Have you ever had dippy eggs for breakfast? Ever been caught in a jagger bush? Have you ever pushed a buggy through the
grocery store? Did your nebby neighbor
ever get you in trouble? In winter, are
you careful of the slippy streets? Have you
ever been told to redd up your room? Does
your family ever argue over who has the clicker? Do you order jimmies on your ice cream? I bet you have and don’t even know it!
Having a native Pittsburgh tongue doesn’t always make it
easy to communicate when you travel past the outskirts of the Pittsburgh
area. As a couple of Ohio University
students living out of state in Athens, we have quickly learned that our
untraditional English language of Pittsburghese might as well be foreign for
others. Throughout our first year of
college, we learned that many of our phrases and words are not typical.
Here are a few of our learning experiences:
Alexis: “In Pittsburgh, dippy eggs are what I order
when I want to dip my toast in my eggs.
When I first ordered these for breakfast here in Athens, I quickly
learned that this was not a common term.
What I call dippy eggs is what most English speakers call over-easy.”
Logan: “One time I was walking on the bike trail
to Walmart with my roommate from Akron, Ohio.
The trail leads through a little bit of woods. As we were walking through here I told my
roommate to avoid the jagger bushes. The
bewildered look in her eyes told me immediately she had no idea what I was
warning her of. That is when I pointed
out the sharp pointed bushes that I was discussing. Anything kind of bush with thorns is
considered a jagger bush in Pittsburgh.”
Alexis: ‘’During my sorority’s philanthropy event
at the Aquatic Center, I had put on lotion before getting into the pool. As I was getting out, I almost fell and said
‘I am all slippy from my lotion’. A
group of people gave me an odd look and one of them mocked me for saying slippy
and then asked what it meant. I
explained that it is a word I use in place of slippery. In Pittsburgh, we often use slippy to
describe icy or snowy road conditions.”
Logan: “After a Walmart adventure, my roommate
and I pushed a shopping cart back to our dorm.
On our way up the elevator of my dorm and entering into our mod, my mod
mates cackled at my possession. I
exclaimed, ‘We stole a buggy form Walmart to carry home our purchases!’ My modmates questioned the word buggy and
corrected me with shopping cart. I then
explained that in Pittsburgh, we push around a buggy when grocery shopping.”
Alexis: “One day as I was leaving my dorm room, my
neighbor asked where I was going. I said
‘Well aren’t you a nebby neighbor’. She
laughed and said ‘What do you mean nebby?’
I explained that nebby is a word meaning nosy. Then I said I was going out to get ice cream
and I could not wait to get rainbow jimmies as a topping. Once more she had to ask what I meant. Then I explained that jimmies are a
Pittsburgh word for sprinkles.”
Logan: “As I was cleaning my room one day, I poked
my head out into my mod and told them I had just redd up my room and had
finally found my clicker! First, one of
my modmates asked, ‘You painted your room red? I don’t think you’re allowed to
do that.’ At this point in the year, I
had gotten used to the odd looks and misunderstanding of my vocabulary, so I
quickly explained that “redd up” means to clean up. Then they asked what a clicker was and I
asked ‘What else would change the TV channels?’
They said a remote. Apparently,
“clicker” is not a common substitute for the word remote outside of Pittsburgh.”
These learning experiences throughout our first year of
college taught us a great deal about Pittsburgh’s unique community
literacy. We knew previously that
Pittsburgh had a different dialect than most English speakers, but these shined
light on how many of our every day words are truly unique. Because we live in the Pittsburgh suburbs,
our Pittsburghese is not as strong as those living within the city
streets. The most commonly used example
of Pittsburghese is not one that we use.
“Yinz”, meaning “you all”, is a word that would be undoubtedly heard if
you visited Pittsburgh. Another part of
Pittsburghese is the tendency to slur words together, such as “jeet jet” which
is really asking, “Did you eat yet?”
These are just common examples of Pittsburghese, but to fully
learn about our community literacy, you would have to visit our hometown of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania yourself. Yinz
are always welcome, but if a native asks “jeet jet?” we suggest trying out
Primanti’s, a Pittsburgh restaurant, or ordering a salad that will always come
with fries on top!
- Alexis Johns & Logan Trautman
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