ex-Pittsburghers? (Lancaster, York, Hershey: elementary school, live, move to)

[Katiana]

Will add my 2cents' worth to this. The Pgh Post-Gazette ran an article a little over a year ago about the general situation in Pittsburgh, and found that the population group with the fewest members was the age 55-59 yr olds. That is my group and I can tell you a few personal stories.

I grew up in Beaver County with a sibling and two cousins, all within 2 yrs of each other. All four of us left. The only female, I left to get married, never came back even after a divorce and re-marriage. (DH is from Nebraska) The only one who did return is my brother, for personal reasons, in the late 90s. Even though he has a degree from good ol' Penn State and many years experience in his field, it took him over a year to find a job, and then it didn't pay much more than an entry level job for a high school graduate. My best friend is one of four kids, all from that era. All left. No one came back. The spouses are all from other places, and don't like it there. There seem to be way more people from my high school class who have left the area than in my husband's class in Omaha.

Another story, that sort of supports the Pittsburgh stereotype. One year, we had to go back to Pgh to close on my parents' house in late December. We went with the lowest fare which was Christmas Day. The Colorado people though this was just fine; many of them were traveling on that day also. The Pittsburgh people were sorry that we had to travel on Christmas Day and "spoil" our Christmas like that.

This does not answer Tallysmom's question: what are the mitigating factors keeping people there? My kids have their own theory "It just sucks people back"! We do know a number of people who have come back. Aside from my bro, these folks seem to be sort of self-employed. Employment, or lack thereof, certainly dictates some choices.

Here in Colorado, there are also people who have lived here for generations. In fact, being a Colorado native is a point of great pride. It is just like Tallysmom described in the San Francisco obits. However, there are a lot of people from other places. It amazes me that even in Beaver County, which has a border with both Ohio and West Virginia, most people were born in-state. (82% for Beaver Falls) In Louisville, Colorado, where I presently live, the number born in-state is 34%. And we are approximately 100 miles from the nearest state border, Wyoming. These population differences make for very big cultural differences. There are not a lot of huge family gatherings at holidays. People come here with all sorts of different ideas of how things should be done; you don't here so much of "we've always done it that way". One's co-workers have gone to many different colleges, adding to the mix of ideas. BTW, when I was at Pitt, it was recommended we go somewhere else to grad school because we'd pick up some new ideas. People here have been to many places, if only because they've driven through them on their way "back home" whether that is: Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Dallas (lots of Californians and Texans here), Chicago, or wherever.

The Pittsburgh sterotype holds, to a certain extent. I once worked with a social worker who liked to say, behind every stereotype is a grain of truth. I think it is the same way in most of the northeast and midwest. My daughters went to college in the midwest and certainly picked up that feeling, especially the one in Chicago. She was amazed how many people had never crossed the Mississippi River, which is only a short distance away.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by PghPaNative

This is just how I had observed things, its not a put down so much as it is just how I had seen things my 30 years of growing up in the area and what I had experienced in my own little circles. Pgh is a very tight knit community, and so are many other communities out there, nothing wrong with that, not at all, just that what I had experienced and some others here, is that there were some very closed minded people on our journey, that's all...I had traveled the US extensively, seen alot, experienced alot and this is what I had come to conclude...it was never meant to be offensive to anyone and I do apoloize if my take on the matter had offended you, have a great weekend.

I think what I'm trying to get across is, as we move around and travel (which does broaden your horizons as it were), that when we see this phenomena in other places we don't recognize that no matter where it happens it's provincial-izing.. (Hey, I made up a word!) I've met people here in SF that I think are just as close minded as that typical "Pittsburgher", that have never been past the San Francisco border. The first time I met someone who lived in Union City (small town) that had never been to Napa to visit wineries I was stunned! An hour and a half away, she had never been there and had no interest.

What I'm saying is this is a common thing everywhere, but when we see it other places we think it's charming, and we see it differently in our own home city.

I could be wrong.. I haven't had my coffee yet.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

What I'm saying is this is a common thing everywhere, but when we see it other places we think it's charming, and we see it differently in our own home city.

I could be wrong.. I haven't had my coffee yet.

No, you are correct. I just think there's a little more of it in places where a large plurality haven't ventured very far. If you live in Colorado and grew up in Pennsylvania, you have lived and seen two different cultures. It's a little different than traveling. IMHO

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by airstrip

I miss living somewhere that assumes you don't eat meat on Friday during lent.

I grew up in Pittsburgh as a Lutheran, which no one seemed to have ever heard of. I learned to say I was a "Protestant".
It is NOT a valid assumption that everyone there doesn't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. I have posted elsewhere on either the Pittsburgh or the PA forum about the overwhelming Catholicism being a little overwhelming, especially for someone not of that faith.

[sealerpal]

I am Protestant and know what u mean. Pittsburgh people are mostly Catholic and that's a big part of fitting into different crowds. Italian Catholics are especially stand-offish towards people of Irish (especially Irish Protestant) descent. I think alot of them view us as trash.

[missintheburgh]

Chipped ham from Giant Eagle...
pastrey's from Steimetz (sp?)...
not having to explain what "red-up" means.. that's what I miss.

[sealerpal]

Originally Posted by missintheburgh

Chipped ham from Giant Eagle...
pastrey's from Steimetz (sp?)...
not having to explain what "red-up" means.. that's what I miss.

That's interesting. I have many friends and relatives who moved out of Western PA, only to discover that they have been talking like they're drunk and their mouths were full of marbles all their lives. It's funny to witness their grammatic transformations.

One friend stands out from all of the rest. He moved to Sonoma County, CA about two years ago. At first he was peeved at how people there reacted to his abrasive, obnoxious speech patterns and vocal decibel levels (aka his "Pittsburghese"). According to him, most people got the impression he was yelling at them when he spoke. In return, he got the impression people in California talked like they were "on the news". I took that to mean that, to him at least, they had no identifiable accent.

Two years later he sounds like he never lived here at all. His Pittsburghese is all but completely gone. I guess nature just took it's course for him.

[SueJ999]

What's really interesting to me is how Pittsburghese is described as abrasive, obnoxious speech patterns and vocal decibel levels. I've read a few threads putting it down. How about the Southern drawl, or Boston's unique "pahk the cah", or the upper midwest's--not even sure what to call that dialect, but it's Minnesohhtahh? Actually, here in central Minnesota, they have a strange German-esque type dialect with their own words--quite interesting.

I love coming home to Pittsburgh and being able to say redd up 'n at! AND to be understood when I do! "Pittsburghese" came from a very unique combination of backgrounds and hard working people--something to be proud of!

[Hopes]

Not everyone from Pittsburgh talks like that here though. I have lived in Pittsburgh for almost my entire life, and I've never spoken with a Pittsburgh accent. Most people who live in my township don't speak Pittsburghese either. I think it's more of a neighborhood/economic/education slang than an overall regional slang.

I landed a job once because I spoke "The King's English" (my boss's words). My coworkers in other offices around the country always comment about my lack of Pittsburgh accent when they talk to me for the first time on the phone. My girlfriend said the same thing when she first met me. She's a citydata member from California. I find it amusing that people from other parts of the country think all Pittsburghers speak Pittsburghese.

It's fairly rare for me to hear people talking Pittsburghese. I guess I don't get into the city limits often enough! Goodness, I'm ONLY 10 miles away from downtown too!

I found an interesting site that validates my suspicion that it's a neighborhood/economic slang.

Originally Posted by http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Pittsburgh_English

Regional features in speech are heavily class-marked; working class Pittsburghers use far more local features than the upper middle class. Education also plays a large part as recent generations who move away from the region to attend college lose some patterns of Pittsburgh English.

It's an interesting site. Check it out! I don't even know what half the words mean in the list at the bottom of the page!

Here's the link: http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Pittsburgh_English

Originally Posted by SueJ999

I love coming home to Pittsburgh and being able to say redd up 'n at! AND to be understood when I do!

The site I referenced indicates that redd up (I would not have known how to spell it but you got it right! LOL) is from Scots English.

The way Pittsburgh neighborhoods remain fairly ethnically segregated probably has a lot to do with why not everyone here in Pittsburgh speaks Pittsburghese.

[getmeoutofnj]

Thats a really interesting link, Hopes.
You're right that not everyone talks that way, but I think there are a lot of "degrees".

My family definitely was working class, but they didnt speak full Pittsburghese. I think their "accent" wasnt but some of the words they used was, such as worsh, redd up, and nebsh*t(thanks grandma). They never said dahntahn, or keller instead of color, and n'at. What is probably very odd is that from a very young age(maybe 7-8) I felt I didnt like that way of talking.* I only liked "proper" english as I called it and consciously decided not to use words such as "pop". I also eschewed double negatives. (yes, im a weirdo in many other ways as well)

So, I dont use any of those words on the list and havent for a long, long time. I sometimes wonder where strangers would guess I was from. Hmm.

*not putting down anyone who has the accent, its just not for me.