# What are your regional "vocal tics"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 1, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956 "2018-02-01T16:34:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/61 "2018-02-02T15:39:42Z")
Alas, as a Mountain West/ West Coast immigrant to the East Coast I don’t have noticeable accent tics – not even SoCal Valley Girl intonations after 20 years of living there. I have boring old newscaster speech patterns. I do, however, have some “vocab tics” that are occasionally remarked upon: A car glovebox is a “jockey box” Pizza is pizza - not “pie” Interstates/highways take the definite article - “the 95,” the 206." The natives drop the article. I go to the beach - not “down the shore.” I asked our secretary to order a box of elastics. She was stymied (I wanted rubber bands). ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/62 "2018-02-02T15:52:31Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > I’m sure you’re all familiar with typical NJ/NYC ways of speaking. I just re-realized the other day that certain phrases that we use every day such as “whatchya doin’?” sound peculiar to people from not around here. > > In my Air Force days, my fellow airmen would get a kick out of phrases I used (and I guess the way I said it) such as “you bustin’ my balls?” And the way I pronounced coffee. A native Manhattanite, Mrs. Shark “puts out the light” and puts her socks in a “drahr” (kind of: her pronunciation is difficult to capture - somewhere between this and “drah’r”). She grew up in a German-Yiddish-English-speaking home and has some great expressions, some of which I’ve co-opted. The Philly-Trenton- NYC region is a linguist’s paradise! ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/63 "2018-02-02T16:14:35Z")
In my state (Utah) [we call them “garbage trucks”, not “trash trucks”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20760038#post20760038). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/64 "2018-02-02T16:18:38Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > Alas, as a Mountain West/ West Coast immigrant to the East Coast I don’t have noticeable accent tics – not even SoCal Valley Girl intonations after 20 years of living there. I have boring old newscaster speech patterns. > > I do, however, have some “vocab tics” that are occasionally remarked upon: > > A car glovebox is a “jockey box” > > Pizza is pizza - not “pie” > > Interstates/highways take the definite article - “the 95,” the 206." The natives drop the article. > > I go to the beach - not “down the shore.” > > I asked our secretary to order a box of elastics. She was stymied (I wanted rubber bands). My Pittsburgh-based wife calls them gum-bands. And drinks “pop.” ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/65 "2018-02-02T16:25:45Z")
“Jagoff” is perhaps my favorite all-purpose epiteth, but tends to sound a little bit odd to people outside Chicago or Pittsburgh. I especially enjoy my father’s use of it peppered in his Polish speech. ---
**Author:** ![PapaJoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9adbd/32.png) [@PapaJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapaJoe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/66 "2018-02-02T16:30:54Z")
Gotta say, I never expected this simple little question to generate such a wealth of stories and information! I’m loving reading about all these little variations on and idiosyncrasies of the English language. You Dopers are pretty frickin’ awesome! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/67 "2018-02-02T17:19:07Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > In my state (Utah) [we call them “garbage trucks”, not “trash trucks”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20760038#post20760038). I have lived in five states scattered across the US, and I have never heard “trash truck” in my life, until this moment. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/68 "2018-02-02T17:33:38Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I have lived in five states scattered across the US, and I have never heard “trash truck” in my life, until this moment. I _think_ he’s being facetious and poking fun at that thread. (Yeah, I’ve never heard anyone call them anything but “garbage trucks.”) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/69 "2018-02-02T17:38:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I _think_ he’s being facetious and poking fun at that thread. (Yeah, I’ve never heard anyone call them anything but “garbage trucks.”) Ahh! Okay, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/70 "2018-02-02T18:16:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Heard in Chicago, as well. I could also swear I’ve heard it East Coast, like Jersey or somewhere thereabouts. (In re: “Jeat yet?” and “No, Jew?”) I think this one is pretty widespread. Jeff Foxworthy mentioned these in one of his early routines as typical Redneck speech. I think that kind of slurring of sounds is just what happens when speaking quickly, no matter where you’re from. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/71 "2018-02-02T18:29:45Z")
A work friend and I were just talking about one the other day. She’s a native Californian and I spent 30 years in Colorado; both transplanted to the Midwest. We both say, “You’re fine,” if someone apologizes to us/bumps into us/pardons themselves etc. Not one person out here says it, so we’ve decided it’s a Westernism. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/72 "2018-02-02T18:50:32Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > My Pittsburgh-based wife calls them gum-bands. And drinks “pop.” Growing up in western PA, it was always “pop”. Then I lived in Philly, just long enough for “soda” to sound right. The weird part was the year I alternated between Pittsburgh and Philly every few weeks and had soda and pop switching back and forth. It was really jarring! And of course, “the car needs warshed” sounds perfectly fine to me. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/73 "2018-02-02T18:55:48Z")
Words ending in -sh were problematic for a lot of my family in Ohio. Wash is warsh. Fish is feesh. Cash is Caysh. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/74 "2018-02-02T19:11:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Growing up in western PA, it was always “pop”. Then I lived in Philly, just long enough for “soda” to sound right. The weird part was the year I alternated between Pittsburgh and Philly every few weeks and had soda and pop switching back and forth. It was really jarring! I now just call it a “soft drink.” Because I can’t remember who calls what where. So I get universal puzzlement because it’s weird, but people know what I mean! ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/75 "2018-02-02T19:12:44Z")
For summer vacations, Marylanders go “downey ocean.” ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/76 "2018-02-02T19:39:33Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > My dentist has an odd one which I’ve never heard anywhere else - a tendency to say “Happy Days!” in place of “that’s great”. Which he does about every two minutes on average…“Looks like we’re not going to need any fillings today - happy days! And I see you’ve been flossing your teeth properly - happy days!” And so on and so-forth. > > He’s an ethnically-Indian Home Counties Englishman living in Australia, which leaves a wide variety of places that particular quirk could have come out of (apart from, possibly, his very own personal brain) A former co-worker in Bristol, England used to do that, though he was half Jamaican, half Liverpudlian, so I’m not sure that helps. The other local quirk that I tried very hard not to pick up from Bristol is the totally unnecessary ‘to’ they tack on the end of questions like “Where’s that to?” and “Where’s Bob to?” which simply mean “Where’s that?” and “Where’s Bob?” I started doing it occasionally joking with a different co-worker with a very strong local accent, but I find myself coming out with it occasionally now by accident. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/77 "2018-02-02T21:27:52Z")
A lot of this stuff is familiar to me. I’ve started to hear a new (to me) wrinkle. When somebody says that something’s been there “right from the get-go”, an old way of saying “from the beginning,” it has morphed into “right from the **gecko.** ” Maybe its all that exposure to the mascot for Geico Insurance. Gecko seems to change the meaning. However, I wonder how many people know what a get-go is. I don’t. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/78 "2018-02-02T21:57:07Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > A lot of this stuff is familiar to me. I’ve started to hear a new (to me) wrinkle. When somebody says that something’s been there “right from the get-go”, an old way of saying “from the beginning,” it has morphed into “right from the **gecko.** ” Maybe its all that exposure to the mascot for Geico Insurance. Gecko seems to change the meaning. However, I wonder how many people know what a get-go is. I don’t. Huh. I’ve never heard “right from the gecko.” Either that or my brain has auto-corrected it to “right from the get-go” because it just thinks there’s no way any sane person would say “right from the gecko.” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/79 "2018-02-02T22:23:56Z")
Oh, I dunno. I have heard allegedly sane people saying odder things than “right from the gecko.” ---
**Author:** ![PapaJoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9adbd/32.png) [@PapaJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapaJoe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956/80 "2018-02-02T22:29:50Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Oh, I dunno. I have heard allegedly sane people saying odder things than “right from the gecko.” “For all intensive purposes.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-regional-vocal-tics/807956.md?page=5)