What is brogue to you? What specific word identifies you as linguistically and culturally unique geographically?
Word and location:
*Kindney-gart-ner[i/], Toledo, OH/NW Ohio
Excuse my bad code…
Kindney-gart-ner (Kindergartener)
Tet-nichal (Technical) - Florida
Wicked.
Fuss’-tray-ted (Frustrated) - South TX (Coastal Bend)
Not being a native Texan, hearing people say this frustrates the heck out of me!
devilsknew writes:
> Kindney-gart-ner, Toledo, OH/NW Ohio
I grew up in northwest Ohio, and I’ve never heard that pronunciation.
Well, it’s anecdotal, I’ve heard it used often around these parts. But you’re right it may not be entirely representative or definitive
Party store used in the context of “conveniennce store” - Detroit.
Company names as posessives (Kmart’s, Wal-Mart’s, Target’s, Home Depot’s,) - Buffalo and Detroit.
[number of road] Highway - Kansas City.
Preceding nouns with dat der, dem der or dose der, succeeding many nounds with [d]der**, and ending all sentences with der (Get me dose der keys der for dat der car der) - eastern suburban Buffalo.
The [number of freeway/expressway/Interstate - Southern California, Buffalo, Toronto.
Anglos who swear in Spanish - El Paso, southern and central New Mexico
Car needs washed, laundry needs dried, etc - Pittsburgh, Youngstown
Inflection implying an opposite meaning for a stateement (saying “Yes it is” with the inflection of “No it isn’t”) - exurban and rural blue collar.
“Well.” in lieu of “Oh, I see” or “Un hunh” or similar interjections for “I hear what you’re saying.” A proper Peorian will end with an up inflection – leaving the listener to believe that the Peorian is going to continue the observation but has merely paused in the phrase. It slows the conversation quite a bit.
Seattle and WA in general: “spendy” for “expensive.” As in: “That new Ford Mustang is pretty spendy.”
MinnesotAH (you put the accent on the last syllABLE, as Scandanavian speakers are wont to do) and you use “Uffdah” as an expression of surprise.
“What do you want, an egg in your beer?” Okay, it’s not a word, but it’s popular in Buffalo, NY and many Polish communities. An egg served in your beer is a luxury (and actually tastier than it sounds). I last heard someone use the expression with a pitcher at an Everett Aquasox (A level minor league) game and I asked him if he was from Buffalo? “Tonawanda,” came the response.
Best regards,
Mooney252
Everyone knows about “autoroute,” “depanneur,” “regie”, “cegep”, and so forth, but there are some interesting little francisms that aren’t quite so well known. For example, I once pegged someone on this message board as a former Montrealer because he used the word “subvention” for “subsidy.”
Boy, if I had a nickel for everytime my old man said this to me … well, I’d have a stack of nickels, anyways. He went to college in Fredonia, NY – not all that far away from Buffalo, relatively speaking. I use it now, and everybody looks at me as if I’m mad. Of course, I also say, “Cite?” and that gets me looks, too.
My home town is East Hampton, NY, and we have a language anomaly: the true locals speak English in an accent that very closely follows the Elizabethan speech patterns of the original settlers. Thus, an expression of surprise and delight could be registered as sounding like “Boy Jaysus, they-ah, Bub! Aynchoo s’m punkins?”
Us Saskatchewanians can be picked out from the crowd by calling chocolate milk Vico and saying bunny hug for hooded sweatshirt. Oh, and Eversharp for mechanical pencil.
Ontarians who come west can be picked out by their calling sweat pants track pants, talking about cottages instead of cabins, and getting the hydro hooked up in their house instead of power or electricity. Northern or rural Ontarians can be picked out by their use of “youse guys.”
Also, you can tell if a teenager or young adult is from Southern Ontario because they often say “bad” for “bed.”
For some weird reason, Anglophone native Montrealers pronounce “merry” and “Mary” differently, unlike all other anglophone Canadians to my knowledge.
Me. Sorry.
Matt, today I called a thing of shelves a ‘ranging’. Oops.
Luh’vull.
That’s all I gotta say for you to know where I’m from, if you’re from where I’m from.
Also: “What high school did you go to?” and “It’s right down there where the _____ used to be.” Those two utterances will pretty much peg you as being from Luh’vull.
Vlayad/Eegore
They are also some of the few people on the planet who can pronounce “Banff” properly (I don’t know if it’s just the Anglophones or Francophones, too). It’s a wonder to behold.
Whoa, featherlou, now I’m curious. How ought Banff be pronounced?
I just stood on the Devil’s strip to open my car door. Where am I from?
Improper use of the word “fixing”.
As in: I’m fixin’ to go to the store.
Or anyone using the word washeteria. It means “laundromat”.
Southeast Texas, on the Gulf coast.