# Unique local/regional names for common things **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 16, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610 "2021-07-16T04:45:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/41 "2021-07-17T14:38:32Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Dropping the past tense is probably because most Asian languages don’t have past tense terms. Japanese has past tense but still calls “iced coffee” as “ice coffee” and the same for tea. > [@Franklymydear](#): > > There was a cool survey from Harvard that you used to be able to do. would identify where you learned American English. It says California for me, and from Utah. They didn’t ask enough questions because there are local pronunciations which definitely distinguish us. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/42 "2021-07-17T14:55:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > My mother grew up in Johnstown PA. Her family said “outen the lights.” As did my mother, but this is the first I’ve ever heard of that expression. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/43 "2021-07-17T15:06:10Z")
Well, if we can go from common things to common actions, tipping over a drink in Texas, and at least some parts of the South, is “tumping” it over. A perfectly good word, as it isn’t just tipping something over, it’s tipping something over that holds a quantity of liquid, which has implications. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/44 "2021-07-17T15:25:58Z")
After my sister moved to South Carolina, she picked up “mashing” the button instead of pushing it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/45 "2021-07-17T15:42:54Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Gangway” for the narrow space between two urban buildings is generally regarded as a local term. As well as “frontroom” for a house’s living room; with bonus Chicago points if it’s pronounced “frunchroom.” ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/46 "2021-07-17T15:48:26Z")
I always understood a hassock to be something you store things in, regardless of size. Confirmed by this article: _The main difference between an ottoman and a hassock is that a hassock is a footstool that contains no storage, and an ottoman is a footstool that does have storage._ [https://www.chairish.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-a-hassock-and-an-ottoman/](https://www.chairish.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-a-hassock-and-an-ottoman/) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/47 "2021-07-17T15:53:07Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > I always understood a hassock to be something you store things in, regardless of size. Confirmed by this article: > > _The main difference between an ottoman and a hassock is that a hassock is a footstool that contains no storage, and an ottoman is a footstool that does have storage._ Your statement says hassocks have storage and your cite says they have no storage. I’m confused. I don’t think I have encountered anyone else, ever, who uses the term hassock. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/48 "2021-07-17T16:04:33Z")
_Japanese has past tense but still calls “iced coffee” as “ice coffee” and the same for tea._ I didn’t know that. Could you give some examples please. The only Japanese I know (I’m sansei (third generation born in Hawaii)), and Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin words, are the bad ones and food. Thinking about it and perhaps on topic to this thread, does any actually _iced coffee_ or _iced tea_? I always hear it as _ice coffee_ and _ice tea_. And don’t you dare call Ice-T, Iced-T. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/49 "2021-07-17T16:06:47Z")
Oops! My error. I misread! Mis-confirmation bias! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/50 "2021-07-17T16:10:25Z")
I’m surprised the great “soda vs. pop” regionalism hasn’t come up yet. It’s usually brought up pretty soon in posts such as these. Then there’s the oddity of people in the south just calling all soft drinks ‘coke’, even clear ones like 7-Up or Sprite. When I was 21, I worked as a food & beverage cashier for a large hotel. One of my jobs was to work banquets, selling tickets for soft drinks, beer&wine, and liquor drinks, so the bartenders could just bartend and not have to deal with cash. One time there was a convention from out east, and a guy asked to buy a ticket for a soda. I said “soda water is free, just ask the bartender for some”. He said, no, a SODA. I said “whaaaa…? oh, you mean POP.” First I had ever heard of it. My friend married a somewhat domineering woman from out east who made him call soft drinks ‘soda’ instead of ‘pop’. Over a decade after their divorce, he still calls it soda, and I have to helpfully and gently remind him “we’re proud Michiganders, dammit, the proper term is POP!!” > **[The Pop vs. Soda Page](https://popvssoda.com/)** > > A page that maps the geographic distribution of the terms "pop" and "soda" when used to describe carbonated beverages ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/51 "2021-07-17T16:16:33Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’m surprised the great “soda vs. pop” regionalism hasn’t come up yet. Post 15 > [@Unique local/regional names for common things](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/15): > > Many examples in the link are pronunciations, but there also some usage. Crawfish? Crayfish? Crawdad? I grew up in the Midwest, and I remember among kids, every carbonated beverage was a Coke. What kind of Coke do you want? A Sprite. Then we realized it’s better to call it pop. Now that I moved to the South, I ask for pop any time I feel like being ridiculed. Any soda in the fridge? The link I posted has a map for it: > **[22 Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Totally Differently From One...](https://www.businessinsider.com/22-maps-that-show-the-deepest-linguistic-conflicts-in-america-2013-6#everyone-knows)** > > Everyone knows Americans don't agree on pronunciations. That's great, because regional accents are a major part of what makes American English so interesting. What’s missing: sodapop. When I moved to Texas I noticed many more people calling it soda and chalked it up to that sounding much more Spanish than pop. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/52 "2021-07-17T16:20:44Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Post 15 Ugh, apologies, I was skimming and registered the first “crayfish/crawfish/crawdad” part of your paragraph but not the rest. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/53 "2021-07-17T16:21:48Z")
I’m not sure the “pocketbook” vs “purse” is age - I hear them used mostly interchangeably ( along with _bag_) by people of all ages in the NYC area. However, using “purse” for something like [this](https://www.amazon.com/LovesTown-Sparkly-Purses-Sequin-presents/dp/B077C55HHV/ref=asc_df_B077C55HHV/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=242024247581&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11788575897838354266&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004417&hvtargid=pla-521865909517&psc=1) might be related to age or perhaps using one is what’s related to age. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/54 "2021-07-17T16:23:27Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Thinking about it and perhaps on topic to this thread, does any actually _iced coffee_ or _iced tea_ ? I always hear it as _ice coffee_ and _ice tea_ . I hear “iced coffee” but “ice tea” - I think the “d” blends into the “t” in my area. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/55 "2021-07-17T16:40:31Z")
Thank you for understanding that I meant "does anyone actually _say_ _iced coffee_ or _iced tea_? 😳 Geez Didi44! Proofread before you post! 😅 I just checked and I could have sworn that Lipton Iced Tea was written Lipton _Ice_ Tea. Nope! Maybe it’s just me, but I see, think, say and hear _ice,_ never _iced_. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/56 "2021-07-17T16:49:44Z")
I think of a pocketbook as what may be called a murse (man purse) today. Larger than a wallet with or without sections, meant to be tucked into the inner pocket of a suit. This is probably because we used to have a store called The Pocketbook Man that specialized leather goods mostly for men. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/57 "2021-07-17T16:51:15Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Japanese has past tense but still calls “iced coffee” as “ice coffee” and the same for tea Right. I’m sure the common substitution of “ice” for “iced” in “iced tea (or coffee)” — even among many native English speakers — is more due to the three consonants in a row (s-d-t or s-d-k), and also because English is fine with “two nouns together making another noun” (“iced” in “iced coffee” isn’t functioning as a verb, in any case — it’s a past participle, i.e. an adjective). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/58 "2021-07-17T17:37:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > pronounced “frunchroom. I say it similarly like something approaching fronshroom. ---
**Author:** ![frognot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frognot/32/8752_2.png) [@frognot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frognot)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/59 "2021-07-17T18:39:14Z")
The quiz said this third generation Texan was from Iowa. I’ve never been to Iowa so don’t know if I’ve been insulted. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/60 "2021-07-17T19:09:06Z")
They gave me New Jersey, but I’m from Philly. Hoagie should have been a giveaway. The first time my family went to Atlantic City, my father cautioned me that they called hoagies subs there. That was in 1944 and “hoagie” has gotten more widespread since then. In Philly, the strip between the sidewalk and street is called the verge. I gather that is British–or at least English–usage. Oh and the sidewalk in Philly is called the pavement. Here in Montreal, hot dogs are called steamies, which is neither borrowed from French (like dep mentioned above) nor is something I’ve seen elsewhere. The word sunshower, used here and in Philly, is subject to wide regional variation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=4)