Comments on: You Say Potato, I Say Spud

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:39:36 +0000

I think it’s a spatula. Still. But then again, I grew up asking, “What kind of Coke would you like?” and only learned the word “soda” in college.

I am also a wearer of tennis shoes.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:13:23 +0000

Yes, the sneakers/tennis shoes thing! I also grew up saying tennis shoes and your answer to your husband is brilliant. And I agree, rah-diator (same first syllable sound as radical) completely grates on my ears. A very common Philadelphianism.

By: alia ramer

alia ramer — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:07:12 +0000

See, I thought “needs (past tense verb)” was an Ohio thing. Although I grew up in Columbus (Clumbus if you’re from there), I never grew up saying “needs fixed” or “needs washed” (warshed if you’re from there). I know highly educated, sophisticated Clumbus people who use that weird construction.

My NJ husband says rah-diator and I say ray-diator. Rah-diator drives me crazy. Saying pop for what East Coasters call soda was drummed out of me shortly after moving East, but I still call all athletic footwear “tennis shoes” and not sneakers. “But you don’t play tennis in them,” he says. “But you don’t sneak in them,” I answer.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:17:40 +0000

Great contributions of fractured idioms, odd pronunciations, and regional expressionions, dear readers! In addition to “are you coming with,” here is another Pennsylvania-ism: “it needs fixed.” I’m sorry, that construction is just wrong, and it needs TO BE fixed.

By: Jeane

Jeane — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 08:28:26 +0000

I say on-velope, and UMbrella, not umBRELla. I say auhnt; Andy says ant. But we’ve had epic fights over what goes with the turkey on Thanksgiving. I call it dressing; Andy’s family had stuffing. He argues dressing goes on salad and has barked at the children for not calling it what he does. But I don’t cook it in the bird, hence it dresses the table. James Beard explained it one year in a NYTimes article, that I printed and dared Andy to refute. Funny how one so openminded about most things can be so narrow just for the sake of it. But the last laugh is mine when he asks for jimmies on his ice cream anywhere not Philly or down the shore. Divided by a common language, indeed.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:55:16 +0000

If Kimberly weren’t from the West Coast (a Valley Girl, in fact, but sounding nowhere near as bad as THAT sounds or THEY sound) and I were not from the East Coast — sparking many (even many, many) conversations about how she pronounces things incorrectly (I’m just sayin’), we’d have 40% less to talk about.

Here’s a fave divisive word thing (but not in our household): I’ve lived where people call soda “soda.” I’ve lived were people call soda “pop.” I’ve lived where people (obviously dispute-averse people) call soda “soda pop.” And I’m told that certain people refer to soda generically (i.e., any soda) as “coke.”

Go figure. Or figger.

By: rjga13

rjga13 — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 19:19:59 +0000

A friend of ours was born and raised in Germany. Though he had been here for 20+ years, idioms continually came out wrong. “That’s the last nail in the camels back” is a lasting family joke.

By: Joanzbenz

Joanzbenz — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:19:45 +0000

What color is it? or What kehler is it?
Are you coming with? With who, with what?(Never end a sentence in a preposition, BTW!)
LANcaster or LanCASTer? Water or wooder. The list goes on and on. My favs: gum bands, redding up, and nebbing. Got a laugh recently when I heard “irn” (one syllable) for “iron” and “fiir” (one syllable) for “fire”. Also, “It-lee” (2 claps) for “Italy” (3 claps) which cracked me up. Great stuff.

By: ladyrock13

ladyrock13 — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:08:30 +0000

Donner or Donder?

By: lindacopy

lindacopy — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:14:43 +0000

That debate about how to pronounce place names happens right here in our community. When we moved here to Whitpain Township, we were told by some realtor that the locals pronounce it “Whitpin”– losing the long “a” sound and putting all the emphasis on the first syllable. So we forced ourselves to say Whitpin (although it often came out more like Whippin), eager to earn points around town. Turns out each and every time I said it, I was countered with “Oh you mean Whit-pain?” 14 years later, I still haven’t met anyone who naturally says Whitpin Township!