# That effing Philadelphia-area accent **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 22, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083 "2005-01-22T15:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MercyStreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MercyStreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MercyStreet)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/1 "2005-01-22T15:06:53Z")
“Home” is “hooooooooome.” “Phone” is “phuuuun.” “Hoagie” is “hoooooagie.” (And it’s a sub, anyway.) “Water” is “wooder.” “Greasy” is “greezy.” “Eagles” is “iggles.” I’m not saying the accent is a sign of inferiority or stupidity or any such thing. It just jars me SENSELESS. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/2 "2005-01-22T15:08:48Z")
This is bound to win you some friends! ---
**Author:** ![davmilasav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@davmilasav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davmilasav)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/3 "2005-01-22T15:16:02Z")
“Iggles” and “greezy” are Pittsburgh accents. If you’re going to pick on my home state, pick on the right side. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/4 "2005-01-22T15:17:56Z")
I see that and raise you a good blue-collar Boston accent. Its the most effective birth control in the world in my view. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/5 "2005-01-22T15:56:37Z")
> [@MercyStreet](#): > > (And it’s a sub, anyway.) Dream faster, punk. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/6 "2005-01-22T16:15:46Z")
> [@davmilasav](#): > > “Iggles” and “greezy” are Pittsburgh accents. > > If you’re going to pick on my home state, pick on the right side. 😉 But Pittsburgh is on the left side. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/7 "2005-01-22T16:30:54Z")
And just where are you from so we can mock you til my voice goes out? Now if you’ll excuse me I can to get myself a nice tall glass of wooder call my dad on the phuuun and tell him how are Iggles are gonna beat up on them Hawks. - **Wolfian** , South Jerseyan ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/8 "2005-01-22T16:37:05Z")
I have family in Pennsylvania and a couple years ago, my youngest cousin on that side came to visit and stay with us in Tennessee for the summer. Her accent was … odd. I don’t really remember much three years later but I do remember giving her more than a couple befuddled looks when she talked to me. My favorite was _youse guys_. What the hell’s a _youse_? At least the Southern _y’all_ and _ain’t_ make sense as contractions although I use neither. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/9 "2005-01-22T16:39:44Z")
…and before the inevitable happens: my own accent is very slight – I’ve not once had anyone comment on my accent since moving from Tennessee over a year ago unless I myself brought attention to it – and I don’t use very many Southern colloquialisms either. So n’yah. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/10 "2005-01-22T16:41:48Z")
“Bawl’mer.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/11 "2005-01-22T16:56:24Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > My favorite was _youse guys_. What the hell’s a _youse_? At least the Southern _y’all_ and _ain’t_ make sense as contractions although I use neither. “Youse guys” is found in a few Northeastern cities, I think. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/12 "2005-01-22T17:07:30Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > My favorite was _youse guys_. What the hell’s a _youse_? At least the Southern _y’all_ and _ain’t_ make sense as contractions although I use neither. She was obviously not from western PA or it would have been “yinz guys”. Which is only right and proper. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/13 "2005-01-22T17:17:31Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > “Bawl’mer.” Ditto. And howsabout DundAWK. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/14 "2005-01-22T17:26:28Z")
“Youse” is found all over Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/15 "2005-01-22T17:43:38Z")
“Youse” is also found in New York. It’s the plural of “you”. One of my friends in high school said it a lot and it bugged me. Once, when she asked me, “Are any of youse guys going anywhere after here?”, I said, “No, weeze guys aren’t going anywhere”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/16 "2005-01-22T17:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > **asterion** said: > But Pittsburgh is on the left side. In other words, don’t mess with Pittsburgh. 😉 > [@](#): > > **friedo** said: > “Youse” is found all over Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, in my experience. You won’t find it in Pittsburgh. People in western Pennsylvania say ‘yinz’ with varying accents. Northern parts of Pittsburgh are more partial to the ‘yinz’ pronunciation, whereas if you travel further south of Pittsburgh, into Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette and Greene counties, you will hear ‘yunz’. As you approach the West Virginia border with Pennsylvania along Fayette and Greene county, the pronunciation changes subtly to ‘younz’. Our dialect may be strange, but it is ours, and because of it we can identify a Pittsburgher or a someone who is from ‘Da’Mon Valley’ anywhere in the world, and often tell which part of the Pittsburgh area they are from by both their pronuncation of ‘yinz’ and their pronunciation of ‘Pittsburgh’ itself, where the two distinct variations are ‘Picksburg’ (south) and ‘Pissburgh’ (further north). ‘Youse’ and ‘Youse guys’ start happening as you travel eastward toward Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/17 "2005-01-22T17:52:27Z")
Thank goodness I’m from California and don’t have any of those silly accents the rest of you all have! … What? Like, seriously, shut UP dude! 😃 This past summer I was visiting family in “Chi-caaaaaaaa-go” and they were all making fun of how I speak. I was like, "Wow, I’m being mocked by the people who say…“Oh, that’s Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute,” “Yeah, tomorrow we’re goin to Wiscaaaaaaaaaaaaanson,” and on and on. It’s a movie, not the show. It’s soda, not pop. Yay for Boston accents- they’re wicked retahded. ← My friend has been at MIT two quarters and has already picked this up. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/18 "2005-01-22T17:58:19Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > ‘Youse’ and ‘Youse guys’ start happening as you travel eastward toward Philadelphia. “Yinz/yunz/you’uns” extends as far east as Altoona, at least. In Altoona itself (native that I am), it’s the official second person plural. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/19 "2005-01-22T18:04:46Z")
Which pronunciation do you use out there? (Well, not you, but your neighbors, etc.) I have driven through Altoona many times, but have never actually _stopped_ there for any length of time. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083/20 "2005-01-22T18:21:27Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Which pronunciation do you use out there? (Well, not you, but your neighbors, etc.) > > I have driven through Altoona many times, but have never actually _stopped_ there for any length of time. Out here in Lancaster? I’ve definitely heard a very slight “youse”, although it’s more like “yuz” or “yiz”. Of course, in this area, there’s the complication of massive holdovers from the PA Dutch accent, as well (like using “a while” as “now” ( **supervenusfreak** is egregiously guilty of this one)). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-effing-philadelphia-area-accent/286083.md?page=2)