I'll have an ice cold _____

[TheBigDog]

In a recent debate over the accepted definitions of words, I was reminded of this website and thought it might be interesting to others too.

 

http://www.popvssoda.com/

 

It is a site that gathers the regional preferred name for soda/pop/coke/other. And has a cool graphical breakdown of the US to show what it is called where.

 

I remember most of my life that candy on a stick was a lollipop. But in Colorado and Ohio they are suckers.

 

In California you go to the Beach. In New Jersey you go to the Shore.

 

In New Jersey you order a Pie when you call the pizza place. Most other places you order a pizza, and if you try to order a pie they have no idea what you are talking about.

 

In Georgia tea means Sweet Tea.

 

Can you think of any other examples of things that have different regional names?

 

Bill

[infamous]

In Ohio one might say: ...............I'm attracted to her/him.

In Missoure one might say: ..........I've taken a fancy to her/him.

In Kentucky one might say: .........I've taken a shine to her/him.

...........................Infy

[Edella]

Growing up in Milwaukee,we always referred to a drinking fountain as a "bubbler"When I moved away and used that word,no one knew what the hell I was talking about.

[Jay-qu]

Regionalisms: variations in lexical items between different areas, but are too minor and not systematic enough to be considered dialectal differences.

 

In australia we call soda "soft drinks" or "fizzy drinks" :)

 

A great example of regionalisms is german sausage, here in melbourne we call it just that, while in Adelaide its "fritz" in Sydney its "devon" and in Brisbane its "windsor". Also cocktail frankfurts have the variations "cheerios" and "little boys" :)

[Buffy]

Not enough UK folks here, so I'll throw in:

 

Crisps: What we Americans call "chips" which Brits think of when we say Fries, Freedom or French.

 

Boot: Where you put your luggage.

Bonnett: underwhich you have your engine.

 

And if the guy is cute enough, a girl might actually like to have her "fanny spanked" something that would be done while "canoodling", neither of which should really be done in public...you would not believe how funny it is to Brits when Americans mindlessly use "canoodling" as a synonym for "kissing".

 

Oh and if you have a baby, you definitely don't want to make her take a nappy, you want to put one on her.

 

Knickers in a twist,

Buffy

[Jay-qu]

Some of those are the same for Australia. Here is a few I can think of..

 

Aussie.......American

foot-path....side-walk

nappy.........diper

soft drink.....soda/pop

rubbish........garbage

taxi.............cab

autumn........fall

chemist........drug store

[ronthepon]

Some of those are the same for Australia. Here is a few I can think of..

 

Aussie.......American

foot-path....side-walk

nappy.........diper

soft drink.....soda/pop

rubbish........garbage

taxi.............cab

autumn........fall

chemist........drug store

Same with most of the east, it seems to me.

[eric l]

 

And if the guy is cute enough, a girl might actually like to have her "fanny spanked" something that would be done while "canoodling", neither of which should really be done in public...you would not believe how funny it is to Brits when Americans mindlessly use "canoodling" as a synonym for "kissing".

 

 

This makes me think of aparticcularity in French : the noun "baiser" stands for a kiss, while the verb "baiser" refers to what is described above as "canoodling" in the UK.

[pgrmdave]

In California you go to the Beach. In New Jersey you go to the Shore

 

Now this is completely wrong, but an understandable mistake. In NJ, we never go "to the shore", we go "down the shore". "to the shore" just doesn't make any sense.

 

In Georgia tea means Sweet Tea.

 

To be fair, tea and Sweet Tea are two different things...you just can't get good sweet tea outside of the South.

[Mercedes Benzene]

What a fun thread!

 

In Maryland, we call the sink plumbing fixture a "faucet", but when I go to my grandma's house in Florida, they call them "spigots".

 

Another thing that sees a lot of variation in the US is sub sandwiches. I've always called them "subs", but it seems that everywhere I go, someone calls them something different. Here's what wikipedia thinks:

 

Bomb — New England, usually used for hot sandwiches with melted cheese and other toppings

Bomber — New Jersey

Cosmo - North Central Pennsylvania in and around Williamsport, PA - a cosmo is an oven toasted sub.

Grinder — New England (some say this refers specifically to an oven-toasted sub) and Riverside, CA

Hero — New York, northern New Jersey and the Eastern United States

Hoagie — Philadelphia and environs, including South Jersey

Italian — New Jersey, Maine, Maryland

Poor boy or Po' boy — Gulf Coast, especially around New Orleans

Spuckie — Boston, Massachusetts (now rare)

Torpedo — New Jersey

Wedge — New Jersey and Westchester and Rockland Counties in New York and southwestern Connecticut

Zep (for zeppelin) — New Jersey

Italian - Maine, where "Italian" is used regardless of the filling--which is specified separately. For instance, a "ham Italian", a "veggie Italian" or a "roast beef Italian". A regular Italian tends to be a ham Italian. Italians are made to order at most convenient stores and gas stations.

 

YUMMY. :shrug: I'm going to Quiznos now.

[Jay-qu]

What a fun thread!

 

In Maryland, we call the sink plumbing fixture a "faucet", but when I go to my grandma's house in Florida, they call them "spigots".

 

clearly its a tap :)

[pgrmdave]

I've never heard of an "Italian" used as a synonym for a sub. (Unless getting a proper italian sub - with ham, salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, and oil and vinager, then you could ask for an "italian. We tend to call them subs in Northern NJ, although hero and hoagie aren't unheard of (but you would seem odd to ask for them that way), they tend to be called that in South Jersey more often (South Jersey is almost a different state).

 

I have heard that people from Jersey drop words more often than others. A conversation that makes perfect sense to a person from NJ:

 

"Jeet yet?" (Did you eat yet?)

"No, jew?" (No, did you?)

 

One question I have for people from not Jersey - do you guys have jug handles too? (this question is about driving, if anybody is confused).

[C1ay]

Who's gone swimmin' in a branch before?

[InfiniteNow]

I recall something about Hoagies, Subs, Grinders, Heros (Gyros en commune Greco), and sandwiches...

[Jay-qu]

I have heard that people from Jersey drop words more often than others. A conversation that makes perfect sense to a person from NJ:

 

"Jeet yet?" (Did you eat yet?)

"No, jew?" (No, did you?)

 

Sounds like when some things get said over hear bleed together "Areyagonnaveashowa?" (Are you going to have a shower?) :shrug:

[Qfwfq]

Buffy forgot to say that it's also the other way around for "chips" in the UK, ever had fish'n'chips in Britain?

 

This makes me think of aparticcularity in French : the noun "baiser" stands for a kiss, while the verb "baiser" refers to what is described above as "canoodling" in the UK.

Yeah that's true, and a girl I knew at university wasn't aware of it after having spent 6 whole months at a university in Paris. After returning she told about a rather odd discussion with some of the local girls, about how many boyfriends each had had. :confused:

[Tormod]

A Portuguese friend of mine was an exchange student in New Haven, Connecticut, about a decade ago. She once asked her next-desk student for a rubber, which turned out to be quite the horror story of the day. I'm sure she's not the only one. When I was in school, I too learned that the English used rubbers to erase pencil writings...apparently that was the British edition. :)