Folk Awareness oif Dialect

[Drew Danielson]

> >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


It is Carnegie Mellon - the school whose mascot is a type of plaid (the
Tartans).

I lived in Central PA (State College, Bedford) for several years, and I
believe that 5, 9, 24, & 27 are all Appalachian or PA Dutch
derivatives.  Number 6, doing things "once", seems to me to fill a
similar purpose to saying "an' 'at" (and that), which is fairly common
in Western PA.  I have heard African Americans from Philly say "red up"
in the same context as mentioned in my list, but it may have been
imported from Pittsburgh.