Chicago talk

[Steve Kl.]

As someone who spent 10 years in Chicago and has been in Boston for 12, it
is true: that which Chicagoans call a three-flat (or a six-flat if there's
an apartment on either side of the staircase) is a triple-decker in Boston.

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 12:51 PM, Paul <paulzjoh at mtnhome.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Chicago talk
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> My experience growing up in Chicago was that flat was used as an
> alternative to apartment, a six flat was usually a three story building
> with two apartments to the floor. The use of 12 or 24 flat was not
> unusual in my memory.
> My guess is flat is shorter than apartment and "six flat" is faster to
> say than "six apartment building"
> Never heard a home referred to as a flat. In other words, I could live
> in a six flat, but I rented an apartment.
>
> Wilson Gray wrote:
> > Heard on a Cold Case Files - a true-crimes, trash-TV show - episode
> > that occurred in Chicago:
> >
> > _Three-flat_  : the kind of house known in Saint Louis as a
> > "three-family flat" and in Boston as a "triple-decker"
> >
> > _Gangway_  : a narrow passageway, three to eight feet wide or so,
> > between two houses or any other two buildings, leading from the front
> > to the back of the building to the left. The same term with the same
> > meaning is used in Saint Louis.
> >
> > _Decade_    : pronounced as though spelled "dekkid." This is the only
> > pronunciation that I ever heard or used in Saint Louis. I have no clue
> > as to how common this pronunciation may be in Chicago.
> >
> > -Wilson
> > –––
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > –Mark Twain
> >
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