Window on Bawstin
For those of you who haven't been to"Bawstin", this one's for you. Hope you will consider coming to "Beantown" in the near future...
Information on Boston and the surrounding area:
There's no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on Water Street. Back Bay streets are in alphabetical "oddah": Arlington , Berkeley , Clarendon, Dartmouth , etc. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D, etc. If the streets are named after trees (e.g. Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets, you're in Wellesley. Massachusetts Avenue is Mass Ave; Commonwealth Avenue is Comm Ave; South Boston is Southie. The South End is the South End. East Boston is Eastie. The North End is east of the former West End. The West End and Scollay Square (of tin pan alley and burlesque house fame) are no more; a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night. Roxbury is The Burry, Jamaica Plain is J.P.
How to say these Massachusetts city names correctly:
**Say it wrong, be shunned**
Worcester: Wuhsta (or Woostah)
Gloucester : Glawsta
Leicester Lesta
Woburn : Woobin
Dedham : Dead-um
Revere : Ra-vee-ah
Quincy : Quinzee
Tewksbury : Tooks berry
Leominster : Lemin-sta
Peabody : Pee-ba-dee
Waltham : Walth-ham
Chatham : Chaddum
Somerset: Som-oh-set or Sum-aw-set but nevah Summerset!
Bawstin Definitions:
Frappes have ice cream, milkshakes don't.
If it is fizzy and flavored, it's tonic.
Soda is CLUB SODA.
"Pop" is DAD.
When we want Tonic WATER, we will ask for TONIC WATER.
The smallest beer is a pint.
Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish. If you paid more than $7/pound, you got scrod..
It's not a water fountain; it's a bubblah.
It's not a trashcan; it's a barrel.
It's not a spucky, a hero or grinder,... it's a sub.
It's not a shopping cart; it's a carriage.
It's not a purse; it's a pockabook.
They're not franks; they're haht dahgs; Franks are money in Switzahland.
Police don't drive patrol units or black and whites they drive a "crooza".
If you take the bus, your on the "looza crooza".
It's not a rubber band, it's an elastic.
It's not a traffic circle, it's a rotary.
"Going to the islands" means Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket.
The Sox = The Red Sox
The C's = The Celtics
The B's = The Bruins
The Pat's =The Patriots
Things not to do in Bawstin:
Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd .. They'll tow it to Meffa ( Medford ) or Summahville (Somerville) ..
Don't sleep on the Common. ( Boston Common)
Don't wear Orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.
Things you should know:
There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses, two Hancock buildings
(one old, one new for each).
The colored lights on top the old Hancock building tell the weatha':
"Solid blue, clear view...."
"Flashing blue, clouds due...."
"Solid red, rain ahead...."
"Flashing red, snow instead...." - except in summer; flashing red means the Red Sox game was rained out!
Most people live here all their life and still don't know what the hell is going on with this one.
Route 128 South is I-95 south.
It's also I-93 north.
The underground train is not a subway. It's the "T", and it doesn't run all night (fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk).
Order the "cold tea" in China Town after 2:00 am you'll get a kettle full of beer.
Bostonians.. .. Think that it's their God-given right to cut off someone in traffic.
Bostonians.. ...think that there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R's) except in "idea".
Bostonians.. ..think that three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heat wave.
Bostonians.. ..refer to six inches of snow as a "dusting."
Bostonians.. .always "bang a left" as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it.
Bostonians.. ..believe that using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
Bostonians.. .think that 63-degree ocean water is warm.
And for Phlab and Andy... Bostonians think Rhode Island accents are annoying.
😀
Originally posted by HandyAndyWonder if or to what extent spoken language accent informs or contours the expression
I don't have a Rhode Island accent.. I'm from Brooklyn.
of thought in written language (along with variant spelling or locale vocabulary per se).
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Originally posted by Grampy BobbyPeople from Boston tend to be more long-winded.
Wonder if or to what extent spoken language accent informs or contours the expression
of thought in written language (along with variant spelling or locale vocabulary per se).
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Originally posted by HandyAndyMulti-heritage, melting pot Boston accent ranks third most annoying, according to Molly Mann, NYC.
Heritage.
The long drawn out 'a' may possibly be the missing link supporting your assessment of 'wordiness'.
"3. Welcome tah Bahston
I love the Car Talk guys on National Public Radio, but I have one friend who just can’t listen to them because of their “obnoxious” accents. Tom and Ray Magliozzi are from Cambridge, “Mah,” and have the blue collar Boston accent that features a broad “a” and an inability to say the letter “r.” Though New England is a melting pot of Scot-Irish, German, Italian, and other immigrants, they all seem to have settled on the same accent as those who didn’t go to prep school, that is. Instead of, “Did you park the car in the garage?” they say, “Did you pahk the cah in the gahrahge?” Whereas Californians and Midwesterners skip lightly over their “a”s, for Bostonians, the “a” is a long, loud drawn out affair, and not a happy one."
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22361/91645-four-most-annoying-u-s--accents (with You Tube movie access)
Personal note: Much of my own Bawstin accent's been filtered and neutralized by extended residence in a half dozen other states, coast to coast and back again, since the decade of my thirties. Not totally, though. Still get, "By the way, where are you from?" (often from guys and gals who are also New England transplants with a story to tell). Friendly 10-15 minute conversations which ensue usually include agreement that, at least, we both had the good sense to sell our snow shovels and leave.
😉