# 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:** 5
**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 18, 2021, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/81 "2021-07-18T02:34:13Z")
The quiz missed me by half a continent as well. I did strive to give the answers I would have given in my formative years. The strip between the sidewalk and street were a thing we called “half of the front yard.” Our sidewalks were about 15 feet from the road, which seems a lot safer. Not sure how widespread it is but my mom referred to empty soda bottles as “dead soldiers.” ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/82 "2021-07-18T02:39:42Z")
The quiz correctly picked Michigan for me, though based on someone else’s response, that might have just been due to knowing the term “Devil’s Night”. I wasn’t aware it was something local until fairly late in my life (though not just now). ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/83 "2021-07-18T02:42:40Z")
I’ve heard “dead soldiers”, but only in reference to beer bottles. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/84 "2021-07-18T03:40:03Z")
> [@frognot](#): > > I’ve never been to Iowa so don’t know if I’ve been insulted. Finest compliment you can bestow. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/85 "2021-07-18T05:24:34Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Depending on your definition of “local”, the same species of animal is called a mountain lion in the western US, and a panther in the eastern US. Or a cougar, or puma in other places. Mountain lion may be more of a California name. Here in the Northwest, they’re cougars. Except in Pullman, where they’re just Cougs. > [@Didi44](#): > > I’ve heard “dead soldiers”, but only in reference to beer bottles. I’ve heard the term used for empty wine or liquor bottles, too. Not for soda bottles. I’m not sure how much this is still the case, but hazelnuts used to be called filberts here in Oregon. ---
**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 18, 2021, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/86 "2021-07-18T05:53:25Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > In Philly, the strip between the sidewalk and street is called the verge. In Utah it’s called a park strip, and my family called it the parking. Since I haven’t lived there for more than 30 years, I’m not sure how universal my family’s experience was. Also in Utah, we had our own pronunciation of things. The first syllable of Weber is pronounced like “we.” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/87 "2021-07-18T07:01:26Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I grew up in Milwaukee. You know what we called it? “The grass between the sidewalk and the street”. This is also the only name I learned for it while growing up in southern California. I’ve adopted the term “devil’s strip” because I find it to be poetic and ominous, but since that particular kind of urban fixture is almost nonexistent here in the PNW, I rarely have an occasion to use it. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/88 "2021-07-18T09:35:17Z")
### You Got: New Jersey ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/89 "2021-07-18T13:19:39Z")
I’m in the East, and I hear “mountain lion” more often than “panther.” Though I hear enough variation that I tend to call them “the cat of many names.” I don’t remember ever calling the strip between the sidewalk and the street anything in particular. But then, most places I’ve lived, sidewalks were something that existed if you went into town. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/90 "2021-07-18T17:13:28Z")
It it possible the language has changed now that cougars/mountain lions/panthers are pretty much extinct in the eastern US, and people are starting to pick up the western terminology. But my understanding is that at least historically they were known as panthers when they were still common in the east, although I’d have to find a cite. Although I would say names like the Florida panther and place names like [Panthertown Valley, SC](https://panthertown.org/), would be evidence of them once being called panthers in the east. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/91 "2021-07-18T17:38:45Z")
Since my previous post I saw an article in a semi-local paper that, while it used several names in the article, used “panther” in the headline. I think local use is currently pretty mixed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/92 "2021-07-18T18:13:24Z")
Huh. That spectacularly failed for me. It got me as Nevada. I’m Chicago. I’ve taken much shorter quizzes that have pegged me as from Chicago or close enough (perhaps another Great Lakes city.) I’ve never had one so far off. (And if you met me, you’d probably identify me pretty easily as from Chicago if you know your accents.) ETA: Oh, and I have no idea what a “water bug” is, but that wasn’t an option. Didn’t recognize either bug, nor the term. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/93 "2021-07-18T18:37:35Z")
Gave me New Jersey- which isn’t that far off since I’ve lived in NYC my whole life. But the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html) quiz narrows it down to New York City, Yonkers and Newark/Patterson. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/94 "2021-07-18T18:45:13Z")
I just came across a second reference to raw red bell pepper as parika. What’s interesting is that [the] first time I heard this reference was from a Korean speaker and this time it was from a Japanese speaker. Is this widespread and common [in Korean and Japanese] and in other Asian languages? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/95 "2021-07-18T18:48:12Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > The strip between the sidewalk and street were a thing we called “half of the front yard.” Our sidewalks were about 15 feet from the road, which seems a lot safer. I assume you’re talking about something like [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_verge#/media/File:Oak_Park_Boulevard.jpg) Does the sidewalk really run through the middle of the front yard or does the city/town village own everything from the sidewalk to the street? PS to anyone - How do you get links to show a preview? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/96 "2021-07-18T18:51:31Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > PS to anyone - How do you get links to show a preview? Put them on their own line; not on the same line with other text. Some of them won’t show it anyway; it depends on the site. ---
**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 18, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/97 "2021-07-18T19:01:12Z")
Yes, it looked like that but the houses often sat higher and the yard sloped down to the road more. I’m not sure what the legalities were there. We mowed all of it and our trash was picked up at the curb. We had a dead tree between sidewalk and curb, and I think cutting it down was ours to deal with. We also planted a couple other trees between sidewalk and curb, and I don’t think we needed permission or anything. We tore out a cement walkway from sidewalk to curb and didn’t replace it…the grass just filled it in. I don’t remember any utilities coming in from the curb—we had alleys—but the sewer line probably exited in that direction. ---
**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 18, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/98 "2021-07-18T20:19:24Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I’m not sure how much this is still the case, but hazelnuts used to be called filberts here in Oregon. I have always used the two words interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/99 "2021-07-18T20:31:56Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I have always used the two words interchangeably. There’ve been arguments about what to call them: > **[Filbert or hazelnut? Oregonians debate the name of the Nutella nut](https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2014/08/filbert_or_hazelnut_oregonians.html)** > > Turkish frost means good news for Oregon growers, a shock for Nutella lovers. A number of years ago, the Oregon Filbert Commission changed its name to Oregon Hazelnut Commission, which is why I’m not sure about what we call them now. BTW the reason we have a commission is that 99% of all domestic filberts/hazelnuts are grown in Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/100 "2021-07-18T20:45:33Z")
The NYT test put me in Boston/Worchester, MA, Providence, RI. Evidently calling the place where streets meet in a circle as it should be called, a rotary, is the defining trait. I grew up on the South Shore of MA and in Maine, with family from NJ, so pretty accurate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=6)