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Across the Fence:  Vernacular and Colloquialisms  |
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one_dog_per_acre
True Blue Farmgirl
1572 Posts
Trish
Sandpoint
ID
USA
1572 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 04:00:31 AM
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I know what a spiggot is, because my step sisters live in Lowell, MA.
They know "I'm good," means I don't want anymore coffee, "Give me a pop," means I want 7-up, not a punch in the face, because I am from Oregon.
What do you say, that will make me go, huh?
“It always looks darkest just before it gets totally black.”-Charlie Brown |
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beekeepersgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1423 Posts
Luanne
Cresco
PA
USA
1423 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 05:27:54 AM
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I'm from Northern New England, so I know when I ask for a grinder that I'm going to get a sandwich, not a power tool! Once I moved to PA, nobody knew what I wanted!!
Oh, and Trish - we knew what a "spiggot" was too! How about a "gimlet" - anybody know what that is (and I don't mean the alcoholic drink)!!
And, if you're from a little further north, we also know what a "mug up" is!!
Hugs,
Luanne
beekeepersgirl #691
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 05:43:22 AM
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"I'm sorry"...in Northern Kentucky and Ohio, it can mean, "I'm sorry I did that, said that, whatever.." or it can mean, "I didn't hear you." The same with "Please"--it becomes a question when I didn't hear you correctly...
"Outdoors"...instead of outside
Spigot is faucet here.
Register is for heating vents in the floor
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 06:09:54 AM
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Hmm... a "Creek" up here means a little river so if you aren't reading and I say I heard a creek...I don't mean squeaky floors...
"Bad Lands" is a 'technical' term for the scrub land with sagebrush between towns around here
Hmm....I'll have to think about this some more... I know there are some regionalisms that I am forgetting just now.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
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one_dog_per_acre
True Blue Farmgirl
1572 Posts
Trish
Sandpoint
ID
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 06:33:42 AM
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People from New England have referred to us as Western. I always associated it with Country and Western, which I am not.
“It always looks darkest just before it gets totally black.”-Charlie Brown |
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traildancer
True Blue Farmgirl
485 Posts
Loyce
Glide
OR
USA
485 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 09:42:15 AM
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Growing up in Alaska, we called them "snowmachines" or sometimes by the brand name if we had more than one as in "I get to ride the Ski-doo" or "No way, (insert little brother's name!) I get the Polaris." Down in the Lower 48 people looked at me funny when I would say that. Apparently down here one rides a snowmobile and ski resorts use snowmachines to create snow. Obviously that was not necessary in Alaska!
Also we called it "Washington State" to not be confused with "Washington" the Capitol.
And we used, "I'll go with."
And I disagree with the detractors who criticized Sarah Palin for droppin' her final "g's" People down here do it also!
I grew up calling it a "crick" instead of a "creek".
I know that "rubber" in New Zealand means "eraser"!!!! And to "take a douche" is to take a shower. Needless to say, some very embarrassed foreigners.
The trail is the thing.... Louis L'Amour |
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acairnsmom
True Blue Farmgirl
1319 Posts
audrey
cheyenne
wy
1319 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 10:28:57 AM
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Let's see, we have draws here and they are not sketches they are depressions in the grounds (like a dry river bed). We have a creature here called a Jackalope. It's a cross between a jack rabbit and an antelope.
A soddie is a house made with chunks of sod usually erected by a Sodbuster.
Luanne, isn't a gimlet an evil eye?
Audrey
.jpg) Good boy Hobbs! I love and miss you. |
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beekeepersgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1423 Posts
Luanne
Cresco
PA
USA
1423 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 10:34:04 AM
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A gimlet "up North" is a little tool with a wood handle used to start a hole prior to inserting a nail or a screw.
beekeepersgirl #691
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
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heritagehunter
True Blue Farmgirl
207 Posts
Julie
La Salle
Co
USA
207 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 10:34:19 AM
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I grew up with mid-western farm folk, so everyone thinks I talk funny.
The three meals a day are breakfast, dinner (lunch to most), and supper is the evening meal.
I took my dinner to school in a bucket (what everyone else calls lunchboxes).
The grocery carts in stores are buggies.
That's all I can come up with at the top of my head, but I know there is more. |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 10:39:46 AM
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Well, a "gimlet" to this girl is a refreshing summer cocktail with half parts gin (or vodka) and Rose's lime juice ;)
We also say "warsh" here, for wash. Well, I don't, but my family does.
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
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Catherine L
True Blue Farmgirl
408 Posts
Cathy
Newton
Texas
USA
408 Posts |
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acairnsmom
True Blue Farmgirl
1319 Posts
audrey
cheyenne
wy
1319 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 12:15:17 PM
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"Oh shoot!" Yes, that's one we use a lot! And then I forgot the obligitory "Whoa!" when you want someone to slow down, be it talking or driving their car. And "get your giddy-up on" when you want some one to move a little faster.
Jonni, I'm not sure I knew the ingredients in a gimlet. That sounds right up my alley! Anyone wanna join me in one?
Audrey
Good boy Hobbs! I love and miss you. |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 12:35:48 PM
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I'll happily join you in a Gimlet, Audrey--one of the "original" cocktails from the 1900's! My husband was a mixologist in a revived prohibition era speak easy and I was his guinea pig. Out of all the experiments, I really fell in love with the Sidecar and The Gimlet!!!
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
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acairnsmom
True Blue Farmgirl
1319 Posts
audrey
cheyenne
wy
1319 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 12:47:26 PM
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Slurp, ahhhh....love gin!
Audrey
Good boy Hobbs! I love and miss you. |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 12:51:58 PM
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Hiccup! Me, too ;)
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 2:27:18 PM
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Well, I guess this Okie who had a stopover in East Tennessee will join in. In Blaine, TN we asked if we could "carry you" anywhere (drop you off), if you wanted a "code drank" (a coca cola, etc), "straked mate in a poke" (a piece of fatback with a streak of meat in a sack), "of the night" instead of "at night" and if you 'reckoned' where something was.
In Oklahoma, we have 'bar ditches' (the dip alongside the road), 'pond dams' (the rim around a pond) and if you are cheap, you're "tight as Dick's hatband". Oh, and if you want something really badly and quickly it's "Like a duck on a Junebug."
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 2:29:25 PM
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I love this. i have lived in so many states...Calif, Oregon, Missouri,Georgia, Arkansas & now massachusetts & I love all the different way people say things...up here a regular coffee is not black but with cream & sugar.....I still have so much of my southern ways that after 15 yrs I still get looks when I say Ya' all,Supper (for dinner)...I say soda for soda pop,crik for a tiny shallow creek, crawdads for what they call crawfish up here....they say tire for tar like on a roof up here, patten for pattern also....Caa for Car.....I say What's up to mean how are you? ..frapp is said for a thick milkshake up here....I still say alot of things where you drop the g's like goin' fixin'...lol....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 5:56:31 PM
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SUCH a great subject!!! LOVE IT!!!
Growing up in Massachusetts and Rhode Island:
A "bubbler" is a water fountain.
A "blinker" is your vehicle's turn signal.
"Soda" and "pop" and "tonic" all mean the same beverage - just depends upon what part of the states you were from.
A "hoagie" and "grinder" and "sub" - yep, got those, too!
A "cabinet" (or more specifically, a "COFFEE cabinet") is a shake - not made with milk, but rather heavy cream (to DIE for!!!).
If you're near "New Beige" - that's actually New Bedford, MA.
If you want to grab a bite with your friends, you ask, "Jeet?" to which the response is, "Jew?" (Here in Pittsburgh they say - "Jeet Jet?" "Nah - Jew?")
A dynamite is a sloppy joe.
A "gagger" (well actually, it's pronounced "gaggah") is a really nasty, tightly packed small hot dog/weenie covered in a weenie sauce that contains only-God-knows what... You eat 'em cuz it's tradition, but once you do you always wonder what the heck you were thinking... Let's just say, not even Alka Seltzer can spell relief for it! LOL!
"Stuffies" are stuffed quahogs (and a quahog is a large hardshell clam, good for chowder and ground up in stuffies or clam cakes - YUMMMM!... the small soft shelled ones are called "steamers" or "little necks" - those are the ones you steam and dip in butter... the small hard shelled ones are called "cherry stones" - and THOSE are the ones you make clams casino with!) Don't even get me started on the difference between a clam bake and a clam boil....
We have rotaries in MA and RI, too - do you? They're crazy little rounds in the middle of a road that guide you to one of many different exits... Insane stuff, let me tell you!
In the winter when I was a kid, we wore "rubbers" over our shoes. I never heard the term "galoshes" until I was a young adult. I'll never forget it... We were at a church dinner at the holidays, discussing winter wear... I caused quite a stir when I declared we ALWAYS wore "rubbers" when we were kids! LOL! Good grief!
Here in Western PA you "woosh" or "worsh" your clothes....
A "nebby" is a person who is just plain nosey...
Y'inz isn't a form of vegetable - it means "you all" or "you ones" in Pittsburgh-ese. It also may be pronounced "Yunz." In RI and MA, however, we just say, "you guys."
"Dahntahn" is Pittsburgh's way of saying "downtown..." "Uptahn"... well, you get the idea...
In the winter, the roads and sidewalks aren't slippery here in the 'Burgh - they're "slippy."
People here also like to drop the phrase "to be," when something needs to be done... I.e. "The car needs wooshed."
A lot of people here do their grocery shopping at Gine Iggle (Giant Eagle).
"Jumbo" is baloney, which really confused me when I moved here, because when I was a kid, "Jumbo" was the main attraction - the big elephant - at one of the local zoos... 'Freaked me out when I heard they ate it!
"Chipped ham" is what we RI-ers refer to as "ham sliced paper thin." But it's not regular ham... it's kind of a pressed ham with extra fat inside from what I can tell. My hubby loves it - especially in "ham barbecues" (a slow-cooked combination of chipped ham, barbecue sauce, sweet pickle relish on a knot roll).
What drives me cuckoo is when they call sandwiches "sammitches," or "sammeetches." Dear Lord, I'd gladly pay higher school taxes just to hear people say that correctly!
A "dill" is a "good deal."
When people clean their homes they say they've got to "red up" (get ready).
When they want to see their kids clean up, they say, "Your face (or your hair) needs scrubbed!"
And every Sunday, the stores, the malls, the roads - EVERYTHING - looks abandoned and desolate... and yet, every so often, an entire neighborhood echos with screams from all kids aged from one to ninety-two... Why, you ask? Well, after all... It's "Stiller" time! EVERYONE - and I mean EVERYONE - is completely decked in Black and Gold (something I learned quickly to do when I first moved here - it's a matter of life and death!). And everyone at the stadium is swingin' their "terrible tahl" to cheer on our team - GO BLACK AND GOLD!!!
Giggles -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
www.papercraftingwithnini.myctmh.com
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Edited by - Ninibini on Dec 13 2011 8:08:03 PM |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 7:23:02 PM
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How about this? Evidently, what you call that thing you push around in the grocery store to load your groceries in indicates where you live in the US. I call it a grocery buggy. What about you?
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 8:07:29 PM
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Back home we called it a carriage, Mary Beth, but here in Pittsburgh they call it a buggy. I don't like the thought of putting my food in anything related to a buggy, so I just call it a shopping cart - can't go wrong there! ;)
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
www.papercraftingwithnini.myctmh.com
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acairnsmom
True Blue Farmgirl
1319 Posts
audrey
cheyenne
wy
1319 Posts |
Posted - Dec 13 2011 : 8:33:00 PM
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I said something about the grocery buggy at church a couple of years ago and literally had a young man I didn't know stop, turn around and say what? Then berate me for calling it a buggy instead of a cart. Couldn't believe he reacted so violently! In church no less! I showed him! I still call it a buggy! LOL
Audrey
Good boy Hobbs! I love and miss you. |
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batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2011 : 02:52:56 AM
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oh another thing that drives me 'batty' up here is they call corned beef- beef brisket, but if your southern you know this just ain't right!!!! Drove me nuts for years & still can't get anyone to give me a real beef butt or shoulder if I call it a brisket...I hear a lot of kids call their Mom or Mother, Mummy like the english do...that must be where the coffee regular came from...all that tea drinking with milk & sugar...lol...I call steel cut oats as stone cut oats...that throws alot of people...I have always said corned meal to mean cornmeal...have no idea where that one came from...lol.....Home we always said the war of northern aggression instead of the Civil War....If you ain't southern your a yankee is one I heard alot growing up....& one of my all time favorites...Why butter my biscuits! meant to express surprise or amazement...'Who let the cows out' when there is a lot of traffic....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2011 : 03:58:23 AM
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A tap is a water faucet (my folks call it this, I call it this as do some people from The Great White North)
An eye is the stove burner...learned this from my Southern husband
A tile is the concrete pipe water runs through
a buggy is the shopping cart
dinner is what you eat late at night as in 6 p.m. or there abouts supper is something like Sunday afternoon lunch
you crank your vehicle to turn it on
mash buttons means to press
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2011 : 06:07:44 AM
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Last night while talking to my daughter about how mild the weather has been here so far, she said we did get a little snow already. And I thought of my MIL, who would say when it snowed just a little bit to lightly cover the ground, that we got a "skif" of snow. And she'd hold up her index finger and put her thumb right down below her nail. "Just a skif", a light covering of snow.
When I first met my MIL, she said things I had never heard before. Or done either. She'd say y'inz too. And called all the girls sis. I'll have to think some more on her. My husband says tar for tire. Far for fire. Ruf is roof. I had a really hard time understanding them.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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musicmommy
True Blue Farmgirl
430 Posts
Wendy
Oregon
USA
430 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2011 : 06:39:50 AM
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My friend from Canada and I were just talking about this a bit and how you say 11:45. Is it "quarter to 12", "quarter of 12", ?
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
Bob Marley
www.becomingwendy.wordpress.com |
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traildancer
True Blue Farmgirl
485 Posts
Loyce
Glide
OR
USA
485 Posts |
Posted - Dec 14 2011 : 09:54:06 AM
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When a friend of mine worked on a ranch in Colorado an individual from the South called it a "willbarrah". Becky told him it was "wheelbarrow". He argued so they looked it up in the dictionary and he said the word was not in there. He was looking for "wi".
The trail is the thing.... Louis L'Amour |
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Across the Fence: Vernacular and Colloquialisms |
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Vernacular and Colloquialisms
