Michigan has “party stores.” I think this is a whole Michigan thing, not just a yooper thing. A party store is a convenience store that sells beer, wine, and maybe liquor, and since just about every convenience store in the state sells at least beer, it’s what all convenience stores are called. I had no idea that it was a regional thing until I moved away, and people directed me to a store that sold wrapping paper and balloons when I asked for the nearest party store.
Oh dear Lord I’m drooling. I think the two main reasons I can never leave the Eastern seaboard are (1) pulled pork with spicy vinegar and (2) Old Bay seasoning dumped on crabs and shrimp.
Where I reside in the Washington DC Metro area it’s an interesting mix of language. Most people here are a hybrid of many areas, and native Washingtonians are few and far between (although I’m a proud native). There are SO many dialects from people who’ve migrated from various states & countries that it’s tough to pinpoint any particular regionalisms. However, Washington is a southern enough city where “ya’ll” is very common, and some other very southern slangs such as “that man is right handsome”, “Bob’s a-fixen to call me”, “to get to the McDonald’s around the corner you have to make the square, then make a right on Lee Highway”. However, those north and east of the city take on the Balmer (Baltimore) and Eastern Shore dialects, almost as soon as you get out of the city. West and South of the city reigns the more southern dialect, and it’s not shocking (well, shocking in its own right) to see the confederate flag flying above many homes and local businesses.
Winnie
Rock-n-Rolga and Brynda: I’m a native North Carolinian. I grew up hearing (and saying) “Do you want a Coke?” to mean any type of soft drink. (We laughed at our cousins when we went up to Kentucky and heard them call it POP!) As the native population has been diluted, though, I think we’ve moved more to just saying “soft drink” instead — probably because nowadays you’re more likely to get served a Coca Cola (also known as Co’Cola) whether you want one or not, instead of getting a follow-up question like “OK, do you want Coke, 7-up, or Dr. Pepper?”
Chinaco: Definitely true on the “Sweet tea” thing. It’s the generic beverage here. Some co-workers of mine and I have decided that the Mason-Dixon line isn’t the true dividing line between North and South; actually, it’s the point along I-95 where all of a sudden the fast food joints stop selling sweet tea. (You mean you expect us to mix the sugar in OURSELVES?) Actually, I can’t stand the stuff — I’m a water drinker.
Another regionalism: Saying “to carry” to mean “to give a ride.” ---- “Can you carry me to the grocery store?”
Shortly after we moved back to Massachusetts, my husband was in a Toys R Us buying a new potty seat for our son. He asked for “the potty aisle” and was directed to the gift wrap and party favors.
My mother-in-law, who was born in and lived near Bangor, Maine, until she was 12, recently went into a Toys R Us here in Atlanta in search of party napkins, streamers, etc. for my daughter’s second birthday. Three different employees directed her to the aisle with potty seats before she figured out what was going on. Not even ten years in South Florida and thirty-five in Asheville, NC have done much to introduce the letter “r” into her pronunciation.
In Cheektowaga, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, many residents start sentences with “so der” and end them with “der.” Events and places are preceded with “dat der,” or followed by “der.” Separate words in multi-word place and business names are combined, and business names are almost referred to in the posessive case. Thus, you’ll hear someone say something like …
So der, are yuh goink to dat der Walmart’s on Unionroat der?
Amazing that third generation Americans can still sound like they just got off the boat.
Ahhh… Southernisms. One could fill a book.
Some New Orleans variants worth sharing, IMHO:
axe: rather than a tool for firefighting or chopping wood, this refers to a question. “I need to axe you something.”
-ur: the sound at the middle of boil, the front of oil, and the middle of point. “Change your url and make a purnt of getting some po’ boys before going to the crawfish burl.”
If you are male, and are passing another male in the hall or on the street, and especially if the other male happens to have African ancestry, the preferred greeting (and, if you do not have African ancestry, the one that will prove that you have your mind right) is “awwrite.” (Unless it’s before around 11:00 am when you both will say “Good Mornin.”)
In Upstate S.C., your spare tire, groceries, etc. go in the boot of the car, not the trunk.
In Southside Virginia, about is pronounced aboat.
In the Mountains of North Carolina, if someone asks “How are you?” You will be understood to be well if you reply “tolerable stout” or “tolerably stout” or just “tolerable” if you’re somewhat ambivalent about your condition.
South-wide, old-timers at least will still use reckon, fixin’ to, and shouldn’t oughtta, as in: “He’s fixin’ to, so I reckon you shouldn’t oughtta.”
Non-specific food is occaisionally referred to as vittles, a corruption of victuals. “I’m going to root around in the 'fridge and get some vittles.” (Pardons to the Aussies, “root around” means to search or look thoroughly.)
Speaking of the refrigerator, in some rural areas it’s still called the ice-box.
I’m sure I can think up a few more if I root around long enough, but that’s enough for now, y’all.
Exactly right. We call it the “Tea Line” or “The Line Between Civilized Folk and the Heathens.” (oh, and out of curiosity, YWalker, where in NC? I lived in Chapel Hill and Greenville.)
Ivorybill: I loved the “awwright.” I heard that a lot in NC. As for “axe,” though, I have only heard that from African-Americans. Have you heard it from others as well? I have spent some time in LA, but not enough to know the regionalisms.
This native Mississippian always heard it called a “Standard” transmission, because, well, they were standard. “Slushboxes” were options. 
In MA a place that sells alcohol is called a “package store” and the story goes, my 2nd cousins from FL got very confused when my aunt told them she was going there- they thought it was a store that sold boxes! In NH, there’s no confusion, no delicacy it’s a State Liquor store, plain and simple.
Of course it sounds like “awnt”. An “ant” is a bug. then again, I pronounce drawer to rhyme “door”, so maybe I’m not the best person to critique pronouncation.
As for heating registers…I didn’t realize people were talking about heating vents until someone mentioned the location :0 I figured people meant something along the lines of a radiator, or maybe those rectangular heaters against the bottom trim of the wall.
Here’s something I don’t get- on Jeopardy one of those “sounds like” questions said that an english dish sounded like the capital of ME and something about potato. Bangers and Mash. I’ve since heard that Bangor is usually pronounced “Banger” every where else. It’s “Bang-gore.” Why would “or” sound like “er” everywhere else? I’d look at you like you were nuts if you asked me to drive up to Banger with you, and not just because it’s almost 4 hours away.
Being from MN I always pronounced aunt as awnt. My sister has always been called aunnie (awnnie) Barb to note particular endearment to my daughters. Since I moved to NC, Libertarian has introduced me to yet another version of aunt. Lib has aunts (ants), but when he addresses them it’s pronounced Aint Deen.
Soft drinks around here are called “coke” and maybe why that’s been lost around Chapel Hill or Charlotte, etc., is because of the number of yankees that have infiltrated the area. After nearly 3 years of living here, I still find that “pop” slips off my tongue at any given time which makes Lib cringe.
Another term I ran into down here caused a few moments of confusion at the grocery store one day. Here, grocery “carts” are called “buggys”. I had always thought that buggys were for babies!
Regarding Newark, don’t forget Nerk, Ahia. A friend of mine from that area (I live in Columbus) introduced me to a new word that he said he grew up with - nibshitting. This means what I would call “farting around”, especially in public. For example, going to an arts festival, but not to look at the art, but just hang out with your friends.
Grocery stores - I gew up in NJ, and we called the supermarket the “market”, as in “I’m going to the market to get groceries.” A grocery store was a little shop on the corner, like a mom & pop grocery. When I moved to Ohio, I was told I had it backwards - Kroger is a grocery store, and the little shops were markets.
This may not be a regional thing, but I found that “to be” in a sentence is optional here, yet I don’t remember it being that way when I grew up. For example:
NJ: “My car needs to be fixed.”
OH: “My car needs fixed.”
NJ: “My lawn needs to be mowed.”
OH: “My lawn needs mowed.”
I have heard both African-Americans and European-Americans use “axe.” However, it’s primarily an African-Americanism, with most other folks saying ask.
Curiously, most whites say ant for aunt while African-Americans say awnt.
That is true in TN as well. Interesting.
Thanks for the answer about axe.
Axe is interesting because it is a case of what is called (I hope I’ve got the right word) Metathesis. When two sounds are switched.
Learned this in linguistics class.
On a recent jaunt to England I noticed people from the Midlands (between Birmingham and London) say ‘you see’ in the middle of sentences, much like Canucks say ‘eh’.
And to add to unique phrases in Quebec English, how about “open/close the light” and “pass a broom/mop”