16 Words You'll Only Understand If You're From Pittsburgh
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Beth Price-Williams
Author
Okay, fellow yinzers, let’s have some fun! We all know that Pittsburgh is an awesome city and Pittsburghers are one-of-a-kind. One thing that really sets Pittsburghers apart from the crowd is our unique language, enough to fill an entire Pittsburghese dictionary. Here are 16 words from Pittsburgh that might yield a raised eyebrow from a non-Pittsburgher.
Yinz is to Pittsburgh as y'all is to the South.
See that car parked in front of a no-parking sign? That warrants calling the inconsiderate driver who parked there a jagoff.
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Who grew up eating chipped ham or chipped chopped ham from Isaly's?
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My balogna/baloney has a first name. It's....only in the Burgh, we would sing it something like this. My jumbo has a first name...
How many people have a gumband ball sitting somewhere in their home?
Let's be perfectly honest. People in other states DO refer to that delightfully caffeinated drink as pop. But, in Pennsylvania it's a toss-up. Pittsburghers drink pop while those from Philly and other parts of the state order soda.
Watch out when you go on the sidewalk! It's slippy. Why add the extra letters when slippy is just so much easier to say?
It's highly likely if you're a Pittsburgher, you've either been yelled at by your parents to red up your room or you've turned into your parents and now order your kids to red up their room. Either way, red up is a uniquely Pittsburgh saying.
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Technically, if you spell out n'at, you get "and that." It just sounds so much better, though, when you say, "Yinz going dahntahn n'at?"
Who has nebby neighbors who always have to know what's going with everyone in the neighborhood?
Some Pittsburghers vacuum. But, many also sweep the floors with the sweeper. Do you sweep or do you vacuum?
Dahnthan. No other words necessary.
This one goes a bit beyond Pittsburgh's borders and applies to most Pennsylvanians. We don't say Pennsylvania. We say PA.
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The Civic Arena (or Mellon Arena, if you prefer)'s ruff used to open on lovely days.
Another one that isn't completely exclusive to Pittsburgh as Sheetz does exist in other states. But, if you live in Pennsylvania, you either have Wawa or Sheetz. Pittsburghers lay claim to Sheetz.
We all use them. But, do you call that basket on wheels a buggy or a shopping cart? It seems to be a toss-up in the Burgh.
These are just a few words from Pittsburgh that might confuse those who aren’t familiar with our beautiful city. What are some of the words you think should be added to a part two of this list?
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