Regional vocabularies of American English

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Despite the standardizing influences of the mass media in the United States, a number of regional vocabularies continue to exist throughout the country. It is still not uncommon for an American away from his or her home region to encounter novel ways of referring to familiar objects and concepts.

This article deals only with differences in everyday vocabulary, but this linguistic description of regional differerences provides a more academic approach to the subject.


Contents

Regional Vocabulary Tables

Pacific Northwest
(Oregon State,Washington State, British Columbia, and Alaska)
Regional Term General Term
Cascadia The Pacific Northwest, its people, culture and bioregional successionist movement.
Crummy A vehicle used to transport woodworkers.
Gyppo Contract work (or worker)
high muckamuck The chief, the boss, or management (modern usage). In modern blue-collar usage, this word is a sarcastic slang term used to refer to bosses and upper management.
Jefferson A mostly rural area of Southern Oregon and Northern California known for its seccessionist movements.
Packing a card To be a member of a union, such as the Wobblies.
Pecker pole or Peckerwood A small tree, often found in the understory of old growth
Potlatch A social gathering (a Chinook term)
Pop The traditional word for carbonated drinks is used more often than "soda."
powwow A gathering or meeting, esp. of Native Americans.
Second-growth Timber that has grown back on a previously harvested unit, either by natural reseeding or replanting.
Skidroad The path over which oxen pulled logs; it came to mean the part of a city where loggers congregate.
Snoose Damp snuff or dipping tobacco
Timber Tiger Chipmunk (Lumberjack Jargon)
Till A cash register.
War Zone A Clear cut, an area where all harvestable timber has been logged.
Weak sauce Slang term for something disappointing (used more in the younger crowd).


See:


Delaware Valley
(Greater Philadelphia, Pa., southern New Jersey and northern Delaware)
Regional Term General Term
cellar basement
fireplug fire hydrant
pavement sidewalk
parlor living room
hoagie submarine sandwich
driveway back alley-way
rowhomes attached houses
shore beach
Often associated with South Jersey speech, esp. in the phrase "down the shore" (at the beach)


New Orleans, Louisiana
Regional Term General Term
cold drink soft drink
neutral ground median strip
po' boy sandwich on French bread (baguette)
bobos any kind of wound, especially a bruise
by location to be at or in someplace (e.g. "by your mama's [house]")
pass by location to stop and visit someplace
to make groceries to go shopping for groceries
lagniappe a little bit of something extra
goute ("goh") a little taste
Where y'at? How are you doing?
Cap (from Captain) Sir
passion mark a love bite/hickey
locker closet
valise, grip suitcase
hard quarter a 25-cent piece


New York City Area
Regional Term General Term
"The City" Manhattan
to wait/stand on line to wait/stand in line (e.g. I stood on line for 5 hours to get these tickets.)
plain pizza cheese pizza


The South
Regional Term General Term
buggy shopping cart
straight drive manual transmission in an automobile
tump over combo of turn/bump over
tote to carry, as in "Tote that bag in the house for me."
yonder over there
y'all contraction for "you all"; considered to be the plural form of the pronoun "you", it is properly used to address two or more people. However, incorrect usage by newcomers and inaccurate portrayals of Southern dialect in movies and on television have given non-Southerners the idea that this term is used as an address both for single and multiple speakers (as in, "I'll see y'all later", addressed either to a single person or a group). Still, native speakers still consider it grammatically incorrect to use it when addressing only one person.
coke generic term for any brand of soda/pop
More at Soft drink


Eastern Wisconsin
Regional Term General Term
bubbler drinking fountain
to budge to cut in line (also common in Minnesota)
flatlander, F.I.B. ("fucking Illinois bastard") a person from Illinois


Wisconsin and northern Illinois
Regional Term General Term
Cheesehead a native of Wisconsin; considered derogatory in Illinois, but a term of pride in Wisconsin (becoming well known across the U.S. through sports media)


Minnesota
Regional Term General Term
Pop generic term for any brand of soda/pop
More at Soft drink
Duck duck gray duck A children's game, more commonly called Duck duck goose
hot dish a simple entree cooked in a single dish, more commonly called casserole


Northern and Eastern Missouri
(Saint Louis, Columbia, Missouri, and Surrounding Areas)
Regional Term General Term
to love on someone to show love to someone or love someone


Maine and Northern New England
Regional Term General Term
cellar basement
"The County" Aroostook County, Maine, so called due to its large size.
dinner sometimes used to describe the practice of going out for dessert after the evening meal
dooryard driveway
fiddlehead a type of fern which grows to form a head resembling the scroll of a fiddle or violin, considered a local delicacy in Northern Maine
"from away" phrase describing a person from another state or country (or as is sometimes the case in Northern Maine, a person from Southern Maine)
leafer a tourist who has come to see the area's vibrant autumn foliage
wicked (adv.) very, extremely (this has gained popularity throught the U.S. in popular culture, especially among younger people)

See also

Regional American English

English Around the World

Language Studies


External links

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