Very local word usage...

[burnsbyrne]

A striclty Cleveland/North East Ohio idiom is to use the word "bakery" for the place of baking and for the baked goods, as in, "I've got to go buy some bakery for the church breakfast tomorrow". I haven't heard this anywhere else.

In the late 60's many people from western Pennsylvania migrated to Cleveland and Akron to find work. I had a western PA girlfriend in 1970 and I learned many new words from her like:

You-ns (already mentioned here)
mum - what we called mom
ink pin - to distinguish it from a safety pin, for example
needs fixed - needs to be fixed

My maternal grandmother was from SW Ontario, from a little farming town that was predominantly Irish. She also used the word bold to mean bad, especially when referring to her grandchildren. She also pronounced the word wash as warsh. Potatoes sounded more like badadas, as in,"get up the badadas" meaning bring the potatoes from the stove to the table.
Mike

[FJohnSharp]

Two other things that stuck out for my in western North Carolina

I don't care to go to the store, means they WANT to go to the store, but in Ohio it means they DON'T want to go.

Also coke is generic for soft drink. Sprite, Dr Pepper etc are called cokes. Everything in the coke machine is a coke, even if it's a Pepsi and 7 Up machine.

[Nanohedron]

I love the language usage of Newfoundland and Labrador, back in the armed forces in the sixties, I was stationed in Canadian Maritimes and we had a lot of Newfoundlanders, the one phrase that sticks to my mind sounds something like "arn smarn?" both as a question and a greeting. I finally asked what heck are you saying..."Herring this morning" Meaning good day or did you catch herring this morning, meaning was it a good morning.

Anstapa

The phrases one typically hears passing between fishermen as they meet on the water are:

ar'n? (contraction of "either one?")

nar'n. (contraction of "neither one")

which, at 7 letters, perhaps is one of the shortest full conversations in the English language.

A Newfoundland term I always liked is "twacking", which means to go shopping without being successful in finding/buying anything of consequence. (eg - "I spent all Saturday morning twacking around the mall"). No word I know of in standard English seems to convey the exact same sentiment. Another is "streel", which means an untidy (but not dirty) person (eg- "Tuck in you shirt, you look like a streel").

I wonder if "streel" has any source at all in the German "Struwwel" (shaggy, unkempt). I haven't associated Newfoundland with a German immigrant population, but I'm prepared to be informed.

As to compressed speech, in Minnesota there's the Iron Range, which gets called "Derange". Here's a plausible conversation from that region:

"Jeetjet?" (Did you eat yet?)

"No. Jew?" (No. Did you?)

"Squeet." (Let's go eat.)

[Nanohedron]

...in western North Carolina

I don't care to go to the store, means they WANT to go to the store...

Now THAT would trip me up. Put me in the conversation and you'd probably have one of those "Who's on first?" bits.

[CHasR]

lest the western half of PA get all the glory:

yo. who's the big mahoof? (it aint 'yinz')...wiz wit ?:D

[Redwolf]

Here's one from Eastern Washington. When I was growing up in Spokane, if a person was planning to go anywhere west of the Cascades, but particularly to Seattle or Tacoma, he was going "to the coast." It didn't matter that Seattle is actually a fair distance from the ocean...to Spokanites, it was "the coast." If you were actually going all the way to the actual sea shore, you were going "to the ocean."

I don't know if this is the case in other states, but in Washington it was typical to refer to the practice of not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign as a "California stop." Here in California, where they're actually much less common than they were when I was growing up in Washington, they're called "roll-through" or "rolling" stops.

Spokane also has the Midwestern habit of referring to fizzy soft drinks as "pop." Here in California, the word is "soda." Poor Johanna used to get so confused when we'd visit my folks and my mom would ask her if she wanted a "pop," as that's the word we used for a light, admonishing slap on the rear-end!

Redwolf

[Denny]

Here's one from Eastern Washington. When I was growing up in Spokane, if a person was planning to go anywhere west of the Cascades, but particularly to Seattle or Tacoma, he was going "to the coast." It didn't matter that Seattle is actually a fair distance from the ocean...to Spokanites, it was "the coast." If you were actually going all the way to the actual sea shore, you were going "to the ocean."

well, they do have salt water....it just doesn't flush as well as ya'd like

I don't know if this is the case in other states, but in Washington it was typical to refer to the practice of not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign as a "California stop." Here in California, where they're actually much less common than they were when I was growing up in Washington, they're called "roll-through" or "rolling" stops.

In Ohio those stop signs meant yield if it looks like the other guy isn't gonna

[Nanohedron]

I don't know if this is the case in other states, but in Washington it was typical to refer to the practice of not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign as a "California stop." Here in California, where they're actually much less common than they were when I was growing up in Washington, they're called "roll-through" or "rolling" stops.

In Aberdeen, SD in the 1970s, it was called a "California stop", too. Dunno what it's called here in the Twin Cities; I usually refer to it as a "f&@%!^g idiot".

[cowtime]

...in western North Carolina

I don't care to go to the store, means they WANT to go to the store...

Now THAT would trip me up. Put me in the conversation and you'd probably have one of those "Who's on first?" bits.

We share that one with western NC too. In fact, it's mentioned in the link I gave earlier.
Nano, just think about it. Someone asks-

"Will you go to the store for me? "

"I don't care to go." (they don't mind going, so yes they will go)

Perfectly logical.

[Nanohedron]

...in western North Carolina

I don't care to go to the store, means they WANT to go to the store...

Now THAT would trip me up. Put me in the conversation and you'd probably have one of those "Who's on first?" bits.

We share that one with western NC too. In fact, it's mentioned in the link I gave earlier.
Nano, just think about it. Someone asks-

"Will you go to the store for me? "

"I don't care to go." (they don't mind going, so yes they will go)

Perfectly logical.

This makes me afraid somehow. Like I'll come up against a mutual total misinterpretation some time and then the world will blow up.

[cowtime]

[SteveB]

i wonder if "streel" has any source at all in the German "Struwwel" (shaggy, unkempt). I haven't associated Newfoundland with a German immigrant population, but I'm prepared to be informed.

According to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English streel is an anglicized version of an Irish word "sraoille" (or "straoille"). A German connection is unlikely given that there was never any significant German immigration to Newfoundland. Perhaps "straoille" and "struwwel" are distant cousins dating back to Indo-european days?

SteveB

[Nanohedron]

i wonder if "streel" has any source at all in the German "Struwwel" (shaggy, unkempt). I haven't associated Newfoundland with a German immigrant population, but I'm prepared to be informed.

According to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English streel is an anglicized version of an Irish word "sraoille" (or "straoille"). A German connection is unlikely given that there was never any significant German immigration to Newfoundland.

Cool: I see sraoille means "slattern" - a great word in itself.

Perhaps "straoille" and "struwwel" are distant cousins dating back to Indo-european days?

It's a compelling thought, isn't it.

[MagicSailor]

Hi

i wonder if "streel" has any source at all in the German "Struwwel" (shaggy, unkempt). I haven't associated Newfoundland with a German immigrant population, but I'm prepared to be informed.

In Norway, a "Stril" is a person from an area just outside the city of Bergen.

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic
Anchored in the lagoon, St Maarten

My new blog.
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[Nanohedron]

Hi

i wonder if "streel" has any source at all in the German "Struwwel" (shaggy, unkempt). I haven't associated Newfoundland with a German immigrant population, but I'm prepared to be informed.

In Norway, a "Stril" is a person from an area just outside the city of Bergen.

Yes, but is that good or bad?