Pittsburgh Dialect

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>Do Pittsburghers also use "mamaw" and "papaw" for grandmother and
>grandfather?  These are common in SE Ohio (in all age groups), and I'm
>curious to know how far east/northeast they go.

I don't recall hearing them. 'Grandpa' and 'grandma' are common, as is 'pap'.

Are 'mamaw' and 'papaw' used in all contexts? They sound like infantilisms
to me. I recall similar words used by adults in my family in Detroit,
1950's -- approx. 'mammaw', 'bappaw' (I may not remember precisely) -- but
these were jocular imitations of baby-talk and not used seriously. The
corresponding word for 'father' would have been (not 'dad', 'pop', 'papa',
or even 'daddy') something like 'dah-dah'.

>"Needs fixed/cleaned/done" is common in southern Ohio but also
>stretches westward at least to Kansas; see several articles on related
>forms in _American Speech_.

I've seen something to this effect. I also encountered the usage myself in
Columbus OH (where I once lived) -- but not with anything like the
prevalence or full acceptance which I've observed in Pittsburgh.

A quick Web search suggests currency throughout most of southern and
western PA and contiguous parts of OH, WV, MD. I saw an item from York PA
stating that the usage is common there (although the Pittsburgh plural
pronoun "you-uns" is less common there than the eastern "youse").

This usage is also employed in Scotland and in Ulster, apparently.

I also note that in elliptical writing -- brief notes, classified ads, etc.
-- this usage is very widespread: I find this on the Web at a quick glance
in material from TX, OK, FL, OR, IN, IA, etc. Here I'm talking about
something like: "Car for sale. Good condition. Needs cleaned." Or: "School
Inspection Report: ... [many brief items] ... Tile needs replaced. ...
[More items] ... Storage area needs cleaned. ..." This is different from
free use in normal conversation, of course -- still I am a little surprised.

Somebody inquired on another list (a year ago) about the comparable
construction with 'like', e.g., "the baby likes held", "the cat likes
petted". I did a quick poll among Pittsburghers, with inconclusive
'borderline' results: three responses like "No way; unacceptable!", three
responses like "Well, I've heard it occasionally; I guess it's OK." The
construction with 'like' must be uncommon; I'm not sure that I've ever
heard it, and I can't find it in a brief Web search.

-- Doug Wilson