pittsburgh reporter needs help

[Johnna Pro]

Dear ADS members: My name is Johnna A. Pro and I am a staff writer at the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I am trying to find out the origin of the term
"yankee bump." A yankee bump is a bump on a sled riding hill that sends your
sled flying in the air or it is a bump on a steep old country road that will
send you car flying. A colleague used the term in the office recently and
few people knew what he meant. What we have since found out is that only
those of us who grew up in the mid-Monongahela Valley knew what the term
means. The mid-Mon Valley is comprised of 35 small towns between Elizabeth
and Brownsville on the Monongahela River, south of Pittsburgh. No one from
the city or the surrounding region knew the term, so it doesn't qualify as
Pittsburghese. If anyone in your group can help me, I would most be most
appreciative. I'm quite sure there's a good story here. Thank you. Johnna A.
Pro 412-263-1574.