Vocabulary meme!

[altivo]

Borrowed from corelog:

Where did you grow up: Southeastern Michigan, outside Detroit (Wayne and Oakland Counties) but relocated to Northeastern Illinois (Cook, Lake, McHenry Counties) in 1977 at age 27.

WHAT DO YOU CALL:

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
Creek. Pronounced to rhyme with "seek" rather than "sick".

2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
Cart but back in Michigan we often said "buggy."

3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
Lunch box. My father called it a "lunch pail." But I haven't seen a metal one in more than 20 years.

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
Skillet, but in Michigan we said "frying pan."

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
Sofa, but in Michigan we said "couch."

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
Gutter, but in Michigan we said "eaves trough."

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
Porch. Front, back or side, it's still a porch. Verandas are for snooty people.

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
Soda, but in Michigan we said "pop."

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
Pancakes.

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
Sub or submarine.

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
Swimsuit, swimming suit but in Michigan it was "swim trunks."

12. Shoes worn for sports.
Sneakers I guess. Or tennis shoes, though no one says that any more.

13. Putting a room in order.
Straightening up, unless you are removing dirt, in which case it becomes cleaning.

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
Wah-wah-tay-see. Little shining white fire insect. (Sorry, I couldn't resist. Firefly, of course.)

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
Sow bug now, "pill bug" in Michigan. (Not a "millipede" which is quite a different critter.)

16.The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
See-saw here, "teeter-totter" there. Not that you can find either one these days, what with lawsuits and fear of injuries and all that. They've all been removed from the playgrounds.

17. How do you eat your pizza?
With a fork if at all possible, because I'm picky about getting my hands messy.

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
Yard sale.

19. What's the evening meal?
Dinner now, but "supper" back in Michigan. Midday meal was a "dinner" in Michigan if it was hot food, but "lunch" if it was cold stuff like sandwiches or salad.

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
Cellar now, but "basement" in Michigan.

21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
Drinking fountain.

Aren't regional variants interesting? There are some significant differences here in a distance of just 300 miles or so.

Comments

[corelog.livejournal.com]

You fork your pizza? *snickers*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'm a fastidious horsey, yes.

Yukk.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Whinnyhi.

Where did you grow up: Montrose, Manitou Springs, Greely and Colorado Springs, CO, downtown Los Angeles, La Brea, Redondo Beach, CA, Washington DC, Penn Yan, NY, Tachikawa, Japan and La Paz, Bolivia.
WHAT DO YOU CALL:

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
Creek. Pronounced to rhyme with "seek" rather than "sick".

2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
Shopping cart.

3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
Lunch Pail

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
Skillet.

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
Couch

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
Gutter. Same with the side of the road where it meets the sidewalk.

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
Porch. Screened-in in NY.

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
Soda pop.

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
Pancakes. Not to be confused with the silverdollar-size ones I got once in Japan which are actually called "French pancakes". Flapjacks.

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
Grinder, hoagie.

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
Swim trunks.

12. Shoes worn for sports.
Sneakers I guess. Or tennis shoes, though no one says that any more.

13. Putting a room in order.
Straightening up, unless you are removing dirt, in which case it becomes cleaning.

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
Firefly

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
Pill bug.

16.The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
See-saw.

17. How do you eat your pizza?
With your hands of course. What are you crazy?

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
Yard sale or garage sale. Was always funny they called that a flea market in NY, although that usually involves multiple families at, say, a church or park.

19. What's the evening meal?
Dinner.

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
Basement.

21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
Drinking fountain.

Aren't regional variants interesting? There are some significant differences here in a distance of just 300 miles or so.

Since I grew up all over the world it is hard to figure out. Mostly from parental units but they also came from very different places. Kind of a combination of CO, CA and NY.

Impers

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Mmm, yeah baby, that's so good.. You know how I love to fork you, mmm yeah...

Point first

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Whinnyhaha.

When I asked Bear about how he eats his pizza, he replied "Point first."

AND neither Bear nor I EVER get our hands messy eating pizza slices by picking them up and eating them with our hands.

You must just be a messy eater. Typical equine. Grin.

Impers

Re: Point first

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I can eat my home made pizza with my hands, but usually I don't except for the crust edge (which I love, though many people throw it away.) Commercial pizza is usually much too runny and sticky with grease or oil though. I really dislike eating it with my fingers. Eeew.

See why I was never any good at mechanics?

Re: Yukk.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Your choices are mostly good for anywhere in the US west of Chicago and north or west of Texas and Oklahoma. The variations are much thinner after you cross the Mississippi, for lots of historical reasons. California, Arizona, and New Mexico have some Spanish influence though that isn't found in the central states.

"Hoagie" and "Grinder" are easternisms, the only clear ones you show.

The how to eat pizza question is probably less a geographic one than a generational one, I think. For regional specifics in pizza, I'd ask about preferred toppings, how it should be sliced, and crust styles. ;p

Thin crust cut in diamonds = east
Thicker crust cut in wedges = midwest
Anchovies = Michigan or points east
Pineapple = California

and so forth...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hmph. Dirty talk gets you nothing here, wuffy. XD

[corelog.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to be sure my joke was properly understood. *g*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh I understood and deliberately ignored it. ;p

[corelog.livejournal.com]

My apologies, then!

[chibiabos.livejournal.com]

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
The description is too vague, actually. I presume they mean a moving body of water, in which case it could be creek (which we pronounce either way), brook or stream. A pond or puddle would fit the bill as well, however.

2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
Cart, definitely.

3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
I've used both lunch box and lunch pail to describe it.


4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
Frying pan

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
Usually couch, but I've used sofa as well.

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
Gutter

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
Deck if its planked, patio if its bricked or concrete. Porch is generally reserved for a smaller deck at the front or main entrance to a house.

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
Soda, but have also referred to them as pop or even a "coke" (even when it wasn't Coca-Cola) when I was little.

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
Pancakes, or when I'm being playful, flapjacks.

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
Sub or Submarine Sandwich.

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
Swim trunks or shorts.

12. Shoes worn for sports.
Tennis shoes ... err, I still say that, sorry, 'Tivo. I rarely say sneakers.

13. Putting a room in order.
Picking up, cleaning up, organizing ... I've used all three.

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
Used to use lightning bug, now call 'em fireflies more. We don't have them around here, regardless, but did see some when I was living in Mississippi.

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
Potato bug

16.The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
Teeter-totter ... there are some around here, and I have to chuckle at the yellow caution signs on the streets that show a teeter-totter ... if someone is in the car with me, I usually remark "watch out for teeter-totters on the street!"

17. How do you eat your pizza?
I hold it at the crust end and eat it from the point back, and yes I always eat the crust. I sometimes gently curl back the point and/or allow the center of the slice to sag to help hold the toppings on.

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
Garage sale if it is in a garage, yard sale if in a yard, sidewalk sale if its on the sidewalk. We're more specific here. :P

19. What's the evening meal?
I've used dinner or supper, supper more often when I'm tired.

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
Basement.

21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
Drinking fountain here as well.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*snickers and snuggles, maybe putting paffers where they ought not to be*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

"Lightning bug" is a southernism, and fits Missouri just right.

"Potato bug"? Really? Now to me a potato bug is a beetle. The Colorado Potato Beetle, to be specific, and it's a garden pest. The pill bug or sow bug is an armored isopod and not really a bug or insect at all. They were very common in Michigan, where you found them in damp dark places, like under rocks or in the corners of the basement. ;p When disturbed they roll up into a tight ball, hence the "pill" name. At least, that's what the description immediately brought to mind.

Dried Squid

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Whinnyhi.

Funny to think about is that, according to the American Pizza Council, the most common pizza topping, worldwide, is dried squid. Which only goes to show the popularity of pizza in Japan, Korea, China and the rest of the orient.

Of course I have never cared for Italian sausage (the spice) and pepperoni (the greasy shoe-leather). My favorite, other than the basic sauce and some cheese, is pineapple and Canadian bacon. Or veggie with olives, green and red peppers, onions, tomatos, mushrooms, spinach and other pepper variations.

Watched a recent Modern Marvels TV show (excellent series) on pizza. One thing about pizza, you can have it your way. Just about every imaginable shape, size, and combination if ingredients and toppings are out there or you can make your own of course.

As a flying horse, I prefer the oats and hay variety. Bit of salt and some fresh but shortsweet grass always welcome.

Imperator

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

I am enjoying this thread waay too much.

Keep wanting to add more. Perhaps I should do something on my own page though. Remembering things as a kid that are now only found in collections, auctions, antique stores or egay.

Tin cans for things like Hershey's syrup you had to use a can opener to open. Beer and soda pop cans you had to use a can opener (church key) to open. I still have a collection of old church keys.

Coke coolers with the open tops with the coke bottles in ice water with ice floating you had to slide through the gate that you could only open by putting a dime in the slot and there was always a rack on the end or the nearby wall for the empties. There was always a opener built into the side that dumped the caps into a little bin. If the machine was slightly bent or you were a clever kid you could jimmy a Coke past the gate and steal it. (Only did that a couple of times mostly the challenge).

Condensed milk cans that were sealed with a dab of solder on the end. How about coffee/sardene/spam cans you had to use the solder-attached key to put the strip of metal into the slot and twist the metal around to open. I will never forget the smell of fresh coffee that burst forth when you broke the seal.

Gas station bells that always ding-dinged twice (unless pulling a trailer). The attendant who would, while filling, pop your hood and check your oil and radiator and fan belt and wash your windshield. Sometimes if you had the time, all the windows and lights, too.

Real sloppy joes. My dad was the best and the beef was stringy not ground and nothing since tastes the same. Of course it is now Manwich but just not the same thing at all. The stringy beef held together better, too, and the bun did not leak nearly as much.

Metal containers. I mean everything from 3-in-1 oil to various other garage type products with twist off, not child-proof, metal caps that poured better than the new plastic containers and sealed better too.

Of course the horrible cardboard and tin ended oil cans that always leaked even new in the cardboard case. You had to use a church key to open and a funnel or those always leaky oil can spouts. Not THERE is an improvement I thought of even as a child, some kind of funnel-shaped PLASTIC container for oil you could just twist open the cap and pour directly into the engine. Wish I had thought to get a patent on THAT!

Fun to look back. I often think, as our world gets simpler and more convienent in many ways, it also grows BORING!

(I would sneak open the fridge and grab the Hersheys syrup can and, by putting a finger over the vent hole dad always made ((tiny using only the very tip of the church key to make)) and blow into the larger, pouring hole, you got a BLAST or pure chocolate bliss directly into the mouth).

Dare I tell dad now? LOL!

Imp

[silver-kiden.livejournal.com]

Take me out to the black, tell them i ain't comin' back.
Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

Re: Dried Squid

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've heard that dried squid thing before. My brother is full of weird food stories from his time in Japan, and dried squid is near the top of the list. He went to several baseball games (he's not a fan, but when invited he went because it was the polite thing to do...he really got into Japanese manners) and reports that instead of hot dogs, the most popular food at the ball parks was dried squid on a stick. ;p

I can take or leave the Italian sausage, but I do like pepperoni. Ideally, sliced paper thin and the last thing put on top, so it gets crispy like bacon. Your all veggie version is really excellent too, and I'm just as happy with that as with anything. Gary and I like anchovies, salt and all. Bad, I know.

Pineapple and Canadian bacon is pure west coast. You know of course that the Canadian bacon is really supposed to be SPAM(tm) and that it's Hawaiian pizza that way?

Now about those oats... Gary has been worrying about cholesterol levels and we've eaten oatmeal until even I am tired of it. Steel cut, rolled, Scottish, bran, oat muffins, oatmeal bread, oatmeal cookies. Used to be one of my favorite foods, but at the moment just about anything sounds better.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

O.o

[silver-kiden.livejournal.com]

hey, YOU'RE the one that brought up firefly! just be glad i only quoted some of the lyrics, and not parts of the script!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You know some of this is why 'Tivo likes you so very much. We're so close in age that we share certain perspectives and background that are lost on all these twenty-somethings. ;D

Yep, I remember those tin containers, and we still keep church keys around because I like evaporated milk in my coffee and you still need them for that unless you use a can opener and pour the whole thing into another container. I remember the old soldered containers very well. My dad used to use an ice pick to poke two holes in the top.

I remember those coke coolers, though the ones that were more common were the kind where each bottle was held in a sort of roller clamp. Usually the bottles were on their sides in a vertical arrangement, each in its own pigeon hole. Putting in your money unlocked all the clamps, but as soon as one was flipped by pulling a bottle out, the rest locked back down. If you were really clever, you could pull out two bottles at exactly the same time and get two for one, but it only worked if the two bottles were in certain positions in relation to each other. My older brother could do it, I never figured out the trick. It was part knowledge, part dexterity, like making a pay phone call with just one nickel instead of two. You did that by hitting the change release plunger at just the right split second after dropping the first nickel in... Only worked on those pay phones with the three round openings above the dial, where you pushed the coin in with the whole face toward you rather than edgewise. And that reminds me of wearing penny loafers only with a dime in each one. We used to dip the dimes in mercury to make 'em really shiny. And when you got stranded you always had a dime for a phone call. *G*

Gary should make sloppy joes for you and Bear some time. He makes really good ones from his mom's recipe, though they are ground beef rather than shredded. To me the shredded stuff was "barbecue" as opposed to sloppy joe. I like sloppy joes made from ground turkey. (Good use for those stupid birds, actually.)

As for the Hershey's syrup, well no. But that's something my younger brother (almost two years younger than me) would have done, probably. Chocolate has never been my thing, and Hershey's syrup just isn't that good. But Sander's hot fudge (really, really rich, buttery stuff) was a different matter. You could get it in jars to take home from the ice cream parlor and I would have eaten it with a spoon any time I could. (Butter and caramelized sugar, the chocolate didn't matter to me. Later they came out with a caramel version that was to die for.)

Now here's a classic Michigan thing for you: Vernor's ginger ale (has to be Vernor's, not that "pale dry" stuff) poured over good vanilla ice cream to make a sort of ice cream soda. That was the best summer treat ever.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're talking about that television thing. I saw one or two episodes, didn't care for it, don't even think of it when I hear the word. I think of the real thing, those little insects that light up in the summer darkness. "Wah-wah-tay-see, little shining white fire insect" is from Longfellow, in "The Song of Hiawatha." I'm just showing my age, that's all.

[chibiabos.livejournal.com]

We've called them "potato bugs" since we were kids. Not sure where we got that from. My mom's a native Washingtonian, my dad's a Minnesotan.

[chibiabos.livejournal.com]

... though of course our neighborhood was very diverse. Our family was close friends with a half southern black, half British Canadian family.

[silver-kiden.livejournal.com]

only seven more years, old man. :p and i guess i'm just showing how much of a sci fi freak i am.