# Adelphia subjecting entire nation to their Pennsylvania dialect **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051 "2005-01-16T18:53:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/21 "2005-01-17T01:06:30Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Is this a recent thing? I was born in NE PA (Erie) in 1969, learned to speak there, lived there until 1980, but that construct sounds horribly wrong to my ears. Make that NW PA… ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/22 "2005-01-17T02:05:35Z")
I grew up in southern Ohio, my mother in western Pennsylvania. We both say “the lawn needs mowed” and the like. It’s always sounded perfectly fine to me, but when I went to college I discovered that some people consider it vulgar. These people, however, also drink a mysterious substance called soda, so I just ignore them. I keep drinking my pop, and after I’m done, the glass needs washed. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/23 "2005-01-17T03:28:20Z")
A handy [guide](http://www.coalregion.com/Speak/speakA.htm). Re: Bots Dots. I had heard that they were first developed at PSU. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/24 "2005-01-17T04:11:05Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Smear me all over with jelly a piece of bread. Uh-oh! Naughty thoughts! ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/25 "2005-01-17T04:19:05Z")
> [@E. Thorp](#): > > I keep drinking my pop, and after I’m done, the glass needs washed. Two words/phrases bug me the most here in Ohio, and there they are. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/26 "2005-01-17T05:11:41Z")
I’m with **E. Thorp**. I grew up in Ohio, and when I read the OP, I thought, “What’s the matter with _that_ sentence?!?!” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/27 "2005-01-17T07:27:08Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > Uh-oh! Naughty thoughts! Bad Regallag! Bad!! ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/28 "2005-01-17T13:57:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Smear me all over with jelly a piece of bread. I read that how it should be understood and didn’t really worry much about it. Guess crazy German sentence order has gotten to me. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/29 "2005-01-17T16:48:05Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > A handy [guide](http://www.coalregion.com/Speak/speakA.htm). > > Re: Bots Dots. I had heard that they were first developed at PSU. Regarding “all” meaning “all gone”, the dictionary is undoubtedly correct when it says it comes from PA Dutch (German). In standard German today you’d say “Das Milch ist alle” meaning “The milk’s all gone.” ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/30 "2005-01-17T16:48:46Z")
I have family in Gettysburg, and learned a new one recently. Me: Where are the chips? Cousin: The chips’re all. Me: … All? All what? Cousin: … All. Dad: \ That means they’re gone. “All gone, all done… All” ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/31 "2005-01-17T17:10:17Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Regarding “all” meaning “all gone”, the dictionary is undoubtedly correct when it says it comes from PA Dutch (German). In standard German today you’d say “Das Milch ist alle” meaning “The milk’s all gone.” My step-dad’s family is from PA, and I had to learn that when Grammie said “the milk’s all”…that was the end of the sentence! Oh, and she called elastic “gum”. “The gum in these shorts is give out.” ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051/32 "2005-01-17T17:17:36Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > In standard German today you’d say “Das Milch ist alle” meaning “The milk’s all gone.” Nitpick: Only if you want to use the wrong article. Should be “Die Milch”. I don’t feel bad, because I’d want to be corrected too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adelphia-subjecting-entire-nation-to-their-pennsylvania-dialect/285051.md?page=1)