Friday 5: Regionalism

1. What regional colloquialism in your area would baffle people from elsewhere? I live in the Pittsburgh area, and Pittsburghese is a whole thing. I think the word “yinz” is the most famous example that a lot of people have probably heard mentioned when Pittsburgh is discussed, but other good ones are “n’at,” which is basically “and so forth,” and “jagoff,” which is basically a jerk. It is not, as some would have you believe, a cuss.
2. What’s something you call by a name that differs from what most people in your region call it? I’m not sure. I don’t use a lot of Pittsburghese, but that’s mostly because I grew up far enough outside of the city that I didn’t hear it as much. Maybe some places? As sponsorships of arenas and things like that change, so do the names, and you can kind of tell someone’s age by how they know a place. There’s a concert pavilion that hasn’t been called Star Lake in decades, but that’s what people my parents’ age still call it.
3.  What’s a normal food in your region that people in other regions might be weirded out by? Primanti’s sandwiches are the famous one, which depending on your taste either sounds amazing or terrible. Coleslaw and fries are put on the sandwich itself. There’s also a lot of Polish heritage around here and therefore Polish food, and I always joke that Polish food looks like someone was down to their last two ingredients in a pantry and mixed them together–haluski is cabbage and noodles, and then there’s also cottage cheese and noodles.
4. What’s something in your area with an official name almost nobody refers to it by? See the above about place names. I also live near the college Washington & Jefferson, which everyone here shortens to “W&J.”
5. What are the names of some convenience stores in your area? Sheetz, which started by distant relatives. GetGo, which is part of local grocery chain Giant Eagle.

As always, from Friday 5.