Boston slang (income, vs., moving)

[ogre]

"Tomato sauce" vs. "gravy": I'm wondering whether there might not be a very local tradition in some neighborhoods of using the term "gravy." This would explain why some people are insisting that they've heard the term "gravy" used this way while others say they've never heard of this. By the way, I'm another one who's never heard tomato sauce called gravy, but I don't claim to have visited every little neighborhood and ethnic enclave all over the Boston area. Far from it. Very possible that there could be local variations.

Dunkin' Donuts: I've also heard it called Dunkie's. When kidding around, I personally have been known to call it Drunken Donuts.

Frappe: Maybe the term is used here and there in other parts of the country. Maybe in some states or regions it is used in more fancy places. French terms sound high-class, ya know.

Use of the term may not be exclusive to New England, but in Boston and vicinity it has a very definite meaning. In this area "frappe" is not a synonym for "milkshake." In Boston, a frappe is one of those thick flavored milk and ice cream concoctions, with the ice cream all mixed in. A milkshake is simply flavored milk. I've often encountered a milkshake shaken up so it's frothy. Sometimes I've encountered a milkshake with ice cream in it, but in that case the ice cream is a separate scoop floating in the milk as in a, well, a float. In Boston, if the ice cream is all mixed in to make the consistency thick, it's a frappe, not a milkshake.

Something that might confuse things is that I've noticed many McDonald's and Burger King locations in the Boston area displaying their standard national menu, using the term "milkshake" or "shake" for what would customarily be called a "frappe" in this area, but traditionally the two terms mean different things in Boston.

[goyguy]

Just the other day on the subway, I saw a McDonald's ad touting a new "frappe" drink (with an accent mark over the "e.") Frahp-pay? LOL
All of the Boston Italians whom I've heard use the term "gravy" have their family roots in the Naples region - no Sicilians or anybody from farther north.
I grew up in Cincinnati, was exposed to Southern culture a great deal, and know for sure that "all set" is not unique or original to Boston. But how about the vanishing usage of "Screw!" to order somebody out of your space?

[ogre]

Frahp-PAY . . . LOL . . .!

I say, Binky, I'm feeling in quite the chi-chi mood today. What's say we trot on down to McDonald's and sip some Frahppays, eh what?

[jfitt]

Every Italian family I know in Worcester calls their sauce, gravy. Whenever we would go eat at one of the Italian restaurants on Shrewsbury St, the Italian section, we would always order extra gravy with our macaroni (this was before we knew the names of every shaped pasta ---one and one! That is one meatball and one sausage. I agree with the posters who said that bulkie rolls are different from hamburger rolls. We would go to the bakery on Sunday mornings and get warm bulkies---crusty on the outside and very airy in the middle. Much better with butter or cream cheese than a hamburger inside!

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by ogre

"Tomato sauce" vs. "gravy": I'm wondering whether there might not be a very local tradition in some neighborhoods of using the term "gravy." This would explain why some people are insisting that they've heard the term "gravy" used this way while others say they've never heard of this. By the way, I'm another one who's never heard tomato sauce called gravy, but I don't claim to have visited every little neighborhood and ethnic enclave all over the Boston area. Far from it. Very possible that there could be local variations.

I've looked into this and it seems that there is no definitive answer. Some say that it is strictly a Sicilian thing, where gravy is poured over meat and sauce is not (ya know, no meat on Friday kind of thing). Others say that gravy contains meat. Some claim that it is more of a NY thing, and others say that it is more of an 'old school' thing that people under 40 may not be aware of.

Like most slang, a persons exposer to it highly depends on the crowd that one runs and associates with.

Originally Posted by ogre

Frappe: Maybe the term is used here and there in other parts of the country. Maybe in some states or regions it is used in more fancy places. French terms sound high-class, ya know.

In this area "frappe" is not a synonym for "milkshake."

In the rest of the country, a frappe (pronounced in a Frenchy sort of way) is generally a 'frozen' coffee drink. In New England it is what the rest of the country calls a milkshake. So yes, it is synonymous with 'milkshake' as far as the US as a whole is concerned. Just keep in mind that if you are not from New England and are visiting the area, if you order a milkshake you might not get what you think you are going to get.

[western mass and love it]

i also like how the word brother can be used,in some context it can be an insult of sorts depends on the tone.

[ogre]

Yeah K-Luv, I forgot about those coffee frap-pay drinks. Agreed that frappe and milkshake are synonymous in the sense that a "frappe" here is what most of the country calls a "milkshake." In the earlier post I was just making the point that the terms mean entirely different things in this area. Well, at least traditionally, though things can get confused because of transplants, and the fast food places often having menus that use the term "milkshake" or "shake" in the national sense.

Gets confusing. After growing up in the Boston area, I went to college in Ohio. Due to family connections in some other regions, I had spent plenty of time outside New England, and in fact had lived in three places before my family moved to Boston when I was still little, so I was familiar with the national use of the term "milkshake" for what is known around here as a "frappe." During college, more than once when groups of kids were out at restaurants I was present when a guy from Boston would order a "frappe" and the waitress would be like, "A what?" So I'd jump in and say, "You want a milkshake." The response would be like, "Huh? Okay, yeah, a milkshake . . . I guess." As I said, it gets confusing.

[maggiekate]

;

Originally Posted by 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.

The beloved Red Sox Team win or is always called the Bo Sox, Also when
the faithfull is true in Oct it is we belive! there is a thread if you search , you do come from Boston if you know this; This is what growing up we did and
were true to.

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by ogre

"Tomato sauce" vs. "gravy": I'm wondering whether there might not be a very local tradition in some neighborhoods of using the term "gravy." This would explain why some people are insisting that they've heard the term "gravy" used this way while others say they've never heard of this. By the way, I'm another one who's never heard tomato sauce called gravy, but I don't claim to have visited every little neighborhood and ethnic enclave all over the Boston area. Far from it. Very possible that there could be local variations.

Dunkin' Donuts: I've also heard it called Dunkie's. When kidding around, I personally have been known to call it Drunken Donuts.

Frappe: Maybe the term is used here and there in other parts of the country. Maybe in some states or regions it is used in more fancy places. French terms sound high-class, ya know.

Use of the term may not be exclusive to New England, but in Boston and vicinity it has a very definite meaning. In this area "frappe" is not a synonym for "milkshake." In Boston, a frappe is one of those thick flavored milk and ice cream concoctions, with the ice cream all mixed in. A milkshake is simply flavored milk. I've often encountered a milkshake shaken up so it's frothy. Sometimes I've encountered a milkshake with ice cream in it, but in that case the ice cream is a separate scoop floating in the milk as in a, well, a float. In Boston, if the ice cream is all mixed in to make the consistency thick, it's a frappe, not a milkshake.

Something that might confuse things is that I've noticed many McDonald's and Burger King locations in the Boston area displaying their standard national menu, using the term "milkshake" or "shake" for what would customarily be called a "frappe" in this area, but traditionally the two terms mean different things in Boston.

also the tonic, or soda with ice cream was called a float! Boston talk! Mostly root beer and ice cream added to it!

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by ogre

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.

charlie on the mta got to ride the T with no money to pay! Why poor Charlie had no money to get off! I still hear that song with poor Charlie stuck
on the T Also an added word to the MTA with the Boston and clip it lingo !