Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Pittsburghese - Not Your Standard English



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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