<p>
When we moved south, that one really threw me.<br>
Another local speech difference here is many of the “natives” do not make cent plural as in “that will be twenty-five cent”.</p>
<p>Hey, you all might enjoy this:
<a href=“http://www3.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_73.html[/url]”>http://www3.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_73.html</a>
That’s a map of gym shoes/sneakers/etc. usage in the U.S. The index to all 122 maps of dialect survey results is here:
<a href=“http://www3.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/maps.html[/url]”>http://www3.uwm.edu/Dept/FLL/linguistics/dialect/maps.html</a></p>
<p>add to davenport, settee</p>
<p>"They say, “This car needs washed” instead of “This car needs TO BE washed” or “This car needs washing.” "</p>
<p>I’ve never heard people say this when we lived in KS, but in Central PA almost everybody talked lik this( and it drove me CRAZY) . :-)</p>
<p>Those lists and maps Mrs. Ferguson provided are GREAT! I’d been thinking that I am getting old enough that there would be no unheard-of possibilities for variations on “tennis shoes”–but that one has a few–and the other categories on the longer lists with maps is hilarious…</p>
<p>And that someplaces call a milkshake a “cabinet”…</p>
<p>What a wonderful thing language is…</p>
<p>My dad was from Pittsburgh and my mom from Alabama, so I grew up with both of those areas’ euphemisms. Between “yins” and “y’all”, it’s a wonder anyone can understand me.</p>
<p>When did “Are you finished yet?” become “Are you DONE yet?” That one drives me crazy.</p>
<p>Where I grew up:</p>
<p>Soft drink = drink or Coke, as in, “Can I get you a drink?” “Sure, I’d like a Coke.” “What kind?” “Mountain Dew.”</p>
<p>Glove compartment = pocket</p>
<p>purse = pocketbook</p>
<p>None = na’one (pronounced “now 'un” as a contraction for “nary one”)</p>
<p>He did it = He done done it</p>
<p>Doesn’t = Don’t</p>
<p>Sit = Set (as in “Set yourself right down there”)</p>
<p>Woman = Girl</p>
<p>African American = (well, we won’t get into that)</p>
<p>Comic book = Funny book</p>
<p>I didn’t realize that pocketbook is a southern thing. I miust have gotten that from my grandmother. I no longer use the word, but it still feels like that’s what wants to come out of my mouth! Here in the northeast, most women just say bag , handbag or evening bag.</p>
<p>I think the bit about asking for a Coke and then specifying that you want Mountain Dew is hysterical!</p>
<p>When I mentioned the term “pocketbook” to my daughter, she was astonished. Thats a “paperback”, isn’t it…Why would a purse be a book? Any clues on the origins of that?</p>
<p>While as a teen I wore “nylons” my grandmother insisted they were “hose”…</p>
<p>Umm, then there are some of my favorites in the realm of terms for upset: </p>
<p>Don’t get your underwear in a bundle, keep your hat on, her hair caught on fire, having kittens…</p>
<p>or astonished: That’ll roll your socks down…</p>
<p>Pronunciations and other substitutions where I grew up:</p>
<p>All “ou” or “ow” sounds are pronounced “o” as in “oat.” (As in, “You go boat four mile doan the road 'til you see some co’s in the field on your right.”)</p>
<p>Can’t = Cain’t</p>
<p>Aunt = ant</p>
<p>feet = foot</p>
<p>miles = mile</p>
<p>refrigerator = ice box</p>
<p>rice pudding = God knows what (As in, “You call that sickly sweet mess PUUDDING???”)</p>
<p>The name “Mary Elizabeth” = “Mary Libba”</p>
<p>Corn = cone</p>
<p>Most detested phrase: “Yet and still …”</p>
<p>Most loved phrase: “She’s purtier than a speckled puppy under a red wagon.”</p>
<p>mmaah:</p>
<p>I still call nylons “hose,” as in “pantyhose”</p>
<p>I love “that’ll roll your socks down.” That one’s a keeper!</p>
<p>Here’s one for you:</p>
<p>“More nervous than a hemophiliac in a cat-catching contest.”</p>
<p>In Wisconsin, the natives don’t go “to” someone’s house, they go “by” someone’s house.</p>
<p>Traffic signals are “stop & go lights.” </p>
<p>And I haven’t figured out what “aina hey” is.</p>
<p>Where I live, traffic signals are stopandgo lights in a very literal sense. :)</p>
<p>Upstate NY’er here and carbonated beverages where soft drinks. A small stream was a crick. Coupons were quepons. Marinades-marionades. Movies were flicks. The laundry was the wash. Primium gas was high test. Any drink on the rocks was a high ball. Hey at least subs were subs.</p>
<p>Boy this took me back! </p>
<p>aina hey = “whatever” or as you’re winding up a conversation and need to “git goin on your day” as in ‘aina hey I better git to the store.’ :)</p>
<p>Is “roll your socks down” less astonishing than “knock your socks off?” </p>
<p>“A small stream was a crick.” I believe you mean a creek, as in “up a creek withuot a paddle” as opposed to “a crick in the neck?” At least in my neck of the woods, it’s spelled creek and not crick. Please don’t confuse the non-natives! 
I think in MA we have cleansers while other folks have cleaners., but not when we’re being “taken to the cleaners.” I still haven’t figured out the difference between a milkshake and a frappe, and now come chai and bubble tea.</p>
<p>I’m a Long Island (Lon-GUY-land) girl, and my DH would tease me about the following:</p>
<p>AH-range, instead of ORange</p>
<p>FAR-head, instead of fore-head</p>
<p>AHN-velope instead of EN-velope</p>
<p>dropping r’s (Waitah instead of waiter, doctah instead of doctor, wawtah instead of water, Rochestah instead of Rochester).</p>
<p>Where I grew up, we referred to the piece of playground equipment with a ladder and a slide part as a “sliding pond.” I’ve never heard this outside of Long Island.</p>
<p>After 30 years of marriage to a non-Long Islander, and living in various parts of the country, I’ve lost a lot of my regional pronunciation, but it does tend to reassert itself when (1) I’m very tired, (2) I’m talking in my sleep, or (3) when I’m back on Long Island.</p>
<p>British vs American English:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>bonnet – hood (car)</p></li>
<li><p>boot – trunk (car)</p></li>
<li><p>rubber – eraser (pencil)</p></li>
<li><p>“He was taken to hospital.” – “He was taken to THE hospital.” (for such a large country it is mighty peculiar that there is onle ONE hospital!) ; )</p></li>
<li><p>chips – french fries</p></li>
<li><p>braces – suspenders</p></li>
<li><p>waist coat – vest</p></li>
<li><p>bowler – derby (hat)</p></li>
<li><p>“Let’s have a knock up” – “Let’s hit some balls” (tennis)</p></li>
<li><p>NO SUCH THING – english muffins</p></li>
<li><p>public school – private school (usually boarding)</p></li>
<li><p>dinner jacket – tuxedo</p></li>
</ol>
<p>others?</p>
<p>lorry=truck;
wellies=rubber boots
“he knocked her up” doesn’t mean the same thing on this side of the pond.
“give me a ring” isn’t followed by wedding bells on the other side.
spend a penny=use the toilet (“loo”)</p>