Words/sayings that are a dead giveaway to where someone is from. (vs., vacation)
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Gym Shoes is apparently a Chicago thing. Didn't know until I went to college. I've never really used "sneakers"
One of my best friends in college was from NYC and he used a lot of different words and sayings.
"Mad". He used it like "very". "It's mad cold out here."
"Bet". Used to confirm something.
"I'll see you at the library in a couple of hours."
"Alright, bet."
You must have gone to college fairly recently. My daughter uses mad that way and she is 25. I think that's more a trendy yute thing than a NYC thing. 45-year-old New Yorkers don't talk that way. Well...some might..
Jawn just means "thing" or "this" or "that" or anything, really. Where I grew up we used the word "jank" much the same way, like, "bring that jank to the party," or pointing out someone's shoes, "lemme see them janks on your feet" or "you hear that new track? that jank hot."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
You must have gone to college fairly recently. My daughter uses mad that way and she is 25. I think that's more a trendy yute thing than a NYC thing. 45-year-old New Yorkers don't talk that way. Well...some might..
Growing up down south in the 90s kids used "mad" that way all the time.
Jawn just means "thing" or "this" or "that" or anything, really. Where I grew up we used the word "jank" much the same way, like, "bring that jank to the party," or pointing out someone's shoes, "lemme see them janks on your feet" or "you hear that new track? that jank hot."
Growing up down south in the 90s kids used "mad" that way all the time.
I may not have much good things to say about North Narrowlina, but the ONE thing I do love here is it's linguistic somersaults, pyrotechnics and downright colorful flavor honed since the 1600's. so yeah, i was an English major and probably why I can appreciate this one delightful aspect of life here.
Here's a few of my favorites: CACKALACKY .... LOL, has SO many meanings it's impossible to really get into it, once used as a degrogatory term by soldiers who came to train at FT Bragg, it's roots go deeper and older, could be from the Cherokee language for the word Cherokee.... or it could be a conspiracy of outsiders, or even have something to do with barbecue sauce or sweet potatoes
DINGBATTERS..... foreigners, outsiders, coined on the Outerbanks for vacationers who clogged up the pristine beaches
BOOT.... one of the few areas of the USA who will use this word for the trunk of the car, just like Great Britain.
SIGOGGLIN'...... love this one, it refers to crooked/not straight- with -you-sorts of people. (just like DJT!!!! perfect description of him)
CATTYWUMPUS.... i actually heard this first up in "Virginny", the remote eastern shore which is a solar system, part of a galaxy in a universe far far away from mainland USA.... it's kinda synonymous with "WHOPPERJAWED" LOL meaning a very colorful, out of whack individualist type or maybe even "not right in the head" !!!
ILL.... means angry
JUBIOUS.... afraid, hesitant
MOMMUCK.... harass, or to bother
WEREN'T..... now this one is trickier and harkens back to strict rules you will find that often regulate regional differences in language. Back in olden times, the word was was only used in a positive manner and thus were was only used in a negative manner, thus "weren't". That's why you'll always hear I was here, She was here, They was here, but conversely it is I weren't here, She weren't here, They weren't here.
Last but not least, a 'DOUBLE MODAL' (aren't you glad you are reading this and maybe learning something new????.... a term that uses double verbs to express a mood, certainty or obligation... an example is the double modal " MIGHT COULD" a purely North Carolinian term I haven't heard anywhere else. I might could attend the barbecue..... which leaves me an out, as it isn't a formal yes or a sure thing and is used almost constantly by politicians here who don't want to give a definitive answer that will upset certain kinds of voters, so they will use might could to mitigate their stance.
I am simply a word-a-holic and people like me are kinda as scarce as hens teeth nowadays!!!!!!
When someone says "the" before the number of a highway - its a giveaway they're from California. Here in Louisiana we just say "I-10" or "I-12" same with most of the country but Californians will say "THE I-10" or "THE I-12". Not sure what the point of that is. After all you drive down Fifth Avenue not THE Fifth Avenue or THE Main Street.
Californians also like to say "freeway" when we just say highway or Interstate.
When someone says "the" before the number of a highway - its a giveaway they're from California. Here in Louisiana we just say "I-10" or "I-12" same with most of the country but Californians will say "THE I-10" or "THE I-12". Not sure what the point of that is. After all you drive down Fifth Avenue not THE Fifth Avenue or THE Main Street.
No no, it's "the 10," not "the I-10." Californians don't usually refer to freeways as "Interstates" in the first place (many freeways are not interstates, and highways are something else altogether), let alone abbreviate Interstate to "I."
But you are correct that, in Southern California at least, we use "the" with the number of the freeway. Supposedly it is a holdover from the days in which freeways were referred to by name rather than number: the Golden State freeway, the Harbor freeway, etc.
If you use the word "bo" (which roughly corresponds to "man" or "dude" as a way to begin a statement/expression), then I KNOW you're from my neck of the woods in SC.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citidata18
Pop = Detroit
Vernor's = Detroit
Bless Your Heart = Deep South
Don'cha Know!? = Minnesota
I disagree with the usage of Pop being a Detroit giveaway. More of a general Midwest/Western Northeast giveaway.
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