QotD: Back where I'm from...
Soda? Cola? Pop? What do you say? Any other regional words that set you apart?
Question submitted by Gladys.
I grew up saying "pop" even thought I was born and raised in a region of the country that shouldn't say that -- southern california. My grandparents were born and raised in Ohio and I lived with them for the first 12 years of my life, so that probably explains it.
There were a lot of different words that I grew up with that had incredibly odd origins. Some of the best ones were Americanized Italian words or American words through an Italian accent (my great-grandfather).
Bacous (băk·hūz) n.
- A room containing a bathtub or shower, and usually a sink and toilet.
- A room containing a sink and toilet
It was only when I was much older did I realize that the word I associated with "bathroom," the word my great-grandfather would use to designate the bathroom was actually not the Italian word for bathroom, but his accented version of "backhouse," basically an outhouse.
Another word was malok, the word my family would use to designate that someone was wishing harm to someone. This one I knew was actually Italian, but I also didn't know it stood for something more formal, a real Italian word, much later -- maloccio, or "evil eye.
Here's a quiz for you to take to figure out What Kind of American English Do You Speak? (Quiz via Laura).
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My Linguistic Profile:
75% General American English
15% Upper Midwestern
5% Dixie
0% Midwestern
0% Yankee
Comments
That test was really cool.
***Your Linguistic Profile:***
70% General American English
15% Yankee
5% Dixie
5% Upper Midwestern
0% Midwestern
I wonder where the Dixie comes from. . .
I did notice that some of my friends from Ohio pronounced Washington, Warshington.
Yay for a pop person!
Your Linguistic Profile::
75% General American English
5% Dixie
5% Midwestern
5% Upper Midwestern
5% Yankee
And hey, I have a question. Since you work at Six Apart, does that mean that you can get the highest level Typepad account for free?
I know it's a stupid question, and I think you probably can, but I'm really not sure.
I found myself thinking "I used to say ___" for a lot of those. I guess that's what 19 years on the east coast, and 10 years on the west coast does to you.
55% General American English
20% Yankee
10% Dixie
10% Upper Midwestern
0% Midwestern
I'm a good marylander, splitting the yankee and dixie. I blame the upper midwesterner on seattle.
haha! I grew up using words that I thought were normal everyday english only to find out they were weird OHIO words, used on a regular basis by grandma (aka aunt Florence). For instance 'Buggy' was the common name for Shopping cart in our family.
With regards to another of your posts...I didn't know your dad's real name wasn't Junior until I was, like, 15. Oh well.