My blog crush Adam G at Universalhub commented that he heard an older guy at Logan complain that he lived too far away to take the rattler to the airport. Rattler? Why, it's old school Boston slang for subway or streetcar of course. My dad, like so many upstanding South Shore rats, still uses this phrase fairly frequently. Then again, my dad also eats spuckies and becomes visibly upset if he forgets to DVR Saturday morning candlepin. It's definitely a generation thing.
While I grew up hearing phrases like b'dayduh (potato), spuckie (small sub), and "having a time" (going to a party), I generally avoid using them because quite frankly I get made fun of enough. A couple of other phrases you'd be hard pressed to hear in some of Boston's leafier suburbs:
Cahm Ya Livvah (calm your liver): Cool Your Jets
Basement: Synonym for bathroom. People actually use this phrase. Be cautious if a person over 70 comes to your home and asks for directions to the basement.
Garbage (not to be confused with Trash): Garbage is classified as stinky stuff that a modern day garbage disposal would take care of (eg: grease, vegetable peelings, etc). Trash is the non-stinky stuff (eg: paper, packaging, etc). Back in the day the city would have designated "garbage" and "trash" days and people were expected to know the difference. Of course growing up in the bucolic suburb of Stoughton my parents didn't have sewrage, so the tradition of seperating garbage and trash continues.
No Suh!: This is not a polite way of saying "no, sir" but really a polite way of saying "are you effing serious???". Big difference.
Rat: a fairly common phrase that I used earlier (eg: like so many upstanding South Shore rats). It's a borderline term of endearment to describe someone who is native to a particular geographic area (aka: a townie).
Tonic: When I waitressed the old folks would ask for tonic, which confused the hell out of me. Tonic is an old school term for soda (eg: Coke), but it also means tonic water, which apparently is not the same thing as seltzer. Luckily the place where I worked had a tonic button on the soda gun, which cut out a lot of the confusion. No need for anyone to cahm their livvah, at least when a smiling pahkcah02 was their waitress.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
My dad used "rattler" as well and "street car" was used instead of trolly. I took elocution lessons to rid myself of any Boston accent now I sound like a New Yorker. :)
Ha! I love it! I definitely use the "rat" (i.e. Bury rats) and "No sir!" Can't wait to use these phrases with you this weekend!
Got a good chuckle out of this post. I could hear you saying all these phrases with your cute little Boston accent.
"having a time" means having a benefit/fundraiser in these parts. In fact I'm going to a time tonight for a sick child.
Originally, you'd "throw a time" for someone who had passed away. It's a party to celebrate the person's life and raise money if their family needs help.
Today a time is any old fundraiser/benefit/party typically for a person in need (illness, fire displacement, ect).
Tell your father that he can watch Candlepin Challenge through Comcast On Demand. He doesn't need to set any DVR.
Post a Comment