Airplane Bottles and other slang? (San Francisco: college, store, pub)

[lrfox]

I'm generally in San Francisco every month (or other month). When I was there about two weeks ago, I was getting ready to go to a Giants game with some local (SF) friends. Instead of paying top dollar for drinks, we decided to save by bringing our own "hydration."

We were figuring out how to get alcohol into the stadium (one of us had a flask, but the rest didn't) and I said I'd "walk down to the packie and get some nips."

These people (who I've known for months now) looked at me like I had two heads. We ended up getting into a good-natured debate and even before I knew that "packie" (short for package store, or liquor store) is really a parochial Massachusetts term so I understood the confusion there. However, they had no idea what "nips" were. When I say nips I mean those tiny, 1-2 ounce bottle of alcohol you see on the counter of the corner store. They told me that they called those "airplane bottles." I have NEVER heard that before. Is this normal? I've heard "minis" before, and "nips" was common, but never "airplane bottles." Not a complaint, it is perfectly accurate. I had just never heard it before. "Nips" seemed to be common (or at least understood) in other parts of the country I've been to, but not here (at least among this group of people).

In the 2 years I've been traveling back and forth from San Francisco there aren't too many differences in slang I've picked up on. "hella" (same as our "wicked") is used, but not as common as I thought. "For sure." seems to be fairly common too. Other than that, I haven't heard much.

Just for fun, anyone else know any other local slang that might be lesser known in the Bay Area?

[mayorhaggar]

Well, they're the same kind you get on airplanes. I haven't really noticed people calling them that here but I don't think it's ever come up.

[dalparadise]

You were in trouble the moment you set Massachusetts terms as your control in your language experiment. "Packie" is localized mostly to Boston, though a "nip" is fairly widespread and can be interpreted as either a small bottle, as you use it, or just a sip out of a larger one. I think that comes from taking a drink when it's cold out, to warm up. "Nip" was an ethnic slur in the '40s. It usually means "nipple" these days, as in "OMG! did you see Lady Gaga's nip slip on the VMA's?!"

In a lot of places, "Packie" is an ethnic slur. "Airplane bottles" seems easy enough to understand, so makes more sense than "nip". I've heard heard of people "taking a pull" from a liquor bottle as well.

"Hella" is stupid. "Wicked" is annoying. "Knowumsayin'?" after every statement is even more annoying. Knowumsayin'?

[Isebiel]

I'd have called those airplane bottles too, and I'm from Chicago. I'd know what you meant if you said "minis" but "nips" is new to me!

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by dalparadise

You were in trouble the moment you set Massachusetts terms as your control in your language experiment.

I know. We have a ton of quirky terms that don't work elsewhere. Generally, I do my best to put them aside; but it's hard sometimes (especially when I'm with friends and my guard drops).

"Packie" is localized mostly to Boston, though a "nip" is fairly widespread and can be interpreted as either a small bottle, as you use it, or just a sip out of a larger one. I think that comes from taking a drink when it's cold out, to warm up. "Nip" was an ethnic slur in the '40s. It usually means "nipple" these days, as in "OMG! did you see Lady Gaga's nip slip on the VMA's?!"

I know Packie is very localized. That was a case of me dropping my guard. It's funny because I always thought Packie sounded a little bit racist (though it does mean "package store"). It was, "nip" that was surprising. I generally know what's a local term (I will never call a water fountain a "bubbler" outside of Boston again) and what isn't. Nip, in the context of a small alcoholic beverage, didn't seem too "local" to me. I certainly know the other meaning of "nip"; but I had hoped context clues would help if it wasn't common. It seems that throwing "packie" in there threw everyone off.

"Airplane bottles" seems easy enough to understand, so makes more sense than "nip". I've heard heard of people "taking a pull" from a liquor bottle as well.

I agree with you regarding Airplane Bottles. It's pretty straight forward. I'd understand what someone meant even if I hadn't heard it before. It doesn't exactly roll of the tongue though. The other expression I HAVE heard is "minis" which I think might be the best.

"Hella" is stupid. "Wicked" is annoying. "Knowumsayin'?" after every statement is even more annoying. Knowumsayin'?

Agree on all three counts. "Hella" really bugs me. "wicked" makes me cringe as it's such a cliche New England thing to say. I just picture Sully' from Southie in his "Gahnett" Jersey yelling outside of an Irish pub to "hit that guy wicked hahd!" Any form of "knowumsayin" (I also hear "yaknow?" or "right" after ever sentence occasionally too).

I consider myself fairly aware of most of these things, so local slang generally doesn't throw me off. At the same time, I generally don't use expressions that I know are limited to where I'm from. As a result, the whole "nips" v. "airplane" bottles thing really threw me for a loop since I had A) never known "nips" was unusual an B) never heard "airplane bottles" before either. That's why I was wondering what else I missed.

[mayorhaggar]

I think it's more that Boston has a lot of weird lingo compared with the rest of the US. Frankly I don't think the Bay Area has been populated by English speakers long enough to develop much of a local lingo or accent. There's a few things like hella but the difference between here and what we think of as standard American English isn't that different. It's not very different from where I grew up, South Florida, which doesn't really have a local lingo/accent either.

[ImRandy]

Interesting. Personally, I would have thought you were racist and going to a convenience store to get some crackers. I would have assumed Paki for packie and Cheese Nips for nips.

We always called them singles and minis. Don't think I've ever heard anyone call them airplane bottles but it makes sense.

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

I think it's more that Boston has a lot of weird lingo compared with the rest of the US. Frankly I don't think the Bay Area has been populated by English speakers long enough to develop much of a local lingo or accent. There's a few things like hella but the difference between here and what we think of as standard American English isn't that different. It's not very different from where I grew up, South Florida, which doesn't really have a local lingo/accent either.

The Bay Area definitely has an accent, at least among young people...it's kind of a Southern twang with an East Coast intensity.

[bigdumbgod]

"If it wasn't for the nips being so good at building ships, the yards would still be open on the clyde."

-Pink Floyd: "The Postwar Dream"


Talk about nips within earshot of an Asian person (at least in CA), and one should expect to get clocked, and then some.

OTOH, "airplane bottles" are well known as those things one must take into concerts held at college campuses that don't sell booze.

[BVitamin]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Talk about nips within earshot of an Asian person (at least in CA), and one should expect to get clocked, and then some.

Nip is a derogatory term for Japanese, it's short for Nipponese. Please don't use it, wherever you are.