Regional vocabulary within

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...

varies. Below is a list of

lexical Lexical may refer to: Linguistics * Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language * Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification * Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge * Lexical ...

differences in vocabulary that are generally associated with a region. A term featured on a list may or may not be found throughout the region concerned, and may or may not be recognized by speakers outside that region. Some terms appear on more than one list.

Regionalisms

Historically, a number of everyday words and expressions used to be characteristic of different dialect areas of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, especially the North, the Midland, and the South; many of these terms spread from their area of origin and came to be used throughout the nation. Today many people use these different words for the same object interchangeably, or to distinguish between variations of an object. Such traditional lexical variables include: * ''

faucet A tap (also spigot or faucet: see usage variations) is a valve controlling the release of a liquid or gas. Nomenclature United Kingdom * Tap is used in the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth for any everyday type of valve, partic ...

'' (North) and ''spigot'' (South) * ''

frying pan A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab h ...

'' (North and South, but not Midland), ''spider'' (obsolete New England), and ''skillet'' (Midland and South) * ''

gutter Gutter may refer to: Water discharge structures * Rain gutter, used on roofs and in buildings * Street gutter, for drainage of streets Design and printing * Gutter, in typography, the space between columns of printed text * Gutter, in bookbind ...

'' (Northeast, South, and West), ''eaves trough'' (West and Inland North), and ''rainspouting'' (Maryland and Pennsylvania) * ''pit'' (North) and ''seed'' (elsewhere) * ''teeter-totter'' (North; widespread), ''

seesaw A seesaw (also known as a teeter-totter or teeterboard) is a long, narrow board supported by a single pivot point, most commonly located at the midpoint between both ends; as one end goes up, the other goes down. These are most commonly found a ...

'' (South and Midland; now widespread), and ''dandle'' (Rhode Island) * ''

firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

'' (more Northern and Western) and ''lightning bug'' (widespread) * ''pail'' (North, north Midland) and ''

bucket A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom, attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the '' bail''. A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, a ...

'' (Midland and South; now widespread) *''

sneakers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used fo ...

'' (Northeast and fairly widespread), ''tennis shoes'' (widespread outside the Northeast) and ''gym shoes'' (Chicago and Cincinnati) * ''soda'' (Northeast, Greater Milwaukee, Great St. Louis, California, and Florida), ''pop'' (Inland North, Upper Midwest, and Northwest), ''coke'' (South), and ''tonic'' (Eastern New England possibility) * ''

you guys In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

'' (widespread), ''y'all'' (Southern and South Midland), ''you'uns'' and '' yins'' (Western Pennsylvania), and ''yous'' or ''youse'' (New York City, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Northeastern Pennsylvania) However many differences still hold and mark boundaries between different dialect areas, as shown below. From 2000 to 2005, for instance, ''The Dialect Survey'' queried North American English speakers' usage of a variety of linguistic items, including vocabulary items that vary by region. These include: * generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage * drink made with milk and ice cream * long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on * rubber-soled shoes worn in physical education class, for athletic activities, etc. Below are lists outlining regional vocabularies in the main dialect areas of the United States.

North

* ''brat'' or ''braht'' –

bratwurst Bratwurst () is a type of German sausage made from pork or, less commonly, beef or veal. The name is derived from the Old High German ''Brätwurst'', from ''brät-'', finely chopped meat, and ''Wurst'', sausage, although in modern German it is of ...

* ''

breezeway A breezeway is an architectural feature similar to a hallway that allows the passage of a breeze between structures to accommodate high winds, allow aeration, or provide aesthetic design variation. It is a pedestrian walkway because it is intend ...

'' (widespread) ("skyway" in Minnesota) – a hallway connecting two buildings * ''clout'' (originally Chicago, now widespread) – political or social influence * ''davenport'' (widespread though uncommon) – a sofa, or couch * ''

euchre Euchre or eucre () is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, and the United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. Normally there are four players, two on ...

'' (throughout the North) – card game similar to spades * ''fridge'' (throughout North and West) –

refrigerator A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so t ...

* ''

hotdish A hotdish is a casserole dish that typically contains a starch, a meat, and a canned or frozen vegetable mixed with canned soup that must be served hot or warm. A classic example is made with ground beef, topped with tater tots, and flavored ...

'' (esp. Minnesota) – a simple entree cooked in a single dish, related to casserole * '' paczki'' (in Polish settlement areas, esp. Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin) – a jelly doughnut * ''pop'' (North-Central and West) – a soft drink, carbonated soda * ''soda'' (all the Northeast and parts of Wisconsin) – soft drink * ''Troll'' (North-Central) – people who reside in the

Lower Peninsula of Michigan The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

* ''Yooper'' (North-Central) – people who reside in the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

*''ope'' – a form of alert or apology used when trying to get around someone or something; E.g. "Ope, let me squeeze right past ya". Ope is most often used in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota.

Northeast

* ''brook'' (now widespread but especially common in the Northeast) – creek * ''

bubbler A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and s ...

'' (esp. New England, Wisconsin and the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys) – a water fountain * ''cellar'' – alternate term for basement * ''sneakers'' (throughout the U.S., though concentrated in the Northeast and parts of Florida) – generic rubber-soled athletic shoe. * ''soda'' – a sweet, carbonated soft drink * ''

Mischief Night Mischief Night is an informal holiday on which children, teenagers and adults (both young and old) engage in jokes, pranks, vandalism and/or parties. It is known by a variety of names including Devil's Night, Gate Night, Goosey Night, Moving Nig ...

'' (or, rarer, ''Cabbage Night'') – an annual night when, by custom, preteens and teenagers play pranks; usually, the night before

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...

New England

* '' grinder'' – submarine sandwich * ''packie'' ('' package store'') – a liquor store * '' rotary'' – traffic circle * '' tag sale'' – garage sale * ''

wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

'' (all of Massachusetts) – very; an intensifier and adverb, as in ''wicked cold'' meaning ''very cold''

= Eastern New England

* ''bulkhead'' – cellar hatchway * ''cabinet'' (Rhode Island) – milk shake * ''frappe'' –

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixtur ...

* ''hosey'' – (rare, but esp. parts of Massachusetts & Maine) to stake a claim or choose sides, to claim ownership of something (sometimes, the front seat of a car) * ''intervale'' – bottomland; mostly historical * ''jimmies'' –

sprinkles Sprinkles are very small pieces of confectionery used as an often colourful decoration or to add texture to desserts such as brownies, cupcakes, doughnuts or ice cream. The tiny candies are produced in a variety of colors and are generally us ...

(ice cream topping) see also Mid-Atlantic, below * ''

johnnycake Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. ...

'' (also ''Rhode Island jonnycake'') – a type of cornmeal bread * '' leaf peeper'' – a tourist who has come to see the area's vibrant autumn foliage * ''necessary'' – outhouse, privy * ''

quahog The hard clam (''Mercenaria mercenaria''), also known as the round clam, hard-shell (or hard-shelled) clam, or the quahog, is an edible marine bivalve mollusk that is native to the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Prin ...

'' – pronounced "koe-hog," it properly refers to a specific species of clam but is also applied to any clam * ''tonic'' (eastern Massachusetts) – soft drink

= Northern New England

* ''ayuh'' – "yes" or affirmative * '' creemee'' – (Vermont) soft serve ice cream * '' dooryard'' – area around the main entry door of a house, specifically a farmhouse. Typically including the

driveway A driveway (also called ''drive'' in UK English) is a type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures, and is owned and maintained by an individual or group. Driveways rarely have traffic lights, but some that bear ...

and parking area proximal to the house * ''Italian'' (''sandwich'') – (Maine)

submarine sandwich A submarine sandwich, commonly known as a sub, hoagie (Philadelphia metropolitan area and Western Pennsylvania English), hero (New York City English), Italian ( Maine English), grinder (New England English), wedge ( Westchester, NY), or a spucki ...

* ''logan'' (also '' pokelogan'') – a shallow, swampy lake or pond (from Algonquian) * ''muckle'' – to grasp, hold-fast, or tear into * ''

mud season Mud season is a period in late winter and early spring when dirt becomes muddy from melting snow and ice, making travel more difficult. The name is most commonly used in northern New England and the northern Great Lakes region. Causes Mud season ...

'' – early spring

Mid-Atlantic

* ''breezeway'' – the space between two groups of rowhouses in the middle of a city block * ''down the shore'' – shore areas and beaches of Southern New Jersey * ''

hoagie A submarine sandwich, commonly known as a sub, hoagie ( Philadelphia metropolitan area and Western Pennsylvania English), hero (New York City English), Italian ( Maine English), grinder ( New England English), wedge ( Westchester, NY), or a spu ...

'' –

* ''

jawn Jawn is a slang term local to Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley that may refer to a thing, place, person, or event, substituting for a specific name. Jawn is a context-dependent substitute noun; a noun that substitutes for other nouns. Jawn ca ...

'' – pronoun used for any person, place, or thing * ''jimmies'' – sprinkles (ice cream topping) see also New England, above * ''parlor'' –

living room In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment. Su ...

* ''pavement'' –

sidewalk A sidewalk ( North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, ston ...

* '' shoobie'' – A visitor to the beach (typically the

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrativ ...

shore) for the day (as contrasted with an overnight visitor) * ''water ice'' –

Italian ice Italian ice is a frozen or semi-frozen sweetened treat made with fruit (often from concentrates, juices, or purées) or other natural or artificial food flavorings.U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationCFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 Acce ...

* ''yo!'' – Hello; also used to grab someone's attention * ''youze'' – plural form of "you people"

Greater New York City

Bodega in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx

* ''bodega'' – small corner grocery store, from the Spanish word for closet * ''catty corner'' – on an angle to a corner * ''dungarees'' (older) –

jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and pate ...

* ''

egg cream An egg cream is a cold beverage consisting of milk, carbonated water, and flavored syrup (typically chocolate or vanilla), as a substitute for an ice cream float. Despite the name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream. It is prepared by po ...

'' – a mixture of cold milk, flavored syrup, and seltzer * ''have a catch'' – play catch * ''hero'' – submarine sandwich * ''kill'' – a small river or strait, in the name of specific watercourses; e.g. Beaver Kill,

Fresh Kills Fresh Kills (from the Middle Dutch word '' kille'', meaning "riverbed" or "water channel") is a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, forme ...

Kill Van Kull __NOTOC__ The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York and Bayonne, New Jersey in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with Upper New York Bay. The Robbins Reef Light marks the ea ...

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port of N ...

(from Dutch) * ''on line'' – waiting or standing in a line * ''potsy'' –

hopscotch Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a c ...

* ''

punchball Punchball is a sport spawned by and similar to baseball, but without a pitcher, catcher, or bat. The " batter" essentially plays " fungo" without a bat, bouncing or tossing up the ball and then using a volleyball-type approach to put the ball (u ...

'' and ''

stickball Stickball is a street game similar to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City and Philadelphia. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, t ...

'' – street variants of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, suitable for smaller urban areas, in which a fist or stick substitutes for the bat and a "

Spaldeen A Spalding Hi-Bounce Ball, often called a Spaldeen or a Pensie Pinkie, is a rubber ball, described as a tennis ball core without the felt. These balls are commonly used in street games developed in the mid-20th century, such as Chinese handball ( ...

" is the ball * ''scallion'' – spring onion * ''stoop'' – a small porch or steps in front of a building, originally from Dutch

Midland

* ''barn-burner'' (now widespread) – an exciting, often high-scoring game, esp. a basketball game * ''

hoosier Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate, but "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 poem " ...

'' (esp. Indiana) – someone from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...

; (outside of Indiana, esp. in the St. Louis, Missouri area) a person from a rural area, comparable to ''

redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, '' ...

'' * ''mango'' – green

bell pepper The bell pepper (also known as paprika, sweet pepper, pepper, or capsicum ) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orang ...

, sometimes also various

chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for t ...

s * ''outer road'' – a

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...

or other service road A soft drink is generally known in the American Midland as ''pop'', except for being ''soda'' around

Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...

in Missouri and Illinois, and ''coke'' in central Indiana and central and western Oklahoma

South

* ''alligator pear'' – avocado * ''banquette'' (southern Louisiana) –

, foot-path * ''billfold'' (widespread, but infrequent Northeast, Pacific Northwest) – a man's wallet * ''cap'' (also Midlands) – sir (prob. from "captain") * ''chill bumps'' (also Midlands) – goose bumps * ''chuck'' – toss or throw an object (Now somewhat widespread) * ''coke'' – any brand of soft drink * ''commode'' (also Midlands) – bathroom; restroom; particularly the

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position pop ...

itself * ''crocus sack'' (Atlantic), ''croker sack'' (Gulf) – burlap bag * ''cut on/off'' – to turn on/off * ''directly'' – in a minute; soon; presently * ''dirty rice'' (esp. Louisiana) – Cajun rice dish consisting of rice, spices, and meat * ''Don't get above your raisin' '' - regional colloquialism * ''fais-dodo'' (southern Louisiana) – a party * ''fix'' – to get ready, to be on the verge of doing, e.g. "I'm fixing to go"; (widespread but esp. South) to prepare food * ''house shoes'' – bedroom slippers * ''

lagniappe A lagniappe ( , ) is "a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase" (such as a 13th doughnut on purchase of a dozen), or more broadly, "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure." It can be u ...

'' (Gulf, esp. Louisiana) – a little bit of something extra * ''locker'' (esp. Louisiana) –

closet A closet (especially in North American usage) is an enclosed space, with a door, used for storage, particularly that of clothes. ''Fitted closets'' are built into the walls of the house so that they take up no apparent space in the room. Closet ...

* ''make'' (age) (Gulf, esp. Louisiana) – have a birthday; "He's making 16 tomorrow." * ''neutral ground'' (Louisiana, Mississippi) –

median strip The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ap ...

* ''

po' boy A po' boy (also po-boy, po boy derived from the non-rhotic southern accents often heard in the region, or poor boy) is a sandwich originally from Louisiana. It almost always consists of meat, which is usually roast beef or some sort of fried se ...

'' (scattered, but esp. South) – a long sandwich, typically made with fried oysters, clams, or shrimp * ''put up'' – put away, put back in its place * ''yankee'' – northerner; also ''damn yankee'', ''damned yankee'' * ''yonder'' (esp. rural) – over there, or a long distance away; also ''over yonder''

West

* ''barrow pit'' (var. of "borrow pit") - an excavated area where material has been dug for use as fill at another location * ''davenport'' (widespread) – couch or sofa * ''

hella ''Hella'' is an American slang term that originated in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is used as an intensifying adverb such as in "hella bad" or "hella good" and was eventually added to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' in 2002. It is possibl ...

'' or ''hecka'' (esp.

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gover ...

) – "very" or "a lot of" * ''pop'' (widespread in West and North); ''soda'' (predominates in California, Arizona, southern Nevada); ''coke'' (in parts of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

and Tucson, Arizona) – sweetened carbonated beverage * ''snowmachine'' (Alaska) – a motor vehicle for travel over snow. Outside Alaska known as a ''

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

''''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Pacific Northwest

* ''skid road'' or ''

skid row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

'' – a path made of logs or timbers along which logs are pulled; (widespread) a run-down, impoverished urban area

Notes

References

External links

*
NY Times dialect quiz
* {{English dialects by continent, state=collapsed R * American

Shibboleths

Regionalisms

North

Northeast

New England

= Eastern New England

= Northern New England

Mid-Atlantic

Greater New York City

Midland

South

West

Pacific Northwest

See also

Notes

References

External links