February 16, 2009
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new jersey vernacular
the other day my roommate was talking to her boyfriend on the phone about what they were going to eat for dinner that night. she recommended an establishment and said that they could eat there because they had bar pies.
lolwat? turns out bar pies refer to…[you might want to guess here before the cut; speak now or forever hold your peace]…
pizza you can eat at the bar.
even though i’ve lived in new jersey for almost two years, i keep forgetting that there are differences in the way jerseyites speak…and i only notice it when said people look at me like i am a moron.
exhibit a: at a dining establishment that allows both takeout and eating in
natalia: …aaaaand a cupcake
cashier: is that to stay or to go?
natalia: for here. i mean…to stay. i would like to eat inside these walls.
cashier: …..okexhibit b: getting food at an italian restaurant
natalia: could i have one piece of cheese pizza, please?
cashier: wut
natalia: oh. could i have one plain slice, please?
cashier: $3.00.also, if you want a whole pizza, you have to ask for a pie. when i think pie, i think cherry, not tomato and cheese.
exhibit c: bagels
natalia: hi. could i have a plain cinnamon raisin bagel, please?
cashier: nutownit?
natalia: wut
cashier: nuttin’…owwwn….it
natalia: oh, yes, plain. nothing on it.someday this ohio girl will learn the way of your people, new jersey. but that someday is not today.
have you ever moved somewhere and had lolwut moments at the way people spoke or acted?
Comments (171)
Do you know what a grinder is? It’s another word for sub. They never know what I’m talking about in the midwest.
Silly Jerseyfolk, Bostonians are no better.
As of now, no. But if I get to move when and where I want, then I’m sure I will. haha
Pizza pie, crazy yankees.
@somthingsgottagive - yeah, we had a place called grinder’s that sold subs, so that’s how i knew what it was. we usually just called ‘em subs, though. my mom grew up in philly so we also called ‘em hoagies. mmmmmm
Oh YES! LOL But its within TX. We have at least 5 Mini states within & with their own way of speaking.
I was in Junior high when we moved to Mississippi. Everyone would say, “Hey” to me in the halls and I’d say, “What?” It took a while to realize they were saying “Hi.” I nearly failed math because the teacher kept going on and on and on about hives. It took a couple of weeks before it finally clicked that she was saying “half.” Those are just two examples; communication was a major problem. I finally got the hang of it just about the time we moved to Arkansas, where everyone had a circle on the back pocket of their Levis and talked like they had a mouth full of marbles. I found out later it was Skoal. Ten years later I moved to Hawaii and had to learn to understand Pidgin.
In HS in California, I had an English teacher who had just returned from teaching English in Germany — she spoke with a deep Southern drawl, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the accent her students must have!
hahahaha. “wut? “
luv this.
i’ve heard of pizzas being referred to as pies, but not the phrase “bar pies.”
Living in Japan, every day is a long string of lolwut moments
A restaurant that serves cupcakes? The world needs more of those.
@somthingsgottagive - Yea, having grown up in the midwest I can guarantee you will never find anyone who knows that term.
(sidenote: yea, sorry for dumping this here. I don’t pay attention to friends lock a lot or how it should work with subscriptions, but I can view the posts of people who I subscribed to before they enabled friends lock. the posts show up in full when I browse subscriptions)
exhibit B was a stretch so I’m glad you hid that example in the middle. otherwise, neat!
I’m currently in the UK for school.
Cheese Pizza: Margarita Pizza
Lunch: Dinner
Dinner: Tea
BK Chicken Sandwich and Whoppers and such: Royales
Instead of Ketchup for fries it’s commonly: Mayonnaise, Salt & Vinegar
Different types of Beer: Alcopop, Cider, Lager, Pint
The obvious ones
Chips: Crisps
Fries: Chips
There is so much more as well. Not everyone uses these and most know the difference in what they call it compared to what others do. I like they’re language tough but it gets hella confusing when trying to explain. They also don’t know what peroxide and rubbing alcohol is which is a bit confuzzling.
When I think pie, I think of 3.1415926535 . . . oh wait, that’s pi, not pie.
Hah, my roommate in college was from Long Island. She said all sorts of strange things. My boyfriend is from PA. He says all sorts of strange things and pronounces bad strangely.
I moved from California to the South. Lunch became “dinner”, you guys became “y’all”…. and so many more!
Pockets of PA have really weird sayings. I’m from Long Island and I’ve lived here for almost all my adult life. It still makes me giggle and want to take out a red correction pen. I must blog about it. I’ll give you credit.
o yea, went from pittsburgh, saying things like “slippy”, “pop”, “gum bands”,
to living in in rhode island, where people said “wicked” “grinders”, “package store”
Yeah, a lot of Leicester-Peterborough slang means something completely different when you go up to Yorkshire… like I told my friend I “got with” a guy at a party, meaning I’d kissed him, but they thought it meant I’d slept with him… urgh
@MakinzyKrysteen - I was going to say the same thing! In CA, I was so used to saying, “you guys,” for all genders. Needless to say, girls got offended. My fifth grade teacher tried programming me into saying, “Y’all,” instead. I almost started to also, but I just couldn’t go through with it.
I go to college in TX too, so I hear all sorts of weird phrases like “Hook ‘em,” “Gig ‘em,” etc.
Because of grammar differences in the language, a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch will say something like: Throw grandma down the stairs a blanket. Instead of: can you throw a blanket down the stairs for grandma. It can be a bit of a shock and my family is PA Dutch. I just never learned the language.
Lol. Love the post. I moved from Jersey to the middle of GA. I still dont know where “yonder” is and they will never understand that when I say “you guys” that I am speaking to both genders.
……
Its also impossible to find a root beer around here.
we new jerseyans talk right, it’s everyone else who’s wrong
just kidding
When I worked at Linens N Things (aka Sheets N Shit) in Marlborough, Massachusetts, my manager said over the intercom, “Stefanie to frame dot for customer assistance.” I had no idea what “frame dot” was, being from Michigan. I had to go ask her face-to-face where it was I was supposed to go. She repeated herself a couple times before I understood.
“Ohhhh…. you mean framed art. Got it.”
@repressedwriter - *LOL*@”Thrown grandma down the stairs” *ROTFLAMO*
I’ve lived in Jersey all my life and never heard the term “bar pies”. But everything else is pretty damn accurate. I’m glad there weren’t any Sopranos inferences though–we’re not all mob affiliated..lol.
@FunnymanGeorge - There’s also “Throw the horse over the fence some hay” but that’s not nearly so funny. They also say “Outen the lights”
wow, idk where in Jersey you live…but I grew up right next to Princeton and…it’s not like that at all haha.
There are tons of arguments throughout my home area of Southwest Philly. Water is pronounced “wooder,” and it’s not Italian Ice, it’s Water Ice, people. Creek is “crick,” and so on. It’s funny explaining it to people, and I’ve had whole conversations with people from other areas solely on pronunciation.
@greenbird321 - hoboken
I haven’t had the experience personally, but as a NJ resident, I know exactly what you’re talking about. Hah!!
Things like this always interest me. The only odd example I have, having lived in Chicagoland my whole life, is when a distant relative from Texas once asked me about being a fish. I was really confused but tried talking around it. He eventually explained to me that it meant freshman.
Huh?
Just say freshman!
I moved from NY to NJ nearly 40 years ago, but I still have to remind myself that here in NJ we go down the shore. In NY we go to the beach.
HEY NOW. Keep that North Jersey jargon outta here. Here in South Jersey we speak normal english. Thanks =)
You and your “heroes” pfft. IT’S A HOAGIE!
I hate when people call them pies. In houston there are two places: Late Night Pies and House of Pies. The former is pizza and the latter is actual pie. I get them confused all the time.
Frame dot- LOL
@honeybises - In marching band in high school (in Houston), the last few weeks of summer were called “Fish Camp” in which the incoming Freshmen learned to march. I never understood why they called them that.
I’m from Ohio too… I moved to Tennessee for a little while. I would occasionally meet people that I could not understand. I’m not talking about using different words, I mean the accent was so thick, I had no idea what they were saying. I always felt bad asking them to repeat what they were saying…
I’m sure I had other moments, but nothing comes to mind right now.
I live in Washington now… I have noticed no unusual speech patterns thus far.
I’m from Texas, home of the wonders that are ”fixin’ta” and “jeetyet”?
im from texas and living in new jersey, i feel your pain.
my Southern roommate “plugs up” electrical things instead of plugging them in.
And I don’t know where this comes from, but apparently ending sentences in ” a while” makes no sense here. Like we were getting ready to go out on Halloween and while we waited for someone to get back I asked “should I go ahead and get dressed awhile?” [like in the meantime] and got all these blank looks… but at home we say that all the time…
You must live in North Jersey, because I live in South Jersey and I don’t talk like that, nor does anyone I know. We say some words weird, like water [aka wooder] or crayon [crown] butttt that’s really it. None of that “nutownit?” haha.
Stepmother: “How far away is it?”
Me: “About ten minutes.”Stepmother: “That’s not what I asked.”Me: “That’s how far away it is.”Stepmother: “Like, I mean, like, distance.”Me: “… I don’t know.”She lives in the southwest. I live in the midwest. Why she would ask me to know how many miles away things are, I have no idea. I measure in minutes, not miles…
Hi. Enjoyed the post. I’m from southern Indiana and I’ve recently moved to northern Louisiana (Not Cajun country, in case you’re wondering). But down here, everthing with bubbles in it is “coke”- so when asking in a resturant what to drink and I reply “coke” they start listing off all the pop they have. Thats another one. I get into silly arguments with new friends about how its “pop” not “coke”. Same thing for the “you guys” vs “y’all” thing..
This is hilarious.
In MO, people can’t understand me because of my “thick accent.”
I’m from Nashville, TN and we mostly have weird assumptions more than sayings. Every ‘soft drink’ is a Coke. You ask for a coke, the waiter/ress will ask you, “What kind?” and then you have to answer sprite, doctor pepper, ect., or ‘regular coke’ for actual cokacola. So far that’s been the most common thing I’ve seen people from out of town get confused with, heheh. I didn’t even notice that we did it myself until about a year and a half ago.
@Wordpainter423 - Pop is what lame people say! Everything is coke! And if you like pepsi, then you’re a complete loser! 8D
I actually just posted about the ‘everything is coke’ quirk. I think it’s pretty awesome, really. No one else in the country does that besides small pockets of places in the south. If we don’t call it coke, we’ll call it ‘soda’, otherwise, “Hey, gimme a coke- that sprite right there.” XD Yay!!
@repressedwriter - Outen the lights? Wowwww that’s really old english, heheh. That’s pretty cool, actually. It’s like sometimes in the south (even those of us who live in major cities and have no accent) we say, “Yeah, I’d (where I’d is pronouced more like I’èd for ‘I had’) just boughten it.” Well, ‘boughten’ is no longer considered proper english- it was proper english in about the 1800s, but not anymore! It’s neat when you end up in places that still use obscure grammer tenses and don’t even realize it, heheh.
“One piece of cheese pizza”?
Talk about weird . . .
haha sounds like brooklyn talk. except we’re kind of different.
My farthest move was twenty miles. But I found out when we moved away that that EVERYONE outside of Shabbona pronounces it “Shu-BONE-uh” when people who live there say “Shab-un-uh.” It’s odd.
i’m from massachusetts and rhode island, so we have so many weird sayings, when i think about it. wicked being the most famous.
LOVE NEW JERSEY. been here all my life. im so sick of it, but i would never leave. jersey speak is so unique: i stole this from some random forum but its very accurate :
We drink soda, but you have to clarify which kind of soda (coke, pepsi, orange, etc.)
We eat subs, not hoagies or heroes
We shop at the store, not market for groceries and “the mall” for clothes
We drive on the Parkway (the others around here are called highways)
We say you’s, wherejago, whatjado, whojasee, etc.
We don’t say deli meat, we say cold cuts (and we like them thin cut)
That red sauce on pasta??? uh uh…it’s gravy with macaroni (definitely on sundays especially, well, at least if you’re Italian)
We’re also from Jersey, not New Jersey (if you’re telling someone)
Yes, yes, yes, we all sound like we have accents and attitudes but no, we’re not all nasty and NO most of us do not know Tony Soprano!!!!
Haha, wow those are pretty good.
I had it weird – I lived in NC but my parents were both raised in Ohio, so us kids talked like Ohioans.
The big one was pop. If you asked for a pop they had no clue what you were talking about until you said soda-pop.
I moved when I was 8 but never did get a southern accent. I think the only thing I retained was “hey” and now people think I’m mad at them when I say hey. People down there answer the phone with “hey” instead of hello.
And, of course, if you don’t say “y’all” you’re some sort of weirdo.
I’ve lived in Pennsylvania my whole life, and now I go to college in Florida. Here’s an excerpt from one of the parties I went to.
Friend: What is there to drink?
Me: I don’t know, is there in more pop in the fridge?
Everyone within a 5 foot radius: (laughter)
Me: What?
Friend: You said ‘pop’! hahahahaha
At least I don’t use the rest of the weird words from my hometown… For example “yinz” is used in the same way as “y’all”, “ret up your room” means go clean your room, “chimley” is used instead of “chimney”, and (the one that drives me nuts) people say “wash” as “warsh” (said like “war” with the “sh” on the end), and even extends to “Warshington DC”.
Bar pie? I’ve never heard of that and I’ve lived in Jersey all my life. I guess the real question is North, Central, or South Jersey, yes there is a difference.
It’s a pizza pie. What do you call it?
@LaxX - a pizza
lol i was originally born in new york, but we moved here to jersey when i was four. i still have no idea what they’re talking about most of the time, and i don’t think i ever will. i’m definitely a new yorker at heart. haha
Being from Pittsburgh, I think we have the most bastardized version of the English language. Even if you don’t have the Pittsburgh accent, the crazy versions of words I grew up with give me away.
“I’m goin’ dahntahn ta watch dem Stillers. Gotta pick up a case a dem Ahrn Cities n’at.”
Chipped ham, hoagies, slippy, spicket, red-up, and my all time favorite: Nebby. And most of these things I didn’t even realize were exclusive to my region until I started spending a lot more time in the south, like South Carolina and Georgia. People look at me like I’m nuts.
First of- holla at my state!
Second, this venacular is in NORTH Jersey, not South Jersey. And contrary to popular belief, South Jersey is not endless farm land or trailer parks as far as the eye can see. It’s probably the most normal place on earth.
I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life and I’ve never heard the phrase “bar pies”. I also don’t think that I say “nutownit”. However, I live in South Jersey and if you’re in the north it’s completely different.
Haha
i think you should classify which part of jersey you’re talking about. because people from north jersey talk a lot different from south jerseyians.
for example: people in north jersey are from “new joisey” , people from south jersey are from south jersey.
so to clarify, i live in south jersey and this is all based on my knowledge from living here all my life. i’ve never heard anyone say “bar pies.” i didn’t understand that. i’ve never heard “to stay or to go”. it’s always “for here or to go.” it’s “yous” for a group of people. they’re definetely “subs” not anything else. pizza pies =) and they come in slices, not pieces. i have a whole list, but it only deals with south jersey.. plus everyone knows that north jersey really isn’t part of new jersey, it’s part of new york
People need a book for slang in different cities.
I’m from New Jersey.. and I say cheese pizza.. and “for here”
Didn’t know those weren’t the norms!
I have incidents like this all the time whenever I go to HK.
It’s awesome how we’re all one country, yet we can’t understand each other. ahahaha.
Yay America!
I enjoyed the lolwut’s by the way lol
pie = pizza
slice = one piece of the pie
mad = very
cheese steak = philly cheese steak
cawfee = coffee
draw = drawer
oh jersey, how i miss thee.
@for___sale - Gig ‘em? Hmm. I’m from Texas & I don’t think I’ve ever heard that one. Hook ‘em Horns, but Gig ‘em? Haha. Also, saying y’all is jus how we’re raised. ;] My dad moved to California & we still make fun of people out there who say “lookit.” It never occurs to them that it’s a joke.
I think it’s tradition in the south to put words together, not finish them, & not say them plainly. I know one that I’ve caught myself saying is microwave like mic-er-wave. Also, you yankees, what’s with pop?! It’s coke or soda. ;]
@StewieIsMyHero - The only thing I can think of is because freshmen are like fish out of water and it’s a derogatory term? I have no problem with regional terms or whatever but if my great uncle knew that that word isn’t used in Illinois (which he should because he grew up here)…why bother to use fish when you know you’ll have to take the time to explain what it is? lol
@Kyuketsuki_no_Megami - Yes! Thank you. Someone who understands. Everything is coke. If you want something else, tell them what kind. It’s hilarious to see someone order a “pop.” The waiter/waitress is jus like, “Uhh, what?”
@castashadow_quotes - When I was little I used to say “lookit”. I think it’s just what “look at it” sounds like to a little kid and is easier to say. I think I’ve caught myself saying it once as an adult when I was really excited…and felt really juvenile. lol Hm. I forgot about lookit.
Also, pop is easier to say than soda. You can’t say coke [around here] because Coke is only one brand! And if they carry Pepsi…
@castashadow_quotes - Hahahaha, yes! It’s like, “What? Pop? You want a punch to the face? Sure, but that’ll be extra.”
@honeybises - Yeah, that’s probably what it is. Good thinking.
@AubreyMcFate - I’m in DeKalb and I’ve never heard it, either!
@honeybises - Haha, it’s funny ’cause my dad’s girlfriend will say, “lookit, lookit!” & we crack up. Then when we say it teasingly, she’ll start looking everywhere, going “what? where?” Out there, it’s very different. When I’ll visit my dad will be saying something to her & apparently he talks fast & with a thick accent so she has to look at me & ask what jus came out of his mouth.
@castashadow_quotes - lol Yeah, I think lookit sounds childlike but if adults around here said it, too then I suppose I wouldn’t feel that way.
There’s another planet not too far from me called the UPPER PENNINSULA… different language different culture… scary even.
@Kyuketsuki_no_Megami - Haha. I have a friend from West Virginia & he’ll argue with me about this all the time. I’m like, “When I hear pop, I think of a dad or something. Pop is not a drink, Coke is a drink, jus ask anyone here.” Then he’ll bring up the whole “the north won, the south lost” argument. Jus to annoy him I’ll say “the south will rise again.” It’s great.
When I first moved to North Carolina, I had a lot of trouble communicating. I said “You guys” all of the time and everyone else said “Y’all”.
My teacher also said words weird, so I would fail spelling tests because she couldnt say the words properly. They said “ohl” a lot, instead of “oil”.
@castashadow_quotes - Nah, just tell him more people around the world drink coke-a-cola than they do any other ‘soda’, therefore you are vindicated in your use of the word and his is in the minority.
@Kyuketsuki_no_Megami - Hmm. I’ll try that one. It most likely won’t stop him from harassing me though.
From Buffalo and we say “Yooooos guys” a lot for You guys. We don’t say market either we say store.
“Where ya goin’?”
“It’s brick outside.” (It’s cold out side)
“He’s/She’s gettin’ brollick (BRAWLICK).” (he’s/she’s getting feisty or agitated) also if you are starting something with somebody you say “Are you gettin’ brollick?”
“Be there in a minute”. (We’ll get there in a long time, might be a few hours or so.)
We say “mad” a lot too, like “He’s got mad skills.” “She’s got mad talent.”
++++We swear a lot!!!!
My friend from New Jersey always makes fun of me because, at least in this part of Ohio, we call carbonated beverages ‘pop’.
I lived in South America for a while and when I’d meet other Americans I would comment on things. Apparently no one knows what a bubbler is…
I haven’t done a lot of venturing around the states, but every time I leave my home state I ALWAYS get that I have an accent though people always understand me. Upper midwestern o’s always make people laugh for some reason though they will understand you…
Jimmies instead of sprinkles, getting “cocked” (getting drunk), pop
instead of soda. Or some places, soda is referred to as coke, so you
might be asked “What kind of coke would you like? We have 7 up, sprite,
orange…”
Hehe.
i live in NJ. pizza pies are always called pies here. i never said the word “bar pie” in my life though, lol. and at a fast food place, i say “for here”.
gotta love jersey, LOL!!!
LOL – the first time I heard about promotions for buying so many pizzas to get a “free pie” I asked what flavors they came in and asked for apple?
I used to work in an amusement park and one day someone asked what flavors of “pop” were available – I told her we didn’t sell “pop.” She then pointed to the fountain sodas… lolwut. For that matter – I didn’t even know what a fountain soda was – I thought it was a fountain that spouted sodas!!!
I’ve also had lots of other lolwut moments – but mostly with dialects of Vietnamese. It’s never the accents, it’s always the words… lolwut?
@for___sale - People in the south were bothered by “you guys”? That’s what we all say! Weird!
@MakinzyKrysteen - I’ve also never heard anyone down here say “dinner” instead of “lunch.” I hear dinner replaced by “supper” a lot, though. Totally bizarre. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, in that order, forever and ever, amen.
Okay so I think what this shows isnt how you need to get used to the way they talk, I think its that YOU NEED TO STOP EATING OUT SO DARN MUCH! ha ha!
I’m originally from NYC, but I’ve been in jersey for over 13 years now and I still don’t know what some of these people are saying.
@AubreyMcFate - We called it budging too lol I live in minnesota.
you’ll get better at it. it’s not all that bad. one day you’ll speak like us
@walkintotheseaaa - I’ve heard supper instead of dinner also. The hours in the cafeteria in my dorm were Breakfast 6-9, Dinner 11-2, Supper 4:30-7. I realize that not all colloquialisms are universal throughout the south (or anywhere really), but this on was very common in the area where I lived. I too will always be a breakfast, lunch, dinner girl forever.
Another common one was “fixin”. Personally, the only times I am “fixin” anything is when I’m repairing it, so this one sort of confused me at first.
Vernacular is interesting to me. I am from upstate NY and I can not hear my accent; however, every person from every other part of the country recognizes that I put a W in every word, Mall=Mawl. Yet, I bring it to the attention of Down state NYer’s that do the same thing.
@MakinzyKrysteen - Ah, yeah, “fixin’.” “I’m fixin’ dinner” or “I’m fixin’ to go out.” Yeah, I hear it constantly. Kind of drives me nuts.
I’ve always lived in the South but I find our quirks are so strange, haha.
The way that people in New Jersey talking is kind of like a mixture of New York and Boston (if anyone from Boston disagrees, this is just my opinion, not a fact). People in Ohio talk similarly to the way people in New York talk, so I can speak their language (I know you’re from Ohio, so if you disagree just say so).
People in New Jersey talk funny.
@Queen_of_You188 - …no offense.
@SeeBeeWrite - do you still? I haven’t called soda “pop” since…actually, I’ve never called soda pop!
I’m so modern.
Haha, I love this! I live in NJ and some of my friends are either transfer students or new, so some of them have NO clue as to what the cashier is saying or the other way around.
Good old New Jersey. *smiles proudly*
haha. i’m from ky, so, i pretty much speak the same language you do!
i lived in las vegas for a while and i pretty much couldn’t understand anything there. i always called collanders, strainers…that didn’t go over well, either.
I am from southern Kentucky, so any time I travel north (even just to Ohio!), I am a walking lolwut. The worst is when Yanks first hear my accent, then prod us to keep talking so they can giggle at the difference. I usually just curtsy and excuse myself to scurry back to the Ridge to help Mee-maw entertain the Baptist ladies for sweet tea and hoe cakes.
I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM!
i moved to new jersey about 5 years ago, but i moved from chicagobiggggg culture shock! where i used to live, pronouncing the letter “t” was extremely normalhere, psh yeah right. people’s manner of speaking is so different”whadduya mean?”"g’ahead”oh its so hard sometimes.
I’m a native Ohioan too (Clevelander), and when I moved to Texas there was quite a bit of culture shock.
Some examples:
server: What kind of coke would you like?
me: No Coke, thanks. I’ll take a Pepsi.
sever: *looks at me like I’m a retard* Didn’t I just ask if you wanted a coke? me: Yeah. I don’t want Coke. I want a different kind of pop.
server: Uh…kay…
student: I’m fixin’ to cut the lights off, Miss.
me: *stare*
another student: Are you gonna take up the work, miss?
me: No, I’m not taking it up. You’re turning it in. You’re capable of getting off your butt.
student: That’s the same thing. Duh.
…and, of course, there is the constant assumption that “y’all” is a legitimate contraction in the English language and that sweet tea is the only acceptable drink in social situations.
I was born and raised in NJ and there’s been no problems when I’ve said, “for here” when ordering food. I alternate between “to stay” and “for here” (though rarely) and have never gotten any weird stares or anything.
Considering your profile says you’re in NY, I’m guessing you’re talking about northern NJ? The vernacular isn’t different than NYC’s — at least where I live, which is 15 minutes away from Manhattan.
Actually, I just recently moved to Boston, about a month ago actually. I can’t stand the accent here. People think the NJ accent is annoying (if you’re in northern NJ, it’s pretty much the same as NYC’s) because our t’s sound like d’s (see the person above me, haha), but I can’t stand the disappearance of the R’s. Like “pahk the cah.” Gah.
you must live in Northern New Jersey because down here they don’t say ne of that stuff. they can’t pronounce “water” though (what’s wudder?) and they drop their atches (“huge” becomes “you-ge”, ala the Donald) and don’t get me started on the “yous guys.”
Hi! I was born and raised in Jersey, now living in Missouri. I can agree with all the local jargon except the ‘bar pie’ thing…..I lived in Newark, Kearny & North Plainfield…never heard that expression….so that one has to be a local thing. Eeeeh we don’t all talk da’ same, ya’ know!
Its pretty funny in california.
if you just go to a different county, there will be a whole different slang.
there are the Norcal’s, who use hella.
the oc’s who say crip and fer sure.
the kids from palm springs who say fer dang and dank.
It seems in southern oc though, we just bring it all in haha
@Queen_of_You188 - It is said people in the Cleveland, OH and Albany, NY area have near identical accents.
Haha, this is funny stuff. I can really see you as the lost Ohio person in NJ haha. I took a trip to Singapore once. English is one of their first languages, but it is freaking insane the slang and accent they have there. Maebenot once wrote an entry on the crazy they have there.
So where in Jersey are you going to school because we don’t say Bar Pie or “nutownit” up in North Jersey. Maybe Central or South but I’ve never heard either of those phrases up North, and most of South Jersey is farmland, not all..just most.
Haha… “nutownit” made my day.
New Yorkers call a whole pizza “a pie” too. It’s not just a New Jersey thing.
i love new jersey
Uhm, I’m from New Jersey and have lived here for 22 years. I’ve heard of pizza being referred to as “pies” but never “bar pies,” I’ve never once heard someone say “to stay or to go?” instead of “for here or to go?” and I think you’re exaggerating the Jersey accent in the bagel bit. Sounds more hick-ish than Jersey, imho.
Maybe your roommate/her boyfriend are just weird or you live in a weird part of the Jerz. I do acknowledge that we say weird things “pies” instead of pizza, south Jerseyans say “hoagies” instead of “subs,” my aunts and uncles say “yous guys” a lot, and I say bagel like “begel.” But I think the specific examples you cite are way off the mark.
@Fake_Fake_eyes - Exacttlllyyyy! If you’re not from Jersey you just don’t understand that North and South are pretty much two different states! Haha I <3 South Jersey
I’m from Jersey and we don’t talk like that. I say what you say when I order stuff, and I don’t have any problems. And there’s only like two people at my school with a typical “Jersey” accent. And I’ve never heard anyone say bar pie.
I only ever have problems when cashiers have Spanish accents or something. I never understand them.
SPAM COMMENT…http://www.xanga.com/BrittMiles27/693039330/spam-comment/
it took me a while to understand Pidgin, but living there for six years engrained it in my brain.
My first “lolwut” with hawai’ian pidgin was in kindergarten. “Da kine” in hawaiian slang is pretty much the word for “whachamacallit” or pretty much anything you can’t think of. So a girl was asking me for scissors, but couldn’t think of the words, so she was just motioning scissors with her hands and going “Can i borrow da kine?!”
After a while I got used to it, and could efficiently translate
“Ey, bra, bollo head, where da remote?”
“Stay on top da tv.”
It gets no better once you reach California. We lack a thick accent, but our slang makes up for it. Personally I don’t think it’s hard to pick up on our slang considering it’s been exported throughout the world via Hollywood. “Dude,” “bro,” and “awesome,” are pretty much American catchphrases now, though they originated in California.
My cousins are from the Chicagoland area and they think it’s weird when I refer to soda as “soda” and not “pop.” They also think my sister and I talk really fast and slur our words together.
@LOberry - Same with California. Northern and Southern California might as well be two different states in regards to the culture and language. We use “hella” up north, but Southern Californians don’t. Northern Californians don’t put “the” in front of freeway numbers and Southern Californians do. Then there’s also Bay Area slang which is almost never used seriously outside of the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose area.
funny post. I haven’t heard a lot of these things in a while, and others I’ve never heard at all. I’m from the east too (some family in Jersey also), and there are differences in words/phrases just between neighborhoods. It’s similar everywhere.
@tweetypiebabe1 - how about being knocked up? totally different meaning there than in the US. asking someone here in America if they want to be knocked up might get you a black eye. xD
We do not! Well, maybe Southern Jersey… Honest to goodness, the one girl I know from South Jersey has a southern accent. And she is from here.
Something I got confused with when I moved out west from the South was the difference in meaning for the word “barbecue”
Where I’m from, it is a delicious form of pork hash that can be eaten on rice or between two pieces of bread. The western version of this word is a cookout. I was invited to one such activity labeled as a barbecue and was sadly disappointed when there were only hotdogs and hamburgers when I had all my hopes up for some mustard-based barbecue from home
There were some fun times on my last trip to Jersey/New York. I refused to use Jersey vernacular; I used my staright up Texas vocabulary and I didn’t hide my accent. If some wise guy made fun of the way I talked, I’d turn it around on him.
Now, why the hell couldn’t I pump my own gas or make a simple left turn?
hah, one time i was ordering a slice of pizza and i just said ‘one combo pizza’ and the guy rang up a whole pie and my brother was like ‘… no, one slice only please’ when he saw that the bill was already more than 10 bucks for just one slice !
but yeah, don’t feel bad. i still think ‘cherry? apple?’ sometimes when i hear pie, and i’ve lived in (north) jersey all my life =P
@black_lie - So True!
I went to TX for basic and tech school. When I finally got a chance to get something from a convenient store, the lady asked me if I wanted a sack. wtf? I thought about it and realized she was talking about a bag. I said sure and she proceeded to put my things in a brown bag. Sack, Do you want a sack?
I hv moved fr NJ to Singapore, believe me… I hv more to laugh about here than when I was in Jersey =D
I have a classmate who lives in Australia, and we were rooming together at orientation for college. He said,
Him: “Do you need to use the jollyswizzer, before we go down to assembly?”
Me: “What is a jollyswizzer? and we aren’t going to an assembly, we’re going to a lecture!”
Him: “A jollyswizzer is a toilet.”
Me: “Wtf?”
try living in philly
its like a totaly diffrent language
I’m from Jersey. I don’t say pie for pizza.
Interesting.
@methodElevated – hillarious! I read that one out-loud a few times for kicks.
Yay Ohio! I live in Texas now, after some time in Asia and Europe, and still catch myself saying things like:
“Are you done then?” and “Will you take the test yet?”
Someone *politely* informed me that these qualifiers are excessive and unimperative to my intended meaning. Try explaining that to my Dutch ancestors.
hah, it’s sad that I basically understood that conversation from the post.
I was born by the Jersey shore and raised in North Jersey.
When I came down to South Jersey for college, I’ve heard the whole differences between the two dialects picked apart far more than anyone should. hah.
my boyfriend in particular, who’s lived down here his whole life, has particular amounts of fun for calling me out on any of my “north jersey – isms”
the one that comes up most often: hoagie vs. subs.
yeah, jersey accents annoy the crap out of me.
@Essance_of_Me - I live in Ga and every time I go to the midwest to visit family its all of yas not y’all…seriously throws me off so i see what you’re saying…ad for yonder…yonder is just a weird word.
@mythnoona - lol! They also used pissed differently. Cause we’ll use it for being upset but they use it as beeing trashed/drunk so there’s lots of confusion with that one as well!
I love your usage of the word “wut”!
I grew up in Jersey. Those are all so true. I live in Pennsylvania now, and all my friends think it’s so weird that I call it “plain pizza” instead of cheese. It’s always fun to compare the ways that people talk and accents and different terms they use.
Livin’ in Philly most my life, I know exactly what you mean.
Went to VA for vacation and had wrecked eggs one morning for breakfast.
Wrecked?? Can’t they just say scrambled? Sheesh
You’d be lost in New York too lol
I Love hearing the different words people use from different states for the same things in the US. I also love accents from the east coast.
@realisticallyoverratedreality9 - YAY! Bubbler, it’s what we Wisconsinites drink water from that others say “fountain”. No, I’m sorry, that’s in the park.
@methodElevated - HAHAHA
I’m from long island, and it bothers me to hear people say ‘pop’ for soda, and things like that.
Half my family is in NY and NJ, while the other half is down south. So when they come and visit, they’re like, “What’d you say?” and “Who’s yaw?” (yaw meaning ya’ll…I was extremely surprised that they hadn’t heard of THAT one before)
i live in boston, and i’ve lived here my whole life, and the most frustrating thing i’ve come upon is when i ask for jimmies on my ice cream and the guy at DQ is like, rainbow or chocolate? if i wanted rainbow, i’da asked for sprinkles.
also no one knows how to make a good frappe.
then there’s the whole “pahk the cah in hahvid yahd” which is the most tell tale sign of a yuppie.
LOL good post
My best friend was born in New Jersey but has lived in Ohio for ten years and STILL calls purses ‘pocketbooks’
three bucks for a slice? $1.75, TOPS. anything more isn’t worth it.
@shakaveli - yeah, but these are humongous size-of-your-head-and-then-some slices, so i can rationalize it.
It’s “Jersians.”
Get it right.
my boyfriend is from new jersey and he says arange juice instead of orange juice and harrible instead of horrible.
LOL….I run into that all the time…different accents and vernaculars…I’ve made it a game to figure out where people were originally from based on their accents. I’ve had a decent success rate, normally hitting the region ok…
haha i’m from jersey and my bff is from oklahoma. i mock her by saying ya’ll and she mocks me by saying you’s guy’es!
Did I just totally misplace you in NYC in your pulse? I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional.
I’ve lived in South Jersey my whole life. When I order pizza, I say “pizza”. I’ve never heard of a bar pie. Whenever I travel, people always assume I speak differently than I actually do. South Jersey does have it’s own accent and we do say some things differently, but none of the things above. North Jersey is completely different, though. Those damn rich people. pa ha ha… My personal favorite is when I went to Tennessee and asked to use the “woodur fountain” They stared at me for a few minutes and I repeated myself and made the motions of drinking from a water fountain. They laughed and made fun of me the rest of my stay. Water is woodur in South Jersey.
And NO, I do NOT come from “Joisey”. It’s Jersey.
I grew up in IL and the first time I hung out in Wisconsin I said “I’m thirsty” and someone said “there’s a bubbler on the wall.” Excuse me…a what? “A bubbler.”
Took me awhile to realize they meant drinking fountain. Although I live in WI now, I still say drinking fountain.
@quasi_nerd - I’ve heard “barbeque” used both ways and definitely confused my husband the other night when I said “Were you just eating barbeque or something?” and he was like “you mean barbeque sauce?” “You mean did I just grill something on the barbeque grill?” He wouldn’t let it drop and refused to believe that barbeque was a food. When I described it he was like “What, a sloppy joe?”
I’m a New Yorker, aaand it’s kinda similar. I’ve always said “pie” instead of “pizza” and just “slice” if I want a slice.
And there are always the fun accents down by the city.
@JavaaWan - it makes sense. Most cities are influenced by other nearby towns (or other cities).
@still_xxhurting - I’m a born New Yorker too, and we usually say “pie” if we want a whole pie. Still, we’re used to changing our way of talking from one way to another (we’re always moving).
@somthingsgottagive -I’m from the midwest and I know what a grinder is! We have several restaurants around here that refer to them as grinders.
@slmret - That’s too funny! I’d love to hear her students talk too.
I have lots of them. We moved just from Michigan to Indiana, but even that short distance was enough to cause confusion! My dad’s one coworker asked him if there were any booshes outside. I can’t figure out how to write it like he said it, so that is the closest I can get. He meant bushes, but it sounded nothing like that. People down here don’t have any idea what a “doorwall” is when we talk about them, which is a sliding door/patio door. We didn’t know what a cheese toastie was when we moved here. There are others, but I’ll stop there.
Also, I love their accents…and I love the East/West Coast–my heart is not a part of the mid-west. Even though they do not know geography thinking OH is near California!
@MakinzyKrysteen - thats because the main mela is dinner not lunch
here in eegypt the main mela is lunch not dinner
LOL!!!
Man I’d be so lost anywhere but Jersey. Jersey for Life<3
Absolutely love this post! Especially reading everyone else’s comments too. I almost died laughing after I read about throwing grandma down the stairs.
@castashadow_quotes - Haha, Gig ‘em is Texas A&M’s saying apparently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gig_%27em_Aggies
lol
and say “talk” like “tawk”
and say “coffee” like “cawfee”
and say “yesterday” like “yestaday”
its the northeast accent lol. love Jersey tho <3
born and raised.
: )
like your post.
I was reporting an accident on the Sagtikos Parkway in Suffolk County on Long Island, and I was not familiar with the area. The officer asked me if it was near the PIENEER Drive exit and I had to say I didn’t know as I had never heard of that road. Later, upon checking the names of the exits, I found out it was PINE AIRE Drive. I knew where Pine Aire Drive was ! I don’t know where he was from as I am from L I and we don’t speak that way.
BTW EVERYONE has an accent. There are linguistic experts who can listen to you say a few words and tell you exactly where you have lived. It’s fascinating.