Word/words you say that distinguish where you're from

Spruillie03

Minnesotans misuse the word "borrowed". For example: "Could you borrow me $5?"
As a non-native Minnesotan, it drives me INSANE!

And yes, there's the "Ya, you betcha", "Don't ya know" and "Holy buckets!" but that's more in out state than in the immediate Minneapolis area.

fteale

I can't think of anything. I am from London, and I don't think we have any particular phrases or words that distinguish us.

pain_is_weakness

I am from Cali and we do say hella

I am form the bay and we call it the "yay area" instead of bay area

we say creepin' to talk about guys who are tryin to flirt and we don't like it "see that creeper?"
"ya he's hella creepin"

we also say yeah like "yeeah" O-kay, thanx lil' jon lol

when we say it is HOT out here, it means cops are thick tonight

sound like a bunch of criminals huh? lol

katdouce

I would say my 2 biggest ones would be "touque" and "EH!" LOL

Jelliefishie

"Pizza Pie"

I'm from NYC, everyone from here refers to an entire pizza as a pizze pie, or just a "pie"...people say it in conversation, and they write it on signs (like, $10 pie in the window of a pizza place). I think NJ people also say this, but anyone else from out of state think its hilarious that it's called a pizza "pie". I kinda hate it when people make fun of me for it, because it's normal here! Why mock my region's terminology??

Also, those footlong sandwiches are called "heroes". As in, a chicken parmesan hero.

Jill_newimprovedversion

I'm from NW PA where the creek is pronounced "crick"

and there's a hidden "r" in the washing machine

In the summer, the Pittsburghers come up and we can detect them when they say "yinz" = yous guys

AJay513

I’m from Chicago and as soon as I leave people LOVE to point out my "accent".

We say...
“you guys”
POP instead of soda
Dat/Da instead of that/the
Ruff instead of roof
Root instead of route
Ma instead of Mom
Front room instead of living room
Caffee instead of Coffee

And how could I forget we enlongate our A's... "Chicaaaaago" "Do you need a baaag?" "I only want haaalf"

RBXChas

I grew up in NJ (and no, I don't have that bad accent you hear from some people - people are always amazed to hear I'm from NJ because I don't have it), but I went to college in Philly, then lived in Michigan for 5 years, then Atlanta for 2, then here in Charleston, SC for 3 years. I also am a bit of a chameleon when it comes to accents and often code-switch (I tend to mirror the person to whom I'm talking), so people have a hard time determining where I'm from.

In NJ, we say "sneakers." In MI and SC, they say "tennis shoes." It's odd to me, because unless you are playing tennis, they should not be called tennis shoes.

In NJ, we say "soda" or the specific brand (Coke, Sprite, etc). In MI they said "pop." I always thought that was funny. Atlanta and SC vary between "soda" and "Coke," depending on who you're talking to and whether or not you're actually drinking a Coke product, Atlanta's being the Coke HQ and all

Here in SC (and I very occasionally heard this around Atlanta) people say "cut on" to mean "turn on." It's derived from the opposite of using "cut off" to mean "turn off." For example, they would say "cut off the lights" to mean turn them off, but then they say "cut on the lights" to mean that you should turn them on. Same with the TV, air conditioning, car, etc., which doesn't make any sense but is funny.

Also in SC (and I've *never* heard this elsewhere), people say "Do what now?" when they didn't understand what you said. I will say, "What?" (if I'm in a very casual situation) or "Excuse me?" or or "I'm sorry?" if I don't understand someone... but here they will say "Do what now?" I always want to reply, "I didn't ask you to do anything, I simply said [fill in the blank]." It is the strangest thing they say here.

"Y'all" of course is big here and in Atlanta. I remember when we lived in Michigan, I overheard my husband on the phone to a law firm in Georgia, and he used "y'all." When he got off the phone I told him that I thought that saying "y'all" might be a little unprofessional when talking to someone you want to hire you. He assured me it was fine, and after having lived in the south for five years now, I agree that it can be, depending on the situation. I do say it quite a bit myself, but usually when I'm talking to someone who would appreciate it. If I'm talking to family or other northerners, then I pretty much never use "y'all."

RBXChas

OOH! I just thought of another Michigan thing...

I used to hear people use the word "boughten" a lot, which isn't even a real word. For example, one might say, "I've boughten that kind of pop before."

I almost choked the first time I heard it, but every now and again I catch myself almost saying it (I lived in MI for 5 years).

Bella1hud

I'm Canadian too eh!

Bella1hud

I’m from Chicago and as soon as I leave people LOVE to point out my "accent".

We say...
“you guys”
POP instead of soda
Dat/Da instead of that/the
Ruff instead of roof
Root instead of route
Ma instead of Mom
Front room instead of living room
Caffee instead of Coffee

And how could I forget we enlongate our A's... "Chicaaaaago" "Do you need a baaag?" "I only want haaalf"

We have family in Chicago who have that accent, except they immigrated from Scotland so they combine the two accents! lol

andrialindsay

In colorado a coke or whatever was a "pop"
Here in florida its soda

sunkisses

Here in south FL we can't even be bothered to have an accent, let alone our own catchphrases. We're also like 30% tourist/snowbird come late fall so people bring their own sayings and we just borrow. :bigsmile:

glypta

"Aye, right". The one occasion in the English language where two positives DO make a negative. It means "certainly not". I'm in the West coast of Scotland.

hewwokitty

I'm from NW PA where the creek is pronounced "crick"

and there's a hidden "r" in the washing machine

In the summer, the Pittsburghers come up and we can detect them when they say "yinz" = yous guys

LOL. I am cracking up right now!
I'm from Pittsburgh and that is indeed trough, although I don't use the word 'yinz' and I correct it everytime :laugh:
Don't forget that 'soda' is pop, because my brother's from GA and he complains all the northeners use the word pop.

Demwitted

Rural Midwesterner:

I say holler (referring to yelling or a valley) and ornery.
Also, coke means any form of soda.

engineman312

"gimme your wallet"


i'm from new york city

SueGeer

"gimme your wallet"


i'm from new york city

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Sue x

maygans

Originally from VT. I don't have the random adding R's places (my father will say "idear" instead of "idea") but I do use some of the words there. A sandwich from a shop (such as a subway or quiznos) would be a grinder. Carbonated beverages are soda. Soft serve ice cream is called a creemee. It's been pointed out to me that I say "wicked", "man" and "teeny" a lot. I moved to NC about 2ish months ago and some people think it's so "cute" that I don't know their commonly used words for things. My boyfriend's oldest sister asked me the other morning if I wanted a "biscuit". I stood there dumbfounded for about 20 seconds trying to figure out what she was talking about (was she really just referring to the bread things? In the context it didn't make sense!). Finally I asked her "what's a biscuit? The bread things?" and she goes "You don't know what a biscuit is?? Yeah it's those you know with egg and cheese". "Oh...so a breakfast sandwich then?". It's apparently very common down here (confirmed by my other friends here) to call the sandwich type thing generically a "biscuit". The more you know?

I'm sure there's probably plenty that I missed, usually my southern friends will point out to me when I'm using a term they're unfamiliar with (and I have run into a few times where I had to decipher some terminology of theirs). It's fun moving to a new place!

kokoskarin

Since I'm from Sweden you wouldn't get it at all if I tried to explain my accent :-)
But my ENGLISH accent is sort of Londonish.
"vodkar n orange"
"ajther or" (i e not "eeether")
knackered (completely exhausted, mostly not from exercising )
mental (about someone) "he went absolutely mental"

I also tend to mix some scottish accent in there (had a lot of scottish friends in london)

jagar07

I loved reading all the posts, but I have to say, it's making me sound pretty boring lol. I'm from upstate NY and the only thing that people I say funny is "Hot dog", and coffee, apparently I'm an enunciating the "O" Strange for southerners?? lol

jagar07

Oh I forgot, I DO call soda, soda, not pop lol

redfroggie

We moved to the UK from the US so yeah I have a very distinct accent, though no one ever guess where we were from. I grew up in Texas so still stuck with Ya'll. Lived in Colorado for many years but not sure what I took from there. Living here has been interesting because of the things that are so differently named. Plasters for band-aids, serviettes (still stuggle with this one) for a napkin. Towels for pantyliners and maxi-pads. Garden for yard and tea for dinner, reception room for living room, hob for stove, I could go on and on. We are learning, I find that when I talk to my sister who lives in Texas I use a lot of the Brit terms I've learned and she thinks it's 'cute.'

Oh and wonga for cash, I just can't use that word casually, it's too weird!

glypta

We moved to the UK from the US so yeah I have a very distinct accent, though no one ever guess where we were from. I grew up in Texas so still stuck with Ya'll. Lived in Colorado for many years but not sure what I took from there. Living here has been interesting because of the things that are so differently named. Plasters for band-aids, serviettes (still stuggle with this one) for a napkin. Towels for pantyliners and maxi-pads. Garden for yard and tea for dinner, reception room for living room, hob for stove, I could go on and on. We are learning, I find that when I talk to my sister who lives in Texas I use a lot of the Brit terms I've learned and she thinks it's 'cute.'

Oh and wonga for cash, I just can't use that word casually, it's too weird!

Where are you in the UK for 'wonga'? No-one I know uses that, but I'm in Scotland and we have loads of words, many of which are local to certain parts of Scotland, rather than just Scottish in general. An ideal example is "furryboots?" meaning "whereabouts" - that's their pronunciation up north-east. We say "juice" or "ginger" they way the Americans say "soda" or "pop" and dinner can be lunch and tea can be dinner. Trainers are sneakers.

ooOOooGravy

Being from Barnsley (old mining town in South Yorkshire, UK) we say alot of things that people in near by towns dont even understand! lol Its pretty much our own language

"Put wood in oil" = Put the wood in the hole (which means "shut the door")
"Went art, bart a tat on" = went out, without a hat on
"Midadsgotajag" = My dad has a Jaguar
"Gooin darn tarn, t'see footy in cruiser" = Im going into town to watch the football in the pub

As i said, Barnsley has its own language, and just a taster here. lol Luckily i dont talk as bad as most, although, sometimes i admit to speaking proper Bransley lol

catattack13

Love all these!

I say:
"bubbler" instead of "water fountain"
"grinder" instead of "submarine sandwich/hoagie"
"wicked" for "very"
"down cellar" instead of "in the basement"
"rotary" instead of "roundabout".

I also drop "R"s and put them other places.

Massachusetts!

kimletton11

haha, this is great. I also say you guys as someone mentioned about. I am from the philly suburbs and a ton of people here pronounce water "wooder" which I have never done...thank God.

My grandparents are from Virginia, and they both say "wooder" for water.

Really!? I so thought this was just a PA thing It cracks me up, both of my parents do it!

A lot of my family is from PA, they say wooder, woosher (washer), woosh, crick (creek), and some other odd things. I forgot to put yinz...lol.

Being from the South, I say ya'll a LOT and fixin to. I also say "bless his/her heart" or "sweet baby Jesus"...not sure where I picked up the sweet baby Jesus..

ilookthetype

I have no geographical claim. My father was military. I say "hella" quite often but never lived in CA. I may have picked it up from my cousin, who's from San Diego. I say "y'all" a lot, which I picked up living in the south. I think I picked up "wicked" from living in CT for a number of years. I call carbonated beverages "soda."

We are similar linguistically.

CaptainGordo

Oh My Heck!!

I spent 11 years in Utah and I can't seem to get rid of this phrase, I'll even text OMH instead of OMG..

We're also known to call mountains "mou'ains".

kb455

I'm from Pa and I have used Pennsylvania dutch terms such as "brutz" or "grex" on occasion. In fact, I did on here once and someone asked what it meant