I have very Irish (northern) accent even though I live in the UK now. I just hope I never lose it.
In AZ we did donuts, we did not cut them.
I took that survey a long time ago and it was really strange to see how wrong some people are about what they say ;D
First off, rain is a good thing. 
Second… I’ve never heard it called anything other than “raining while the sun is out”.
I’ve never met anyone who called the ice cream and milk thing anything other than a milkshake or a shake.
The other thing you mention… I’ve never heard of such a drink so I don’t have a name for it.
WTF is a frappe? How do you pronounce it? “frap” ? “frappay”?
I don’t know if it’s entirely fair on the poor researchers for me to take the study (a linguistics major who took dialectology last semester 
… and furthermore, who grew up in Winnipeg but who has tons of Quebec English lexical items…!)
Is there ANYONE in the Straight Dope populace that says, Whipping Shitties? Anyone? I’m still not over that one!
Frappe … rhymes with cap…
Milk, ice cream, syrup and my favorite has crushed Oreos too!!!
a milk shake is when they use the frappe machine but don’t use ice cream
At least I don’t call a frappe a cabinet (but I know people who do)
tanookie: where do you live? Just wondering. I’ve never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever heard anyone who called something a milkshake that didn’t have ice cream in it.
- What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?
a) soda
b) pop
…etc.
i) dope
Dope?
Dope???
Who in hell says “dope”???
Well, back to the Straight Soda Message Board, I guess.
Opal …
I live in Massachusetts… I’ve always called it a frappe… the restaurants have frappes and milkshakes on the menu… shrug
I had a lot of relatives from the New Bedford area and I always thought they had funny names for things… subs were grinders
tonic for coke/soda and that was the only place you could get pizza with linguica or chorice (said shureese)
I must say I’d never hear of many of the expressions in the survey and Parallax and I had a great laugh over some!
I always thought the grass between the sidewalk and the road was just more sidewalk…
Tanookie: Where I grew up (just outside of Boston), a grinder was a sub that was heated under a broiler. You could only find them in Greek pizzerias.
A frappe has ice cream, a milk shake doesn’t. According to my dictionary, a milk shake is “a thoroughly shaken or blended drink made of milk, a flavoring syrup, and often ice cream”. A frappe is “a partly frozen drink”; or “a thick milk shake”. Thick because of the ice cream.
The first time I visited Montreal I sat down in a café and asked what kind of “tonic” they had. The waiter said “Schweppes” and I asked, “that’s it?” Nod of the head. “All right then.” Next thing I know I’m drinking “quinine water” while the waiter serves a coke to the person at the next table…
I used to pronounce the “L” in “talk” and “walk,” until my freshman year in college. I had a horrible mean friend from Colorado (hey, freshman year, I was lonely) who mocked (malked?) me gigglingly and mercilessly every time I pronounced the L. Finally I told her I’d PROVE to her that you were supposed to pronounce that L, and I pulled out the dictionary and looked up the pronunciation.
Tok.
Wok.
Oh, the humiliation.
Ever since, I’ve left the L out, and when other people say it, it serves to remind me of my shame.
Daniel
raises hand I say it that way. But like Loopus, I’m a Texan so I don’t know if that really counts as being a native southerner.
No one has explained yet exactly how you would pronouce “cot” and “caught” differently. I just can’t imagine it.
Anyone?
Beija
Caht and cawt, of cawse.
Growing up in Seattle, I used to get made fun of for saying “tawk” like my Brooklyn parents, instead of “tok.”
Re frappe. When I arrived in college in Boston, they actually warned us in the student handbook:
The thing you call a milkshake in the rest of the country is called a frappe in Massachusetts, so be careful when ordering.
The flavored milk thing they call a milkshake in Massachusetts is sort of like an egg cream, but I don’t think you can even get it in most of the country.
Cot is just, well, “cot.” Caught is “cawt.” They definitely sound different. To hear the difference, go to www.m-w.com and look up both words. They let you click to hear the pronunciation.
Hmm… you’re not supposed to pronounce the L in talk and walk? Odd. Tokking and wokking sounds stupid to my ears so I’ll continue to mispronounce my words.
So, yeah… I pronounce tock and talk differently while pronouncing cot and caught the same, Libertarian.
Aaaaaaah. I get it. Thanks.
I may pronounce the l in talk and walk but I say em tahk and wahk…
cot is kot and caught is caht
Now no one has mentioned bubblers thus far (or I missed it) My friend was ridiculed relentlessly when she went to Texas to visit her brother and asked where one was
I say, “The Devil’s beating his wife,” when it rains while the sun is shining. I grew up in Western Kentucky.