# Regionalisms that stick in your head **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 26, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170 "2004-09-26T16:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/21 "2004-09-29T04:30:25Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Anywhere near Pittsburgh, you’re likely to hear that a defective vehicle “needs fixed” and a dirty one “needs washed.” It’s taken me several years of being away from Pittsburgh, and about 70,000 instances of **gooti** saying “TO BE! TO BE!” Everytime I used “needs \_\_\_\_\_ed” in a sentence – but I finally broke myself of the habit. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/22 "2004-09-29T05:05:37Z")
You could write a book (translations, maybe!) full of the local expressions of people in Atlantic Canada. One that sticks with me is the time a Newfoundlander in Ontario was wondering where his brother was, but you wouldn’t know it by hearing him. “Where’s he to?” If you’d never heard anyone say that before, how would you respond? After he explained it (“Where’s he _at_?”) I understood that there was a missing word in the sentence (gone). There must be scores of more colorful ones, but that’s the one that sticks with me. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/23 "2004-09-29T05:28:12Z")
Washington seems sadly bereft of regionalisms—or perhaps I don’t recognize them as such, since I grew up with them—so most of the ones I know came from Montana with my father (on whom be peace):[ul] [li]Ditch The Montana equivalent of a Texas “bourbon and branch water” is a “bourbon ditch.”[/li][li]Crick Pretty much follows the same rules as the UP.[/li][li]Borrow Pit The depression alongside the road from which dirt was taken to build up the roadbed. (Your bourbon ditch may have been made with water from the crick at the bottom of the borrow pit.)[/li][/ul] And my absolute favorite:[ul] [li]Bug Juice Soy sauce. This is the one I have been most assiduous about passing on to the next generation.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/24 "2004-09-29T06:06:28Z")
Well… I don’t think it gets much more southern than Mississippi, but we NEVER refer to “SOFT DRINKS” as cokes in general If you were to go to a restaurant and ask for a coke, and the waitress were to ask you what kind? I would say one of two things. “a normal coke,” In case she was asking if I wanted diet coke or something, but I’d probably just say… “a COKE!” and just be confused as to what the hell she was talking about. to which if I were in Texas, I guess she’d say “Yeah but what kind?” To which I would say, “a NORMAL coke” That isn’t something that happens a lot in the south. Of course the “I’mmuh go to the store” is something that will easily slip out depending on the crowd I’m around. I guess some people I know will say “I’moan go to the store,” but that would be considered really “Country.” Don’t ask me why, because I know that to Yankees (ie. everyone that wasn’t part of the old confederacy) would consider them both equally weird. But I guess that’s just the way it is. Fid’in to is another worth one as well. Okay, I don’t really consider myself to be a real southerner considering how most of my formative times of my adult life have been spent away from here. But I sho’ nuff know the lingo! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/25 "2004-09-29T18:49:39Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > Well… I don’t think it gets much more southern than Mississippi, but we NEVER refer to “SOFT DRINKS” as cokes in general > > If you were to go to a restaurant and ask for a coke, and the waitress were to ask you what kind? I would say one of two things. > > “a normal coke,” In case she was asking if I wanted diet coke or something, but I’d probably just say… > > “a COKE!” and just be confused as to what the hell she was talking about. > > to which if I were in Texas, I guess she’d say “Yeah but what kind?” To which I would say, “a NORMAL coke” > > That isn’t something that happens a lot in the south. I didn’t say “the south” - I said Dallas specifically. It happens every time I visit there and is a running joke between my Dallas friends and me. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/26 "2004-09-29T19:07:26Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Anywhere near Pittsburgh, you’re likely to hear that a defective vehicle “needs fixed” and a dirty one “needs washed.” My wife’s whole family does that (West Virginia). She also pronounces the verb bathe like the noun bath. Put them together and you get “The dog needs bathed” > [@](#): > > Two that come to my mind are the lunch ladies and waitresses (among others) around Cambridge, MA who referred to any kind of soda as “tonic.” That remindes me of some people I’ve known who refer to pop as soda. (the pin is out of the grenade…) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/27 "2004-09-29T19:32:49Z")
I’m in New England but the person saying this is from Chicagoland so the origin isn’t clear. Anyway, the syntax is one of those “could care less” opposite meaning ones: “So-and-so has blonde hair.” “So doesn’t Mary”, meaning Mary does have blonde hair!?! And of course, “ayuh” and “jeezum crow”. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/28 "2004-09-29T19:37:23Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I was working in a BMW plant and someone asked me for a “hose pipe.” Took me a good ten minutes of pointing to different supplies before I realized he wanted a garden hose. :smack: The one in Greenville? I say hose pipe :o ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/29 "2004-09-29T19:59:52Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > Well… I don’t think it gets much more southern than Mississippi, but we NEVER refer to “SOFT DRINKS” as cokes in general > > If you were to go to a restaurant and ask for a coke, and the waitress were to ask you what kind? I would say one of two things. > > “a normal coke,” In case she was asking if I wanted diet coke or something, but I’d probably just say… > > “a COKE!” and just be confused as to what the hell she was talking about. > > to which if I were in Texas, I guess she’d say “Yeah but what kind?” To which I would say, “a NORMAL coke” > > That isn’t something that happens a lot in the south. > > Of course the “I’mmuh go to the store” is something that will easily slip out depending on the crowd I’m around. I guess some people I know will say “I’moan go to the store,” but that would be considered really “Country.” Don’t ask me why, because I know that to Yankees (ie. everyone that wasn’t part of the old confederacy) would consider them both equally weird. But I guess that’s just the way it is. Fid’in to is another worth one as well. > > Okay, I don’t really consider myself to be a real southerner considering how most of my formative times of my adult life have been spent away from here. But I sho’ nuff know the lingo! Hi, Homie: Jever say: “Ing gon do dat no mo.”? translation: “I’m not going to do that anymore.” ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/30 "2004-09-29T20:12:06Z")
> [@5-4-Fighting](#): > > Hi, Homie: Jever say: “Ing gon do dat no mo.”? > > translation: “I’m not going to do that anymore.” Of course you say this when speaking to “ConLet.” Translation: Cousin Lettie. Until I was 10, I though ConLet was her given name. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/31 "2004-09-29T20:32:53Z")
Minnesota. Besides the "Uff da"s and the long "o"s you’ll hear here, there’s this gem: Minnesotan: “Hey, I’m going to the store, would you like to come with?” Outside: “With what?” Minnesotan: “With me, of course.” ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/32 "2004-09-29T21:00:05Z")
May I interrupt to ask what “uff da” means? And also, “da UP, eh?” Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/33 "2004-09-29T21:19:45Z")
Uff da is a verbal sigh. “That was a big meal. Uff da!” (and then rub your belly). It’s usually said after something laborious as well. “Uff da! That workout took a lot outta me.” I think “da UP” refers to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/34 "2004-09-29T21:26:34Z")
People in Mrs. HeyHomie’s family’s neck of the woods (rural southeastern Missouri Ozarks) tend to refer to numbered and lettered roads by the name/number first and then the road. Confused? Here’s what I mean… To get from Springfield, Illinois to Waverly, Illinois, I take **Interstate 55** south to the Auburn exit, then take **Highway 104** to Waverly. But in Mrs. HeyHomie’s family’s area, to get from St. Louis, Missouri to Viburnum, Missouri, you take **44 Highway** to the Cuba exit, go south on **19 Highway** to Cherryville, take **49 Highway** to Viburnum, and then **Y Highway** to her mom’s house. Does any place else in the country do this? ---
**Author:** ![carimwc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac8455/32.png) [@carimwc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carimwc)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/35 "2004-09-29T21:58:59Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m in New England but the person saying this is from Chicagoland so the origin isn’t clear. Anyway, the syntax is one of those “could care less” opposite meaning ones: > > “So-and-so has blonde hair.” > > “So doesn’t Mary”, meaning Mary does have blonde hair!?! > > And of course, “ayuh” and “jeezum crow”. ‘So doesn’t’ is very New England. I used to say it all the time. Also very New England is using wicked as an adjective, as in “That movie was wicked awesome!” Also used as wicked pissa. Here in Texas I’ve noticed a lot of people saying “I’m fixin’ to do this or that” instead of I’m going to. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/36 "2004-09-29T22:32:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Here in Massachusetts, too. But with a real Massachusetts accent it comes out “bubblahs” > > One weird regionalism is from Utah, the Land of the Squeaky-Clean folks. It’s normal practice to replace “Hell” with “Heck” there – “What the Heck?” “Get the Heck out of here!” etc. > > But one that makes no logical sense is the Utah expression of surprise and dismay: “ **Oh, my Heck!** ” > “Oh, my Heck?” What? Nobody says “Oh, my Hell!”, so where the Heck does this come from? > > Ed Bagley, Utah editorial cartoonist extraordinaire, used it as a title for one of his books. I’ve been out of Utah for six years, and to this day, when I’m surprised or shocked, I still say “Oh my heck!” It’s annoying, no doubt, but I can’t break the habit. It’s because they don’t want to say “Oh my god!” and heck is the catch-all swear word. Also, “fudge” and “frick.” In No Cal, around the bay area, everybody says “Hella.” “She’s hella hot.” “He’s hella fine.” “this is hella stupid.” It damned near drove me batshit, and of course, they’d laugh at me when I’d say “Oh my heck!” thoughtlessly. Like “Hella” for every adverb known to men is better than “heck” for god. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/37 "2004-09-29T23:16:23Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > To get from Springfield, Illinois to Waverly, Illinois, I take **Interstate 55** south to the Auburn exit, then take **Highway 104** to Waverly. I thought that was the Pawnee / Auburn exit. 😉 Another one I just remembered, also Midwest: When there’s nobody else with you and you’re saying goodbye to someone else: “We’ll see you.” > [@](#): > > In No Cal, around the bay area, everybody says “Hella.” “She’s hella hot.” “He’s hella fine.” “this is hella stupid.” It damned near drove me batshit, and of course, they’d laugh at me when I’d say “Oh my heck!” thoughtlessly. Like “Hella” for every adverb known to men is better than “heck” for god. Thankfully that has passed - I haven’t heard “hella” for some time now. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/38 "2004-09-29T23:28:13Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > That remindes me of some people I’ve known who refer to pop as soda. > > (the pin is out of the grenade…) That’s weird. I’ve been informed that I’m the only person in the _entire state of Michigan_ who calls “pop” “soda.” Is it possible that there are more freaks like me? And now, a brief Michigan lexicon: “Da UP, eh?” = Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (from the tourism slogan “Say ya to da UP, eh?”) “Yooper” = One who lives on the Upper Peninsula “Troll” = One who lives on the Lower Peninsula (under the Bridge, natch) “Fudgie” = A Tourist (someone who purchases large quantities of fudge) “Snowbird” = A current or former Michigan resident who spends the winter in Florida, Arizona, or another warm location. “Out-State Michigan” = Anything north of Lansing. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/39 "2004-09-30T00:35:41Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > People in Mrs. HeyHomie’s family’s neck of the woods (rural southeastern Missouri Ozarks) tend to refer to numbered and lettered roads by the name/number first and then the road. Confused? Here’s what I mean… > > To get from Springfield, Illinois to Waverly, Illinois, I take **Interstate 55** south to the Auburn exit, then take **Highway 104** to Waverly. > > But in Mrs. HeyHomie’s family’s area, to get from St. Louis, Missouri to Viburnum, Missouri, you take **44 Highway** to the Cuba exit, go south on **19 Highway** to Cherryville, take **49 Highway** to Viburnum, and then **Y Highway** to her mom’s house. > > Does any place else in the country do this? In L.A. people say **the**. “Take **the 405** south to the **22** east. Get on **the 55** south and get off at **MacArthur** …” (I highlighted the street name because, unlike my new home here in Washington, exits in California aren’t numbered.) ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170/40 "2004-09-30T00:36:53Z")
In Wisconsin, the biggest “atm” network went by the acronym for Take Your Money Everywhere. Therefore, if you wanted to withdraw cash, you went to the “Tyme Machine”. -lv [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regionalisms-that-stick-in-your-head/266170.md?page=3)