www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Subject: Picksburghese!!!!

Got this in an email today - way down here in 'Alabamy'

Subject: : Picksburgh

For those that grew up in this area and for those who wish they had!!!!
What a hoot.

Ah yes! "Picksburgh." Yunz are from Picksburgh if :

1. You didn't have a spring break in high school.

2. You walk carefully when it is "slippy" outside.

3. You often go down to the "crick."

4. You've told your children to "red up" their rooms.

5. You can remember telling your little brother/sister to stop being so "nebby."

6. You've gotten hurt by falling into a jaggerbush."

7. Your mother or grandmother has been seen wearing a "babushka"on her head.

8. You've "warshed" the clothes.

9. I ask you to hand me one of those "Gum-Bands" you actually know what I'm talking about.

10. You know you can't drive too fast on the back roads, beause of the deer.

11. You know Beaver Valley, Turtle Crick, Mars, Slippery Rock, Greentree and New Castle are names of towns . (and you've been to most, if not all, of them.)

12. A girl walks up to three of her girl friends and says, " HEY YENZ GUYS"

13. You hear "yguyses," and don't think twice.Example...("you guyses house is nice")

14. You know the three rivers by name and understand that "The Point" isn't just on a writing instrument

15. Someone refers to "The Mon" or "The Yough" and you know exactly what they're talking about.

16. You remember the blizzard of 1993 (or 1976, or 1950, or 1939,or...)and remember not being able to go outside because the snow was over your head and you would have suffocated.

17. Someone starts the chant, "Here we go Still-ers!" and you join in. In the proper cadence. Waving the appropriately colored towel.

18. Bob Prince and "There's a bug loose on the rug." hold special meaning for you.

19. You've either eaten a Farkleberry Tart or know some one who has.

20. You drink pop, eat hoagies, love perogies and one of your favorites sandwiches actually has coleslaw and french fries ON it.

21. You know what a "still mill" is.

22. You expect temps in the winter to be record breaking cold and temps in the summer to be record breaking hot.

23. You know what Eat 'N Park is and frequently ate breakfast there at 2:00 AM after the bar closed and made fun of people.

24. You order "dippy eggs" in a restaurant and get exactly what you wanted.

25. You spent your summers, or a school picnic, at Kennywood, Westview, Sand Castle, or Idlewild

26. You've been to the Braun's Bread Plant or Story Book Forest or a school Field trip. (We went to the Heinz plant and the Isaly's plant forcub scouts.)

27. "Chipped ham" was always in your refrigerator when you were "growin' up.

28. You refuse to buy any condiments besides Heinz unless a Pittsburgh athlete's picture is on the side of the container.

29. When you call the dog or the kids you shout, "Kum-mear" and they come.

30. Franco, Roberto, and Mario don't need last names and you can recite their exploits by heart.

31. Food at a wedding reception consists of rigatoni, stuffed cabbage, sauerkraut and polska kielbasa.

You'll send this on to family and friends who used to live in the Pittsburgh Area as well as to those who have never lived there, just so they can appreciate how different Western PA really is!I wonder how many of Yun z guys actually understand all dat

Some folks just don't get dem things.

And may I add one of my personal favorites - Djeat? No, Djew?,

Pani Rose,

Go to www.scottpaulsen.com [scottpaulsen.com] and follow the music link and download the Steeler Nation song as it will give you a better phonetic experience of how Pittsburghese sounds!

Ungcsertezs n'at!

Unfortunately it seems that Mr. Paulsen no longer has his Steeler Nation Song posted on his site! Too bad, it was a good one n'at!

Ungcsertezs

Steelers, pshhh!!

Who beat them in 1994 for the AFC Championship Title and to go on to be in the Super Bowl??

The San Diego Chargers!!!

...although I am glad Pittsburgh beat them Seahawks.

-uc

If you go to the Rusyn Heritage Radio Program page under the Carpatho-Rusyn Society website there is a listing of weekly radio shows that can be downloaded. The programs that ran for the few weeks surrounding SB Sunday feature some great Steeler songs.

Rusyn Heritage Radio Page [c-rs.org]

Dear Pani Rose: Thanks for the list. I haven't heard the term "dippy eggs" in years. One of the ways you could distinguish folks from Western Pa., especially those around the Johnstown area, was their love of ketchup (Heinz, of course), which they consider a distinct food group). A hot dog with sauerkraut always included onions and ketchup. (My father would top his mashed potatoes with sauerkraut and ketchup.) Also, scrabbled eggs (and even dippy eggs) were not complete without "the Heinz."

Panni Rose,

I'm from Fairchance, near Bumble Bee. You forgot to list Moon. PA is the only place where you can go to Mars and then Moon. Hmmm.

I live in MD now, but, Hagerstown, MD, like most of OH is flatland.

"I'm gonna go donton to get a half pond of grond rond and a half pond of bald ham".

"Gasoline is more than 2 dolwers a gallon".

And finally, things "need washed",(or ironed, etc.) and not "need to be washed".

Happy Lent all. I need to go to Uniontown.

Rick C

Is it sad that I wrote my Masters thesis on this dialect?

ain't life gran, n'at! Yunz gotta get up'ere fer some jumbo soon. An dee Ahrn City is tastin awesome!

As for links, here's the "funny" one:
http://pittsburghese.com/

And here's the "serious" one:
http://english.cmu.edu/pittsburghspeech/

I've done more work investigating why this dialect not only persists, but is embraced by locals -- quite the opposite of most regional dialects, believe it or not. We figured that Pghers see their language as a badge of honor -- we are pittsburgh, you are not -- and so coined the phrase "heritage prestige" to account for why locals love it. Interesting stuff.

Dear Domilsean:

I ran across a short article a month or so back in, I believe, "Newsweek" that said that despite the ever-growing presence of TV, radio, and the like, plus people contantly moving from one region to another, regional dialects and accents are becoming stronger. The article noted, however, these dialects and accents are not static but are themselves changing.

... off to get a chipped-chopped ham sandwich and a Klondike.

I heard a spot on NPR about the fact that local dialects are getting soaked up into regional dialects.
The one that really made people made was "at"
Where is the movie at? Where is my car at?
That might be a more central pa thing.

Oh and the "My car needs fixed" gets people too, because outside of central pa/western pa people use the "to be" My car needs to be fixed.

Pani Rose who misses Dutch Loaf and Swiss Chesse sandwiches - they never heard of Dutch Loaf down here Actually they don't know what 'Jumbo' is either And the Swiss Cheese must just taste better coming from OHIO lol

In college I knew a lot of people from Indiana who would say things like "this floor needs swept".

The first time I heard that I honestly didn't know what the heck they were talking about.

Of course, Indiana people would comment on my "Chicago accent". I never knew I had an accent until I went to college (the things you learn).

"Tree" is the number after two.

When nature calls we go to the "bat-troom".

When referring to other people it's "dem guys overdere"

A beloved political figure is "Hizzoner Damare".

But I can always spot a Pennsylvania native because they have trouble pronouncing their "L"s. They sort of round them off into "O"s. You know, like "Phooadelphia"

Paul

I must admit to a degree of gratitude. A number of years ago I was shopping in the Saint Vladimir's Seminary bookstore for liturgical materials. The seminarian who sold me the books lamented that their supplier had not provided an adequate supply of "the stuff for Matins 'n that". Well, evidently he must have been speaking Pittsburgh dialect!

Incognitus

Yes, the floor gets swept, or "I've gotta sweep the floor" and it is a sweeper not a vaccum.

Hmmm....that's funny, alot of 'dat' dialect sounds like it comes from Brooklyn--- as in New York!

I wonder if it is because similar immigrant ethnic accents colored the words and sounds of English? Probably!

Alice

Dear Paul,

Funny stuff. In Cincinnati, we used to call it a Linkun Coninenal, the warsh machine, and wrasslin. I thought that was cuz we across the riva from Kentucky. Guess not. Dat Pittsburg influence is felt far across them corn and soeybean fields. Yes, we has an annual so-ey bean festival every year.

Pani, I too miss Dutch Loaf. And Little Kings!

Michael