the language meme

[cellio]

I'm 40 and I grew up in Pittsburgh.

What do you call...

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks?

Stream. Maybe a creek (not "crick"). A creek is smaller than a stream; an average person should be able to jump across a creek.

2. The thing you push around the grocery store?

Shopping cart.

3. A metal container to carry a meal in?

Huh? Consensus seems to be that we're talking about lunch boxes, but they're plastic these days and I think were when I was a kid, and anyway, I carry my lunch in a decidedly non-metal bag. :-)

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

(No bacon here!) Frying pan or skillet; the words are interchangable.

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people?

Couch. I'll accept sofa as synonymous, but it's not the word I use.

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

Gutters (horizontal) and downspouts (vertical).

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening?

Porch.

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages?

Pop. "Soda" is a concoction involving pop and ice cream.

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

Pancake. For the Aussies: we have several kinds of syrup, maple and various fruit-based ones being the most common. If you go to a pancake house you may well encounter all of: maple, blueberry, raspberry, boysenberry, apricot, and several more. What is "golden syrup"?

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself?

I suppose they're talking about hoagies here (known by some as subs). While I grew up with only the word "hoagie" to describe this kind of sandwich, my first job was at Rudy's House of Submarines. Go figure.

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

Assuming the men are headed for the water... swimsuits. Same word as for women; I don't distinguish.

12. Shoes worn for sports?

Tennis shoes. We didn't have different shoes for different sports when I was a kid; they were all tennis shoes.

13. Putting a room in order?

Cleaning up, which is different from cleaning (the latter involves the removal of dust, cat hair, etc). The phrase "redd up" is native to Pittsburgh, but I have never uttered those words except in conversations like this one.

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark?

Firefly.

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball?

This description means nothing to me. Several of my friends describe it as a "roly poly", which is also meaningless to me. ksnell tried to further clarify for me, but lo, I am a clueless city kid, even though I grew up in the suburbs.

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?

(Hey, that's not a language question!)

Pick up slice with left hand, eat starting from point, frequently discard bones (the remnant of crust that contains no sauce or toppings and that is usually overcooked to my taste). If the slice is too droopy to be held this way, I'll use a fork in my right hand to help support the piece. Failing that, I'll flip the point over onto the rest of the piece and pick it up. Failing all that, it's time to get out the knife and fork.

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

Garage sale. Also yard sale.

19. What's the evening meal?

Dinner. The canonical meals are breakfast, lunch, and dinner, not breakfast, dinner, and supper. This is true even if the large meal that day is lunch.

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

Basement. I grew up knowing this as the cellar (the term my parents use); I have no idea when I switched to basement.

Comments

Words, words

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

As for pronunciation, the waterflows are usually "creek", but if you've put yourself into a difficult situation, then you're "up a crick".

Usually without a paddle.

Or, one is "up %$(* creek without a paddle." Depends on the depth of difficulty one is in ;-)

Re: Words, words

[magid.livejournal.com]

Or, as a college friend put it, up a tree without a paddle :-).

(college was fun)