# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/81 "2021-01-15T19:59:31Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Actually, “waiting on” to mean “waiting for” was only introduced to NYC about 20-25 years ago, in my experience I moved from NYC in 1995, and I definitely remember hearing it when I still lived there. And I remember complaining about it. And it’s always been “waiting IN line.” ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/82 "2021-01-15T23:33:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@robardin](#): > > > > Or, complaining by saying something like “I’ve been on this line for 45 minutes and it hasn’t moved at all”, do non New Yorkers say “I’ve been in this line for 45 minutes”? > > Speaking as a Midwesterner – yes, absolutely, “I’ve been in this line for 45 minutes” would be how it’d be said here. OK that is one regionalism that is extremely hard-wired into me, then. It’s funny, my mother is not a native English speaker (from China/Taiwan) but she’s lived in NYC for over 50 years. She’s very fluent in English by now, having worked as a corporate computer programmer for most of that time, most of her errors are in the form of dropping or misusing articles like “a” and “the”, or occasionally getting gendered possessives wrong (neither of which are features of Chinese). Earlier this week, my wife and I were talking to her about getting her registered for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. She said she wanted to get one, but didn’t know how to go about finding out where and when to go. “You have to go online,” my wife said. “I am not getting on a line for a COVID-19 shot, that sounds way too risky,” she replied. After a few moments, she said, “Oh, you mean _online_ like with a computer, not getting on [a] line, like first come, first serve!” ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/83 "2021-01-15T23:43:42Z")
Oh, too late to edit to add to my last post, but I just realized from the example of my mother’s mishearing/misunderstanding what the key difference is to a New Yorker between being “in” and “on” [a] line. Being “in” a line simply refers to the physical forming of a lineup of people. So in elementary school, we kids would “get in[to] line” in the courtyard by class, one of two lines by sex/gender and in size order, waiting to enter the school to start the day. (I think my own kids lined up in alphabetical order instead of size order in elementary school - time for a different thread!) Or I guess like in a line for suspect identification by a witness. Or a line of people put up against a wall for execution by firing squad. I don’t want to be “in” a line, thank you! But being “on” a line always implies you’re queued up for some kind of first-come, first-serve type of scenario: ordering food, buying tickets, getting on a bus, getting a vaccine, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/84 "2021-01-16T02:27:14Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Or I guess like in a line for suspect identification by a witness. Or a line of people put up against a wall for execution by firing squad. I don’t want to be “in” a line, thank you! Whereas to everyone not from New York being “on” a line has the implication that you are physically standing on a line drawn or taped onto the floor… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/85 "2021-01-16T02:47:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ending a sentence with “come with” or “go with” as in “We’re going over to da Goat, you wanna come with?” This exists in parts of the upper Midwest, as well, and is thought to be derived from the German verb _mitkommen_ . Most dialects, to my experience, do not use the word “with” there or use the word “along.” Having grown up in Chicagoland, but not having lived there for 40+ years, I _still_ can’t hear how this is incorrect! My kids even point it out to me, yet it sounds fully grammatical to my ear. Funny, that. ---
**Author:** ![Drummond\_Bays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@Drummond\_Bays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drummond_Bays)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/86 "2021-01-16T02:55:50Z")
(Without reading entire thread…) To add to the absolute… Canadianism of it all: It used to be called “Brewer’s Retail” and was changed simply because everyone called it “The Beer Store.” Pretty cool, eh? 😋 ---
**Author:** ![Drummond\_Bays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@Drummond\_Bays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drummond_Bays)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/87 "2021-01-16T03:07:51Z")
Still used somewhat in very CANADIAN circles. I’m talking the pond hockey, Stompin’ Tom, Laker Lager, Coaches’ Corner, maple-syrup-onto-snow, puddle-jumpin’, pepper in beer, Acadian Star, plaid on plaid on plaid covered in denim, CANADIAN crowd. Rare, but still there. Usually older or quite young. Perhaps yound kids imitating grandpa, then such esoteric slang falls to the wayside as they age? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/88 "2021-01-16T03:12:14Z")
I grew up in Chicago and have lived halfway between New York City and Albany ever since. I’m with @needscoffee. Even after all these years “wanna come with?” sounds perfectly natural and I’m always surprised when people look at me funny. And a lot of people here use the “stand on line” expression, and even after all these years it sounds completely weird and I’m always surprised that people use it. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/89 "2021-01-16T03:40:16Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@pulykamell](#): > > > > Ending a sentence with “come with” or “go with” as in “We’re going over to da Goat, you wanna come with?” This exists in parts of the upper Midwest, as well, and is thought to be derived from the German verb _mitkommen_ . Most dialects, to my experience, do not use the word “with” there or use the word “along.” > > Having grown up in Chicagoland, but not having lived there for 40+ years, I _still_ can’t hear how this is incorrect! My kids even point it out to me, yet it sounds fully grammatical to my ear. Funny, that. Native Wisconsinite. It’s totally grammatically correct. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/90 "2021-01-16T04:30:17Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Native Wisconsinite In Wisconsin, traffic lights are called “stop and go lights”. Or more precisely, “stop 'n go lights”. En so? ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/91 "2021-01-16T04:46:53Z")
You know, I know traffic lights is **not** what I called them, but I don’t remember what I **did** call them. But! To prove I’m a Wisconsinite: our pharmacy was Rennebohm’s, or more commonly Rennie’s. Or, if you’re thinking you’re really witty as a kid, Rent A Bomb’s. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2021, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/92 "2021-01-16T04:50:23Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Native Wisconsinite. It’s totally grammatically correct. Indeed, and properly pronounced, “wanna come wit?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/93 "2021-01-16T05:47:55Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > OK that is one regionalism that is extremely hard-wired into me, then. Same! I never realized “on line” was **so** specifically a New York thing until those dialect maps made the rounds like 10 years ago. [![](https://i.imgur.com/OHZhhrD.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/OHZhhrD.png) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/94 "2021-01-16T06:24:35Z")
> [@solost](#): > > The government-run Canadian store where you bought beer was literally called “The Beer Store”. I thought that was kind of funny and uniquely Canadian how on-the-nose it was. Like it was named by Bob and Doug McKenzie. Nitpick: The Beer Store is only in Ontario, and is not government-run. It is a private corporation owned and operated by Ontario’s brewers: last I heard, the owners were Labatt, Molson, and Sleeman’s, though that may have changed. Other provinces have other ways of distributing beer to thirsty consumers, but The Beer Store is uniquely Ontarian. Regardless, The Beer Store is a private enterprise. My source is the fact that I used to work for it, and it was drilled into all of us repeatedly that we were not government employees working for a government enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/95 "2021-01-16T06:28:13Z")
Californiaisms: “The Industry” - showbiz. “Sigalert”- a **big** traffic jam, named after Loyd Sigmon, who invented the SigAlert in 1955 on the radio. There is a lot of slang that gets thrown around but is usually dated by the time us fossils or the MSM get’s ahold of it. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2021, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/96 "2021-01-16T14:50:06Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > The government-run Canadian store where you bought beer was literally called “The Beer Store”. I thought that was kind of funny and uniquely Canadian how on-the-nose it was. Like it was named by Bob and Doug McKenzie. > > Nitpick: The Beer Store is only in Ontario, and is not government-run. It is a private corporation owned and operated by Ontario’s brewers: last I heard, the owners were Labatt, Molson, and Sleeman’s, though that may have changed. Other provinces have other ways of distributing beer to thirsty consumers, but The Beer Store is uniquely Ontarian. > > Regardless, The Beer Store is a private enterprise. My source is the fact that I used to work for it, and it was drilled into all of us repeatedly that we were not government employees working for a government enterprise. Beauty! Thanks for dropping the knowledge! I thought the name “the Beer Store” was a little frivolous for government, eh? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/97 "2021-01-16T15:40:41Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > In Wisconsin, traffic lights are called “stop and go lights”. Or more precisely, “stop 'n go lights”. > > En so? I’m originally from SoCal through grad school then have lived all over … They were colloquially mostly “stop lights”, sometimes “traffic lights”, and rarely “stop 'n go lights”. The [I’m being deliberately precise] term was “traffic signal.” As to the “come with” / “come” / “come along” controversy … Both “Would you like to come with?” and “Would you like to come along?” sound perfectly normal and commonplace to me dating back to childhood. The “… come with” is a bit more informal. “Would you like to come?” sounds not wrong exactly, but awkwardly abrupt. Definitely a distant 3rd in how I’d choose to say it. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/98 "2021-01-16T15:50:48Z")
Oh, cool, they have a “come with” map. The darker the green, the more accepted that construction is: [![](https://jimwood8.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/come_with2.png) ](https://jimwood8.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/come_with2.png) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/99 "2021-01-16T16:00:43Z")
Interesting map. Wherever I’ve lived, it’s been within a lightest green area. But “come with” still sounds normal, albeit informal, to me. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263/100 "2021-01-16T16:02:04Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, cool, they have a “come with” map. The darker the green, the more accepted that construction is: Ha. Thanks for that. I was reading this thread thinking, “wait I know several people who say that, and I’m thousands of miles from Chicago.” I learned the construction in college. Now I wonder if it was imported to the NH university system by students who hail from Chicago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-expressions-you-didnt-always-realize-were-not-widespread/930263.md?page=6)