Local Sayings

[Seabishop]

I'm trying the set the record straight here. Does just about every area claim the same things about themselves, or what?


"If you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes"

"The potholes here are worse then everywhere"

"People here really don't know how to drive"

"Only in (geographic area)!!!" said as a reaction to a bizarre local news story.


For example I know plenty of people who have never been out of this area who just KNOW that the potholes here are worse than anywhere else as if they have researched it themselves.

 

[mendelman]

"If you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes"

Everyone, everywhere uses this line, and it is starting to really drive me nuts. I am beginning to hate this one.

Plus, I hate it when people around the Great Lakes always complain and whine about the cold winter weather and snow in March. My response is that it is always cold here in the winter and if you don't like it - LEAVE.

Go to Arizona and take some pressure off the housing market here.

(please, excuse the minor rant, but it's really annoying.

 

[Gedunker]

The locals here rave about the "Ohio Valley Crud" that is supposed to make the area the worst in the Nation for allergy sufferers. As though they are proud of it in some demented way.

Having grown up in toxic New Jersey without any ill health effects, I figured I was immune. Now, tree pollens (I suspect) can give me a wicked-bad sinus headache (the kind that makes you feel you have a hatchet embedded along the centerline of your skull) :-#

It is remarkable how we have gone from a nation of truly unique places to a gneric blandness, yet we hold out for some sense that we are special relative to everywhere else.

 

[SGB]

I hate it when people around the Great Lakes always complain and whine about the cold winter weather and snow in March. My response is that it is always cold here in the winter and if you don't like it - LEAVE.

In the nether reaches of that mythical land north on NHPlanner, I first heard the following saying:

"If you can't handle the winters, you don't deserve the summers."

 

[Rumpy Tunanator]

Plus, I hate it when people around the Great Lakes always complain and whine about the cold winter weather and snow in March. My response is that it is always cold here in the winter and if you don't like it - LEAVE.

Whoa, your pretty angry there mendelman .

Yep I get sick of hearing that too, but around here people are pretty much unaffected by snow.

 

[Dan]

Buffalo: "At least we don't get tornados, hurricanes, or earthquakes!"

Miami: "At least we don't get tornados, blizzards or earthquakes!"

San Francisco: "At least we don't get tornados, blizzards or hurricanes!"

Kansas City: "At least we don't get hurricanes, blizzards or earthquakes!"

Albuquerque: "Ha ha!"

Paris: "I hate ze fat Americain and, how you say, zer stupeed wedhair, yes? (spit!) Merde! I blame zee George Boosh and zee, how you say, Mac Donald, yes? (spit!) (lights filterless Gauliose) Zey deserve ze bleezahrd, ze tornahdo, ze hurricahn, ze earth shake, yes? (spit!)"

 

[Seabishop]

It is remarkable how we have gone from a nation of truly unique places to a gneric blandness, yet we hold out for some sense that we are special relative to everywhere else.

Yeah, and try living in the smallest state which isn't much different than its neighbors. We're constantly searching for something to set us apart, especially with a certain big city right above us. Unfortunately those things are usually corruption, potholes, or stupid minor celebrities.

 

[Mud Princess]

Yeah, and try living in the smallest state which isn't much different than its neighbors. We're constantly searching for something to set us apart, especially with a certain big city right above us. Unfortunately those things are usually corruption, potholes, or stupid minor celebrities.

Hey, beautiful Block Island -- and the fact that it hasn't (yet?) been turned into Martha's Vineyard -- must count for something!

 

[SGB]

Yeah, and try living in the smallest state which isn't much different than its neighbors. We're constantly searching for something to set us apart, especially with a certain big city right above us. Unfortunately those things are usually corruption, potholes, or stupid minor celebrities.

Hey, you also have the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.

 

[Seabishop]

I don't mean to put the state down. There are a lot of unique and historic things about it. It's the more common cultural element of trying to carve out some sort of identity - its hard to explain.

I've actually never been to Block Island (or Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket) but its on my to-do list this summer.

 

[Floridays]

"It's not the heat, it's the humidity."

 

[BiteMeElmo]

"It's not the heat, it's the humidity."

also...

"It's not the cold, it's the damp."

 

[Mastiff]

Paris: "I hate ze fat Americain and, how you say, zer stupeed wedhair, yes? (spit!) Merde! I blame zee George Boosh and zee, how you say, Mac Donald, yes? (spit!) (lights filterless Gauliose) Zey deserve ze bleezahrd, ze tornahdo, ze hurricahn, ze earth shake, yes? (spit!)"

And they deserve to be next to Germany...

 

[michaelskis]

Up dare in da UP eh?

Growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, it is a whole other language.

Say it exactly how it reads…

Wholly whah! Dat dares one big buck ya knogh. Yagh Eh, I was sittin dare in da blind yah knogh, eatin a past-E, when he walked in, I just about shat (change the a to an I for the real word) my self.

There would also be mythical figures such as Hanky-Lounta the Finnish Snow Goddess.

Towns:
Spelled Pronounced
Ishpeming Ish-peR-ming
Houghton Houe-in
Negaunee Naw-gaw-knee

 

[teshadoh]

A favorite for me is blaming automobile drivers. A popular exclamation in the norther suburbs of Atlanta is either a) "rednecks (southerners) don't know how to drive" or b) "the yankees (northerners) have screwed up traffic" - at least in both cases they may be 50% correct in the northern suburbs (50% of the population is not native southerner). Another complaint in the suburbs would be - from both southern & northern - of the "rednecks coming into the city screwing up traffic". That could be matched with "the city folk coming into the country (suburbs) screwing up traffic" by the native southerners living in the suburbs.

 

[Bangorian]

Some local Maine colloqualisms (sp?):

"You can't get theah from heah" - because all the roads around here are windy as hell and usually don't get you from here to there without going at least 20 miles out of your way. Also "driving cross country" - the act of trying to get there from here.

"ayuh" - our version of yup, said while inhaling, almost a combination of a gasp and a 'yeah'. Then there's "yut,yut", usually said repetitively when someone is explaining something, equivalent to "uh-huh" or "Mmm-Hmm".

"that ain't the way we do things 'round heah" - heard by every socialist planner at one time or another.

"goin' down cellah" - heading into the basement.

"Wicked Pissah!" - Bummer!

and of course, you MUST end every sentence with "dear", if you're an old woman and talking to someone younger than yourself...

Oh man, there are tons more - I'll add more as I remember...

 

[statler]

"Wicked Pissah!" - Bummer!

Hmm...
Two points on that.
'Wicked pissah' is really a New England wide phrase. (though most commonly heard in MA & ME)
Secondly, I've never really heard it used as a true negative. Pissah means good! Examples: "Nomah's wicked pissah!" or "Have ya tried the new Ben & Jerry's flavah? It's wicked pissah!"

The only time I hear it used in the negative is sarcastically. Ex:
"The %$&*ing Yankees got A-Rod? Well, isn't that's just pissah!"

 

[Mud Princess]

Some local Maine colloqualisms (sp?):

"You can't get theah from heah" - because all the roads around here are windy as hell and usually don't get you from here to there without going at least 20 miles out of your way.

For real? I always thought that was some consumer advertising agency's version of Mainers! I've never heard anyone actually say it...

 

[Bangorian]

Hmm...
Two points on that.
'Wicked pissah' is really a New England wide phrase. (though most commonly heard in MA & ME)
Secondly, I've never really heard it used as a true negative. Pissah means good! Examples: "Nomah's wicked pissah!" or "Have ya tried the new Ben & Jerry's flavah? It's wicked pissah!"
[\QUOTE]

Hmmm.... Maybe there's a difference between the Maine & Mass. uses of the phrase. I've never heard it used to mean something good. I've only ever heard it used like "aw man, you wrecked your car? that's a wicked pissah" or "We had tickets to the show but I got called in to work - Wicked Pissah!"

Growing up in Michigan, people used to say "well, ain't that a pisser?" in the same context, so it sounds relatively natural to me in that context. I'm sure I would've been totally baffled had I ever heard it used the otehr way up here. But I will have to consult some of the lifetime Mainers around here and get the scoop.

 

[Bangorian]

For real? I always thought that was some consumer advertising agency's version of Mainers! I've never heard anyone actually say it...

No, its for real, and as I grew up in the midwest, its sometimes nearly unintelligible.

Of course, the schools are beating the accents out of the kids these days (so they can get jobs in Washington and California apparently), so you really only find the heavy accents in adults, especially old fishermen and farmers.

 

[Gedunker]

Some local Maine colloqualisms (sp?):"You can't get theah from heah".

Maybe NHPlanner or PlannerGroupie can elaborate, but I've heard that in both New 'Ampshah and Vermont also. I do have to agree with MaineMan about Mainers use of "Wicked Pissah" from my days in Sanford/Springvale-- if it was bad is was "wicked pissah" but if it was good it was "wicked good", like Tom's of Maine :-D

 

[otterpop]

As a former resident of New Orleans, which has plenty of wonderful local sayings, I had to share two of my favorite Yat (the blue collar natives) sayings. Upon meeting up with a Yat of your acquaintance, he or she might say "Where y'at, dawlin'?", which is Yat for "how are you?" and then might say, "How's yore momma and them?", which is Yat for "how is your immediate family?"

 

[NHPlanner]

Maybe NHPlanner or PlannerGroupie can elaborate, but I've heard that in both New 'Ampshah and Vermont also. I do have to agree with MaineMan about Mainers use of "Wicked Pissah" from my days in Sanford/Springvale-- if it was bad is was "wicked pissah" but if it was good it was "wicked good", like Tom's of Maine :-D

It's not as common a phrase in NH as in MA....but when I have heard it, it's normally in the positive, as statler put it.

NH tends to use wicked awsome instead.

 

[Planner Groupie]

The word "wicked" is used for anything. For example 'wicked cool' or 'wicked mean'.

I've used the word "pissah" now and again but I never use it in a positive tone. My favorite saying is "Ain't that a pissah".

 

[Gedunker]

I've used the word "pissah" now and again but I never use it in a positive tone. My favorite saying is "Ain't that a pissah".

My reference was to "You can't get theah from heah" as being used in the White Mountain and Green Mountain states??

 

[Planner Groupie]

My reference was to "You can't get theah from heah" as being used in the White Mountain and Green Mountain states??

I have never used or heard anyone in NH use the quote "you can't get theah from heah".

 

[Gedunker]

No ambiguity in that reply, PG. Thank you.

 

[annie]

The word "wicked" is used for anything. For example 'wicked cool' or 'wicked mean'.

I've used the word "pissah" now and again but I never use it in a positive tone. My favorite saying is "Ain't that a pissah".

What about "it's wicked eumid out" ?

I picked up wicked after 3 years of HS in Massachusetts. And I'm now adding "you know?" after every statement after 18 months in Minnesota.

 

[DA Monkey]

I wont go on about the "strine" I have heard or the strange okerisms that seem to come out whenever a yank visits.

But one speech impediment that really riles me is when some one describes how basic the whatever is. In this use basic is pronounced as baasic not as baysic.

Another term that came up recently was when my son and I were looking for a car together, (we were looking at a mazda mx5 coupe), he told me that it was a ricer car. The word ricer in that context stumped for a few days. I also found out there is a whole other language that teenagers speak, so now it is confirmed, they are a different species.