# Visitors and Transplants: what have you only heard said in New England? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358 "2010-05-31T06:14:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/21 "2010-06-01T00:15:04Z")
> [@bikergeek](#): > > “Carriage”: what you put your groceries in at the supermarket. Referred to as a “cart” or “buggy” elsewhere. This one caused me some confusion. The cashier asked me if I’d like my bundles (bags of groceries) put in the carriage (grocery cart). What is this, 1776? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/22 "2010-06-01T00:19:50Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > One of the more puzzling things I found upon moving to Vermont (in the late '60s) was the common locution of “So don’t I”. This did NOT mean, as you might expect, “No, I don’t \”, but in fact, was synonymous with “So do I”. > > This was widespread among kids of my age, and I still hear it from time to time. That was going to be my contribution as well. People still say “So don’t I” even in the Boston area. I almost got into a fight about it once because I thought it was a sarcastic joke when I heard it but “So don’t I” and “So do I” mean the exact same thing to some people around here. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/23 "2010-06-01T01:06:28Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That was going to be my contribution as well. People still say “So don’t I” even in the Boston area. I almost got into a fight about it once because I thought it was a sarcastic joke when I heard it but “So don’t I” and “So do I” mean the exact same thing to some people around here. I’ve lived my whole life in MA/NH and have always said 'so don’t I" when in agreement. Not until now do I realize how freak’n retahded I sound. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/24 "2010-06-01T01:11:15Z")
Most of the things I’d have said have already been taken. A lot of these are starting to die out. I rarely hear “tonic”, and I think that the influence of places like McDonald’s is making “frappe” give way to “shake”. Another one that’s practically gone (but I still occasionally see the signs) is “spa” for a Convenience Store ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/25 "2010-06-01T01:23:39Z")
The captain of the schooner I was on in Maine: “It’s gonnah be a barnburner todayh!” It got up to I think 85. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/26 "2010-06-01T04:24:25Z")
I grew up calling ALL sprinkles jimmies. It wasn’t until I met my boyfriend’s family (they are from the Springfield area) that I was informed that only the chocolate ones are jimmies and the rainbow ones are sprinkles. To get even more specific, the rainbow balls are called shots. I have never ever in my life said wicked pissah and I have never heard anyone say it outside of the movies. I think that may be one of the things only people in the Boston area say. That being said, wicked is a very frequently used word for me. Quarter of five, quarter to five, quarter til five, yep - use them all. So don’t I - good lord no! If I said that my mother would have slapped me. However, I have heard it said many times (unfortunately), from one side of the state to the other. Anything having to do with chowdah - I have never heard anyone say chowdahhead and I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone pronounce it chowdah, once I got more than 5 miles from the ocean. I have never heard anyone say tonic instead of soda. I have heard pop a few times. Water bubbler is redundant. It’s just a bubbler folks. Get it right. 😃 Shopping carts are carriages and carriages are shopping carts. **CalMeacham:** I was aware that convenience stores used to be called spas but I never saw it in practice til I moved to Southbridge. It caused me some confusion the first time I drove past the hospital because the Hospital Spa is across the street and I had never heard of a hospital having a spa, especially not a small town hospital. **Chefguy** : It took me a good 20 minutes to figure out what the hell a chester draws was. Once I said it out loud though I finally figured it out. I can definitely see someone writing that in a classified ad. When I look for stuff on eBay or Craigslist, I try to come up with stupid spellings based on common pronunciations. I have found a few deals that way. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/27 "2010-06-01T05:08:06Z")
> [@](#): > > and I think that the influence of places like McDonald’s is making “frappe” give way to “shake”. I dunno. I think that its still pretty much entrenched since shake and frappe tend to be two different things. Shakes tend to be the fast food ones, whereas frappes are the ones you get at the independant ice cream places. That’s like saying that Mrs. Butterworth’s is driving out REAL Vermont made maple syrup. > [@](#): > > Another one that’s practically gone (but I still occasionally see the signs) is “spa” for a Convenience Store I vaguely remember being in Newport for something and my mom being excited b/c there was a store called a spa. > [@](#): > > I have never ever in my life said wicked pissah and I have never heard anyone say it outside of the movies. I think that may be one of the things only people in the Boston area say. Am from down to the Cape, and am an alum of both a state skool and a North Shore based camp, and can’t remember anyone ever saying “wicked pissah” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/28 "2010-06-01T11:01:10Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > Am from down to the Cape, and am an alum of both a state skool and a North Shore based camp, and can’t remember anyone ever saying “wicked pissah” I’ve never heard anyone not on SNL say it either. It doesn’t really make sense anyway, not given how we use the word wicked. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/29 "2010-06-01T11:21:34Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > How is this pronounced? I’ve heard people say “yiz” as a plural form of you but nothing with an “n” in it. OTOH, I’ve spent a total of 3 hours in PA, so there’s that. The Pittsburgh “yinz” definitely has an “n” in it. OTOH, the Philadelphia “youse” doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/30 "2010-06-01T13:41:30Z")
[Sneakers versus tennis shoes](http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_73.html) is almost another one. It is predominant in the New England and New York area while still popular elsewhere. Tennis shoes are almost never used. I guess this would be a reverse regionalism for New England. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/31 "2010-06-01T13:45:02Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I’ve never heard anyone not on SNL say it either. It doesn’t really make sense anyway, not given how we use the word wicked. I heard it all the time growing up (Acton, MA) and still use it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/32 "2010-06-01T14:03:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I dunno. I think that its still pretty much entrenched since shake and frappe tend to be two different things. Shakes tend to be the fast food ones, whereas frappes are the ones you get at the independant ice cream places. That’s like saying that Mrs. Butterworth’s is driving out REAL Vermont made maple syrup. They’re different things (Properly, in New England, a “milkshake” contains milk and syrup, but not ice cream. A “Frappe” is what the rest of the US calls a “Shake”), but I definitely see “Shake” supplanting “Frappe” at local (not chain) ice cream places, and the non-ice-cream “milkshake” seems to be disappearing altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/33 "2010-06-01T14:22:25Z")
I’ve been working in the Portsmouth, NH area and living in Maine for the last nine months and have noticed serious overuse of the word “seriously.” It’s mostly used sarcastically in stiuations where I (raised in the midwest) would use “really.” I kind of like it though. **Surly** , who’s “from away.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/34 "2010-06-01T14:23:19Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > **Chefguy** : It took me a good 20 minutes to figure out what the hell a chester draws was. Once I said it out loud though I finally figured it out. I can definitely see someone writing that in a classified ad. When I look for stuff on eBay or Craigslist, I try to come up with stupid spellings based on common pronunciations. I have found a few deals that way. That Boston accent can be very thick for those not from there. I walked into a mini-mart one day in the fall in a short-sleeved shirt. The woman behind the counter shouted at me: “Ya hahdee!” Confused, I said “Buh?” or something equally intelligent. “Ya hahdee!” she says again, smiling. I must have looked completely blank, as she then says “Too cold faw that shirt!” I walked away, still puzzling; then it came to me around aisle three: “You’re hardy”. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/35 "2010-06-01T14:27:22Z")
Dinner. (?) I don’t know if this is a regionalism or not, but I never hear anyone outside my family say this to describe an afternoon meal. Dinner can take place at noon or 6, or any time in between. Lunch and supper were something other people talked about. My grandfather was English, so a lot of the things he said (and by extension the rest of my family said, too) were (I guess) English slang and not necessarily regionalisms. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/36 "2010-06-01T14:34:10Z")
This isn’t exactly what the OP is getting at, but I thought it might be worth sharing. Evidently (and I’ve just learned this in the last few years) “Chowder” can be “Red”. This blows my mind. The first time I heard of it, I thought it was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/37 "2010-06-01T14:37:05Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > This isn’t exactly what the OP is getting at, but I thought it might be worth sharing. > > Evidently (and I’ve just learned this in the last few years) “Chowder” can be “Red”. > > This blows my mind. The first time I heard of it, I thought it was a joke. Called “Manhattan Clam Chowder”. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/38 "2010-06-01T14:42:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Called “Manhattan Clam Chowder”. Call it what you want. It’s an abomination. ---
**Author:** ![Redwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/39 "2010-06-01T14:51:18Z")
Yeah, the first time I ordered a milkshake I was rather surprised, to say the least. I still see places with frappes on the menu, and I don’t think that the number of places offering them has gone down in the decade I’ve lived out here. I have a couple of friends who use ‘wicked pissah’ fairly often, but mostly in self mockery. They also use packie, which would’ve been odd, but I spent half a year in PA dealing with their oddball booze store system, figuring out packie was comparatively obvious. The strangest thing I’ve heard in New England though was at my first Sox-Yankees game: they booed the bat boy (the _bat boy_)! I knew the rivalry was intense, but booing the bat boy? Such thing would never have happened in the Metrodome. I love sports out here. Since the first rotary I encountered was out here, that’s how I think of them. I do catch myself thing that various nasty intersections in other parts of the country would be better served by rotaries. ETA: > [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > Call it what you want. It’s an abomination. You’re being generous. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358/40 "2010-06-01T15:00:16Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > How is this pronounced? I’ve heard people say “yiz” as a plural form of you but nothing with an “n” in it. OTOH, I’ve spent a total of 3 hours in PA, so there’s that. It’s pronounced “yinz.” I believe it’s a contraction of “you ones” –\> “you’unz” –\> “yinz.” > [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > Evidently (and I’ve just learned this in the last few years) “Chowder” can be “Red”. > > This blows my mind. The first time I heard of it, I thought it was a joke. “Manhattan-style” clam chowder is a tomato-based seafood soup originating in the Portuguese community of Rhode Island. Bostonians labeled it “Manhattan” based on their own notions of Boston-New York rivalry. I’m surprised you learned of it only recently. It’s very common. You can find both New England and Manhattan style clam chowders right next to each other in most supermarket canned soup aisles. (Although I like New England-style just fine, I much prefer Manhattan-style. New England style is basically just a big bowl of cream. Manhattan-style has much more flavor, and since it’s not packed full of milkfat, it is suitable for regular consumption.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visitors-and-transplants-what-have-you-only-heard-said-in-new-england/541358.md?page=3)