# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/121 "2021-07-20T06:02:36Z")
One thing that puzzled me when I moved to Alberta from Ontario, was Albertans’ use of the word _case_, in relation to beverages. In Ontario, a _case_ is a package of 24 units. Most often beer, but it can also be applied to soft drinks (e.g. a case of Coke means 24 cans of Coke). Yes, in Ontario, we had twelve-packs (often called _twelves_), and six-packs (_sixes_), but the word _case_ was reserved for twenty-fours (or simply _two-fours_). But here in Alberta, I found that _case_ meant a twelve-pack, while _flat_ meant a twenty-four. Somewhat similarly, in Canada, a _mickey_ is a 13-ounce bottle of liquor. I believe that Americans call such things a half-pint, but am not sure. At any rate, I found out that asking for a “mickey of Jack Daniels” will get you a “huh?” in any American liquor store, while it wouldn’t raise an eyebrow in any Canadian liquor store. ---
**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 20, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/122 "2021-07-20T06:07:48Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Somewhat similarly, in Canada, a _mickey_ is a 13-ounce bottle of liquor. I believe that Americans call such things a half-pint, but am not sure. At any rate, I found out that asking for a “mickey of Jack Daniels” will get you a “huh?” in any American liquor store. In America, a 375 mL bottle, which I think is roughly equivalent to your mickey, is called a “pint”, even though it’s only 12.6 ounces and a standard pint is 16. You also have a 200 mL “half-pint” (6.7 oz), a 750 mL “fifth” (25.3 oz), and a 1.75L “half-gallon” (59.1 oz). The bottling industry was one of the few that actually switched to metric and stuck with it during the attempt at national conversion in the '70s, and the newly-resized bottles, with their conveniently rounded volumes, have retained the nomenclature of their pre-metric equivalents. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/123 "2021-07-20T06:15:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > In America, a 375 mL bottle, which I think is roughly equivalent to your mickey, is called a “pint”, even though it’s only 12.6 ounces and a standard pint is 16. Thank you! Ignorance fought. Yes, we went to metric labelling also, but nomenclature has proved a hard habit to break. Mickey (375 ml or 13 oz), twenty-sixer (750 ml or 26 oz), forty-pounder (1.14 liters or 40 oz)–common sizes and parlance, here in Canada. Even if the sizes are a few tenths of a percent off, the nomenclature remains. And so do the sizes, in both the US and Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/124 "2021-07-20T06:33:39Z")
According to the quiz this Australian is from California. Which probably makes sense given that California is probably quite “melting pot” and indistinct. I’d be interested in whether others found that often the answer I wanted to give was “all [or several] of the above” > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > But use of the term Bubbler for drinking fountain is quite localized to SE Wisconsin and bits of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It’s not unknown in Australia. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve seen that used elsewhere, but it’s not common. I was just reading Pete Hammill’s memoir and he mentions calling it a front room growing up in Irish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Small English and Irish town houses almost invariably have their living room at the front and quite often call it that, so that would make sense. Americans, you are going to a swimming pool or a beach. What is the generic terms for the clothes you wear for this activity? Depending on your answer I can tell which part of Australia you are from! Another local thing is to call the bag a school kid carries a “port” (no doubt from portmanteau). This used to be the invariable term used in Queensland but not elsewhere when I was in primary (junior) school but not so much high school. And I understand its usage has retreated to more regional areas of Qld now. ---
**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 20, 2021, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/125 "2021-07-20T09:12:21Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Americans, you are going to a swimming pool or a beach. What is the generic terms for the clothes you wear for this activity? Depending on your answer I can tell which part of Australia you are from! I would call that a bathing suit, which for men is a pair of trunks, and for women may be either a one-piece or a bikini. I bet you nine hundred dollarydoos you can’t guess which part of Australia I’m from. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/126 "2021-07-20T09:13:51Z")
In New England, at least when I was growing up there, “sprinkles” of the sort you put on ice cream or cake were called “jimmies.” I wasn’t aware it was a regional term until I was in DC and ordered jimmies on my ice cream cone, making the server smile and say, “You’re a New Englander, aren’t you?” When I asked how he knew, he told me that the rest of the country calls them “sprinkles.” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/127 "2021-07-20T09:18:57Z")
Hmmm yes that answer says you are probably not from Australia, or are speaking formally. We have a number of regional terms for swimming costume but “swimming costume”, while used and understood, is not regional and is only used relatively formally. ---
**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 20, 2021, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/128 "2021-07-20T09:25:39Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > In New England, at least when I was growing up there, “sprinkles” of the sort you put on ice cream or cake were called “jimmies.” I wasn’t aware it was a regional term until I was in DC and ordered jimmies on my ice cream cone, making the server smile and say, “You’re a New Englander, aren’t you? My dad was from Boston and I picked up “jimmies” from him. I still exclusively refer to the things as “chocolate jimmies” and “rainbow jimmies” to this day, to the consternation of my friends and coworkers who have no idea what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/129 "2021-07-20T10:59:12Z")
He was wrong. Where/when I grew up , only the rainbow ones were sprinkles. The chocolate ones were jimmies. ---
**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 20, 2021, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/130 "2021-07-20T12:14:38Z")
This is correct. Rainbow sprinkles, chocolate jimmies. ---
**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 20, 2021, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/131 "2021-07-20T12:53:15Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Americans, you are going to a swimming pool or a beach. What is the generic terms for the clothes you wear for this activity? Depending on your answer I can tell which part of Australia you are from! My family just calls them “swim clothes.” Or, yes, “bathing suit.” But not one of the two Australian terms I know for it (“togs” or “bathers.”) ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/132 "2021-07-20T12:59:18Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > In England there are at least 20 regional words for the basic bread roll. The type of roll you put a hamburger in. The ones I’ve heard in real life are roll, stottie, bap, cob, bun, barm cake, even teacake (and no, neither of the latter two are actually cakes, they are basic bread rolls). At a stall in Hull docks in1982 I had a ‘banjo’. Filled with bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/133 "2021-07-20T13:14:19Z")
Togs in NSW. Cozzie is more NSW. Bathers is more Victoria (and the UK) Trunks isn’t used. Men either wear the brief style (becoming rare outside sport) or board shorts (boardies). There are more slang terms for the former than one could possibly imagine, most somewhat obscene -Speedo’s, budgie smugglers, dick togs, banana hammocks, you get the picture ---
**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 20, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/134 "2021-07-20T13:14:46Z")
Cozzie! Nice. That’s a new one to add to the word bank. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/135 "2021-07-20T13:21:55Z")
I grew up in western MA, and soft drinks were referred to as “soda”. Here in the Midwest, it is called “pop”, which is a drug slang term in the New York streets for Heroin injections between one’s fingers. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/136 "2021-07-20T13:24:01Z")
How about lightweight rubber soled canvas shoes for games or sports? Specially for kids. UK generally, ‘plimsolls’. But also ‘daps’ (Southwest UK), ‘sandshoes’ (Scotland?), and I’m sure there are many more. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/137 "2021-07-20T13:24:35Z")
American and I’d call those “boat shoes”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/138 "2021-07-20T13:54:22Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > How about lightweight rubber soled canvas shoes for games or sports? Specially for kids. Converse All-Stars/Chuck Taylors or Vans, granted, that’s due to those types of shoes typically being one of those brands. Converse for the ‘older’ generation, Vans for the younger. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > American and I’d call those “boat shoes”. When I think of ‘boat shoes’, I think of Topsiders/Docksiders which have leather uppers and soles with very little or no tread on the bottom (like bowling shoes) to prevent small rocks or other debris from getting picked up and scratching up your boat. My grandparents were big into boating and my mom would have to wear those types of shoes on the boat. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/139 "2021-07-20T13:57:23Z")
I think of canvas Sperry Top Siders, which are my usual summertime wear. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/140 "2021-07-20T13:58:02Z")
Not quite the same: these are usually very cheap, unbranded. Used to be worn to school daily by the poorest kids. The ‘premium’ branded option in the UK was Dunlop Green Flash. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=8)