# Disappearing New England regional terms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189 "2006-08-10T18:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/21 "2006-08-11T13:41:40Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I forgot the best regionalism: “wikkid pissuh”! (a term meaning something really good). Haven’t heard it in years! [/QUOTE] That’s funny. I could _swear_ I just heard it yesterday at 5:04pm. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/22 "2006-08-11T13:50:03Z")
**Cal** , all I can say is I ordered a frappe as recently as last week, and no one looked at me funny. (Actually, I had a spuckie last night, though I didn’t call it that. If I dared, I’d order one just to see the reaction). “So don’t I,” on the other hand, is a new one on me. Re: Robin Hood’s barn – I haven’t heard the expression **Annie-Xmas** gives, though I have heard the expression, “She looked like she just stepped out of Robin Hood’s barn” to mean “she was dressed to the nines.” Only in New England does Robin Hood have a barn, apparently. Anybody ever heard the phrase “When Christ was a corporal”? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/23 "2006-08-11T13:55:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Anybody ever heard the phrase “When Christ was a corporal”? I didn’t even know he was in the Army. I’d figure Him as a Conscientious Objector. If He couldn’t get C.O. status, whio could? Never heard that one. I’ve heard “when Hector was a Pup”, but not as a New Englandism. And that one seems weird to me, too. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/24 "2006-08-11T14:03:07Z")
I was at least seven or eight before I realized that Mass Ave was Massachusetts Avenue. It came as a great shock to me. My dad is from Chicago, so I don’t use all the New Englandisms, but most of them. It’s a frappe, because a milkshake is something different. We always called it a package store, not a packy, but I don’t see that one dying out. My boyfriend, from Maine, looks at me strangly when I say " 'round Robin Hood’s barn," but I see nothing wrong with that expression. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/25 "2006-08-11T14:34:07Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Well, I haven’t heard the term “packy” in ages, and it’s been years since I heard “frappe”. You may say they’re not going extinct, but my experience is that they’re gone already. [/QUOTE] This summer my 2 yo and I have been sampling the local non-chain ice cream shops around here in Southwestern NH, and I promise you that every menu on the wall has frappes listed. Not milkshakes. My friends and I still say packy, but I’m going to be 31 tomorrow! Yikes. Guess we could now be called the old guys. OTOH, I agree that tonic is on its way out. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/26 "2006-08-11T14:56:08Z")
No one’s mentioned “jimmies” yet? There are the occasional bar colloquialisms, like requesting a “Bally” (Ballantine Ale) or Miller “High Life”. “Tonic” was on the way out when I was growing up 40+ years ago; virtually no kids used it, but the adults would occasionally use it. I still say that I’m going to the “packy”, but more as a joke than anything else. I’m guessing that “frappe” will still be around for years. “Jimmies”, too. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/27 "2006-08-11T14:59:23Z")
Let’s not forget “State Lines,” the only potato chip worth eating! ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/28 "2006-08-11T15:04:56Z")
[QUOTE=Plynck] No one’s mentioned “jimmies” yet? [/QUOTE] By jimmies you mean those multicolored things you sprinkle on you ice cream? That’s what they are in my house, anyway. I actually didn’t know they had any other name. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/29 "2006-08-11T15:14:36Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] By jimmies you mean those multicolored things you sprinkle on you ice cream? That’s what they are in my house, anyway. I actually didn’t know they had any other name. [/QUOTE] They are known as “sprinkles” to the rest of the civilized world. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/30 "2006-08-11T15:22:25Z")
Learn something every day. Here’s another one: do other parts of the U.S. say, “not for nothin’, but…” I’m having trouble explaining what the phrase even means, but it seems to be used as a prelude to some skeptical or cynical remark. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/31 "2006-08-11T15:23:06Z")
Robin Hood’s barn? I heard it as Robinson’s barn. You can always tell when someone is a newbie to the area when they order a frappe by pronouncing it in some odd pseudo-French way. Usually with two syllables. And then there’s “regular” coffee. Meaning two creams and two sugars. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/32 "2006-08-11T15:24:14Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Here’s another one: do other parts of the U.S. say, “not for nothin’, but…” I’m having trouble explaining what the phrase even means, but it seems to be used as a prelude to some skeptical or cynical remark. [/QUOTE] Or just “on the contrary.” ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/33 "2006-08-11T15:27:18Z")
[QUOTE=Merhouse] I spent 4 fun years in RI in the 70’s, and might even still be there if someone would have given me a job 🙂 Do people now sit next to each other, or are they still sitting side by each? BTW, The Grinder Man was the most popular person at URI. He was also probably the wealthiest 🙂 [/QUOTE] I think “side by each” is a Woonsocketism. What I really will never get used to is people saying “please?” when they mean, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you repeat what you just said?” It always sounds rude to me. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/34 "2006-08-11T15:33:57Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] And then there’s “regular” coffee. Meaning two creams and two sugars. [/QUOTE] I read in a book on American food that “Boston coffee” means coffee extra light. It amazed me, since I lived in Boston and never heard the expression. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/35 "2006-08-11T15:57:59Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Do people in D.C. say all the syllables in “Massachusetts Avenue”? It seems a waste of time and breath. [/QUOTE] I may be remembering wrong, but I’m pretty sure that was “Mass Ave” as well. And let’s not confuse crazy Bahston lingo with “New England regionalisms”. 😉 > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I am not from New England but I live here. I have no idea how common this phrase was but I wish it would die out. I ever heard my wife use it once and recoiled in horror: > > Regular Person: “I just love snow skiing over Christmas” > > New Englander: “So don’t I.” I’m getting to where not only is this not jarring anymore, but I am thisclose to using it myself. :eek: Somebody stop me! And “jimmies” I heard first from someone raised in the midwest. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/36 "2006-08-11T16:43:56Z")
What about our local beah? You know, “Nasty Gansett”. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/37 "2006-08-11T18:55:08Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Anybody ever heard the phrase “When Christ was a corporal”? [/QUOTE] I think I’ve heard “since Jesus was a baby” but I’m not sure if that was particularly New England. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/38 "2006-08-11T19:29:51Z")
I’ve always considered jimmies to be chocolate sprinkles. All chocolate. None of them there colored thingies. Also, I grew up saying “glove compartment” for what I gather a lot of people call the glove box in a car. Not that anyone actually keeps gloves in there. ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/39 "2006-08-11T19:32:59Z")
[QUOTE=Caricci] I think “side by each” is a Woonsocketism. [/QUOTE] Nah. It’s from the Canucks (French Canadians) that came down. (Well, that’s what I’ve heard.) I guess somehow that’s a more litteral translation of the French phrase. And, Nasty Gansett ain’t our local beeh no moah. They make it in Rochestah, Nu Yawk. Our local is [_Newpaht Stahm_.](http://www.newportstorm.com/index.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Zog\_10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c57346/32.png) [@Zog\_10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zog_10)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189/40 "2006-08-11T19:44:02Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] I’ve always considered jimmies to be chocolate sprinkles. All chocolate. None of them there colored thingies. [/QUOTE] Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhh! I’m pretty sure the official position of ice cream people is that jimmies are always chocolate only; and sprinkles are rainbow colored. So the phrases “Rainbow sprinkles” and “Chocolate Jimmies” are redundant. “Chocolate Sprinkles” is an abomination 😉😉😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disappearing-new-england-regional-terms/368189.md?page=3)