Folk Awareness oif Dialect

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>More of the same (PA-isms, an' 'at)...
>
>2. You say the correct pronunciation LANG-kist-er instead of the
>mispronounced Lan-CAST-er, and LEB-en-in instead of the equally
>incorrect Leb-a-NON.
>5. You ask the waitress for "dippy eggs" for breakfast.
>6. You do things "once," as in "I'll go check in the back room once."
>9. Your turkey has "filling," not "stuffing," and most certainly NOT
>"dressing."
>11. You say things like, "Outen the lights."
>12. You've heard of distelfinks and hex signs.
>14. You pronounce "Suite" as SUIT, not SWEET.
>15. You say you're going out to the shed "AWHILE" instead of "FOR
>AWHILE."
>24. You call sloppy joes "barbecue."
>27. You know what a "GOB" is. (it's a dessert that consists of a
>sandwich made with 2 big, cake-y chocolate cookies with coolwhip in the
>middle)
>31. You know exactly what to do when your mother tells you to "Red up
>your room."
>33. You don't think people from Pittsburgh or Philly talk funny.
>40. Words like "hoagie," "chipped ham," and "pop" actually mean
>something to you.
>42. You constantly refer to Pennsylvania as "PA."
>
>Drew.Danielson at cmu.edu

Is that Carnegie Mellon? I guess Drew Danielson and I are neighbors.

PA is a large state. Philadelphia speech is very different from that of
Pittsburgh.

5. I would never order such a loathsome item. I've never heard this, in
Pittsburgh or anywhere else (that doesn't mean it isn't used, among those
who would consider ingesting such a 'delicacy'). Web search indicates
"dippy egg" = "liquid egg" (soft-boiled or more likely soft-fried). Chacun
a son gout, as we say in PA. (^_^)

9. "Stuffing" and "dressing" are familiar to me in Pittsburgh speech. I
don't recall encountering "filling".

11. Unusual here.

12. Central PA, I think.

14. A common pronunciation which I consider a solecism. I've heard it
everywhere I've lived (MI, OH, IL, WI, PA, FL). The person who pronounces
"suite" as "suit" probably pronounces "console" [noun] as "council". Here
in Pittsburgh we're all "blue-collar", but still ....

31. This is a Pittsburghism, probably also current in other parts of PA and
Appalachia.

40. "Hoagie" and "pop" are ordinary in Detroit, Chicago, etc., in my
experience; people in western PA just THINK they're local. "Chipped ham" is
very common in Pittsburgh, although not unknown elsewhere.

-- Doug Wilson, Pittsburgh