How do youse talk?

[inuvik]

In Canada, we also say Pop and sneakers.

We hardly ever say sofa, it's either couch or chesterfield (at least in my part! Canada's a big country.)

[bjobsessed]

Canadians also call soda "pop." Not sure about tennis shoes in particular, but I rarely say sneakers. I usually just say running shoes.

We also say bathroom or washroom instead of restroom (totally off the pop--shoe thing, but it came to mind.)

[inuvik]

bjobsessed said:

Canadians also call soda "pop." Not sure about tennis shoes in particular, but I rarely say sneakers. I usually just say running shoes.

She's right--I forgot about running shoes, I say that too, not sneakers.

[bjobsessed]

inuvik said:

We hardly ever say sofa, it's either couch or chesterfield (at least in my part! Canada's a big country.)

No one I know says chesterfield unless you're old--like my grandma. We all say couch.

[anna]

housemouse said:

What do you all call soda in your parts of the world?

Here, the generic term is Coke. It's all Coke, even if it's 7-Up. If you are talking about the particular cola product made by the Coca Cola Company, it's Co-cola.

[Eyphur]

I've allways maintained that pop and soda are two different things. A soda is something you get at an ice cream stand (sometimes called a Dairy Dream) and it contains chocolate surup and something else and I don't like them. Pop is Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, that stuff.

I've never called shoes sneakers. Usually I just call them shoes. When I was little my Mom called them tennies. And she would tell a couple of tennie jokes too.

Why do elephants wear tennies?

Because ninesises are too small and elevensises are too big.


And

Why do elephants wear red tennies?

So they can hide in the cherry trees.

Now, arn't those jokes worth some karma?

[rducasey]

I have a good one, cabinet, does anyone know what that is? I bet Kathy might, a transplanted Rhode Islander, as I think it is only found in RI. It is not the place you put your dishes. Also what do you call those big sandwiches on a roll, In RI they are grinders.

[Katryna]

rducasey said:

I have a good one, cabinet, does anyone know what that is? I bet Kathy might, a transplanted Rhode Islander, as I think it is only found in RI. It is not the place you put your dishes. Also what do you call those big sandwiches on a roll, In RI they are grinders.

Yep - only in RI do they call it a cabinet. Here's another clue - it's a frappe in Massachusetts

[Katryna]

rducasey said:

Also what do you call those big sandwiches on a roll, In RI they are grinders.

As a "transplanted" Rhode Islander, they will always be grinders to me, but in this area of Eastern PA, I have seen them both as hoagies and subs.

[spoony]

As an Aussie, "soda" is generally "soft drink". "Sneakers" are usually "runners".

[rducasey]

kathy said:

rducasey said:

I have a good one, cabinet, does anyone know what that is? I bet Kathy might, a transplanted Rhode Islander, as I think it is only found in RI. It is not the place you put your dishes. Also what do you call those big sandwiches on a roll, In RI they are grinders.

Yep - only in RI do they call it a cabinet. Here's another clue - it's a frappe in Massachusetts

Here is the answer:
Cabinet
A drink made from milk, flavored syrup, and ice cream. In other parts of the country it's called a milk shake or a frappe. A liberal interpretation of the entry for cabinet in the Oxford English Dictionary might suggest that the term originated from the English Newcastle or cabinet pudding, "a pudding made of bread or cake, dried fruit, eggs and milk, usually served hot with a sauce." Or it might not.

[dogma]

sneakers: tennis shoes or tennies ( western PA thing )

couch : my grandmother called it a davenport

pop: no other word,, just pop

cupboard: anything that stores something: bedroom cupboard, bathroom cupboard,, coat cupboard - there is no such thing as closet

a friend of mine at works immitates me: "my mum and i rode the rolleycoaster over the crick after we did the worsh"

there is a lot of pennsylvania dutch carryovers: plug out the sweeper, outen the lights,,

[Dreamfire]

bjobsessed said:

inuvik said:

We hardly ever say sofa, it's either couch or chesterfield (at least in my part! Canada's a big country.)

No one I know says chesterfield unless you're old--like my grandma. We all say couch.

We say couch, sofa or lounge. Usually lounge.

[Dreamfire]

Another one you might like,
In Australia a bathing suit is called a cossie or togs.
oh and an eraser is called a rubber. ( that one got me in trouble when I first worked in the states!)

[greenbeing]

dogma said:

sneakers: tennis shoes or tennies ( western PA thing )

When I was a kid, my mom and Grandma called them tennies, but my mom has since stopped.

couch : my grandmother called it a davenport

Yes! My GM always used to call it the davenport. I was v. confused when I learned there was a street here called Davenport, as I was about six and couldn't understand why on earth anyone would name a street after a love seat. (The love seat was the davenport, the couch was the couch. Took me a while to figure out there weren't three sizes...)

pop: no other word,, just pop

I always used to call it pop, until college. I often talked to someone who, when I said, would you like a pop? was v. confused. We had a long discussion about WHY I called it pop, when he'd never heard that expression before, living in Hawaii most of his life. He started making fun of me for calling it "pop." We were taking ASL together, and forever after that discussion, I would have to think of the sign as "soda pop" to get it come out right. In speech, I finally shortened it to soda. Now my sister makes fun of me: "When'd you start calling it a soda?"

I have never used the word sneakers myself. Restroom, in "polite" company, or bathroom with fam.

I've never gotten past the use of "cool", never having used groovy or awesome or da bomb... One of our researchers came up, studying cancer of all things, and was having an in-depth conversation about different therapies, when the word "gnarley" slipped out. It's hard to be in intellectual awe of a person who uses that term, even when referring to how gnarley it would be to cure terrible diseases.

--GB