# 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:** 8
**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 20, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/141 "2021-07-20T13:58:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > American and I’d call those “boat shoes”. Boat shoes suggest “leather” to me. > **[The Ultimate Online Gifts Shopping Catalog Featuring Artisans from Around the...](https://www.market.unicefusa.org/p/mens-brown-oiled-leather-boat-shoe-deck-days/U47882/)** > > Shop our online gift catalog for unique, award-winning artisan treasures and greeting cards. Every gift purchased from UNICEF Market helps UNICEF save children's lives around the world. In the midwest, we called the canvas variety deck shoes: > **[Amazon.com | DEK HECTOR Unisex Canvas Lace-Up Deck Shoes Navy UK 12 | Fashion...](https://www.amazon.com/Dek-Mens-Padded-Canvas-Shoes/dp/B07KN9NG5K)** > > Rubber sole. Fabric upper. But definitions are muddy. [https://www.samuel-windsor.com/mens-shoes/boat-shoes/classic-boat-shoe-navybrown/BV324](https://www.samuel-windsor.com/mens-shoes/boat-shoes/classic-boat-shoe-navybrown/BV324) Since the post was about using them for athletics, I’d go with deck shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/142 "2021-07-20T14:05:57Z")
This is more of a concept than a _thing_, but in central Ohio, inserting yourself into a line in front of others who were there first is called “ditching” (rather than, or at least alongside, “cutting”). I didn’t know this was apparently a weird local term until recently. And based on the few discussions of the term I can find online, there may also be a generational divide, with older people calling it “dishing,” but I’ve never heard anyone say that. ---
**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 20, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/143 "2021-07-20T14:11:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Didi44](#): > > > > Interesting. Could it have been named after someone, as some things are? Is wrestler Tully Blanchard from you State? > > [Apparently](https://www.ithaca.com/dining/restaurant_reviews/tullyburger-reconstructed-story-of-a-homegrown-pattie/article_1114fca8-541c-11e6-bd84-9b7e8ebde6db.html), it’s specific to the area of Ithaca, NY, and it’s named after a regular customer at a local diner. > [@Smapti](#): > > It reminds me of a pizzeria here in Olympia where one of the signature menu items is a sub sandwich called “the Jake” At the University of Rochester in the early 70’s, a tuna salad and melted cheese sandwich was a “Howie’s Special.” I don’t think I ever found out who Howie was, and I don’t think I’ve run into the term since; but I occasionally make one, and always think of it as a Howie’s Special when I do. > [@Spoons](#): > > n 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 A “mickey” is a drink with a knockout or otherwise incapacitating drug added. I would think asking a liquor store to sell you a mickey might get you worse reactions than a “huh”; though I also think it’s an old term and might not be recognized. > [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > How about lightweight rubber soled canvas shoes for games or sports? Sneakers is what I grew up with (northeast USA). There seem to be a batch of various terms now; though I’ve never heard either plimsolls or daps or sandshoes. Thanks for the vocabulary! ---
**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, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/144 "2021-07-20T14:31:48Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > A “mickey” is a drink with a knockout or otherwise incapacitating drug added. I would think asking a liquor store to sell you a mickey might get you worse reactions than a “huh”; though I also think it’s an old term and might not be recognized. I think they’d probably just sell you a Mickey, it’s a beer that’s been around for as long as I can remember. If you asked for ‘a mickey’, they’d probably assume you want a 40. [![](https://www.mickeys.com/sites/mickeys/files/hero/image/mobile/W75777_Mic_Web_Product_Desktop_and_Mobile_Products_970x1000_0.jpg) ](https://www.mickeys.com/sites/mickeys/files/hero/image/mobile/W75777_Mic_Web_Product_Desktop_and_Mobile_Products_970x1000_0.jpg) ---
**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 20, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/145 "2021-07-20T14:36:56Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I think they’d probably just sell you a Mickey, it’s a beer that’s been around for as long as I can remember. Except that @Spoons said the reaction they were getting was “huh?”; which implies that the particular brand of beer isn’t common in the area in which the question was asked. I’m not up on beer brands, so I don’t know whether that one’s common here – I don’t remember having seen it, but it might be around and I might not have noticed. ---
**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, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/146 "2021-07-20T14:46:48Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > In West Texas, we had drive-through “package” stores. A package store sold only beer and wine. How do drive through wine purchases work? In my experience, wine buying involves looking at various bottles, thinking about the menu and reading the little card describing the wine and its Wine Spectator rating before ultimately choosing a bottle based on the artwork on the label. ---
**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, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/147 "2021-07-20T14:48:07Z")
When I was growing up , we would have called them sneakers generically ( although we would have called them Keds or Converse if we weren’t being generic). But back then, I don’t remember non-canvas sneakers being popular for general wear - so sneakers would have always meant the canvas type. ---
**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, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/148 "2021-07-20T14:50:08Z")
It does for you - but I could drive through and just ask for for my preferred brand of prosecco or moscato. I suspect the drive-through places get more customers like me than like you. ---
**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, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/149 "2021-07-20T14:57:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How do drive through wine purchases work? In my experience, wine buying involves looking at various bottles, thinking about the menu and reading the little card describing the wine and its Wine Spectator rating before ultimately choosing a bottle based on the artwork on the label. As true as that is (my store sells wine and beer), there’s also just as many people that know exactly what they’re looking for. Especially those that drink a bit…more. My customers that are in 2 or 3 times a month for a case of wine, and always the same one, wouldn’t have a problem with a drive through. In fact, just a few days ago, one of them did just that. He didn’t want to come inside because his wife had a (ultimately false) positive covid test and didn’t want to put us at risk, he called, gave me his credit card number and I ran it out to his car. Same with beer. We sell a good bit of craft beer, but we still have people who come in every week for the same one. As for the rest, nowadays, you can do the research online and the store’s website may even have a list of what they (typically) have in stock or their facebook page might post new arrivals. 25 years ago, back when I was in college, I’m guessing the people using the drive through liquor store were looking for things more along the lines of box wine (ie Franzia) or wine coolers or domestic beers. The ones that wanted to read the labels and pick out a nice $20 bottle, could go to a regular liquor store. ---
**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, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/150 "2021-07-20T15:38:00Z")
Should have Wiki’d first! > **[Plimsoll shoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plimsoll_shoe)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > A pump or plimsoll (British English; see other names below) is a type of athletic shoe with a canvas upper and rubber sole, developed initially as beachwear. > Pumps have solid rubber soles about 8 or 9 mm thick, to which the canvas is glued without coming up the sides (as on trainers). The effect when running is similar to running without shoes. ‘Pumps’ of course, ‘sneakers’ for sure. ‘Galoshes’ in Liverpool? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/151 "2021-07-20T16:32:00Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How do drive through wine purchases work? In my experience, wine buying involves looking at various bottles, thinking about the menu and reading the little card describing the wine and its Wine Spectator rating before ultimately choosing a bottle based on the artwork on the label. Well, this was West Texas, not Manhattan or Paris. You just pull up, and when the guy comes out you say, “Gimme a bottle of Thunderbird,” or whatever rotgut you have in mind. It was mostly beer purchases from my experience. And again, it was not purely drive-through, you could park and go inside if you needed to. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/152 "2021-07-20T17:02:47Z")
The fourth would be rotating; The Ole, The Lex, The Windham, The Sid. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/153 "2021-07-20T17:06:58Z")
If they were going to name something in Ithaca after a wrestler, it would have to be named after Ithaca College grad Gorilla Monsoon. ---
**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 20, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/154 "2021-07-20T18:36:34Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > ‘Pumps’ of course Not everywhere: [https://www.shoecarnival.com/womens/pumps\_and\_heels/pumps/](https://www.shoecarnival.com/womens/pumps_and_heels/pumps/) ---
**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 20, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/155 "2021-07-20T19:28:32Z")
I’m not sure if this is a common Wisconsin thing or just something unique to my relatives, but I remember visiting cousins in Wisconsin as a kid, and they called the midday meal “dinner” and the evening meal “supper”. ---
**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 20, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/156 "2021-07-20T19:45:03Z")
Normal here among older farm people who ordinarily ate the largest meal of the day in the middle of the day; but becoming increasingly less common. It’s a pattern of meals which works well when nearly everyone works at home, but not when most families have someone working away from home during the day. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/157 "2021-07-20T20:35:47Z")
I grew up in Tennessee; supper was what we called the evening meal. Normally the midday meal was lunch, but if it were the big meal of the day (Sunday or a holiday), it was dinner. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/158 "2021-07-20T21:18:42Z")
> [@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?” When I asked how he knew, he told me that the rest of the country calls them “sprinkles.” When I was a kid in California jimmies were exclusively chocolate sprinkles. All other sprinkles were sprinkles. On edit: Dang, I should have read down two more posts! ---
**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 20, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/159 "2021-07-20T21:27:54Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > supper was what we called the evening meal. Normally the midday meal was lunch, but if it were the big meal of the day (Sunday or a holiday), it was dinner. +1. Supper might be a few dishes but dinner has more and they’re fancier. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/160 "2021-07-20T21:29:43Z")
Makes me think of 1920s novels where they go dancing, but take a break at midnight for a light supper. Sounds very “vintage” to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=9)