I’m sure this has been done before, but I’m looking for regional vocabulary differences in the USA.
For example depending upon where you are in the US if said “Bring your toboggan.” Some people would expect you have warm head wear, other people would expect you to be toting along a wooden sled.
Depending upon where you’re from you might call the first or last piece of bread in a loaf something different. I’ve always called it a heel, my friend calls it “the crust.” To me EVERY piece has crust on it.
If you throw a pass down field did you “chuck” it or “chunk” it?
That thing you sit on in the living room, the long one with maybe three cushions - davenport, sofa, couch?
I grew up calling it a davenport, but that might be an age thing, rather than regional.
Here’s a gem; in New Mexico it’s quite common to ask if somebody wants to “get down” from a vehicle. I almost got slapped in college when I was hanging out with a gal from somewhere else and I asked her if she wanted to get down when I parked at the grocery store.
Also, we “put” gas. Most people I know from other parts of the country say they have to “get” gas or “pump” gas.
In (semi) coastal North Carolina ‘carry’ is apparently the catch-all verb, and can be used to mean take, show, guide, drag, push, pull, carry, walk, run, give someone a ride in a car-or even a boat-pretty much anything that involved human locomotion.
Drove me nuts, and I drew the line when it was suggested that someone carry me outside to show me an aspect of my job. I am a grown ass man, after all…in retrospect, I should have leapt into the prospective carrier’s arms like a new bride.
Also, the folks there seemed to ‘look at’ TV’s instead of watching them, and referred to pretty much anything that wasn’t a traditional car as a ‘truck’, whether or not it had an open cargo bed or not.
From Texas, i spent a few months on a contract in New York state.
At a fast food joint, while deciding what to get, I was asked, “Are you on line?” In Texas he would’ve asked, “Are you in line?”
When I finally gave my order to the server, she asked, “Is this to stay?” I replied, “No, that’s for here.” I thought she asked, “Is this to go?” like they would in Texas.
In Texas, we go out for pizza. In New York, they get a pie.
You know that cushion-y thing you prop your feet upon as you’re watching TV? In my family, originally from Baltimore, we always called it a hassock. My girlfriend said that her family, hailing from a different part of Baltimore (!) has always referred to it as an ottoman and had never heard the term ‘hassock’ from anyone but me.
A former colleague of mine originally from Florida, once told us about an aunt from a different part of Florida, who in addition to possessing a thick Southern-cracker accent, used some odd expressions. To ask the time, she would say, “What time it is?” and would use the word “up” as a verb as in: “Boy, g’wan over there and up the winda.” He said he was fascinated with the way she talked.
Twice in recent weeks I’ve heard or read this word usage: “I have to make.” Seems to have been in reference to taking a crap. Is this a regional thing? If so, in which region is this common? I’ve certainly never heard it before.
We had a hassock when I was growing up in Wisconsin. But somewhere along the way my usage morphed (though I still live in WI) and now I would call it an ottoman too.
On my first trip down south as I was driving my loaded car from Missouri to Texas for college, the gas station attendant asked me what my tag number was. That was a solid five minutes before I understood what she was talking about.
We had a hassock, now I have a footstool.
My mother drank out of a bubbler, but I’ve never used anything but a drinking fountain. But she grew up in downstate Illinois, mostly.
I used to eat lunch and supper, now I eat lunch and dinner.
I’m not sure if the changes are time-related or I’ve picked them up from my husband and the other people around me. There’s a bit of a difference between suburbs and rural small town, even if it’s only a few miles.
