@bajamm - I also grew up in “the Florida of the State of Iowa” at the local radio station used to put it. As I tell my adult ESOL students here in MD, even though they do understand me and they probably would understand my sisters, they aren’t likely at all to understand a couple of my brothers-in-law, and they certainly would not understand those brothers-in-law’s cronies at the local bar! For the really curious ones, I tell them to listen to recordings of Bill Clinton. The regional dialect is pretty similar.
Headed back to “pop” country for a long Labor Day Weekend. Will think of you as we float/canoe down the Des Moines.
“Sneakers (not runners or tennis shoes)” We call them trainers.
Car (short a) mel vs. Car(rhymes with air) - a - mel.
SoCal loves to talk about their use of ‘the 405’ or ‘the 110.’ In Chicago, it’s ‘the Dan Ryan’ or ‘the Eisenhower.’
@happymomof1 we probably know some of the same people! My aunt has a Florida of the state of Iowa Tshirt! I grew up being able to get to Missouri by either going south or west…
We probably had some of the same haunts… (maybe we even know each other in real life without knowing it! )
In Chicago where I grew up, some common ones that I haven’t heard here in California:
Taffy apples are common (main company that produces them is called Affy Tapple) instead of caramel apples with nuts.
You’se instead of you, or y’all
Gym shoes instead of sneakers.
Some derogatory terms which I won’t get into.
My daughter’s friend in Boston calls those cement things in the middle of the road “jersey barriers”. I have lived in NJ for 35 years and had never heard them called that.
Nice to see another “on line” person.
Jersey barriers is a legit term. They were developed at the Stevens Institute of Technology. They are also called jersey blocks or jersey walls. In California they are called K rails.
Lived in CA for almost 30 years and have never heard the term K rails. Or Jersey barriers. I think it’s just center divider or guardrail here (are we talking about the permanent short dividing islands that might have some trees and grass on them? Or permanent higher barriers? Or temporary construction barriers?)
I am born and raised in Southern California (The “OC” but we don’t call it that). The term “Cali” is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I have been admonished by Northern Californians when I say “The 405 to the 55 to the 5” etc… Not so much anymore, but you used to be able to tell college students from Northern California vs Southern California by whether or not they said “hella”. I live close to the beach, and we have been known to call people from San Bernardino and Riverside “909-ers”.
I grew up in North Jersey (definitely north, not central). Sloppy Joe sometimes meant that ground beef concoction. To many of us, a Sloppy Joe is a certain deli sandwich. Its made with 3 slices of thinly sliced rye bread, some sort of meat (usually ham, turkey, or roast beef) , swiss cheese, coleslaw, and Russian dressing. It a delicious messy treat. It wasn’t a Giants tailgate unless we had our Sloppy Joes. For out-of-town relatives, its the first thing they want when they return to the area. Some of them bring extra sandwiches to take back with them.
K rails are temporary barriers, often used in construction zones or sometimes in mudslide areas in CA to divert the flow of mud. The permanent barriers found in the middle of some freeways are called the center dividers, whether it’s concrete or more like a guardrail.
Born in California but raised in Texas:
I say “soft drinks,” not soda or pop.
Also say “fixin’ to” to mean “I’m about to…” I got major grief for saying this in the presence of other Americans in the mid 80s, when I lived in Paris for about a year. I try to limit my use of this phrase, but it does come out of me from time to time.
Occasionally also say “that’s a whole 'nother problem” rather than the correct “that’s a whole other problem.”
Most people I know here in Texas say “lightning bugs,” but our family always called them fireflies.
Some Chicagoisms:
“Gapers’ block” = traffic congestion caused by motorists slowing down to look at an accident.
“Downstate” = any part of Illinois outside metropolitan Chicago, even if it’s west or north of Chicago.
“Bungalow Belt” = vast areas of small brick homes in traditionally working-class neighborhoods on the city’s Northwest and Southwest Sides.
“The Loop” = the area of downtown Chicago encircled by a loop of elevated rapid transit rail tracks, or “the L”
“The L” = now refers to the entire rapid transit rail system, including not only the elevated portions but also the parts that are undergound or at surface grade.
“Hundred,” sometimes pronounced “Hunnert” = a way of specifying location by measuring distance from the zero point at State and Madison Streets in the Loop. Chicago is laid out in a rectilinear grid, eight blocks to the mile, with street addresses advancing by 100 for each block. So if someone says, “Wrigley Field is at 36 Hundred North,” you know it’s on the North Side thirty six blocks or 4.5 miles north of Madison Street, which is Addison Street—a helpful way of locating it if you don’t know where Addison Street is…
“Prairie” = a vacant city lot, especially one overgrown with weeds.
“Who’s your Chinaman?” = Who’s your political sponsor or patron? Asked, e.g., when someone comes seeking a job usually filled by political patronage, because “We don’t want nobody nobody sent.” Some may find this phrase offensive so I don’t use it, but you still hear it. There are endless debates about its origins, thus far inconclusive.
“Clout” = political influence. Despite Bill Daley’s poor showing in the last mayoral election, the Daleys still have a lot of clout.
“Regulars,” aka “Regular Democrats” = patronage-oriented politicians affiliated with the city’s Regular Democratic Organization, aka The Machine, together with their henchmen and voters who reliably could be counted on to vote for candidates endorsed by the local Ward Committeeman, or Ward Boss.
“Independents,” most of them “Independent Democrats” = anti-Machine politicians and their supporters, mostly from the city’s Lakefront wards. For many years Regulars and Independents were Chicago’s two major political parties in local elections and primaries, the Regulars more numerous citywide, but they all voted Democratic in state and federal general elections. The distinction has broken down somewhat in recent years.
“Wear the jacket” = take the fall in a political scandal, as in, “They were all in on it, but Mikey’s going to wear the jacket.”
