# Regional idiomatic idiosyncracies (US especially)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/81 "2002-11-15T12:01:33Z")

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Over here [a Chesterfield](http://www.kingsgate.co.uk/suitarm/page3/csettee2.html) is a type of couch with buttoned upholstery and rounded arms the same height as the back (the link calls it as a settee too **jr8** ). Couch and sofa are more general terms. An ottoman is a type of chest, typically with an upholstered lid, so you could use it as a footstool.

**irishgirl** : _“a “glass” of beer is a half pint.”_  
That’s used in Liverpool too (like a lot of Irishisms). “Half” seems to be more common though.

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**Author:** ![Another\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Another\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Primate)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/82 "2002-11-15T12:04:54Z")

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Ain’t:  
My guess is that this came from “am not”.  
I am not giving up!  
becomes  
I ain’t giving up!

This hit me when my daughter was two. She would say, “I am’nt” instead of “I’m not”. (And I doubt she had ever heard the word ‘ain’t’ at that time.)

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**Author:** ![Another\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Another\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Primate)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/83 "2002-11-15T12:07:42Z")

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In Connecticut, an “ottoman” was called a “hassock”.

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/84 "2002-11-15T12:26:07Z")

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A hassock _is_ a footstool over here - a small one used to kneel on in church.

“College” is used as a general colloquialism for any further education institution, including the “upper secondary school” **jr8** mentioned. If the college you attend is a university, however, you’d be more likely to call it university (or uni informally). College as a subdivision of a university only applies to certain universities.

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**Author:** ![Anahita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9a28c/32.png) [@Anahita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anahita)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regional-idiomatic-idiosyncracies-us-especially/136461/85 "2002-11-15T12:34:43Z")

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(any night in our house)

Hub to child: Let’s go and wash your teeth.  
Mommy to Hub: You mean ‘brush’ her teeth.  
Hub to Mommy: No, I mean ‘wash’ them.  
Mommy to child: Ok, Y, let’s brush _and_ wash your teeth.

How do you ‘wash’ teeth? I think of washing as using soap and a wash cloth. It’s worse, MIL calls it ‘doing my teeth.’ i.e. I’ll be ready to leave in a second. Just let me ‘do my teeth.’ Huh?

Ahhhh…the joys of being married to a person from another country. (Me: US Him: Ireland)

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