# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/161 "2021-07-21T00:01:38Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > ‘Pumps’ of course, ‘sneakers’ for sure. ‘Galoshes’ in Liverpool? I know Wikipedia includes sneakers as the US term, but they don’t seem like what I’d guess most people in the US would call sneakers. They’re far too flimsy and have very little support, and while they very occasionally have velcro closings, they never have laces. And Chucks, Keds, etc, are brand names for shoes that are also really quite different to plimsolls. Sneakers is probably the closest word there is because perhaps they just aren’t common enough in the US to have their own name. I think you’d probably have to see a pair in real life to appreciate how different they are from sneakers and Chucks. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/162 "2021-07-21T00:08:30Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Togs in NSW. Cozzie is more NSW. Bathers is more Victoria (and the UK) Bathers is UK, but it’s extremely old-fashioned - well, unless it’s used in some regions and I’m not aware of it; it’s not widespread English any more. Cozzie is common here too, though swimming costume is used more IME. As a kid my NZ cousins came to visit and I was confused by their use of “togs,” because here that just means “clothes.” Thought of another culinary one - there’s a simple sponge cake with icing on top that, in the South-East at least, is called Tottenham cake. [http://southtottenham.org/blog/tottenham-cake-recipe/](http://southtottenham.org/blog/tottenham-cake-recipe/) I think a lot of people think of it as “school dinner cake” because that’s where most people encountered it, often with the thin pink custard that exists nowhere else but in school canteens. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/163 "2021-07-21T00:16:45Z")
I’m guessing these are the closest things in the US to plimsolls [https://www.skechers.com/women/shoes/skechers-arch-fit-uplift---romantic/136561.html](https://www.skechers.com/women/shoes/skechers-arch-fit-uplift---romantic/136561.html) but I don’t have any word for them other than “Skechers” ---
**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 21, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/164 "2021-07-21T00:19:18Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > 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”. My maternal grandparents, who lived in Port Washington, WI (but had also lived up in the woods of northern Wisconsin, where my grandfather was a lumberjack, when they were younger) did so, too, and I thought it was strange, when I was a kid. But, as @thorny_locust notes, I’ve since learned that it seems to be more of a farm/agricultural usage. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/165 "2021-07-21T00:19:52Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m guessing these are the closest things in the US to plimsolls Closer, yeah. But there’s no back and no arch support. They’re a really specific item of footwear, so I think any term is going to be close, but not quite right. ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/166 "2021-07-21T01:56:16Z")
It’s “jimmies” in Pittsburgh. ---
**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 21, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/167 "2021-07-21T07:38:51Z")
Another one that occurred to me today - back in the early 2000s, Dairy Queen here in the PNW had an item on the menu called a “California burger”. Beeing a SoCal native, I would’ve expected something called a California burger to have guacamole or pepper jack on it, but instead it was just a regular burger with lettuce, tomato, and onion added. I never quite saw how that made it California style, since you can get a burger like that at just about any burger place in the country. ---
**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 21, 2021, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/168 "2021-07-21T12:23:53Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m guessing these are the closest things in the US to plimsolls > > [https://www.skechers.com/women/shoes/skechers-arch-fit-uplift---romantic/136561.html](https://www.skechers.com/women/shoes/skechers-arch-fit-uplift---romantic/136561.html) > > but I don’t have any word for them other than “Skechers” Nope: plimsolls have laces And they don’t cost 80 dollars! Here are some high-end branded plimsolls: > **[Dunlop GREEN FLASH Unisex Kids Junior Canvas Trainers White/Green | Shuperb](https://www.shuperb.co.uk/kids-c1/boys-c2/trainers-c44/dunlop-green-flash-unisex-kids-junior-canvas-trainers-white-green-p20366/s154736?cid=GBP&utm_source=VisualsoftAffiliates&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=genieshoppingare)** > > Dunlop GREEN FLASH Unisex Kids Junior Canvas Trainers White/Green > The great iconic trainer from the 1980's.  A legend in its own right.  "Junior" sizes can be worn by boys/girls or women as these are a unisex trainer.They feature a flexible... But ‘proper’ plimsolls are white all over (or maybe black though those weren’t allowed at my school). When I was 12 or so I was moved by a short story (could have been Paul Gallico, but I think it was an otherwise science fiction writer, as I was into SF) about the joy of a boy my age putting on sneakers for the first time at the start of summer. Does that ring a bell with anyone? ---
**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 21, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/169 "2021-07-21T13:18:36Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > When I was 12 or so I was moved by a short story (could have been Paul Gallico, but I think it was an otherwise science fiction writer, as I was into SF) about the joy of a boy my age putting on sneakers for the first time at the start of summer. Does that ring a bell with anyone? I think it’s Ray Bradbury. – this one? > **[summer-in-the-air-ray-bradbury.pdf](https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/wp-content/uploads/satevepost/summer-in-the-air-ray-bradbury.pdf)** > > 1494.59 KB ---
**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 21, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/170 "2021-07-21T14:24:14Z")
That’s the one! Thanks a million! Now I can be moved all over again. What a swell party this is! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/171 "2021-07-21T14:34:55Z")
Thank you, I don’t recall ever reading that one before. ---
**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 21, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/172 "2021-07-21T15:43:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Another one that occurred to me today - back in the early 2000s, Dairy Queen here in the PNW had an item on the menu called a “California burger”. For a while Carl’s Jr. had a burger on their menu called the “California Classic”. It was pretty much a blatant copy of In-N-Out’s Double Double. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/173 "2021-07-21T23:24:25Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > Nope: plimsolls have laces No they don’t! And I’m not sure how those trainers can be called plimsolls. Unless, given the thread, in your area plimsoll is used to mean any kind of trainer/sneaker type footwear? ---
**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 21, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/174 "2021-07-21T23:31:03Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Another one that occurred to me today - back in the early 2000s, Dairy Queen here in the PNW had an item on the menu called a “California burger”. Beeing a SoCal native, I would’ve expected something called a California burger to have guacamole or pepper jack on it, but instead it was just a regular burger with lettuce, tomato, and onion added I’m familiar with the lettuce-tomato-onion being called a “California burger” as well, and I’m in Chicago. It’s not current nomenclature (which would, as you say, usually mean avocado on a burger or something of that nature), but I think there was a time California was strongly associated with fresh produce. (I guess it still is, but even moreso.) I know I’ve brought this up on the Dope before. ETA: I could have sworn it was on this board, but I can’t find it. I checked another board and came up empty, except for a poster saying that growing up in Milwaukee, they called a burger with lettuce, tomato, and mayo or special sauce a “California Burger.” ETA2: Here’s a thread from '04 where @chique reports a California Burger in central Minnessota being a burger with lettuce and tomato. It may well be an Upper Midwest/Great Lakes thing (oops, but you say you saw it in the PNW, so I guess it’s farther afield than that. I don’t think it’s particularly common anymore to refer to that as such): > [@Foods named after geography](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-named-after-geography/230343/27): > > Not only have I never seen a “California burger” in California, I have never seen it outside of central Minnesota. And before you ask, it’s a hamburger. With lettuce and tomato. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/175 "2021-07-23T00:33:45Z")
You’re standing at the corner of two ice-covered streets. A car comes by, and slides to a stop. You run up, grab the rear bumper, squat, and as the car pulls away, you slide along the street on your boots. What do you call this? In much of the US, it’s bumper skiing or _skitching_. In the part of Buffalo where I grew up, it’s called _pogeying_. As in “Let’s pogey off that big 'ol Chrysler!” ---
**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 23, 2021, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/176 "2021-07-23T01:24:17Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > In much of the US, it’s bumper skiing or _skitching_ . It was called bumper hitching in Utah. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/177 "2021-07-23T03:05:16Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > You’re standing at the corner of two ice-covered streets. A car comes by, and slides to a stop. You run up, grab the rear bumper, squat, and as the car pulls away, you slide along the street on your boots. > > What do you call this? In much of the US, it’s bumper skiing or _skitching_. In the part of Buffalo where I grew up, it’s called _pogeying_. As in “Let’s pogey off that big 'ol Chrysler!” I have never _ever_ heard of such a thing. Closest I’ve seen is in older movies where kids will hang onto a moving car on their bike or skateboard, but never associated any name with the behavior. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/178 "2021-07-23T03:47:30Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > [@elmwood](#): > > > > You’re standing at the corner of two ice-covered streets. A car comes by, and slides to a stop. You run up, grab the rear bumper, squat, and as the car pulls away, you slide along the street on your boots. > > > > What do you call this? In much of the US, it’s bumper skiing or _skitching_. In the part of Buffalo where I grew up, it’s called _pogeying_. As in “Let’s pogey off that big 'ol Chrysler!” > > I have never _ever_ heard of such a thing. Closest I’ve seen is in older movies where kids will hang onto a moving car on their bike or skateboard, but never associated any name with the behavior It was skeetching when I was a kid. The sliding on snow, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2021, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/179 "2021-07-23T03:51:01Z")
> [@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. You also have a 200 mL “half-pint” (6.7 oz) No, no, no. American here, and I deal with a lot of liquor stores, supermarkets that carry booze, and am in a couple of groups of whisky drinkers. And I spend time in different types of bars. I have never heard anyone call 12.6 ounces a pint. That’s stupid. A pint is 16 oz., and if your bar offers a 12 oz. pour of some spirit, it’s labeled as: “12 oz. Pour”. I checked a local liquor store. Sizes on shelves are labeled _1 liter, 750 ml, and 375 ml._ 200 ml and 50 ml bottles are up near the register, and labeled as such. Maybe you have mickeys and forty-pounders (1.14 liters, really? Ok…) in Canada, but this Amurrican (who’s been drinking for six decades now) only sees exact sizes listed. I’m so proud to be more modern and metric than Canada in at least one area! ---
**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 23, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610/180 "2021-07-23T03:53:19Z")
A 375 bottle of whiskey is colloquially known as a “pint,” at least around here (Chicago). A 200 is a “half pint.” A 750 is a “fifth.” And a 1.75 is a “handle.” They are not labeled as such – that’s just what pretty much any seasoned drinker who buys those sizes calls 'em. Trust me, I’ve bought plenty of pints and half pints in my day to keep around for a nip here and there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unique-local-regional-names-for-common-things/946610.md?page=10)