Regional vocabularies of American English
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Despite the standardizing influences of the mass media in the United States, a number of regional vocabularies continue to exist throughout the country. It is still not uncommon for an American away from his or her home region to encounter novel ways of referring to familiar objects and concepts.
This article deals only with differences in everyday vocabulary, but this linguistic description of regional differerences provides a more academic approach to the subject.
| Contents |
Regional Vocabulary Tables
| Delaware Valley (Greater Philadelphia, Pa., southern New Jersey and northern Delaware) | |
|---|---|
| Regional Term | General Term |
| cellar | basement |
| fireplug | fire hydrant |
| hoagie | sub sandwich |
| shore | beach Often associated with South Jersey speech, esp. in the phrase "down the shore" (at the beach) |
| New Orleans, Louisiana | |
|---|---|
| Regional Term | General Term |
| banquette | sidewalk |
| cold drink | soft drink |
| neutral ground | median strip |
| po-boy | sandwich |
| New York City Area | |
|---|---|
| Regional Term | General Term |
| to wait/stand on line | to wait/stand in line |
| The South | |
|---|---|
| Regional Term | General Term |
| buggy | shopping cart |
| tump over | combo of turn/bump over |
| yonder | over there |
| coke | generic term for any brand of soda/pop More at Soft drink |
| Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
| Regional Term | General Term |
| bubbler | drinking fountain |
| to budge | to cut in line |
| flatlander | someone from Illinois |
| Minnesota | |
|---|---|
| Regional Term | General Term |
| Pop | generic term for any brand of soda/pop More at Soft drink |
| Duck duck gray duck | A children's game, more commonly called Duck duck goose |
| hot dish | a simple entree cooked in a single dish, more commonly called casserole |
| Northern and Eastern Missouri (Saint Louis, Columbia, Missouri, and Surrounding Areas) | |
|---|---|
| Regional Term | General Term |
| to love on someone | to show love to someone/to love someone |
| Maine and Northern New England | |
|---|---|
| Regional Term | General Term |
| cellar | basement |
| "The County" | Aroostook County, Maine, so called due to its large size. |
| fiddlehead | a type of fern which grows to form a head resembling the scroll of a fiddle or violin, considered a local delicacy in Northern Maine |
| "from away" | phrase describing a person from another state or country (or as is sometimes the case in Northern Maine, a person from Southern Maine) |
| leafer | a tourist who has come to see the area's vibrant autumn foliage |
