# "Do what" and other regionalisms that make you see red (too mild for the Pit) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616 "2011-03-22T15:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/81 "2011-03-28T18:45:05Z")
A lot of this thread seems to be singling out Pittsburgh ☹ I don’t really have a accent from there but I do proudly say “needs cleaned” and “needs changed”. I think even in Pittsburgh the accent is exclusive to a few areas. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/82 "2011-03-28T19:28:58Z")
I don’t think this is regional, but one that I’ve noticed myself hating lately is my co-workers saying “girrrrrrrl” every time they start a sentence. That might have more to do with the people saying it than the word itself, though. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Not a regionalism, just general bad grammar, but I LOATHE, “If I would have.” Ugh. “If I HAD. IF I HAD.” Guilty, and completely unapologetic. Is this really regional, though? > [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Some southerners use “mash” as a verb when referring to using a phone’s dial pad - not dial, or hit, or even tap (touch screens). “Mash 867-5309.” A subset of the same group calls this \* not a star or asterisk but “the splat”. So you can occasionally hear someone say “mash the splat”. I have never heard an asterisk referred to as a splat, and have lived in Tennessee for most of my life. Also, no one would ever “mash 867-5309”, they would dial it. They’d mash the individual buttons or keys, though. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/83 "2011-03-28T20:06:14Z")
I’ve mentioned this one before, but it really annoys me the way English people use “sorted” as a stand in for any completed act. “I’ve got dinner sorted.” What, you had it in the wrong order? > [@echo6160](#): > > Also, a West Virginia thingy: “_Whenever_ I was in my car today, …blah blah blah”. No, it’s “WHEN I was in my car today”. Not whenever, just **when**. When and Whenever are two different words, and have different uses…different applications. “Whenever you find yourself in a car” is acceptable. “Whenever I find myself in a car” is acceptable. “Whenever I was 5 years old” is not. > > God I hate that soooo bad. Heh. My good buddy (who grew up in Pittsburgh) does this. “Whenever I went to the store, I forgot my keys.” Me: “You do that every time?” ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/84 "2011-03-28T22:21:37Z")
Well, I am happy to be able to piss some of “ya’ll” off. As a former Texan, I will tell you that I am going to quit reading this thread. Cuz, I’m fixin to fix dinner. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/85 "2011-03-29T01:57:35Z")
> [@Hades](#): > > I have never heard an asterisk referred to as a splat, and have lived in Tennessee for most of my life. Also, no one would ever “mash 867-5309”, they would dial it. They’d mash the individual buttons or keys, though. Okay, it may well not be a Tennessee thing. I was once a customer service rep for one of the big wireless companies. I took about 5000 phone calls during my employment of which anywhere from 1/2 to a 1/3 were from the south. I heard splat often enough. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/86 "2011-03-29T02:17:56Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > Well, I am happy to be able to piss some of “ya’ll” off. > > As a former Texan, I will tell you that I am going to quit reading this thread. > > Cuz, I’m fixin to fix dinner. 😃 Sorry, I didn’t pay you no attention, do what? 😃 Gleena, Former Mississippian ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/87 "2011-03-29T03:16:19Z")
That’s okay. Most folks don’t pay me no nevermind anyhow. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/88 "2011-03-29T04:25:03Z")
> [@Aeris](#): > > A lot of this thread seems to be singling out Pittsburgh ☹ > > I don’t really have a accent from there but I do proudly say “needs cleaned” and “needs changed”. I think even in Pittsburgh the accent is exclusive to a few areas. Same here. Better yet, do you say, “needs redd up”? That’s the REAL test. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/89 "2011-03-29T04:28:58Z")
> [@Hades](#): > > Guilty, and completely unapologetic. Is this really regional, though? No, which is what I said in my post… ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/90 "2011-03-29T04:57:09Z")
That’s what happens when you have a dozen tabs open at once. I don’t multitask well. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/91 "2011-03-29T13:07:53Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Some southerners use “mash” as a verb when referring to using a phone’s dial pad - not dial, or hit, or even tap (touch screens). “Mash 867-5309.” My dad always “mashed” buttons. He was from the mountains of Virginia. “Mash the start button on the mircowave.” If you saw the size of his hands the word would seem appropriate. My mom, the real southerner, eventually picked up the habit of saying “mash” instead of “press”. ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/92 "2011-03-29T15:56:17Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Same here. Better yet, do you say, “needs redd up”? That’s the REAL test. Nope. It’s strange actually, of all the members of my family the only ones I consider to have a “Yinzer accent” are my aunt and uncle and they live closer to the city. But for the most part, my parents don’t have one. You can hear it slip out on certain words such as my mom usually says cAAr for car and since I’ve moved away from the area I notice it more when I talk to them on the phone. The only regionlism that seems to have stuck to me is the “needs cleaned” thing. Didn’t even know it was a regionalism until about 4 years ago. Said it all my life. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/93 "2011-03-30T03:26:41Z")
> [@Normal\_Phase](#): > > Upper midwest (I think) or maybe just Minnesota: “come with”. I heard this one all the time from a college friend. > > “Hey, Normal Phase, we’re going into town, want to come with?” > > Aaaaahhhhh! I never got used to it. Chicago - very common usage. I said it to someone in from California and they laughed and said they could tell I was from Chicago! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/94 "2011-03-30T05:06:02Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > A subset of the same group calls this \* not a star or asterisk but “the splat”. So you can occasionally hear someone say “mash the splat”. Okay, first of all, when you have the last word of a sentence in quotation marks, put the final punctuation there as well, okay? [del]Good, we can get along.[/del] I mean, “thank you very much.” That said, I LOVE the idea of using “splat” to refer to the asterisk! It’s like they’re describing what’s left of a small bug after someone has squashed it with a hammer, or a rolled-up newspaper. What term do they use for the octothorpe (#)? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/95 "2011-03-30T05:55:04Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Okay, first of all, when you have the last word of a sentence in quotation marks, put the final punctuation there as well, okay? [del]Good, we can get along.[/del] I mean, “thank you very much.” I’m so embarrassed. I always type my comments according to MLA guidelines, in which case I’m correct about the placement of the punctuation, but my mistake here was forgetting to attribute the quote! So you can occasionally hear someone say “mash the splat” (Pedant 4). ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616/96 "2011-03-30T19:45:41Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > That’s okay. Most folks don’t pay me no nevermind **NOHOW**. 😛 I fixed that for you. 🙂 I like regionalisms. I’ll steal them when I like them enough. But I’ll never be able to say “I’m waiting ON LINE.” **I** wait IN line, and always will. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-what-and-other-regionalisms-that-make-you-see-red-too-mild-for-the-pit/575616.md?page=4)