SherriB

I was born and raised in Ohio, but my Mom came from Virginia and my Daddy from Kentucky. My mamaw and papaw called a bag a "poke", a Coke was called a "dope" and buttermilk was "sweet milk", potatoes were "taters", tomatoes were "maters" and tobacco was "backer". They also called a skunk a "pole cat". There were lots more, but I just can't remember them all. LOL!!

Bobbin along

My Kansas-raised mom used to worsh and rench the dishes. I learned to worsh my face with a worsh rag. In Nebraska, a heavy rain is a toad-strangler. I drink pop and sit on the couch. I fix a cassarole for dinner, but my Minnisota friend fixes "hot dish." In Colorado, we have license plates, in Okla they are tags (pronounced taigs.)To me,a crik is a very small stream, a creek is a bit larger.

grann of 6

I am originally from Michigan, and my kids sucked on "suckers", in PA they suck on lollipops. In Michigan we used to put our groceries in a "sack". In PA we put them in a bag. In Mich we drank water, here in Philadelphia we drink "wutter". Another thing that annoyed me here is "Witch way do you want to go?" This little town I live in is a "village". In Mich they drink "pop", in PA they drink soda. My family had a davenport when I was little, I now have a sofa with a Greeat Dane sitting on it. When I was little my brothers and I used to wade in the "crick". But here there is a "stream" nearby.

Rhonda

Thanks Cjomomma Language and how people use it fascinates me. I get to thinking about things. Like why is once spelled o n c e and we pronounce it wunz? Or you say how come? when you mean why?

Rhonda

Things you couldn't name were thingamajigs or doohickeys or whatchamacallits

cathyvv

I grew up in NJ. We had "submarine" sandwiches (shape of the bread), shortened it to 'subs'. I have heard 'subs' called 'grinders' or 'heroes' in other parts of the country. Soda was called, strangely enough, soda, but my cousins in MN called it 'pop'.

When I was small, we had a divan. It was very much like a futon, in that the back folded down and made a bed that was bigger than a twin, but not as big as a full size bed. My parents bedroom was on the first floor of our house, so I suppose it was quite useful to have it on the first floor when one of their 7 kids got sick. After my parents disposed of that, we only had couches, although occasionally they have been referred to as sofas.

My parochial school also had cloak rooms, as opposed to closets.

akrogirl

Did she have any British connections by any chance? I grew up in England and we always called them settees :-)

misseva

they call it an ice box because you kept ice in it. my mother had a card she put in the window, it had four sides with numbers on it - i don't remember the amounts but for instance it had 5 - 10, etc and which ever number was up told the ice man how much ice you wanted that day without him having to come inside. he carried the block of ice in ice tongs and put it in our ice box. you had a drain pan for when the ice melted that scooted underneath the box and you had to keep it emptied!!!

Melinda in Tulsa

My daddy always called it a settee too. Very deep southern roots here. Coke=pop, soda,etc, didn't matter what it was/is, it's a coke. Raining cats and dogs, raining like the dickens and cow pissing on a flat rock, All depending on the severity. Dinner was at noon, supper was in the evening. We went up town or down town, depending on whether we were north or south of town. Also the refrigerator was the ice box. I grew up on a dirt road verses a paved road or brick road. Mamma always said *I swanee*. We called Aunts, Aint. Over yonder, it's a fer piece, a ways down the road.....So many I can't remember off the top of my head.

Barbm

NE PA- we call it soda, couch, water and most people say crick- but I say creek.

Locally people say (and this kills me..) "heyna or no?" after every sentence- it means do you agree with me? For example- These pierogies are the best, heyna or no? And to argue the point- "Yah-ha" or "Nut ah". for yes or no.

Or- the word mine- it is ONE syllable- mine! It is not- mi-un. grrrrrr.

Oh- culm banks (the leftovers of the coal being mined)- they say- column banks. no- another one syllable word- culm.

or- dropping the h at the end of a word that ends in -th. or taking about something in numbers- a couple, two, tree. or "haaacch" instead of h (aaach).

I could go on- we butcher the English language here. I've heard our area being referenced as a "coal mining area" where we talk with marbles in our mouth and are hard to understand.