If every state had an official word, what would it be?

September 2, 2015 12:54 PM

Slate presents The United Slang of America, a state by state map of popular regionalisms. I'll take jojos over a quakenado any day.
posted by redsparkler (171 comments total)

This isn't going to go well. I'll kick things off.

"Hella" for the whole state of California?? PLEASE. Only those hippies up north say hella/Those water-stealers down south don't say hella.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 12:57 PM on September 2, 2015 [18 favorites]

Louisiana: "banquette"

What? This is news to me.
posted by brundlefly at 12:57 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

And yeah, hella is definitely a Northern California thing.

And it's like nails on chalkboard to me.
posted by brundlefly at 12:57 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

New York
mad (adverb): very, exceptionally; (adjective): many or several
De Blasio seems mad chill.

Two questions:
1- Is that really a regionalism? I use it constantly and while contextually it probably makes sense just fine, I'm surprised that I've been using a construction that people outside of NYC didn't grow up with.
2- How long until using that word marks you as an Out Of Touch Old Person like all the dads in 80s sitcoms who say "groovy" unironically?
posted by griphus at 12:58 PM on September 2, 2015

Also are "hella" and the Onstadian "hell of" related?
posted by griphus at 12:59 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

oh god yes a regionally divisive post bless you bless your cow
posted by poffin boffin at 1:00 PM on September 2, 2015 [28 favorites]

Also I guess now that everyone's learned about "mad" you can now see why this well-intentioned attempt at selling non-alcoholic alcohol-style beverages is so utterly misguided in its branding.
posted by griphus at 1:01 PM on September 2, 2015

The food ones are disappointing. That's not really slang, that's just an object that not everyone would know the word for.

I was thinking the other day about how growing up in South Dakota, I heard a lot of Lakota phrases and thought of them as more universal than they really were. "Kola" would have been better than "chislic."
posted by roll truck roll at 1:02 PM on September 2, 2015

griphus: Onstad's use of "hell of ducats" is ungrammatical to me, the equivalent of "An ducat". Words following 'hella' must begin with a consonant, otherwise you use 'hell of'. For various sub-dialects of bay area english, at least.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 1:02 PM on September 2, 2015

I say "might could" all the time. I have no idea where I picked it up, because it's definitely not in the dialect of anyplace I've ever lived. Possibly I heard it in the one linguistics class I took in college and thought it sounded useful.
posted by uncleozzy at 1:03 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Missouri is a fucking cop-out.

it's me i'm mad about the bad article
posted by dismas at 1:03 PM on September 2, 2015 [13 favorites]

Indiana: Hoosier

*sigh...*
Really? The folks of Slate couldn't bother to be just a little more original than that? FWIW, no one here uses that word save for tv newscasters and politicians. Even IU fans generally refer to the team as "IU".
posted by Thorzdad at 1:03 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

I used to hear banquette used in NOLA, but years ago. I would have plumped for "neutral ground" as the Lousiana entry myself.
posted by Kitteh at 1:03 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm still trying to find the geographical divide between sayers of "by accident" and sayers of "on accident" but it is evading me.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:04 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's obviously a slightly frivolous listing, as shown by their methodology:

"Finally, ties were broken based on things like which word was the most fun to say or whether any of the word choices included especially cool letters like z’s or w’s."
posted by redsparkler at 1:05 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Onstad uses "on accident" too.
posted by griphus at 1:05 PM on September 2, 2015

My office is blocking this. Please tell me Massachusetts has "wicked" and/or "pissah".
posted by pxe2000 at 1:06 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

When I was like 12, down in Virginia (so East Coast/Mid-Atlantic), everyone said 'mad' and then by the time I was in High School it was clearly in the realm of uncool-dad talk but since being in NYC for almost a decade now, it's like it never went anywhere at all and seems to have trickled back into What The Kids Say Everywhere Now.

I have no idea about might could but I sure know what a bama is.
posted by StopMakingSense at 1:06 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yes, Massachusetts gets "wicked".
posted by gingerbeer at 1:08 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

> My office is blocking this. Please tell me Massachusetts has "wicked" and/or "pissah".

It's "wicked"
posted by noneuclidean at 1:08 PM on September 2, 2015

ayeah, wicked
posted by probably not that Karen Blair at 1:08 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Usage of cattywampus: Wrong.
Usage of tump: Wrong.
Universality of 'hella': Wrong.
Usage of 'whistle pig': Wrong if they think Idahoans figure a way to work it into everyday conversation.
Definition of 'Hoosier,' correct. Usage of Hoosier: Desperate.
Spelling/pronunciation of 'Ayuh': Debatable; see 'Ayup.'
Runza: Also the name of a restaurant chain, hello.

What am I doing oh my god that list is so stupid
posted by mudpuppie at 1:10 PM on September 2, 2015 [8 favorites]

No really the desperate attempts to make the usage examples rhyme is making me both sad for the writer and really, really angry at the same time.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:12 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Lived in Ohio for twenty years, never heard carry-in a single time.

Lived in Illinois for over ten years, never heard grabowski a single time.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 1:13 PM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]

I don't know about any of you, but I lived in Oklahoma for nineteen years and never once heard mention of a "quakenado." You can't just mash two common natural disasters and pretend it's a Southern word.
posted by brecc at 1:13 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

"yinz"?

"YINZ?"

This jawn will not fucking stand.
posted by SansPoint at 1:14 PM on September 2, 2015 [20 favorites]

I've lived in the greater Puget Sound area (as far north as Lake Stevens and as far south as Tacoma) for 26 years and this is the first time I have ever heard the phrase "jumble sale".
posted by Snacks at 1:15 PM on September 2, 2015 [12 favorites]

kybo .. it isn't a port-a-potty, its any potty..

keep
your
bowels
oopen
posted by k5.user at 1:16 PM on September 2, 2015

Gaaaah!!! Re: Mess (West Virginia). Yes, mess used as a collective noun for foodstuffs, but banana bread is not one of those foodstuffs. You can cook up a mess of fish, or a mess of greens, but no one would ever claim to have cooked up a mess of banana breads. Come on!

I revoke this writer's credentials. All of them.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:17 PM on September 2, 2015 [12 favorites]

Specifically, "hella" is an East Bay thing.

I often have to remind myself that not everyone calls them "jo jo's".

And, I've never heard anyone here use the term "Jumble Sale"
posted by humboldt32 at 1:17 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think "by accident" vs. "on accident" is a temporal divide rather than geographical -- my sense is that the line is right around the late 30s, younger being more likely to say "on accident".
posted by katemonster at 1:18 PM on September 2, 2015

"yinz"?

"YINZ?"

This jawn will not fucking stand.

I would have gone with "Redd Up" for Pennsylvania.
posted by dortmunder at 1:19 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

Lifelong Ohio resident, had no idea what a carry-in was. More than just that, I spent my entire childhood going to at least one pot-luck a month. And even on Google so far I can't find a single example of someone using it who's actually in the state of Ohio. What I've found so far is Missouri and Wyoming.

However, in NE Ohio, I definitely know what jo-jos are, and I don't know what else you'd call them because they aren't the same as any other kind of fried potatoes.
posted by Sequence at 1:19 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

I like how Chris Onstad is our way of externally validating California-isms
posted by dismas at 1:19 PM on September 2, 2015 [8 favorites]

I don't know about any of you, but I lived in Oklahoma for nineteen years and never once heard mention of a "quakenado."

Oh thank God.

Usage of tump: Wrong.
In what way? "Tump" was one of those words that I grew up with on the West Coast without realizing that it was a regional thing, and their usage here didn't seem too off. My mom would usually caution me not to let something "tump over," like a full blender on the counter or something like that.
posted by redsparkler at 1:19 PM on September 2, 2015

i'm from connecticut and the fuck is a glawackus?
posted by Solon and Thanks at 1:19 PM on September 2, 2015 [7 favorites]

Also my grandmother (and late mother) lived either in or a mile away from Kansas for most of their lives and I never heard either one of them say 'shucky darn.' I do believe if you said 'shucky darn' in Kansas you'd get your ass kicked.
posted by dismas at 1:21 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

So Virginia's slang term is "might could?" Do what now?
posted by infinitewindow at 1:21 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

i'm from connecticut and the fuck is a glawackus?

A hodag that moved east and got a job at Merrill Lynch?
posted by Bromius at 1:21 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Yeah, I'm a Seattle native and have never heard of "jumble sale" until now, pretty sure Slate's just making shit up.
posted by drinkyclown at 1:22 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Maryland's is "hon". Yep, that's about right.

Maybe if you're from Balmer, hon. If Maryland really had an official word it should be "taxes" or "fees".
posted by Rob Rockets at 1:24 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

dortmunder Pittsburghisms... *sigh*

Youse guys are outnumbered by us Philadelphians. Take the fries off your burgers and maybe you'll get a little more respect from us.

I kid, mostly. At least Pittsburgh is a bastion of civilization in a state that may as well be Alabama outside of the suburbs of Philly and Pittsburgh.
posted by SansPoint at 1:24 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

Specifically, "hella" is an East Bay thing.

Sorry Dude, San Francisco is just as "hella" as everyone else north of Bakersfield. Just own it.
posted by sideshow at 1:25 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is that really a regionalism?

Nah, not in recent decades, anyhow. This was obviously written by a fuckin' herb.
posted by RogerB at 1:25 PM on September 2, 2015

"Tump" was one of those words that I grew up with on the West Coast without realizing that it was a regional thing, and their usage here didn't seem too off. My mom would usually caution me not to let something "tump over," like a full blender on the counter or something like that.

Yes, but the usage example given is "We’re about to hit this bump, so hold your drink or it will tump." Tumping isn't as passive as that.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:26 PM on September 2, 2015

Missouri's should be Hoosier (other definition.)
posted by saul wright at 1:26 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Gotta love how the author goes out of his way not to offend the state of Indiana, but has no problem giving Iowa a slang word synonymous with shit-hole.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 1:26 PM on September 2, 2015

Surely NH deserves wicked. "Poky?"
posted by ChuraChura at 1:27 PM on September 2, 2015

For all of you complainers, from TFA:

Before turning to the map, please allow us to briefly note the following: First, our selections are not put forth as the definitive “right answer” in each case, but rather represent our favorite word from among several worthy choices.

And

We stand by our picks. But if you’ve lived in Kansas for 75 years and have never heard anyone say “shucky darn,” or you grew up in Mississippi and have no idea what “nabs” are, by all means be heard. Of course, there are some things that we feel strongly about. For instance, we will shed no tears for Southern California on the whole “hella” thing. (No SoCal word beats it. End of story.)

I had never heard, but love, Sourdough.

I get that Aloha is a regionalism, but how can it be considered slang? It's a word in Hawaiian.

Southern Californians, what would your suggestion? Is it really more ridiculous than Hella? It lead to the hellagram for crying out loud!
posted by ActingTheGoat at 1:27 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Yeah, I'm a Seattle native and have never heard of "jumble sale" until now, pretty sure Slate's just making shit up.

I am imagining a fact checker calling Dan Savage, and he just uttered the first two words that came to mind in order to get off the phone
posted by trunk muffins at 1:27 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

I lived the first 28 years of my life in Ohio and I don't know what a 'carry-in' is.
posted by Kwine at 1:27 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Sorry Dude, San Francisco is just as "hella" as everyone else north of Bakersfield.

Not thirty years ago when "hella" hadn't spread wide and far.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:28 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Sourdough is such a boring word for Alaska. There are so many others that would be more fun. Snow machine, skookum, cheechako, hoochinoo, etc, and that's just southeast.
posted by Foam Pants at 1:28 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Minnesota:
uff da (expression): a brief statement of surprise or disgust

Oh, fer...
posted by Hypatia at 1:29 PM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]

poky - I'm not sure I've heard that one before (with the meaning of "scary or eerie") and I've lived in NH for over 30 years, in several parts of the state.

ChuraChura - I'm with you on "wicked". I'm pretty sure they could have come up with something else for Massachusetts.

My Vermont friends totally say "creemee" though, so that pans out.
posted by dweingart at 1:30 PM on September 2, 2015

These lists usually have something to infuriate Minnesotans, but I'm pretty sure I remember my grandparents actually saying "Uff Da."
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:30 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think "by accident" vs. "on accident" is a temporal divide rather than geographical -- my sense is that the line is right around the late 30s, younger being more likely to say "on accident".

I buy this. My teenager says "on accident" but my husband and I both say "by accident".
posted by Lucinda at 1:30 PM on September 2, 2015

TYME Machine for WI? Come on, that's just the name of some company's thing. I am disappoint.
posted by augustimagination at 1:31 PM on September 2, 2015

I don't really hear "hon" that often except for one or two friends who call their SO that. I also hang around DC a lot and hear "bama" there less than I do in MD. Per the explanatory section of the article I know they're playing it fast and loose, but these bamas might could of find some hella better words
posted by numaner at 1:31 PM on September 2, 2015

"On accident" grated on me for a while until I realized that we don't say "by purpose."
posted by griphus at 1:31 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

If I live in NY but am from MA can I just say, with great sarcasm, that this list is mad wicked?
posted by sciencegeek at 1:32 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

They nailed Wisconsin. Really. It took me half a decade living out East before I got out of the habit of calling all ATMs "Time Machines*"

It did make me more exotic in college, however: "I feel like doing something fun tonight, is there a time machine around here?" or "Dammit, I would love some pizza, but I can't find a time machine."

*TYME ("Take Your Money Everywhere") were the first ATMs in SE Wisconsin.
posted by blahblahblah at 1:33 PM on September 2, 2015 [14 favorites]

I've only ever heard Christmas used as an adjective, not a noun, and only when ordering in restaurants. Also to describe chile as a 'mix' is bad and wrong.
posted by PMdixon at 1:33 PM on September 2, 2015

To throw my 2 cents into the "on accident"/"by accident", I don't think I've ever heard either. It was always "accidentally" around me.
posted by SansPoint at 1:33 PM on September 2, 2015

Louisiana here. Family's been here 230 years. Got kinfolk all over the state.

Never once heard 'banquette'.
posted by The Giant Squid at 1:34 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

This kind of study seems really silly to me, because a word that is super-unique may not in fact be widely used or characteristic. The only Minnesotans I've ever heard say "uff da" were purposely imitating Lake Wobegon Days, for instance. Sure, no one in Texas says it, but hardly anyone here does either. It's a methodology that doesn't actually tell you what it implies it's telling you.

I'd say that "for" as an intensifier might be a candidate - "oh, for cute!", "oh, for nice!". "You betcha" is more plausible than "uff da".

But actually, I bet the most unique language in Minnesota is some expression in Hmong, Lakota or Somali. There's probably far more people using unusual Hmong expressions than saying "uff da".

People think of Minnesota as a very white/US-born state, and a lot of the state is that way. But we have lots of indigenous communities, lots of Hmong people and lots of Somali people, and those people are just as much Minnesotan as someone of Norwegian descent.
posted by Frowner at 1:37 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

A recent transplant pointed out to me that folks here in Washington use the word "gal", a lot.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:37 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Pennsylvania is "Yinz," which, if you'll notice the note at bottom, this was made with the assistance of a Carnegie Mellon student! Plus writer Malady is wearing a Pirates hat in his twitter pic! Eastern PA and "jawn" or "Fire Chip Kelly" or "is a hot dog a sandwich?" were robbed!

I don't really think this, but I relish any opportunity to be a Slate article truther.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 1:37 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

(And, I mean, lots of people of other backgrounds who are also very Minnesotan, but I was thinking of large communities with unique-to-Minnesota language use.)
posted by Frowner at 1:38 PM on September 2, 2015

Hate to break it to you humboldt32, but sometimes things can change over the course of thirty years. Including slang.
posted by DrAmerica at 1:38 PM on September 2, 2015

They nailed Wisconsin. Really. It took me half a decade living out East before I got out of the habit of calling all ATMs "Time Machines*"

Fair enough. As a current WI resident but not a native, I don't currently hear anyone I know say this enough for me to feel like it counts as slang, although I do see them (the TYME machines themselves) around in the occasional gas station. Makes sense that it was more common back when they were introduced.
posted by augustimagination at 1:39 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

is nobody going to mention how awful "chughole" sounds
posted by burgerrr at 1:40 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Runza: Also the name of a restaurant chain, hello.

Fun Runza fact (Funza fact?): Runzas are these very dense, piping hot bricks of bread, ground beef, and cabbagem, and they used to sell Runzas in the stands at Cornhusker football games. On very cold gamedays, it used to be pretty common practice to buy a couple of runzas and stick 'em down your pants to keep you warm.

You would, of course, fish them out later and eat them. But at any given time, a nonzero percentage of the stadium had fast food down their pants.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 1:41 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

Never once heard 'banquette'.

It's french, it means "bench" or "seat".
posted by phoque at 1:41 PM on September 2, 2015

Indiana should have gotten "coke." As in: "Hey, you want a coke?" "Yeah." "What kind?" "Mountain Dew."
posted by pmdboi at 1:42 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

As a cartographer and all around geo-grump, this is actually the least offensive What's Your State's [suoperlative adjective] [characteristic]? maps I've seen in a while. And the map itself is very pretty.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 1:42 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Hate to break it to you humboldt32, but sometimes things can change over the course of thirty years. Including slang.

You don't have to break anything to me. I was talking about the phrase's origins. Pardon my poor phrasing.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:42 PM on September 2, 2015

everybody had matching towels "Fire Chip Kelly" doesn't count, because anyone who's the damn coach of the Eagles is going to get that. I would, however, approve of "djeetyet" being put under consideration.
posted by SansPoint at 1:43 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Usage of "wicked" = partially wrong. I've never heard a New Englander use it as an adjective as in that example.
posted by that's candlepin at 1:43 PM on September 2, 2015

I called both Vermont and Maine before I opened the list. Vermont's I'm 100% behind. Creemee is such a much better term for it than soft serve. Especially Maple creemees.

Maine though. Ayuh doesn't exist. It's like 80s Chris Claremont writing the dialog of an X-Man from Maine. Say "yes" or "yeah" or "yup" without moving your mouth or tongue. That's the word. That's all it is. It's not it's own thing, it's just a grunted affirmative.
posted by The Man from Lardfork at 1:46 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

My family has been in Atlanta since the Terminus days and I say Catywampus quite a bit. Of course, I'm the only person I know in Ga who SAYS Catywampus but it is in my vernacular. Handy word.
posted by pearlybob at 1:52 PM on September 2, 2015

Southern Californians, what would your suggestion? Is it really more ridiculous than Hella?

You have to ask?!

Dude.

Dude!

Dude, the word can only be "dude." There's no other slang word that we will accept as ours. Slate is Wrong.™


I stand ready to take on unbelievers and infidel defilers.
posted by culfinglin at 1:58 PM on September 2, 2015 [13 favorites]

Louisiana should have been "neutral ground" for the strip of grass down the middle of the road. Used everywhere by everyone here and nowhere else. 50 years and lots of business interactions all over the state and I've never heard banquette.
posted by Bringer Tom at 2:00 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

For Hawaii, it should be "da kine."

"Da kine" is an all purpose phrase whose meaning changes depending on context. This is a reasonably good primer on how it can be used.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:04 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Why would people complain about jughandles? Do you really want to turn left across New Jersey traffic?
posted by graymouser at 2:07 PM on September 2, 2015

agreed that "dude" is a much more universal californian slang term than hella! i'm norcal born and raised and say dude allllll the time - i start way too many sentences with it - and hardly ever say hella
posted by burgerrr at 2:10 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Texas gets "hoss"? I'm fixin to declare this pinche list completely useless.

No one in North Texas says Hoss...at least not on a daily basis. I guess I've heard some West Texas folks say it sometimes...like very very rarely. I hate to say it, but Texas is by far a "Y'all" state. I hear it everywhere constantly in every situation...non-stop.
posted by Benway at 2:14 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

"CACKALACKY" is a name for North Carolina? I lived in Greenville for years and have family elsewhere in the state and I've never heard that word. Slate must be trolling.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:16 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Naw, there's even a beer here named Cackalacky. I usually hear it in the diminutive "Cackalack."
posted by Stewriffic at 2:19 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I'm a Seattle native and have never heard of "jumble sale" until now, pretty sure Slate's just making shit up.

Jumble Sale is a British English phrase for 'Rummage Sale'
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:20 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Quakenado" for Oklahoma? Seriously? I'll concede that it's unique to the state, but it's referring to that time we had a magnitude 4.7 earthquake and an EF4 tornado hit the same day back in 2011. It's not like everyone walks around talking about it all the time.

If they were going to pick a silly Facebook meme, couldn't they at least have gone for "Tigernado" (referring to a tornado earlier this year that hit a wild animal sanctuary and allegedly let some tigers free) instead? That's way stranger and funnier than quakenado.
posted by dislegomena at 2:20 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

For Hawaii, it should be "da kine."

"Shoots" as a runner-up.
posted by a halcyon day at 2:22 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

I see that no one from Michigan is objecting to yooper.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:31 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

As a kid growing up in RI, I said "wicked" a lot more than I said "cabinet."
posted by Biblio at 2:31 PM on September 2, 2015

I say "uff da"! Not super frequently, but I definitely say it, usually without even realizing it. I therefore approve of this map.

Though I'd agree with Frowner that "you betcha" is way more widespread. Another thing (and I have no idea if this is a Minnesota thing or not) is people tacking "then" onto the end of a sentence. They did this in Fargo (the movie) a lot too. "So, how ya doing, then?" "What do ya think, then?"
posted by triggerfinger at 2:31 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

A Glawackus hails/hailed from Glastonbury, possibly in the Nayaug district (the "51st State"), possibly within eyeshot of the "On this site / 357 years ago / nothing happened" roadside marker. It would sneak up to someone walking alone at night, spin a complicated yarn, and then ask the listener for tree fiddy.

TFA sounds a lot like the NYT "Grunge Speak" piece.
posted by kurumi at 2:33 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also, I love "wicked". I seem to remember it being popular slang in the 80's/early 90's and then I never really heard it anymore until I moved to Liverpool, where they use it a lot. I'm trying my best to bring it back into more general usage here in the upper midwest.
posted by triggerfinger at 2:35 PM on September 2, 2015

Everybody says dude. That's like saying California's slang word is burrito.
posted by saul wright at 2:37 PM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]

Another Texan who's lived almost all her life in the great state and while I do hear "hoss" occasionally, it is for the beast one rides and not for a fellow human.
posted by immlass at 2:38 PM on September 2, 2015

Yeah, I know quite a few Minnesotans who say uff da, like, not as a joke. Including little kids, which is utterly hilarious.
posted by gerstle at 2:39 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Everyone uses Dude because California slang spreads much more easily than other slang. No one's writing scripts and making movies full of local Boise City slang.
posted by downtohisturtles at 2:40 PM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

> I used to hear banquette used in NOLA, but years ago. I would have plumped for "neutral ground" as the Lousiana entry myself.

Born and raised in New Orleans, and at least once a year I read some article about us and our crazy slang. “Neutral ground” and “po’ boy” are the only entries on such lists that I’ve ever heard more than one New Orleanian use in a non-ironic context. The rest of them are just things that assholes put on tourist tchotchke refrigerator magnets.
posted by savetheclocktower at 2:41 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

dortmunder: "I would have gone with "Redd Up" for Pennsylvania."

That's still a Western PA-ism. You'll still hear crying from the wudder icers out east.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:43 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Gotta bring up re: wicked: from what I recall growing up in Mass it was *always* used as an adverb, never as an adjective like it's used in England. E.g., "that chowder is wicked good!" sounds right to these Masshole ears whereas "that chowder is wicked!" sounds like someone from England, or someone from Nebraska trying to sound like they're from Mass. Do people in / from Mass really use it as an adjective?
posted by lazywhinerkid at 2:47 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Can I merge two words for the Great State (and city) of New York?
Online

We New Yorkers were online before anyone else, in fact, before there were even computers.

A lot better than mad which was slang that died about a decade ago.
posted by xetere at 2:47 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Ayuh doesn't exist. […] Say "yes" or "yeah" or "yup" without moving your mouth or tongue. That's the word. That's all it is. It's not its own thing, it's just a grunted affirmative.

It could be an orthographic regionalism anyhow, though, right? As in, a conventionalized written representation of speech that's specific to the region? Plus, "ayuh" arguably is a genuine regional word anyhow, inasmuch as people's grunts of affirmation actually are rendered somewhat differently outside New England — less tight-jawedly, for instance, or without the initial vowel, or with a consonant instead of the glottal stop at the end (is that optional? I've never been sure). And "ayuh" is a pretty reasonable phonetic rendering of a genuinely rural-New England-specific form of affirmative grunt. Or it is to my ear, anyhow; and Dialect Blog seems to think so too.
posted by RogerB at 2:53 PM on September 2, 2015

"Uff-da" gets more common the further away from Minneapolis you get. My sister recently had to explain to one of her daycare moms (from El Salvador I think) why her toddler was saying "uff-da" and what it meant.
posted by superna at 2:54 PM on September 2, 2015 [5 favorites]

Native Coloradan's defining linguistic is having at least one ellipsis per three sentences. Just a long pause somewhere in the middle of a sentence.

It drives folks from New Jersey absolutely insane.
posted by underflow at 3:00 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ditka had the Grabowski Shuffle thing back in the 80s. That's the only reference I know of to that word.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:04 PM on September 2, 2015

They have a Runza cannon at Huaker football games. It can shoot pretty far.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:07 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Dude.

Dude!

Dude, the word can only be "dude."

Dude, totally! Right?
posted by doctor_negative at 3:14 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Massachusetts native here - "wicked" in the slang sense is only used as an intensifier.

Their example makes no sense at all, and leaves the ultimate meaning wide open. People here would be asking "Well? Wicked what?".

"That Broadway play was wicked [ ]!"

* good
* long
* boring
* awesome
* loud
* funny
* sad
* historical
* edgy
* overhyped
* alliterative

etc.
posted by current resident at 3:28 PM on September 2, 2015 [9 favorites]

I say uff da non-ironically and frequently.
posted by Elly Vortex at 3:31 PM on September 2, 2015

Everybody I know who moved to Northern California and immediately started letting us know how dumb and awful they find "hella" started using it liberally in their everyday conversations within less than a year.

Yes, "hell of" is an Onstadian rendering of "hella."
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:43 PM on September 2, 2015

Dude, the word can only be "dude." There's no other slang word that we will accept as ours.

Dude, I hella get where you're coming from and you had me convinced until I read saul wright's burrito hypothesis 10 seconds later.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 3:43 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Native Californian here. I nominate "the freeway." I didn't know this was a regional thing until I moved to NC where nobody prefaces "interstate" or (number interstate) with "the." So you just say, 'Take 440 and get off on Poole." "We are off I-90."

Also in 15 years of living in NC I've never heard "Cacalacky" but I hear "might could" on a daily basis.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:44 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm in NC and I hear Cackalacky here sometimes, but usually kind of ironically. It's like a tourist word that no one would actually use to talk about the state.

As a born & bred Texan I agree that "Hoss" is clearly wrong, and 23skiddo's and Benway's suggestions of fixin' to, pinche and y'all are a million times better.

I do say cattywampus, which I learned from my Alabama-born mom, so that one might be legit.
posted by aka burlap at 3:49 PM on September 2, 2015

Native Californian here. I nominate "the freeway." I didn't know this was a regional thing until I moved to NC where nobody prefaces "interstate" or (number interstate) with "the." So you just say, 'Take 440 and get off on Poole." "We are off I-90."

Actually, that's a great one for SoCal, "The 405" is pretty much a shibboleth for picking out Angelenos.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 3:49 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

*froths*

Dude, it is not our fault that everyone watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Big Lebowski.
posted by culfinglin at 3:51 PM on September 2, 2015

I was telling some friends from Toronto about California’s amusing "the [interstate]" usage and they said "Why's that funny?" Apparently it's a Toronto thing, too.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:56 PM on September 2, 2015

i'm from connecticut and the fuck is a glawackus?

A Nutmegger in the author's office made that up, I'm sure. I'd like to think that that's what I would do. I suggest that the proper entry for Connecticut should be "Masshole." (Seriously, those shiny things on either side of your car aren't just there for checking your makeup or shaving.)
posted by dances with hamsters at 3:58 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

As a native Louisianian, I approve of "neutral ground".

I lived four years in the Twin Cities and heard (and used) "oh, fer" and "then" much more than "uff-da", but I think that's largely an urban-rural split. I know people who do use it frequently.

Finally, as a twelve-years-and-counting resident of Maryland I figured it would be "hon", but there seems to be a big age gap there: older Marylanders use it much more than younger ones. I guess "shorebilly" would upset too many people. ;-)
posted by wintermind at 4:00 PM on September 2, 2015

the [highway/interstate/whatever] usage seems pretty local to southern california! i find myself using it for ones that go between southern and northern california - like the 101 or the 5 - but ones pretty much contained in northern california, like 80, 880 and 280, don't get "the" in front of them
posted by burgerrr at 4:11 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

'Whirlygust' for Tennessee? This is a big state with lots of regional variation in dialect, but I'd wager that few Tennesseans have so pined for a diminutive nickname for tornadoes that they made one up.

harrumph.
posted by workerant at 4:21 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yes, kind of surprising they went with "Grabowski" for Illinois. That was a Ditka-ism from the '80s. "You guys" would have been a safer bet.

And in Kentucky, it has to be "do what now?"
posted by SteveInMaine at 4:28 PM on September 2, 2015

Pennsylvania should have been Hoagie.
posted by ThreeCatsBob at 4:33 PM on September 2, 2015

In Pennsylvania, I've never heard "Yinz". It's always you-uns. Said as a two syllable word.
posted by ThreeCatsBob at 4:37 PM on September 2, 2015

As a Texas ex-pat, I think Hoss is a decent enough pick. It reminds me of the kicker* wanna-be cowboys in high school who live for 4-H and the rodeo and having their own ranch. The people who have tried to distill what it is to be Texan.

It's not popular in Texas, but it's very Texan. fixin' to is a bit more of our Southern roots. Pinche our Mexican. y'all is now too damn American.

*kicker might also be distinctly texan, though I'm open to arguments. Similar to redneck, but without the class connotations.
posted by politikitty at 4:56 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Dude. Hella?
posted by Room 641-A at 4:56 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Dude. This list is hella messed up. I had to scroll down to the bottom to see if 'jumble sale' means what I think it means. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Island County, WA. My auntie in Seattle was *the* garage sale queen. It was always a yard sale or a garage sale. If you wanted to be seriously fucking quaint it would be a 'rummage sale.' I have never, to my knowledge, ever heard anyone use the phrase 'jumble sale.'
posted by cult_url_bias at 5:08 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

I distinctly remember being confused by "yinz" one year at Pennsic coming from a local. So at least one person has indeed heard it from a Pennsylvanian.
posted by zug at 5:13 PM on September 2, 2015

Lived in Seattle for ten years and never heard jumble sale. Lived in Ohio for 22 Years and never heard carryin.

What is truth? What is real?

I have no answer
posted by Tevin at 5:15 PM on September 2, 2015

I laughed out loud when I got to Wisconsin. Perfect. If you live in WI and you don't hear "tyme machine" that much, you're just not old enough to remember when they were ubiquitous. If they did this by metro area then "bubbler" would be Milwaukee's winner by a longshot.
posted by desjardins at 5:20 PM on September 2, 2015

Pennsylvania is "Yinz," which, if you'll notice the note at bottom, this was made with the assistance of a Carnegie Mellon student!

I distinctly remember being confused by "yinz" one year at Pennsic coming from a local.

Must be a Pittsburgh thing. Like putting french fries in your salad.
posted by ThreeCatsBob at 5:23 PM on September 2, 2015

My observations is that Pgh proper is more "yinz"; you get more into yunz and yu-unz out in the rural areas.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:31 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Michigan: yuppitykins
Ohio: landfillin'
Maryland: shore cheese
Kentucky: horse creme with a fizz
Tennessee: Dolby glazed
Utah: meroman flour
Texas: hornin' for summer
Florida: peninsularly
Wisconsin: you betcherful
Alabama: red dirt pie
New Hampshire: kneeknobbed
New Jersey: exitteering
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:40 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

I agree with the pick for Oregon. They're jojos. Do people not call them jojos?
posted by sweetmarie at 6:21 PM on September 2, 2015

SteveInMaine: "Yes, kind of surprising they went with "Grabowski" for Illinois. That was a Ditka-ism from the '80s. "You guys" would have been a safer bet."

Or ending sentences with prepositions, or adding an apostrophe-s to all store names -- "Are you going by the Barnes and Noble's today?" "Naw, I thought I'd go to the Jewel's."

I haven't heard grabowski in years, and it was primarily teasingly applied to little boys with bad table manners. "Hey, quit reaching across the table, you grabowski, and ask your sister to pass the mustard!" "Why're you holding your forks like a bunch of grabowskis?" But having been reminded of it imma work it into conversation repeatedly.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:58 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also, I did hear "cackalacky" a few times in NC, but for my money the best Carolina-ism is "mash on" the button. You get in an elevator and everyone's like, "Could you mash on 5 for me?" Or you call tech support and they say, "Okay, mash on the mouse button ..." "Oh, shit, I mashed on the space bar."
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:02 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

I say Uff Da fairly often, but the correct answer for Minnesota is "gray duck"
posted by TheShadowKnows at 7:08 PM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

I have lived in Virginia 32 of my 40 years, I have never heard might could, but we I have heard bama a lot.
posted by SuzySmith at 7:24 PM on September 2, 2015

Whoa, I picked up hella in Maryland, I think, of all places. I picked up "wicked" from Ace, but tend to use "shiny" now. I get about half my slang from the media I consume, which means I barely avoided using shade the other day at an inappropriate time and when excited I am prone to tumbrisms. I have picked up "the 101" and I definitely use dude, but I think I used dude for a long time.
posted by Deoridhe at 7:30 PM on September 2, 2015

Confirming cattywompus for Alabama, although I would have chosen fixin, as in, "we're fixin to go to Piggly Wiggly, y'all need anything?" Also to Florida's; it's not a toad strangler, it's a frog strangling clod dissolver.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 7:34 PM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Shucky darn? What the what?

No. In 28 years of living in Kansas, and 20-some more visiting there, I have never once in my life heard someone say "shucky darn" with the possible exception of Opie on the teevee.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 8:09 PM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

I agree that "mash the button" is common in NC. Never knew it was regional. Also heard "fixin to", "might could", and "mess of" plenty. Those are generally Southern as far as I can tell.

Not really slang, but I still get thrown off when I hear people call a cookout or a grill a"barbecue". Barbecue is a food. But that probably holds in other parts of the south too.
posted by scose at 8:18 PM on September 2, 2015

This listicle is pretty wizard.

What? Nobody says that anymore?
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:20 PM on September 2, 2015

In Arkansas in the 70s, when you swang too high on the swingset in the backyard and the legs started pulling out of the ground, you had to slow down so the swingset didn't tump over.

I remember shucky darn from Kansas in the 80s, but as a dorky thing that my parents said.
posted by bendy at 8:24 PM on September 2, 2015

It literally just occurred to me that my North Carolina friends were always trying to get me to say "Cackalacky" because they found the way I say "short a" (Chicago-style) both hilarious and ridiculous. I was mostly wise to their tricks so when they'd try to get me to say local place names for no reason but to mock my accent I could smile and refuse but SON OF A BITCH!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:33 PM on September 2, 2015

shucky god-dang darn
posted by jason_steakums at 8:46 PM on September 2, 2015

they'd try to get me to say local [NC] place names

Conetoe. The accent is on the middle syllable. Yep, it has three.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:49 PM on September 2, 2015

Georgia
dingnation (noun): damnation, hell

I'm from South Carolina and have lived in Georgia over twenty years. I've traveled everywhere in the South and make my living listening to people talk.

I have never heard this word before today.
posted by rock swoon has no past at 9:40 PM on September 2, 2015

HELLA HELLA HELLA HELLA HELLA

but seriously, why this word when it sounds more SoCal than NorCal?
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:13 PM on September 2, 2015

Hella, dude, bro, totes, whatevs, and totally are all tied for Things Californians say, IMO.
posted by Hermione Granger at 11:20 PM on September 2, 2015

It literally just occurred to me that my North Carolina friends were always trying to get me to say "Cackalacky" because they found the way I say "short a" (Chicago-style) both hilarious and ridiculous.

We moved to LA from Brooklyn after 2nd grade, and the first few months of third grade kids were always asking me to say "because" and now I'm laughing thinking about little Room 641-A walking around sounding like Linda Richman. They weren't mean, though, I think I was just a novelty act since a lot of the kids probably hadn't heard a NY accent before.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:51 AM on September 3, 2015

Re: "hella" - I don't think they're saying it's universally Californian, but rather distinctly Californian. "Hella" is most definitely from California and no where else.

Everyone knows that the most universally Californian word is "omgthatsnothowyoumakeguacamole"
posted by like_neon at 4:59 AM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think I was just a novelty act since a lot of the kids probably hadn't heard a NY accent before.

my terrible friend from pensacola thinks i have the broadest most hilarious noo yawk accent since fran fine, i think one time she cried because of the way i say florida.
posted by poffin boffin at 5:06 AM on September 3, 2015

(i sound much more like linda belcher than fran fine tho)
posted by poffin boffin at 5:11 AM on September 3, 2015

While we're on the subject of accents: many years ago, before I became a naturalized Minnesotan, I had a very mild Chicago-area accent. I didn't grow up in the city, so it was pretty much just the sort of nasal, emphatic "a" sounds that you hear when people say "Chicahgo".

Many people here thought I was from New York City, New York.
posted by Frowner at 5:12 AM on September 3, 2015

I've lived in NC since 1973 and half my family is from the mountains and I went to giant reunions every summer for like 20 years. I never heard "Cackalacky" until I started seeing a BBQ sauce called that around 10 years ago. Now I see CACKALACKY bumper stickers all over the place as well, but I never heard this word a single time growing up. I call SHENANIGANS!
posted by freecellwizard at 6:12 AM on September 3, 2015

I'm from Kentucky and I live in Kentucky, and I've never heard the word "chughole".
posted by Billiken at 7:05 AM on September 3, 2015

I thought a "bama" was a poorly dressed/obvious Southerner who had just come to Washington DC.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 7:33 AM on September 3, 2015

That's what I thought, too; as in "(Ala)bama." A hick, a rube, a country person.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:25 AM on September 3, 2015

I'm from Iowa and have never in my life heard "kybo". I was interested to see that Alabama got the word "cattywampus," though. When I lived in Virginia and Maryland and said "cattywampus," people would look at me like I was nuts. Interesting that Iowa and Alabama share slang.
posted by epj at 9:03 AM on September 3, 2015

My boss in the late 90s was an older fellow from Lancaster County, PA and he used cattywumpus all the time.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:48 AM on September 3, 2015

"Snowbird" for AZ is pretty spot on. Except everyone (even the snowbirds!) use it, so it seems a bit odd to categorize it as slang.

I will say that using "the [highway/interstate/whatever]" is pretty much endemic among those born and raised in AZ. Just attempting to think the sentences "Get on 202 and head to I-10 to Phoenix" or "Take 101 south to Chandler" made my head hurt.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 11:42 AM on September 3, 2015

i think one time she cried because of the way i say florida.

Allriiiiiiiight!
posted by a halcyon day at 11:49 AM on September 3, 2015

"Wicked" probably originated in Mass, but now is in general use in New England and beyond.

THE Massachusetts word not found elsewhere is "pisser," pronounced, of course, as "pissah." It is a wonderfully ambiguous term, one that can signify positivity or negativity as necessary.

"Hawayah?"

"Just pissah."
posted by rdone at 12:05 PM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I thought a "bama" was a poorly dressed/obvious Southerner who had just come to Washington DC.

It is a term used only by people who are now the height of sophistication, having come from Alabama six months ago.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 12:21 PM on September 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

5th generation Floridian. Lived here 49 years and have never, ever heard the phrase "toad strangler".
posted by hollygoheavy at 12:41 PM on September 3, 2015

I'm amused that Washington state gets the British "jumble sale" that I've never heard anyone in real life use anywhere*, but Maryland not only gets "hon", a totally normal word, but also gives as an example a lyric by a Seattle artist.

* I know the meaning from a book I read set in the UK. It's the only time I've ever seen it. I don't even know if it's commonly used in the UK.
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:46 PM on September 3, 2015

I don't even know if it's commonly used in the UK.

It's a common enough term... but jumble sales themselves have kind of gone out of fashion since the rise of charity shops.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:07 AM on September 4, 2015