Boston slang (Worcester, Sudbury, Wayland: living in, restaurant, vs)

[Highwyre237]

I just found a fun site

How to Pronounce Massachusetts Town Names, Introduction

This is how to pronounce every MA city/town...

[maggiekate]

mass is also called by the locals taxachusetts!

[clevedark]

You eat skahollops with your auhnt Mary, not scallops with your ant Mary.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by AandD

Ohhh! I LOVE the topic of Boston lingo! My boyfriend is a West Roxbury boy, and we have so much fun comparing terms and arguing over whether he's correct or my Texas terms are.

Holden - My boyfriend uses ALL those words. HOW FUNNY! I really sort of thought it was JUST his family... LOL. PS: Hearing "pocketbook" makes me cringe every time. It's a purse, dangit. He also calls tennis shoes "sneakers" and house shoes "slippers".

Boston Guy - I'm not sure of the geographical issue, but my boyfriend will sometimes tell people that he's from Roslindale if he thinks they won't get that W. Roxbury is different from Roxbury. And he definately uses "Rozzie" in conversations with other people, especially when discussing childhood friends or locations.

To the OP - I really wouldn't try to pick up the Boston lingo. Frankly, it's only fun to hear it with the Boston accent, which is truly different than any other place in NE. New Englander's are... reserved (a nicer term than what I thought of originally... LOL) and not quick to warm up to outsiders. Honestly your attempt to mimick their language might come across as fake or insulting. Just be you. it's much more interesting that way.

I guess some New Englanders are reserved but I don't see it as a dominant trait. At least in the region I grew up in, smack dab between Boston and Providence. In fact I see most of us including myself very quick to talk to strangers as if we knew them all along. that and we usually know our neighbors, maybe not so much in Boston itself anymore.

Where I live now Portland, Oregon, I find many of them reserved and downright depressing. The only ones that would speak to strangers or anyone are the panhandlers, and they want spare change and now dollars.

The majority of the local words mentioned on here I have heard much of my life. Many I have used but not so much anymore except frickin I do say quite a bit. My parents used the word tonic their entire life. They pronounced can't and half and bathroom the british way, many do mainly the older people. The word frappe I never heard anywhere but New England, until recently McDonalds started selling drinks with the name.
Rotary I never liked those things to begin with especially the one down the cape. Don't think many areas of the country have them.

Its a unique place New England and Boston. Im glad we have that region in this country, because there are some areas of the USA that leave alot to be desired.

[maggiekate]

oh one more is say you live in Roslindale etc you say I am going to the square! Means to the center
where the shops are. This one may be outdated now! heros are called subs soada is tonic!
Yikes that was along time ago-Mta the T b4 the MBTA

[ogre]

Originally Posted by holden125

News to me too. Agree that "the T" generally means the subway, but it's also used to describe the whole system when it's being compared to something other than mass transit altogether. Example: "Does he drive in from Woburn or take the T?"

True. The term "the T" is most often used to refer either to the subway specifically, as opposed to busses or commuter trains, or to the transit system in general. You know from the context which way it's being used.

Goyguy was right on about the marketing of the term "the T." As MaggieKate points out, people used to use the term "the MTA" the same as the ways "T" is used now, referring to either the subway or the transit system in general, depending on the context. I've read that "MTA" originated with the fact that the transit authority was originally called the Metropolitan Transit Authority, but the use of the term "MTA" stuck around after the transit authority's name changed to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Back in the early '70's people still called it the MTA. Then the transit authority started having commercials where they used the term "the T." The logo with the capital T inside a circle showed up at the entrances to subway stations, and on the sides of trains and busses.

From what I recall, for maybe a couple of years after the campaign to call the system the T started, people kind of used the term jokingly. "How are we going to get there? Are we driving or taking, um, [wink, wink] the T?" After a couple of years it began to no longer be tongue-in-cheek to call it the T. People got used to using the term, and its use became the norm.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by clevedark

You eat skahollops with your auhnt Mary, not scallops with your ant Mary.

Oh yeah, forgot about "auhnt" or "awhnt." Not exclusive to Boston--you hear it all over New England, and in some parts of Virginia--but since people say "ant" in the vast majority of the U.S., any part of the country where it's pronounced "awhnt" stands out for this, so that's another speechism which at least puts Boston on a narrow list of possibilites for where someone who uses this pronunciation is from.

[ogre]

Regarding item 21 in the opening post, about the Sox (or would that be the Sahwx?), I'm not sure where the "there was no curse" part came from. I've never heard any talk about the idea that the curse must not have existed after all since the Sox (Sahwx?) finally have won the Series.

The possibility occurs to me that there could be a difference in attitudes between generations there. I'm guessing that those of old enough to have been through a number of the heartbreaks kind of like to play up the idea that there was a curse, because we feel good about having stayed with the Sox through all that, so that the ultimate reward was really sweet. At least that's how I feel about it. It occurs to me that maybe those too young to have lived through the heartbreak could try to downplay the idea of a curse, since they wouldn't be part of the ultimate reward in quite the same way as those of us who payed the price for that reward, but that's just speculation. I've never heard any talk of the idea that there really was no curse after all.

[goyguy]

Funny thing about neighborhood nicknames, I've heard "Rozzie" (and "Rottendale," lol) a good bit. But OTOH never has "Dot" been uttered in my presence as shorthand for Dorchester although "Dot Av" is widely used in place of "Dorchester Avenue." Old-timers say "Dahhchesta," while natives who resent the yuppie/guppie incursion into some of its areas mockingly intone "DOOR-chess-turr." Any place with "bury" at the end of its name has the "bury" pronounced as a clipped "bree." Only locals refer to "Eastie" and "Southie," while no one to the best of my knowledge has ever tagged West Rox"bree" with "Westie."
Keeping things interesting is how some Cantabrigians label their parts of town. There's a definite racial divide in effect, not in housing patterns but in community naming, for two areas. White folks refer to the section bounded by River St, Mass Ave, and Memorial Drive ("Mem Drive," btw) as Cambridgeport. The preferred AA term is "The Coast." Moving downriver into East Cambridge, the paler populace uses that name while "people of color" call it The Port. Confusing much? (lol) I got my comeuppance on that in a chatroom some years back, when I started IM'ing with somebody upon learning that he lived in Cambridge. I told him my home is in Riverside; he replied stating that he resided in The Coast. My response was, "LOL @ 'The Coast;' I thought I was the only White person who called it that." "You are!"
In terms of slang/lingo etc, "Why can't we just get along?" Making fun of what someone says or how they say it is what's rendering American English more boring. Thanks to being raised in Ohio by parents from South Carolina, only to have now spent more than half my present lifespan in New England, I proudly label myself trilingual. On a daily basis I talk with people from throughout the country and revel in their various twangs and expressions; matter of fact, my work involves "INshurnce." When folks have gotten over the shock of reaching an "American" they're put at ease all the more to hear "You bet!" or "We need to wait on this claim a tad bit longer," depending on where they hail from. Speaking American should be a challenge at times, with differences laughed off instead of derided.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by ogre

Oh yeah, forgot about "auhnt" or "awhnt." Not exclusive to Boston--you hear it all over New England, and in some parts of Virginia--but since people say "ant" in the vast majority of the U.S., any part of the country where it's pronounced "awhnt" stands out for this, so that's another speechism which at least puts Boston on a narrow list of possibilites for where someone who uses this pronunciation is from.

I have always said auhnt since I was a little kid even though the rest of the USA says ant. I guess thats another word New Englanders prounounce the British way.