I am always a sucker for a list, and one promising to reveal the “most popular” slang in each state was pure, unadulterated click bait.
Of course, I knew even without clicking through the first 20 states that “wicked” would be the slang term for the august Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
As slang words go, wicked – a modifier that more or less stands in for “very” - is just fine. And it certainly is associated with our fair state. But – and maybe this is the company I keep – the only time I hear it used is in movies that are set in Boston – some of which, admittedly, are wicked good. That and when people are making fun of people who use the word wicked as a modifier. As in wicked awesome, wicked pissah, wicked smaht.
I also see wicked (pissah/smaht) on tee-shirts that street vendors sell.
But actually hear it in a conversation that Ben Affleck or Denis Leary, playing some Southie tough, isn’t part of? Nah…
Rhode Island’s slang word is “packy”, which would have done for Massachusetts as well. And is actually a word that everyone I know has used at some time or another. (For those who don’t speak New England, a packy is a package (liquor) store. If you’re lucky, there’s a wicked awesome packy on your corner.)
Or they could have gone with “youse”, which is attributed to Pennsylvania, but could just as easily been used for Massachusetts (or Rhode Island).
Connecticut’s word is “apizza” (pronunced “abeets”), which is their way of saying pizza or pizza joint. I have never heard this one before, but I’ve got to wonder. I don’t remember a movie called Mystic Abeets, do you. My cousin MB, who lived for many years in Connecticut before regaining her senses and moving back to Massachusetts, is at present in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on a cruise ship. I will have to check with her.
Another New England slang word I’d never heard is “XYZ”, which in New Hampshire means “eXamine Your Zipper.” In other words, “close the barn door.”
In Vermont, a “dink” is an “idiot”. I haven’t heard that word in years – decades even – but back in the day, it was not uncommon to call an idiot a dink in these parts.
Maine’s most popular slang word is “ayuh.” As with “wicked”, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use the word “ayuh” (think “yup”), other than in a movie portraying Mainers or when making fun of/pretending to be a Mainer. But in real life? Nah…
Some of the slang words on the list don’t seem particular to any particular state.
Something that’s great in California is “the bomb”. But isn’t that used pretty much everywhere?
Folks in Kansas who spend too much time at the packy “get loaded”, as they do here as well.
New Yorkers say “deadass” for “really” or “seriously,” which folks in these parts have been known to say. But New York is right next door, so…(We are more likely to say that someone is a “grownass” man or woman, which is a variation on a theme.)
“No see ums” are teeny-tiny bugs, whether you’re in Florida or anywhere else, no? Maybe there are just a lot more of them if Florida.
And “snowbirds” are Northerners fleeing to the South for the winter, to Arizona or anyplace else that’s warm. But it’s listed as Arizona slang.
Other terms were new to me. I like that someone in Arkansas who’s impatient is “bowed up.” If you’re laughing really hard in Delaware, you’re “bagging up.” “Spendy” is Oregonian for expensive. I may adopt that one.
A party before a function is a “pre-funk” in the state of Washington. Good one!
I kind of got a kick out of folks in Illinois referring to Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive as “LSD”. Knowing the slang for popular spots always separates the natives from the tourists. (No one in Boston says Massachusetts Avenue. It’s Mass Ave. And Commonwealth Avenue is Comm Ave. I’ll leave it to my cousin Ellen – at present a snowbird wintering in Florida – to let me know whether or not people in Chicago actually do say that someone is on LSD…)
A “hot brown” is an open-faced sandwich that was introduced to the state of Kentucky in 1926 at the Brown Hotel in Louisville. The toasted sandwich features a slice of bread topped with turkey and bacon and a Mornay sauce of grated Gruyere.
Not that I need another reason to stay out of Kentucky.
Montanans say “cowboy up” instead of “man up.” Thanks you, Montana, for letting Red Sox fans adopt this term during our team’s ill-fated pennant run in 2003. It may not have worked then, but there must have been some residual magic that produced the Red Sox’ first World Series win in 86 years in 2004. Cowboy up, indeed!
There’s an odd bit of slang in South Dakota: “kattywampus” for crooked. Wonder how many tongues that word actually rolls off of…
To the north of the land of kattywampus, North Dakotans say “uff da” when they mean “oy vey.”
A fun list to browse through, even though it’s one of those annoying ones you have to view one state/page at a time.
At any rate, I found the list entertaining. But what do I know? I’m just a Masshole…
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