Regionalism's

[Eden]

This is fun..

What to you get when you mash English with Irish, Polish, German, Greek, and the other large immigrant populations that came right after the war? Pittsburghese from da 'Burgh obviously!

nebby (nosey)
yinz (plural of 'you')
yinzer (a blue collar worker with a heavy Pittsburgher accent)
hoagie (submarine sandwich)
redd-up (clean up)
babushka (headscarf)
n'at (and all that)
... far too many to list.

another Pittsburgher here - though I never had the "south side" accent....
a few more words that I remember as only in the Burgh
chipped ham (deli ham sliced so thin it tears aka chip chopped ham)
pop - instead of soda
and btw a hoagie is not only named differently, but *made* differently from a sub, grinder, po boy - what ever you call it in your area. Pittsburgh is probably the only place I've found one done properly. Forget Quizno's and Subway with all their "new" toasted subs.... a real hoagie is made in a pizza shop. The meat and cheese are put on the bun and both halves of it are put into a pizza oven until the cheese is melted and the bun is toasty. Then lettuce, tomato and italian dressing are put on it - the perperchinis are optional... definitely no mustard or mayo or other muck - only the stuff you'd find in a pizza shop. I was appalled, absolutely appalled the first time anyone gave me a Subway sub.... it was cold, pallid, had doughy soft bread and worst of all it had mayo on it...

[Ciao]

another Pittsburgher here

And the world doesn't know what it's missing... Primanti's in the strip!

So, really, how many of us are originally from Pittsburgh?? It's uncanny.

[callmecrazy]

So, really, how many of us are originally from Pittsburgh?? It's uncanny.

I knew I hadn't seen any Pittsburghers in all my lurking, but there is an uncanny number of "at one time" 'burghers! I'm just the opposite, not a native but have been here half my short life.

The only striking Pittsburgh regionalism I haven't seen mentioned is the use of "slippy" instead of "slippery".

[VeloVT]

I just got back from a week in Xenia, Ohio visiting my bf's family. It was my first trip to Ohio save the Cincinnati airport (which is actually in Kentucky). A few things I noticed:

1) "fire plug". This is used to refer to a fire hydrant. I was puzzled the first time or two I heard this.

2) Dropping the infinitive. As in, "the house needs painted" or "the dog needs fed" rather than "the house needs to be painted" or "the dog needs to be fed."

3) "warsh, warsh, warsh."

and of course, everyone calls soda "pop."

I had fun . Xenia is "the bicycle capital of the midwest", at least according to a water tower on the outskirts of town. We couldn't quite figure out why -- maybe some of you Ohio gals can help -- but there are hundreds of miles of paved bike trails in Ohio (pretty cool!) and there is a hub (a beautiful old train station with restrooms, maps, etc) for the trails in Xenia.

[beccaB]

Now in Michigan for the last 20 years, origionally from the south- took some getting used to people calling a carbonated beverage "pop"- I always called it "soda."
People in Michigan talk weird, even my own children who were born here! They do something funny to the vowels, making them all nasally.
Try listening to a local choir that hasn't worked on diction!