# Regional idiomatic idiosyncracies (US especially) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461 "2002-11-12T18:43:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/21 "2002-11-12T21:58:38Z")
Here in Missour (aka Missourah) we have perfected the use of the unnecessary terminal preposition. “Where is it at?” “Where are you going to?” ---
**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:** [November 12, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/22 "2002-11-12T22:14:25Z")
Well, there’s kiddy-corner vs caddy-corner (or is it kitty-corner/katty-corner?) Teeter-totter vs see saw. Bucket vs pail. In New Orleans, some folk say “Where ya at?” for “How are you.” It can be quite confusing. Some Londeners I know tend to use the construction “I would have thought so” for “I think so.” Seems a bit verbose and conveys a slightly different meaning to me. There’s the Bostonian “wicked” or “wicked pissah,” of course. Outside America and the US, there’s a notable distinction between college and university. Such that I was surprised to learn that when I say “I went to university at …” Americans look at me funny. I coulda sworn we talked that way back in the States, but I guess not. It’s “I went to college at so-and-so university.” Hoagie vs Grinder vs Sub vs Po’ Boy vs Torpedo vs … A pick-up game of lob baseball in my neighborhood in Chicago was known as “Lob League,” as in “Anybody up for some lob league?” Culinarywise, you also have Buffalo’s “Beef on Weck,” and, of course, Buffalo chicken wings are simply known as wings out there. In Chicago, we have a “clincher” which is a 16-inch softball. (The only true softball :)) We also say “You wanna come with?” For “Would you like to come along.” A gangway is the space between two buildings. We also use “goes” for “says,” As in, “He goes ‘you dented my car,’ and I go, ‘naw, you ran into me.’” I don’t know whether that’s regional or not. “A Polish” is a polish sausage. I’ve been told that “pop” is the correct word in Chicago, but I will contest that, as I know many long-time Chicagoans who have used the word “soda” all their lives. “Frunchroom” or “frontroom” for living room. In South Africa, I discovered that traffic lights are known officially as “robots.” ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/23 "2002-11-12T22:14:38Z")
In Chicago, people drop the object of the preposition in the phrase ‘come with.’ “I’m going to the store.” “Can I come with?” Be a transplanted Virginian, it niggles at me, and now my daughter has started to do it, and it’s really ticking me off. I might could list a few Virginia-isms, but I don’t think I will. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/24 "2002-11-12T22:26:06Z")
Lots of interesting regionalisms here… [http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect/maps.php](http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect/maps.php) ---
**Author:** ![chm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@chm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/25 "2002-11-12T22:40:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \* > \*\*Some people have a soda. > Some people have pop. > Others have a coke, or a 7-up (i.e., refer to it by the brand name). > \*\* I grew up in Montreal, and a glass of carbonated sweet stuff was always a “soft drink”. That gets me uncomprehending looks in Toronto. A collection of stores in one building was always a “shopping centre”, and until I moved, I though that “mall” was only used in movies or on television. ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/26 "2002-11-12T23:25:39Z")
People give me weird looks when I talk about “dudes.” “That dude was really pissing me off.” “Whats up dude.” “Dude, umm, wheres my car?” I grew up in Virginia Beach, and now Im in the western part of the state. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/27 "2002-11-12T23:28:55Z")
I grew up in Georgia. My college roommates in my freshman year were from Connecticut and California, respectively. While we were leaving our dorm one day, the janitor (a Southerner) asked us to “Pull the door to.” My roommates looked puzzled, but I understood the Southernism for “Close the door.” Other Southernisms: “I’m fixing to\_\_\_\_” means “I’m about to\_\_\_\_\_” or “I’m preparing to\_\_\_\_\_” “Carry me to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_” means “Give me a ride to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_” ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/28 "2002-11-12T23:32:12Z")
Grew up in southern Iowa here. We said: Pop unless the name was specified. Soda’s have ice cream in them. Lunch is at noon, dinner is in the evening, although it may be supper too. In line. The couch was casual, the sofa was in the “good room,” davenport is a city. Going up meant north, down meant south and out would be east or west. ---
**Author:** ![dreamlab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@dreamlab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamlab)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/29 "2002-11-12T23:33:32Z")
Growing up in Kentucky, my favorite term was “libel,” which as used there means an increased likelihood of occurence: “You try and tamper with your neighbor’s motion-sensor floodlight and you’re libel to get shot!” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/30 "2002-11-12T23:34:46Z")
Oh yeas, and older Southerners eat breakfast, dinner and supper. Dinner is the noontime meal, and “lunch” is a strange Yankee invention. Among younger Southerners, “lunch” has taken over. (We are victims of the national media.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/31 "2002-11-12T23:39:29Z")
Another Southernism: “I’ll be there directly” means “I’ll be there eventually.” ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/32 "2002-11-12T23:47:52Z")
License plates are called “tags” in some uncivilized burgs of the USA. What’s with that? [Grinny here – no offense intended] ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/33 "2002-11-12T23:51:48Z")
Yet another Southernism: “I might could do it” or “I might can do it” means “I might be able to do it.” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/34 "2002-11-12T23:54:18Z")
State law here in Oklahoma: You have to haul off before you hit someone. “I’m gonna haul off and clobber you!” Also, if you’ve been somewhere, and are thinking of returning to said place, you won’t “go back”, you won’t “go by,” you’ll “go back by.” I was reared in South Texas, and a way of asking someone to repeat themselves was to say, “Ma’am?” or “Sir?” instead of something like “What was that?” ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/35 "2002-11-13T00:09:17Z")
dreamlab, I think the word is “liable”, pronounced like “libel”. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/36 "2002-11-13T01:29:58Z")
In Buffalo, business names are almost always pronounced in the posessive case, even if the name is not used in that context. Examples: “I’m going to Wal-Mart’s to get some lawn seed.” “Take a left at Burger King’s, drive up Harlem, and then hang a right at Mobil’s.” “I’ll be staying at the Holiday Inn’s over on Delaware Avenue.” ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/37 "2002-11-13T01:36:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*Indian English has quite a few idiomatic usages that are different from American English \*\* One thing I’ve noticed about Indian English is how a statement that will be said as a request in American English is issued as a command in Indian English. For instance, in grad school, when I worked in a computer lab, an American English speaker might ask: “Can you tell me how to save a document in WordPerfect format?” while the Indian English speaker will say" “You will be telling me how to save a document in WordPerfect format please.” ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/38 "2002-11-13T01:39:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*Indian English has quite a few idiomatic usages that are different from American English \*\* One thing I’ve noticed about Indian English is how a statement that will be said as a request in American English is issued as a command in Indian English. For instance, in grad school, when I worked in a computer lab, an American English speaker might ask: “Can you tell me how to save a document in WordPerfect format?” while the Indian English speaker will say" “You will be telling me how to save a document in WordPerfect format please.” Another one: in Central Florida, people will confirm a statement you have made with an inflection that sounds negative. I don’t quite know how to describe it, except that everybody says “yes, it is” with the same inflection that they use to say “no, it isn’t.” ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/39 "2002-11-13T01:50:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\*“I might could do it” or “I might can do it” means “I might be able to do it.” \*\* Ouch! That’s about the only Southernism that still bothers this transplanted northerner. Today I heard a professor tell her class, “Y’all might could use the distributive property here . . .” Drives me nuts. That, and how people “get under the wheel” when they drive a vehicle (and a lot of times it is a vehicle instead of a car, truck, or van). ---
**Author:** ![QuaHKN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f14d63/32.png) [@QuaHKN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuaHKN)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/40 "2002-11-13T01:51:26Z")
I’m not sure if this is regional or just poor grammer in general, but in Minnesota, people often use the word “borrow” in the place of “lend”. “Will you borrow me a pencil?” Argh! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461.md?page=3)