jasper

some i can think of...
"wedge"..upstate new york for a hero, sub, or hoagie.
"get away out of that"...an irish expression when they are surprised by news, like "get out of here!"
"come 'round"...england, to invite someone over. here in ny we say come over.
"chock a block"...irish/english for when something is busy, packed...i.e the theatre is chock a block.

top random phrase...someone once was trying to explain that something wouldn't make sense if we did it that way, and said "it'd be like a duck staring at thunder". haven't been able to top that one. : )

Chele60

Don't know how "odd" or "unique" this is, but it always strikes me as amusing. In Wisconsin they say that they are "going by so and so's house." This means they are going to stop there, but it always sounds to me like they are going to just drive by the house.

My Wisconsin relatives never understand what the heck I'm talking about when I mention this to them, though.

Suzie

Hey Kal, can't use girl as it sounds to young, woman sounds too old so I adopted gal a while ago. Can't use dudette can I?

If you live in Redding or north of Redding and you travel south you are going "down below". This could mean you are going to Redding, SF or Sacto. This always cracks me up. So I have always wondered below what? Lake Shasta?

Amy

I've always loved the variations of our language in different sections of the country. Even within a state there are amazing differences...
For example, the plural of you is "youse" in Philadelphia and "yinz" (you ones) in parts of western PA. (Hey, I know you is both singular and plural, but there really should be some difference, don't you think?)

Supposedly, most of the differences are attributable to the original regional settlements and are therefore slowly dying out due to "television voices", but if you hear someone say that they're going to senner siddy you can bet that they're going to downtown Philadelphia. (Maybe they'll have some cawfee or wooder down there.)

Oh, and they're hoagies here!

theladyjess

arkansasnurse:
Thank you for your comment to Soccr. I guess he has nothing better to do than to pick apart and criticize what I have posted.

Soccr:
Get a life and quit telling me what happened to my in-laws, you weren't there. Just because you know people in Maine, doesn't make you an expert on what they say. You must be the type of person who must be correct no matter what. Quit being such a jerk and relize what this tread is; a humerous look at our wonderful country.

bennie

Theladyjess - Soccr is not trying to give you a hard time. To tell someone "you can't get there from here" is a stereotypical Maine type of answer and usually is meant as a joke - especially when told with a straight face.

This is a fun thread and thank you for starting it but lets keep it light as you originally intended.

Kal

Hoageys, subs, torpedoes, grinders...I love them all not matter what "language"!!!
Kal

Johanna1

My in-laws are from northern Pennsylvania. When they go to a town north of theirs, they are traveling "up the line," to a town south of theirs, they are going "down the line." If the stereo is up too loud, my MIL will ask you to "slower" it. When we go up to bed at night, my husband is always telling me to "close the lights." He also likes to go to the "food store" instead of the "grocery store." I used to live in the South and rapidly picked up and held onto the expression "y'all." However, I now catch myself starting to say "youse" which I really hate the sound of for some reason, but my NE PA husband says it frequently. I was a military brat and spent time on both coasts as well as the Mid West. I have gotten used to getting funny looks from people over what I say, depending on where in the country I am at the time and what expression I am using. What a country!

SaraLM

My Parents-in-law and husband say 'slow up'. I think that sounds so funny. I say slow down (press the brake pedal down) and speed up (pull up in an airplane). It just doesn't make sense to me to say 'slow up' and 'speed up'.

My guess is that it comes from horse riding where you pull the reins to slow down....?

Slow up.

ARKANSASNURSE

I thought of another one. I have an uncle in NY state who is a yankee redneck, this is said with much love and respect. He says all the time when your messing with something you shouldn't, " Don't monkey with that." My born and bred in the south kids had no clue what he meant and even told him they were not monkeys. He gave them a "Dutch Rub" and we all laughed. has anyone else ever received that form of affection? If need be I will explain later. U R welcome ladyjess.

bennie

Wow - I tell my kids to stop monkeying around all the time. I never knew I spoke so oddly. Thread has been an eye opener.

And I am just starting to think of all the phrases my Irish mom and dad use that you never hear anyone in the US say (except of course another Irishman). Like "cut the cudology" meant stop monkeying around.

rjw_lgb_ca

My mother is half-Cajun and occasionally comes up with stuff she would hear from her mother or other relatives whose first language was French. For example, when we get together we make sure to "pass a good time", and try to avoid making my grouchy cousin "boudée" (Mom says her mom used it to mean "sulky"). Everyone is called "cher(e)" ("dear")-- kinda like how in Baltimore everyone's called "hon".

theladyjess

I just remembered another one. I watch two kids from Canada. When they want supreme pizza (pizza w/ all the toppings), they ask for pizza that is "all dressed". Their mom says "eh" unstead of "huh".

JackisBack

"Being impaled by a rod of frozen urine expelled from a jetliner" meaning killed.

ColletteRI

Jackisback...huh, I don't quite get that one. Anyway, I like this thread too. Another one I've heard down South that I never heard in RI is "cut a man". I was asking a patient about domestic violence and she told me she would "cut a man" if she had to. And this is not an expression but along the ame vein. My Southern country office mate put her little boy on speaker phone so I could say hello. I talked to him in my usual RI accent and he later asked " Momma, why was that lady talkin Spanish!"

EnglishOne

Bennie - yup, the men who pick up your rubbish are called Dustmen! They used to pick up your 'dustbin' but now they are the big 'wheelie bins'. ('rubbish bin' is a domestic bin you might keep in the kitchen). What american word I like is 'dumpster', much better than the word we use ('skip')

All this talk of rubbish makes me want a nice shower ;O)

Arabella

Here are a few of my favorites I've encountered in the South:

I'm just pickin' = I'm just teasing.

Wreck = Car accident.

He's a mess = He's a character.

That's nasty = That's unclean.

I wouldn't pick him off a Christmas tree = I wouldn't date him if he were the last man on earth.

slc498

i went to school in maryland where those sandwiches are "subs" but now i'm in new york where i'm crazy if i call the "heros" a "sub."

in toronto, i asked for a soda and got an ice cream soda. turns out they call a coca-cola "pop" and what i call an ice cream soda they call "soda."

Turtle1

On Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada you are "from away" if you were not born there. So, you often hear people say "He's not from around here, he's from away." And, if someone has a heart attack or stroke they say "She took a heart attack." Or, "He took a stroke." They also use "right" as in "The dinner was right good." (very good) Probably derives from England as in The Right Honorable....

joesorce

In New England I've seen pita-bread sandwiches called "Dagwoods", and they go out to "supper" not out to "dinner".

A woman dressed to the nines is considered "all dolled up".