One Word Regionalisms

December 21, 2022 8:04 AM

What are some words that you've heard that are just one word regionally but elsewhere use multiple words or words that are not specific. May be a word that is used differently in other places. Example I can think of is in Appalachia we use "toboggan"(in many places, a sled) to describe the knit hat that you wear on your head when it is very cold. Every where else i've lived (Midwest, South, North East) uses "hat", "knit cap", "winter hat", or specifically "beanie" (which to me is too specific).
posted by sandmanwv to Society & Culture (61 answers total)

In Louisiana, a turn signal is called a blinker, getting groceries is "making groceries", and a little something extra is "lagniappe".
posted by tafetta, darling! at 8:10 AM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]

Bubbler, of course. You're not a Real Sconnie until you call it that instead of "water fountain" (which I grew up with in NC).

There is also "ope," I suppose. That one's real too. Can't unpack that into a single phrase, though; it covers a multitude of situational reactions.
posted by humbug at 8:15 AM on December 21, 2022 [8 favorites]

In Tennessee, and probably other southern places, a shopping cart is called a buggy.

(I never lived in Louisiana and a blinker has always been a blinker!)
posted by mochapickle at 8:18 AM on December 21, 2022

There's a children's playground game commonly called "tag" or "it" or "tick". In the very specific area that I grew up it was called "had" exclusively.

Also, another British one. The word for a small separately baked piece of bread is mainly a roll or a bun but has many other regional variations. My favourite is breadcake, which is common in and around South Yorkshire.
posted by plonkee at 8:18 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

I had no idea that bubbler was used outside of New England; here's the map. Majority "water fountain," some "drinking fountain," and two widely separated little areas of "bubbler."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:20 AM on December 21, 2022 [9 favorites]

It seems to be falling out of use, but growing up in New England a liquor store was a "packie", which comes from "package store", which was a name for liquor stores that sold liquor in sealed packages.

If you were going to the liquor store to buy beer, you were going on a "packie run."
posted by bondcliff at 8:21 AM on December 21, 2022 [13 favorites]

In certain parts of the US south, "Coke" is a generic term for any carbonated soda--until more info is required.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 8:24 AM on December 21, 2022 [8 favorites]

In Cincinnati, specifically on the west side, when you want someone to repeat themselves, you say, "Please?" instead of "Excuse me?" or "What?"
posted by cooker girl at 8:27 AM on December 21, 2022

Ornery - where I grew up (Southeast), that word meant "mean" "irritable" "difficult to manage" as in He's as ornery as a damn mule. You can't teach him nothing.
However, my midwestern Indiana native in-laws use that term to mean mischievous or just a smidge on the dirty/horny side. Which I was completely not expecting. At all.
posted by teleri025 at 8:28 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

One of the common examples of "there's no single word English translation" is the Spanish word "friolero/a" meaning someone who "feels the cold", but in parts of the UK midlands you can use "nesh" to describe the same thing.
posted by gregjones at 8:29 AM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

Well, we use "bubbler" (excuse me, "bubblah") in the Northeast, too.

Other ones from this area off the top of my head...
-Packie, better known as a liquor store elsewhere (short for package store, which itself was short for packaged liquor store to differentiate from a bar)
-Spa is much more local (Boston and surrounding towns, I think), which is a corner store/bodega
-a "Regular" is a Dunkin' Donuts coffee order which means two creams and two sugars (again, only in the greater Boston area and only at Dunks). It does not refer to the size of the coffee, and anywhere else in the world if you ordered a "regular" you'd get black coffee.
-If you are going out to get "Dunks" you are specifically going to a Dunkin' Donuts to get a large regular iced coffee, in a plastic to-go cup stuffed inside a styrofoam cup.
-Less commonly heard nowadays, but "frappe" is generally meant around here to mean a milkshake. Rhode Island area, a "cabinet" is a specific kind of coffee milkshake.
-Only around here have I seen traffic circles referred to as "rotaries," although I later learned that rotaries and roundabouts are both civil engineering/traffic planning terms with specific, distinct meanings.
-"Kehd," which could be a term of affection or aggression depending on who you're addressing. Such as: "Kehd, I think we just caught us a baby fuckin' wheel!" or "Hey kehd, what the fuck are you fuckin' lookin' at, motherfucker?"
posted by backseatpilot at 8:30 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

Probably not what you had in mind, but in Philadelphia there's pretty much nothing (a car, a bag of chips, the Liberty Bell, some tickets to a Flyers game) you can't just call jawn.
posted by Mchelly at 8:32 AM on December 21, 2022 [17 favorites]

"Hydro" for "the electricity" in Canada.

"Hydro's out, eh?"

Derived from hydroelectric generation, obviously.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:32 AM on December 21, 2022 [13 favorites]

However, my midwestern Indiana native in-laws use that term to mean mischievous or just a smidge on the dirty/horny side. Which I was completely not expecting. At all.

Oh that's VERY strange. I grew up in Indiana and NEVER heard that!
posted by cooker girl at 8:33 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Not sure if it's quite "regional", in that it's most of Canada, but "toque" for the same type hat as in the original post. Looking at the maps here, you could narrow down where someone was from by asking them what they called the garbage disposal (garburator), a hoodie (bunny hug), and whether they called it "electric" or "hydro" when they pay their power bill.
posted by sagc at 8:33 AM on December 21, 2022 [10 favorites]

I was brought up in central Illinois using "sliding board" instead of "slide" (and was told I was WRONG when I went to college in Missouri). Wikipedia says "sliding board" is used in Philadelphia and the Middle-Atlantic states. So is the region for the shorter "slide" everywhere else?

(I'm not very clear on your meaning regarding specificity so I hope this addresses your question.)
posted by FencingGal at 8:36 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Tennis shoes were what people called all athletic shoes regardless of what they were designed for when I was little (1970s, Cleveland, OH). I haven't seen it used that way for years. (Edited to add that this might not be what you have in mind -- sorry.)
posted by Francolin at 8:38 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

In Hawaii, makai means towards the ocean, mauka means towards the mountain. It is very common to get directions like "It's on the mauka side of Kam Avenue".
posted by olopua at 8:39 AM on December 21, 2022 [11 favorites]

You would enjoy browsing the maps from Bert Vaux's American Dialect Survey or Josh Katz's U. S. Dialect Quiz based on Vaux's data.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:39 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

I think this fits your criteria- in NJ if there’s a wait to check out at the cash register you get on line. In other states you’d get in line and getting “on line” would be getting on the internet
posted by raccoon409 at 8:39 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

In the Pacific Northwest, a BBQ is pretty much any outdoor gathering with food. This was very confusing to me, coming from the South, where there are many warring regional BBQ traditions and just grilling burgers absolutely doesn't count.
posted by momus_window at 8:40 AM on December 21, 2022 [7 favorites]

In South Carolina, a "surcee" is a small gift unassociated with a holiday. Like bringing a bottle of wine to a dinner party.
posted by dr. boludo at 8:41 AM on December 21, 2022

Best answer: I think you're getting a lot words that are used in one region but not elsewhere. If I understand correctly, you're asking for things that are described by one specific word in one region and multiple/unspecific words in other regions.

For that criteria, I submit bodega - a very specific, exclusive designation in NYC for what's referred to as a corner store, market, convenience store, general store etc. in the rest of the US.
posted by rabbitbookworm at 8:46 AM on December 21, 2022 [18 favorites]

In the upper Midwest, we call it a hotdish, but it probably gets called lots other things (or a more generic 'casserole') elsewhere.

I first encountered 'bubbler' from my wife in Wisconsin; I had never heard the term before.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:51 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

Sneakers or trainers vs tennis shoes.
posted by phunniemee at 9:05 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

In St. Louis, a "hoosier" has a unique meaning that is a sort of mix of redneck, bumpkin, lesser-educated, uncouth person. The St. Louis ska band MU330 has a song called "Hoosier Love" that calls out a few elements of the stereotype: "peach fuzz moustache, butt cut, El Camino pick-up truck," drinking Busch Light, etc.

source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/m/mu330lyrics/hoosierlovelyrics.html

It was the exclusive word that I knew for that stereotype until I went to college in Indiana, where I was shocked to find out that they all proudly identified as hoosiers.
posted by AgentRocket at 9:07 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

Devilstrip as the grass between the sidewalk and the curb in Akron, Ohio.
posted by lolibrarian at 9:20 AM on December 21, 2022

In my very isolated hometown in rural northern Ontario, a "shag" ("shower" + "stag") is an all-gender open door party thrown as a fundraiser for the engaged couple, or at least it was in the pre-Austin Powers eighties and nineties. typically features a DJ or band, a cash bar and a lucrative 50/50 draw.

as far as I know this usage is unique to Thunder Bay. might not be a thing anymore -- it's been decades since I've lived there.
posted by Sauce Trough at 9:35 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

update: yeah a shag is still a shag in Thunder Bay, per the regional reddit.
posted by Sauce Trough at 9:37 AM on December 21, 2022

In Montreal, "dépanneur" or "dep" for a corner store; with Middle-Eastern food, "shish taouk" is vertical-rotisserie chicken, and shawarma is beef. If you go 150 km away to Ottawa, shish-taouk is unknown and you specify beef or chicken shawarma.
posted by cardboard at 9:38 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Sandmanwv, I hear you on the toboggan thing. I've been in Michigan for over 20 years, but my in-laws still tease me about putting a sled on my head. (I'm from SW PA.) I still really, really struggle when trying to discuss knit hats in words that Midwesterners understand.
posted by hessie at 10:07 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Minnesota:
Hotdish = casserole
Salad = in Minnesota, there's a good possibility that it has a jello/cool whip base
Ish = yuck, ick. I don't think I've ever heard "ish" used this way anywhere else. Not sure though?
In every other state, my username would be Goose.
posted by Gray Duck at 10:19 AM on December 21, 2022 [8 favorites]

In Canada, a knit hat that you wear in the winter is exclusively called a "tuque" (in both French and English).
posted by mekily at 10:24 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

Along with coke/co-cola above, in the SE if you order “tea” the server will bring you sweetened iced tea over ice (preferably that pebble/bullet ice) with a wedge of lemon on the side of the cup/glass.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 10:35 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

In Ireland, ‘the immersion’ is the house water heater (and woe to those who left it on the ‘bath’ setting)
posted by TwoWordReview at 10:44 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

In Lincolnshire, we'd say 'it's sileing it down' when it's raining hard. It's not a thing in other parts of the UK, let alone elsewhere.

And I've always thought of 'mardy' (meaning 'sulky' or 'grumpy') as a bit of a Midlander word, but someone might want to put me right on that.

Everyone laughs at me for calling cow parsley (a common roadside plant) 'keck'. It took me twenty years to learn other people pretty universally called it cow parsley.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 10:49 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

In Scotland messages, as in "going for my messages" means groceries, shopping, an errand.
posted by protorp at 10:51 AM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

In Hawaii they're always "rubber slippers", while everywhere else I've been used flip-flops, thongs, or "thong sandals" pretty interchangeably.

When I was a kid in the '70s in Southern Illinois we called the winter hats "pom-pom hats" (since that was the prevalent style), but I have no idea if that was a real term or just us being weird. "Hoosier" was definitely an insult; I never heard "sliding board".
posted by LadyOscar at 10:51 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: In Vermont, a soft serve ice cream cone is a creemee. (Most often spelled like that, though you see variations like "creamee" or "creamie."
posted by Redstart at 10:55 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

In Tennessee, and probably other southern places, a shopping cart is called a buggy.

(I never lived in Louisiana and a blinker has always been a blinker!)

-a "Regular" is a Dunkin' Donuts coffee order which means two creams and two sugars (again, only in the greater Boston area and only at Dunks).

All three of these terms would be at home in southern Ontario, but the coffee would probably come from Timmie's (Tim Horton's).
posted by kate4914 at 10:57 AM on December 21, 2022

In southwest Ohio, I hear a lot of people say "inkpen" when they mean "pen." Supposedly it's an adaptation for Southern dialects where "pin" and "pen" are pronounced identically. I don't know how anyone would ever be confused by that in context, unless I worked in a profession where pins and pens were equally likely to come up in conversation, so maybe a craft store or a bowling alley?
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:59 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Among the Amish of northern IN, those hats are worn year-round by men/boys and are called "sippukups" (spelling very approximate). A social worker friend working at a school was soliciting ideas for Spirit Week days and didn't understand why all the Amish boys wanted a "sippie cup day".
posted by epj at 11:02 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Some of my old co-workers from Cleveland would call the grassy area between the sidewalk and the street a "tree lawn".
posted by Comrade_robot at 11:03 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Another Montreal-ism: an outdoor seating area at a restaurant or bar might be called a patio, a deck, or even just "outdoor seating area" in other places but in Montreal it's called a "terrace". Except it's pronounced in the French way (with maybe kind of an English accent) not in the English way, "turr-ASS" not "TARE-uss".
posted by mhum at 11:15 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Some of my old co-workers from Cleveland would call the grassy area between the sidewalk and the street a "tree lawn".

I grew up in a Cleveland suburb, and as far as I know, we still call it the tree lawn. I've never heard it called anything different.
posted by Dolley at 11:26 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

I completely forgot about "sliding boards," but that was definitely the term we used when I was young in Baltimore. I haven't thought about that since, well, since sliding boards stopped being an important part of my lifestyle.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:37 AM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: In Ontario, if you accidentally step in a puddle and your foot gets wet, that's called a "soaker". I was surprised to learn that it's a highly regional expression that apparently doesn't exist anywhere else.
posted by Gortuk at 12:09 PM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

In Ontario, if you accidentally step in a puddle and your foot gets wet, that's called a "soaker". I was surprised to learn that it's a highly regional expression that apparently doesn't exist anywhere else.

"My brother and I always said that drowning in beer would be heaven, eh? But now he's not here and I got two soakers... this isn't heaven, this SUCKS."
posted by bondcliff at 12:13 PM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

In southwest Ohio, I hear a lot of people say "inkpen" when they mean "pen." Supposedly it's an adaptation for Southern dialects where "pin" and "pen" are pronounced identically. I don't know how anyone would ever be confused by that in context, unless I worked in a profession where pins and pens were equally likely to come up in conversation, so maybe a craft store or a bowling alley?

In the late '90s I worked for a company which sold various custom printed tchotchkes to businesses and to political campaigns. This was in Kankakee, IL which despite being just an hour south of Chicago everybody had a bit of a southern accent. We did indeed sell both "pins" (i.e. campaign buttons) and "ink pens", pronounced "ink pins" by our customers, (i.e. Bic brand writing instruments) and especially when dealing with phone orders it was important to specify which one they wanted.
posted by Daily Alice at 1:10 PM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

South Shore, MA: If my grandmother asked if I wanted a "tonic" I could expect a Coke-a-Cola (or any other soda, for that matter).
posted by horsegnut at 2:19 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

The wide range of drinks that in England would be generically called "fizzy drinks" (Coke, Fanta, Sprite etc) are all referred to as "juice" or "ginger" (west coast) in Scotland. That's regardless of whether or not they contain juice or ginger.
posted by penguin pie at 2:25 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Loonie, for a one dollar coin, Toonie a two dollar coin.
Two-four, a case of 24 beer.
Mickey, a 13 ounce bottle of liquor.
Grab a two-four of Blue and a mickey of rye for May two-four weekend. (Victoria Day)
posted by yyz at 2:45 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

I think this bit of Canadian slang might qualify for what OP is looking for: "keener". Denotatively, this merely means some one who is very eager, or keen about something. However, in this slang usage, the term "keener" is usually a pejorative applied to a certain kind of student, the ones who always sit at the front of the class and have their hand up to answer every question. They're also the ones most likely to remind the teacher that, say, they forgot to assign readings for winter break. They're like some combination of "try-hard" and "teacher's pet"/"brown-noser" but not fully captured by either of these terms; for one thing, keeners are often more like an "aspiring teacher's pet" since many keeners end up being annoying to the teachers. In pop culture, the closest character I can think of that captures the essence of a keener is Reese Witherspoon's Tracey Flick in Election.
posted by mhum at 4:44 PM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

In mountain regions of the Mid-Atlantic/New England states, my older relatives use the word "anymore" to mean "nowadays" or "these days" -- as in, "I guess we have to ask our banks very specifically anymore as to just what added fees to expect."
posted by eunique at 5:13 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

DC has bama/bamma, meaning "black slang word for a hayseed or rube."
posted by General Malaise at 6:42 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Detroit used to call a hot dog a “Coney”, short for Coney Island. There is a reason I’ve now forgotten.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 7:19 PM on December 21, 2022

Holy crap, is Pittsburgh a hotbed for what you're seeking.

Via the Pittsburgh City Paper's Pittsburghese Dictionary:

* Buggy = shopping cart
* Dippy = appropriate level for dipping into (the example is gold - and I've actually heard it)
* Yinz = you all

It's good reading, but to get the full effect, gotta watch Pittsburgh Dad.

Sweahr to Gahd, it's true, yinz.
posted by theseventhstranger at 7:04 AM on December 22, 2022 [3 favorites]

In Chicago, a "slashie" is a bar-slash-liquor store. It's apparently a relatively recent term, but a term I have never heard elsewhere.
posted by quadrilaterals at 7:56 AM on December 22, 2022

In Kentucky...

Cars have blinkers.
Kids slide on sliding boards (at least we did in the 70's).
We wear tennis shoes.

... and the writing utensils are called inkpens to distinguish them from stickpins.

Even after 15 years living elsewhere, I still could not bring myself to pronounce pen with the "eh" sound.
posted by wps98 at 8:01 PM on December 22, 2022

Canadian prairies: people (I think still?) use “rad”, like, a lot. Also (same region) “gotchies” for underwear
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:49 PM on December 22, 2022

And I've always thought of 'mardy' (meaning 'sulky' or 'grumpy') as a bit of a Midlander word, but someone might want to put me right on that.
Made nationally famous by that song by a band from Sheffield. (... which is North Midlands, right?)

I'm a transplant into the Greater Manchester hillside, a city named because it's surrounded by mams. One of the highest hills in Derbyshire's Peak District is Mam Tor, the early naming of hills pointed out their likeness to boobies.

Other things round here that have many names are bread rolls. I've not eaten enough to discern a bap from a cob from a barm from an oven muffin from ... the rest.
posted by k3ninho at 1:02 AM on December 23, 2022 [1 favorite]