When I tell people where I'm from, the most common question I am asked is if I have a Bostonian accent. And to answer your question, no I do not "Pahk the cahr in Havahd Yahd, but there are some Boston quirks that I have grown up with.
Growing up near Boston was wicked cool; yes I use the word wicked. Before college, I never had a second thought about using that word. But, as I met people here they certainly picked up on this vocabulary word. And when they would ask me what "wicked" meant, I was at a loss for words. Wicked means nothing other than wicked. To me, "wicked" was something I threw around a lot in conversations. "Oh my god that movie was wicked sad" or " Wow that party was wicked awesome". It's just a less lame way of saying that something is super cool. I say it so often, that my friends here have picked up on it. They throw it into their conversations now, and I think it's hilarious!
Other differences are the words, "aunt", and "room". I pronounce "aunt" the way it is spelled, not like the strange way PA people say "ant". I am sorry, but it is my Aunt Mary, not my "Ant" Mary. But for the word room, I pronounce it "rum". I don't why, but I just do; I guess us Bostonians just don't draw out the double O sound!
But, the most baffling thing of all was the word bubbler versus water fountain. I was sitting in my dorm with my friends when I said I was going to fill my water bottle from the bubbler. In all seriousness, everyone looked at me like I had three heads. They had absolutely no idea what a bubbler was; apparently everyone who isn't from Massachusetts calls it the water fountain. Never in my life have I ever called it a water fountain; it sounds so formal! In school, if I was thirsty, I would just raise my hand and ask to get a drink from the bubbler; no issue whatsoever. But, here, people were wicked confused because a "bubbler" to them is something to smoke pot out of. My mistake!
This cracked me up! A bubbler? That's awesome. I've from Maryland so it's always been a water fountain to me. I met a kid from NY and he says wicked all the time too. I tease him for it, but he thinks I have a southern accent so it goes both ways. I've always wanted to visit Boston so hopefully I'll get there eventually!
ReplyDeleteOn your last entry I could totally relate. I wanted to go to a school that was proud and spirited. My mom kept asking me what I liked about PSU so much because she found it random that I liked it. I couldn't explain it. The pride and the atmosphere is amazing. I love it, I don't think we could have picked a better school :)
This made me laugh so hard! For me I always thought conditioner was called creamrinse. My whole family always called it that, I actually never heard of conditioner until I went to college. Well It is not a New York thing.... I learned that it is just my family.
ReplyDeleteI think its great that you're proud of your cultural difference in lack of a better word. I feel the same way being from Virginia we have specific words that nobody up here understands and make fun of me for.
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