedly "not bad" means "mediocre" or "tolerable" south of the border, with no favourable connotation whatsoever. Is this true? Consider the case where the expression is spoken quickly in a neutral tone of voice.

[Tennesseer]

Mar 12, 2015 19:25:39 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

I'm glad to see you guys also have never heard of your local slang. I have never heard the butter/biscuit one they cited for Alabama either.

I did read some my husband uses. Wasn't it Vermont that said something about u-ie for a u-turn? He's originally from NJ, and he says that all the time. I look at him like he's nuts. I try to point out that it's best to blend in as much as possible!

I grew upin Massachusetts and I too used u-ie for a u-turn. But then Vermont and Massaschusetts are neighbors. Shortly after moving down here, I stopped using the term as it was not used and folks looked at me oddly when I did say it.

The use of washateria here instead of laundromat threw me off a bit.

[Tennesseer]

Mar 12, 2015 20:40:27 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Question to All: What would people in your area call the following pastry?



It's deep-fried dough covered with cinnamon and sugar. Common at fairs and exhibitions, etc., but different places call them different things.

Also, I might as well ask: in Canada, the expressions "not bad" or "not too bad" mean "good". Voice inflection counts a bit, but generally speaking if a Canadian replies "not bad" in response to what they think of a brand of salt n' vinegar chips, they do like the chips.

I'm told that this same convention doesn't apply in the US. Supposedly "not bad" means "mediocre" or "tolerable" south of the border, with no favourable connotation whatsoever. Is this true? Consider the case where the expression is spoken quickly in a neutral tone of voice.

'Not bad' and 'not too bad' means pretty much the same thing to me as it does in Canada. It is all in how it is said.

Another one would be 'not too shabby' which means pretty good too.