# Regional expressions you didn't always realize were not widespread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263 "2021-01-11T15:00:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/301 "2021-02-19T19:06:48Z")
My theory is that Otto was sipping a Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet while taking the quiz… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/302 "2021-02-19T19:09:28Z")
> [@blabbermeister](#): > > I assumed “Downtown” always meant the busiest part of the city, but that’s called “Uptown” in Charlotte, NC But that term IS widespread. Charlotte is the exception, not the rule. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/303 "2021-02-19T20:22:52Z")
Yeah, the first time I took it I think I got Phoenix, Tempe, Chicago with least similar as Worcester, Providence, Jersey City. This time it has my most similar as Rockford, Aurora, Chicago and least similar as Jersey City, Philadelphia, NYC. I lived in Illinois as a young child, spent most of my life in Arizona, and now live in New England. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/304 "2021-02-19T21:00:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > You don’t brown the ground beef before you mix it in and bake it? That seems…not right. It isn’t right to not brown the ground beef. Bring _that_ to a church potluck and you’d be laughed out and for good reason. 71 years and accruing of Iowa girl. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/305 "2021-02-19T21:50:59Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The Thruway is the Thruway. (New York State Thruway, that is.) And the Pike is either the Mass Pike or the Maine Turnpike. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/306 "2021-02-19T21:59:44Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > And the Pike is either the Mass Pike or the Maine Turnpike. And apparently they’re both still actual turnpikes, in the sense of toll roads. The Thruway was originally supposed to stop being a toll road after its original building was paid off. Didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/307 "2021-02-19T22:44:35Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > My mother regularly made one with canned tuna, rice, onion, carrot, and yes, cream soup. She didn’t like topping it, but the recipe called for mashed up potato chips (Old Dutch brand, of course). Delicious! This is of course, _tuna hot dish_. Or, in Iowa, tuna casserole. The crushed potato chip topping of course is the best part and must be done. Peas, but not carrots, are the only correct vegetable addition. ETA: no rice! Never rice! Only some kind of noodles. Don’t make me come out there! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/308 "2021-02-19T22:52:11Z")
> [@Drummond\_Bays](#): > > Sodapop isn’t used by kids, more like old ladies with names like Mildred, Constance, and Gertrude! Ahem…Constance? You gotta problem with Constances? We are not all wizened up cranky old farts. I’m not cranky…except about this. Signed/ BippityBoppityBoo, aka Constance Helen when posing as a grownup ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/309 "2021-02-19T23:47:49Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > @digs It’s always great to go by Schuster’s, Goldman’s, Prange’s, Farm & Fleet, Fleet Farm, da Kwik-Trip. > > Here’s some more stuff you can hear in our region, from the Manitowoc Minute’s Charlie Berens. > > [Stuff Wisconsinites say](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqefhF4t4XE) > [more stuff Wisconsinites say](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcQYVKkMA9Y) He called it Leinenkugel, not Leinies. Weird. > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > You don’t brown the ground beef before you mix it in and bake it? That seems…not right. > > It isn’t right to not brown the ground beef. Bring _that_ to a church potluck and you’d be laughed out and for good reason. > > 71 years and accruing of Iowa girl. My friend taught me the recipe. Merrill, Wisconsin born and bred. How about Italian Fries? I get blank looks her in Tucson when I mention them, but I used to buy frozen Italian fries, so labelled, made by Tombstone Pizza. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/310 "2021-02-19T23:52:52Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > How about Italian Fries? I get blank looks her in Tucson when I mention them, but I used to buy frozen Italian fries, so labelled, made by Tombstone Pizza. I’m from Green Bay, and I’d not heard of this. This site suggests it’s a northern Wisconsin thing, and it looks and sounds delicious. > **[Wisconsin Style Pizza/Cheese/Italian Fries Recipe | sherpa](https://www.nickpisca.com/sherpa/?p=626&cpage=1)** ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/311 "2021-02-19T23:57:50Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’d almost forgotten about this Wisconsin quirk. But I had a roommate who’d ask if you needed anything because he was “goin’ by the store”. I use it as well, here in Chicago. I don’t _think_ it’s a personal quirk. I’m pretty sure the people I know will say stuff like “I’m going by my parents’ house” instead of “to my parents’ house.” I mean, both sound fine to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/312 "2021-02-19T23:58:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@kitap](#): > > > > How about Italian Fries? I get blank looks her in Tucson when I mention them, but I used to buy frozen Italian fries, so labelled, made by Tombstone Pizza. > > I’m from Green Bay and I’d not heard of this. This site suggests it’s a northern Wisconsin thing, and it looks and sounds delicious. > > [https://www.nickpisca.com/sherpa/?p=626&cpage=1](https://www.nickpisca.com/sherpa/?p=626&cpage=1) Huh. Looking at that, maybe it was Jack’s and not Tombstone - it’s been over 20 years. They are delicious. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/313 "2021-02-20T00:05:07Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Don’t make me come out there! I double dog-dare you. 😄 It’s tuna-rice hot dish and it never, ever holds peas because my mother was smarter than the pea crowd. She even made her cold tuna salad without peas because she knew that they just don’t add flavor that way. She used pineapple for the cold salad and green beans or lentils for the hot dish. Tuna noodle hot dish is one with cream of chicken soup. Tuna rice hot dish uses cheddar cheese soup. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/314 "2021-02-20T00:25:23Z")
I use it in NYC, too - but I think it might be a little different. It’s always someone’s house when it’s the destination - if someone told me they were “going by” any other place, it would imply that they weren’t actually going there, but were passing nearby and can stop there if someone needs them to. My husband might say " I’m going by the cleaners- need me to drop anything off? " when his actual destination is the bank across the street from the cleaners. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/315 "2021-02-20T01:21:00Z")
In BC, 1960s-70s, the terms for male underwear were “ginch,” “gaunch,” and “gaunchies” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/316 "2021-02-20T15:46:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@kitap](#): > > > > How about Italian Fries? I get blank looks her in Tucson when I mention them, but I used to buy frozen Italian fries, so labelled, made by Tombstone Pizza. > > I’m from Green Bay, and I’d not heard of this. This site suggests it’s a northern Wisconsin thing, and it looks and sounds delicious. > > [https://www.nickpisca.com/sherpa/?p=626&cpage=1](https://www.nickpisca.com/sherpa/?p=626&cpage=1) Kitap, c’mon man…If you’re going to mention something as delicious-sounding as “Italian fries” you should explain yourself better with a recipe post or at least a description of what it is. Thanks for the follow up, kenobi\_65! ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/317 "2021-02-20T16:14:21Z")
I figured this was a statewide thing and you’d know about it. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/318 "2021-02-20T16:51:30Z")
No problem, kenobi\_65 saved me the whole 10 seconds I would have had to spend googling it if he didn’t 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/319 "2021-02-20T18:01:05Z")
“Wisconsin nice”! _fistbump_ ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/320 "2021-02-20T18:09:10Z")
As opposed to “Minnesota Nice But Secretly Passive-Aggressive”… ;~) Cite: named it that after hearing in-laws from _Meeny-tSOH’-tah_ complaining about “Minnesota nice to your face”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263.md?page=17)