22 maps that show how americans speak

RealMiniDriver wrote: Oh, they missed one for a group of two or more people: "youse"

My grandma would actually write down 'yous'.

I don't see an area for "yinz" around Pittsburg, which calls the validity of this map into question.

JG Pasterjak wrote: But I love stuff like this. Apparently my dialect puts me somewhere squarely between Toronto and Macon. Seeing as how I was raised in the south by a Canadian I suppose it all makes sense.

JG you remind me of some relatives of one of my friends. They were originally from Jamica (the island, not NY) and moved to Canada...

They managed to combine the two accents... So you would get something like the deep "wel'kom t' Jamica..." and they would add an "eh?" at the end.. first time I heard it, my brain stopped function for a good 2 seconds while it processed that a Dreadlocked Jamican added the "eh?" to the end of his sentence.

For the most part correct, but in this city alone (St Louis), the dialect changes from one to another neighborhood. The change isn't minor, and I know thats not necessarily odd, but its probably more drastic than other cities.

Woody wrote: You people have drive-through liquor stores?!

You people don't? We can get a drive thru margarita or daiquiri, they just leave some of the wrapper over the top of the straw and that makes it a closed container! Never let it be said midwesterners don't know how to party...

Southern Ohio, most stands true...

Explains where my step-grandfather was from as he carried on the devils wife thing.

I did learn to pronounce bowie correctly (as approved by texans)

Although, southern OH had its own weirdness. such as "removing items from the table after a meal" being to "Rid the table".

Lived in Pittsburgh for awhile, there is just some weird vernacular there!

mad_machine wrote:

JG Pasterjak wrote: But I love stuff like this. Apparently my dialect puts me somewhere squarely between Toronto and Macon. Seeing as how I was raised in the south by a Canadian I suppose it all makes sense.

JG you remind me of some relatives of one of my friends. They were originally from Jamica (the island, not NY) and moved to Canada... They managed to combine the two accents... So you would get something like the deep "wel'kom t' Jamica..." and they would add an "eh?" at the end.. first time I heard it, my brain stopped function for a good 2 seconds while it processed that a Dreadlocked Jamican added the "eh?" to the end of his sentence.

I don't have much an an accent in general, but I do occasionally hear myself using such Southern traditions as adding a barely perceptible "R" to the backs of some words ("Did you see that yeller Miata?"), and describing length while always using a singular form ("It's tough for anyone over about six foot tall to fit in a Miata.").

The only real northern tendency I have (which Is pretty much always present) is the tendency to lengthen my otherwise short "O" sounds ("I'm soory, but I can't let you boorow my Miata until tomoorow.").

jg

Duke wrote:

Woody wrote: Subs and Grinders are used interchangeably.

Then you don't know what a grinder is. JG, or Foxtrapper, what's a grinder to you?

See, I eventually came to think that Sub and Grinder were interchangeable as well. The place we used to get "grinders" from (I believe is was actually called "Mr. Pizza and Grinder") had the distinction of serving all their sandwiches chopped up and thrown on the grill. So if you ordered an Italian, it had the two or three types of sliced meat, provolone, lettuce, onions, whatever. But they'd make it on the counter, chop it a few times, then throw the ingredients on the grill and put a little sear on them before dumping them in your bun. Basically every sandwich was a cheesesteak.

So growing up, that was my definition of a "grinder." Then as I got older (and discovered other pizza places) I came to believe it was just another word for sub.

jg

dinger wrote:

Woody wrote: You people have drive-through liquor stores?!

You people don't? We can get a drive thru margarita or daiquiri, they just leave some of the wrapper over the top of the straw and that makes it a closed container! Never let it be said midwesterners don't know how to party...

Wisconsin has enough drunk driving, thank you very much. I can buy beer at 9am to 12am, seven days week. Booze from 9am-9pm, seven days a week too. And that is at gas stations.

I have heard rumors that in New Orleans you can sip on a tasty adult beverage whilst grocery shopping. That just sounds awesome.

dinger wrote:

Woody wrote: You people have drive-through liquor stores?!

You people don't? We can get a drive thru margarita or daiquiri, they just leave some of the wrapper over the top of the straw and that makes it a closed container! Never let it be said midwesterners don't know how to party...

first time I saw a "brewthrew" was in the outerbanks.. I was genuinely horrified and intrigued at the same time.

mad_machine wrote: first time I saw a "brewthrew" was in the outerbanks.. I was genuinely horrified and intrigued at the same time.

A place that has Piggly Wigglys and Cheerwine. What can you expect?

For other odd-ball drive throughs: http://www.oddee.com/item_97138.aspx

In reply to RossD:

E36 M3, only midnight......we can buy any type of alcohol Mon-Sat until 3am. Sunday we can't, unless at an establishment that serves food.....

foxtrapper wrote:

mad_machine wrote: first time I saw a "brewthrew" was in the outerbanks.. I was genuinely horrified and intrigued at the same time.

A place that has Piggly Wigglys and Cheerwine. What can you expect? For other odd-ball drive throughs: http://www.oddee.com/item_97138.aspx

Having seen the "piggly wigglys" trucks in Close Encounters of the 3rd kind, I never suspected they were an actual company

That's some pretty funny stuff. I have partial alignment with the maps, but I grew up in San Francisco and later in Oregon, my dad grew up in San Antonio and my mom in Schenectady, and then there was a certain fondness for British books and music in the house when I was a kid, which threw a spanner into normal language acquisition...

I don't run into them that often, but I seem to rotate through 'crawfish' and 'crayfish' at this point, though I think I used to also refer to them as 'crawdads'. I don't know which one I learned first. This article was being discussed last night at the pub, and it was news to some that all three were the same thing. At least one person answered "langostinos" to the prompting question...

When I was a kid, I grew up saying "soda" and "bag". A friend in middle school browbeat me into saying "pop" at least some of the time, though I never adjusted to "sack". "Coke" as a generic term for soda makes no sense to me. It's actually problematic in terms of conveying meaning, and I therefore abolish the practice starting now

yamaha wrote: In reply to RossD: E36 M3, only midnight......we can buy any type of alcohol Mon-Sat until 3am. Sunday we can't, unless at an establishment that serves food.....

You see, we are good enough drinkers to have already purchased everything we need by midnight, or just go to the bars. Can't buy booze on Sundays unless your at a restaurant! Hahaha

Our local Piggly Wiggly has a pigmobile:

David S. Wallens wrote:

JG Pasterjak wrote: Aren't there some specific regional terms for liquor stores or convenience stores? Maybe in the northeast? jg

I never heard the term package store until moving to Georgia. In New York, we called them liquor stores--not that I was old enough to purchase anything, of course.

In Bahstin, you run down in your cahh to the packie to buy your booze.

JG Pasterjak wrote: The place we used to get "grinders" from (I believe is was actually called "Mr. Pizza and Grinder") had the distinction of serving all their sandwiches chopped up and thrown on the grill.

Well, that's pretty good! Grinders should never be served cold - if it is, that's a hoagie or sub, not a grinder.

Most places where I grew up would throw the whole sandwich in the pizza oven to warm it up, melt the cheese, and toast the roll. But a few places did it like you're describing.

Sounds like you're living right...

Swank Force One wrote:

David S. Wallens wrote:

JG Pasterjak wrote: Aren't there some specific regional terms for liquor stores or convenience stores? Maybe in the northeast? jg

I never heard the term package store until moving to Georgia. In New York, we called them liquor stores--not that I was old enough to purchase anything, of course.

In Bahstin, you run down in your cahh to the packie to buy your booze.

I grew up in Pennsylvania, where they are called "state stores" because all liquor stores are franchised by the state government.

JG Pasterjak wrote: I don't have much an an accent in general

I thought I was the same way, until a very attractive waitress in a Charleston eatery decided I was a Hoosier from just speaking.....FML. She was good at it, although my adopted uncle baffled her(He's from Chile, but lives in SC)

ransom wrote: When I was a kid, I grew up saying "soda" and "bag". A friend in middle school browbeat me into saying "pop" at least some of the time, though I never adjusted to "sack". "Coke" as a generic term for soda makes no sense to me. It's actually problematic in terms of conveying meaning, and I therefore abolish the practice starting now

Learned about the "coke" thing firsthand when I was in the great state of West Virginia.
IHOP waitress: "What'll ya'll have ta drank honey?"

Me: "A coke"

IHOP waitress: "What kind of coke?"

Me: "Ummmm . . . the brown, fizzy kind?"

IHOP waitress: "Oh, so you want a coke coke."

Me: "Ummmm sure."

BTW - is the "honey"/"sweetie" thing a West Virginia thing or an IHOP thing?

I'm usually really good at placing accents. Generally, the further east you go, the stronger and more ridiculous they sound (although the SoCal accent is kind of annoying).

I have a hardcore hoser accent.

kazoospec wrote: BTW - is the "honey"/"sweetie" thing a West Virginia thing or an IHOP thing?

I think it is a diner thing - doesn't seem to be confined by geography or brand.

I usually order a 'cola' to sidestep the Coke vs. Pepsi battle. Unfortunately that seems to baffle them more often than not.

JG Pasterjak wrote: Aren't there some specific regional terms for liquor stores or convenience stores? Maybe in the northeast?

In Detroit they are called party stores.

bludroptop wrote: To what do you attach your garden hose? Spigot? Tap? Hose bib? Would you use that same hose to fill a bucket or a pail?

When I moved down South, I heard the term "hose pipe" for the first time, and it confounded the heck out of me. In my engineering mind, a hose is a flexible tube, whereas a pipe is rigid. You'll also hear "drop cord" a lot, which apparently means any kind of extension cord. When I first heard it, I thought they were talking about a drop light, which is a light on a cord that you pull down to work on your engine.