Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Pennsylvanian, the strange language

baby coach -noun. Chiefly Eastern Pennsylvania and Chesapeake Bay . A baby carriage.

Lunch meat -noun. Called "cold cuts" elsewhere.

For those who think we Pennsylvanians 'talk funny' or use 'big words', here's why ...

Once a Pennsylvanian, ALWAYS a Pennsylvanian!

About Pennsylvanians: You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything but 'Philly' and New Jersey has always been ' Jersey .'

We don't go to the beach -- we go 'down the shore.'

You refer to Pennsylvania as 'PA' (pronounced Pee-Ay).
How many other states do that??

'You guys' (or even 'youze guys', in some places) is a perfectly acceptable reference to a group of men and women.

You know how to respond to the question 'Djeetyet?' (Did you eat yet?)


You know that the Iggles play football and so do the Stillers.

You learned to pronounce Bryn Mawr, Wilkes-Barre , Schuylkill , the Poconos, Tamaqua, Kutztown, Tunkahannock, Bala Cynwyd, Kishacoquillas, Duquesne and Monongahela, also Conshohocken.

And we know Lancaster is pronounced Lank-ister, not Lan-kaster.

You know what a 'Mummer' is, and are disappointed if you can't catch at least highlights of the parade.

At least five people on your block have electric 'candles' in all or most of their windows all year long.

You know what a 'State Store' is, and your out-of-state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at the mini-mart.


Words like 'hoagie,' 'crick,' 'chipped ham,' 'dippy eggs', 'sticky buns,' 'shoo-fly pie,' 'lemon sponge pie', 'pierogies' and 'pocketbook'
actually mean something to you. (By the way, that last one's PA slang for a purse!)

You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know it comes in several colors.

You know the difference between a cheese steak and a pizza steak sandwich, and you know that you also can't get a
really good one anywhere outside of the Philly area. (Except maybe in Atlantic City on the boardwalk.)

You know that Blue Ball, Intercourse, Paradise, Climax, Bird-in-Hand, Beaver, Moon, Virginville, Mars, Bethlehem, Hershey,
Indiana, Sinking Spring, Jersey Shore, State College, Washington Crossing, Jim Thorpe, King of Prussia, Wind Gap, and
Slippery Rock are all PA towns ... and the first three were consecutive stops on the old Reading RR! (PS - That's pronounced Redd-ing.)



You can identify drivers from New York , New Jersey , Maryland or other neighboring states by their unique and irritating driving habits.

A traffic jam in Lancaster County is 10 cars waiting to pass a horse-drawn carriage on the highway. (And remember ... that's Lank-ister!)

You know several people who have hit deer more than once.

Driving is always better in winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

As a kid you built snow forts and leaf piles that were taller than you were.

You know beer doesn't grow in a garden, but you know where to find a beer garden.

You actually understand all this and send it out to other Pennsylvanians or former Pennsylvanians. It's scary, isn't it!

The list of towns is missing Hooker. Back when they were trying to find a new slogan, my vote went for "Virginia may be for lovers but Pennsylvania has a Hooker"

jeet yet? No, jew?

OK time to go red up the kitchen a bit, then off to bed.

Dale

Younze guys are funny......

I find that many people outside of Pa., have never eaten a "gob"..

I knew pretty much all of that, haven been back and forth across that state a billion times during High School and College...plus just going up there from VA... I always love PA and folks from there... well, Philly doesn't thrill me... never did..

spent tons of times at Gettysburg after I got my drivers licenses... there and Harper's Ferry were our two favorite places to go to for me and my buddies..

I could also tell ya some one from PA by asking them to pronoun TWO words....Folks from PA have influences in their accents from New Jersey, whether they think so or not...and then also from south of them toward Maryland and VA...

I never realized it until I had a boss in Minneapolis in 79, and I asked him where he was from in PA? He looked puzzled and asked me who told me that he was from PA... I told him no one did, his accent did....He responded, I don't have an accent!

Uh yes you do...

Say Beautiful for me...they'll say beu-de-ful like they say in Joisey..

Say hour for me....then they will say I'er like we pronounced it in Virginia...

Voila, you're from Pennsylvania..he just scratched his head and laughed.. guess I never thought about... Yes I am from PA...

I think growing up as a military dependent, you just paid closer attention to accents.. and where they come from...

the internet, TV and the media, plus the country, moving around more than they use do has washed a lot of accents away, compared to what they were before the late 80s..

I've long since lost the touch, but I even use to be able to tell what southern state someone came from, just by the way they said certain words or phrases...

I can pick out people from New England, where I went to college..

had a neighbor when I first moved to Oregon, that I was talking to one day, and I asked him where in Massachusetts did he come from? He told me "I'm not from Massachusetts, I am from California... what makes you think I am from Massachusetts???"

he almost seemed pissed about it... but my response was, I don't care how long you have lived in California, but you are from Massachusetts or at least New England"..

"how can you tell that??" by the way you say Forty and the way you say God, and corner for instance....

My Gawd, how did you know that?? so I had him say Forty, "Fw'aty", now say Corner, "Co'nah", now say Door, "Doah", now say Visa.. "Veeser"....

Yup, you're from Boston...." my Gawd, my family moved to California when I was 8!!!" even tho he was in his 70s, he still hadn't lost all of that accent...

myself, my roots are WVa and Virginia, right on the state line, west of Roanoke.. I call it hillbilly'bonics, but I haven't lost my accent, if I get mad or am around another southern, it comes right back out according to my son and wife...in fact first time they were around my family back there, they couldn't believe how my accent reverted back to its based within 5 minutes...

those from down that way, and/or still hear the real old hillfolksw speak it, know what a TAR is... a TAR ARN, or plain old ARN is.... and What a FAR is...just for examples..

a TAR is put on your car's wheel rim...

you use a TAR ARN to put it the wheel off and on the vehicle..

you use an Iron to ARN your clothes

you put a Lowg on the FAR to keep warm...
ya love to eat 'taters and 'maters....

ya know what spoon bread is..or wilted salad...

You forgot "yinz", which is Pittsburgh-ese for youse guys.

Also, daresn't (as in you dare not) or irregardless (which really means regardless) and for breakfast you have to have dippy eggs (meaning sunny-side up). Ponhaus which is scrapple to most people.

Also, what's black and yellow and sleeps six? A PennDot truck.

Also yunz for singular. Don't forget that one.

As in:

"Yinz wanna go up Dick's?" translation: Youse guys want to drive to Dick's sporting goods?

"Yunz wanna pass the ball? translation: You want to play catch? Pass the ball? The only thing I pass is...well, you know...... .

ya know yer a true Pennsylvanian when yinz like scrapple!

haint that the truth.

Scrapple is the state bird.

Converted some Wilkes-Barre folks to Texan, sorta -- yez-all.

In the town list you missed Hollywood and Renova. The last time I was through Hollywood, it was a wide spot in the road at the base of two mountains-the post office was a red white and blue travel trailer parked along side the road.

Did you trow the cow over the fence some hay?

you also forgot heyna or no and upta.

Youz guys wanna go upta lake?.... heyna or no?

heyna or no= yes or no, what do you think?... etc.

it's kinda like forgetaboutit for the nyc people

Thirty plus years ago when I was in the Navy I was driving across Florida with a bud and I bet him a car up ahead had Ohio plates on it, which of course it did. He's still probably trying to figure that one out. If you're from western PA I don't have to tell you what they were doing.

I grew up in New England and Maryland right by the Pa. line. I've even lived in the "Mushroom Capital of the US", had a house down to the shore,and have certain speech inflections from both places. I just can't break the habit of saying "djaeat, pocketbook, and a few others. I'm pissed because I can't find hot cherry peppers anywhere around here. There are no good tomatoes in the summer "you'd know what I mean if you've ever had a Jersey tomata". But it really doesn't matter, because you can't get decent bread anywhere out of North East region to make a decent sandwich anyway.

And Lebanon Balogna. And don't forget the Salad Dressing.

haluski also

I`m originally from 84 Pa. home of 84 lumber
I think there is only one other town in the U.S.A. with a number for a name.
Anyone know what it is?
Here`s a good one from south west Pa.
We don`t wash a car we warsh it.

Bwahahaha!

Yah, you have to "red up" your room which means you have to clean your room.