"Please?" Lmao and high school (Cincinnati, Cambridge: apartment, lease)

[Iraqvet]

I ordered pizza from LaRosa's last night and the cashier asked me, "Would you like a 2 liter soda with that?" I asked her was she from Cincy and she gave me a sort of why the hell is he asking me that kind of look, but she was indeed from Cincy. She said she says soda because more people come in there and ask for soda than pop. More people in the U.S. say soda rather than pop anyway.

[JGY]

To me, soda is a northern term, or a california term, when I am down home, it is always pop.

[Cincy-Rise]

No one in Chicago calls it a soda, or the Milwaukee area ... they're die-hard pop's people.

Iraqvet, that doesn't surprise me. It seems it varies from one neighborhood to the other.

[Hyden]

Iraqvet, I try to be polite and just ask them to repeat what they said , I say pop too. I want to say Thank You for your service to our country. Now that is how I was raised in Cincinnati from Ky parents. Hyden

[firefightermom]

They also say soda in MD, Northern VA, and DC. It's a regional thing...down south, everyone calls it coke, then they ask which kind you want. Just depends what you grow up with.

[goyguy]

Originally Posted by Iraqvet

I ordered pizza from LaRosa's last night and the cashier asked me, "Would you like a 2 liter soda with that?" I asked her was she from Cincy and she gave me a sort of why the hell is he asking me that kind of look, but she was indeed from Cincy. She said she says soda because more people come in there and ask for soda than pop. More people in the U.S. say soda rather than pop anyway.

I hate hearing these kinds of anecdotes. That's how quirky local words and sayings are dying off It's happening where I live now (Massachusetts) too. There are certain terms I go out of my way to say in order to keep them around a bit longer, such as "packy" (short for package store, aka - in Cincinnati - pony keg.) But it's too late for "wiffle" (crewcut) since nobody but nobody uses it any more. Whenever someone from Down South boards an elevator with me, I ask them, "What floor can I mash for you?" LOL Nobody's answered with "I declare" yet - I think that went into the ground with my grandparents. "Mash" (for push, or press) is on the endangered list, from what I can tell. Ditto for "trading" (shopping) in the Great Plains and Northwestern states. To this day, though, when you do your trading in the Richmond, IN, area you'll still be asked whether you want your purchases in a sack.

TV, and now the Internet, are to blame along with our being a nation of transients. Fight linguistic homogenization!

True about the school question; I talk to people from all over the US for a living, and always "represent" to Cincinnatians. When that question's put to me I have to remember to not bring up my college ties - hahahaha! During one conversation, there was silence after I pronounced "Boudinot" correctly (for the street on the west side - speaking of LaRosa's.) Then, "Are you from here?" the stunned caller asked. I, in turn, had to make the qualification that yes, I was a native of the area, but no, I was from the east side. These things still matter in the Queen City, beyond football rivalries. Identifying your side of town also tells the other person how likely you are to be: Catholic(fair probability on the east side, high probability on the west), German-American (same degree of respective likelihood), working- to middle-class (the norm on the west side but 2:3 odds on the east), and more. As time goes on I believe this will lessen as city neighborhoods like Westwood grow in diversity and the influx of non-natives continues. Unlike the loss of local colloquialisms I think that'll be a good thing.

[JGY]

I don't know if this is a Southwestern Ohio thing only, but in Dayton, small convenience stores are called "carryouts" Does anybody else use this term occasionally?

[firefightermom]

Originally Posted by JGY

I don't know if this is a Southwestern Ohio thing only, but in Dayton, small convenience stores are called "carryouts" Does anybody else use this term occasionally?

I don't think I've ever heard anyone outside southwestern Ohio say that, and I've been gone 19 years...I really had to think about it. Back in the day, I used to buy my beer at the Vandalia Carryout...it's official name and what we called about everyplace...they don't call them that in Cleveland.

[goyguy]

That's a good one, I grew up hearing and saying "Shall we go out to eat or get carry-out?" Now instead of "carry-out" it's "something to go." Never heard carry-out used to mean a corner store. Maybe somebody from San Antonio will read this and let us know whether neighborhood convenience stores are still called "ice stores" there.
What in Cincy is called a pony keg, and in Boston a packy, is better known as a "party store" in Detroit. Dunno where Detroiters say they're going when they need to buy stuff to celebrate a kid's birthday or pick up favors for New Year's or whatever.
More sociological commentary: when pointing the finger of blame for local slang's dying I direct it toward national chains in this case. When a certain "brand" is everywhere no one has to say they have to run to the ice store or carryout any more, they just say they're off to 7-Eleven.

[Crew Chief]

Growing up on the East Coast, we didn't have "carryouts" or even drive thru beverage stores. But I'll have to say one of my favorite store names is the "Needmore Beer Drive Thru" on Needmore road...