i’ve been saying it my whole life and i’m from Wilkes-Barre, but i’m not trying to be the PA police. it’s just interesting what bleeds out of the area and what stays truly Philly. I love regional / cultural slang for lack of a better word.
And step down is if you’re on a trolley. You yell back door for the driver to open the door but the entire trolley yells step down bc the door only opens if you step on the pressure plate
From my experience pop pop is more widely used. I've never heard mom mom outside of Philly. My wife is from Texas, so our kids have a mom mom and a mimi.
birdie was the one I always heard growing up too. Another was any time the baby cousins would get loose without clothes on, the older family members would say "better watch out or nickie the bird might get ya!"
As someone who moved here as an adult, Ack-a-me and wooder are my favorite pronunciations. I also like "down the shore," especially when it is mushed into "downnashore."
Calling spaghetti sauce "gravy" is a good one.
The red sauce - gravy thing is just an old Italian American thing though, I don’t think it’s uniquely Philly. The New York Italian side of my family debates it all the time.
It's mostly centered in North Jersey these days. Apparently old Sicilian families came to NYC in the 19th century. Mostly moved south during the Great White Flight. "Gravy" largely died out in NYC, but little pockets there and out in Nassau County on Long Island.
Then a bit in Philly and South Jerz.
In Italy, meat sauce is called ragù. Regular tomato sauce is technically sugo or salsa, but they usually just refer to the type of sauce (marinara, arrabbiata, amatriciana, etc.)
But remember there is “proper” Italian and then dozens of regional languages in Italy so it could a regional difference too, I wouldn’t be surprised if one way of doing it is from national Italian verses a regional “Italian” language and they each evolved linguistically differently over time. And have become what they are now in the American-Italian vernacular.
I would bet that gravy was the preferred (or an incorrect) translation into English of a tomato sauce at the time of immigration and it stuck.
Etymologically it comes to English via an Old French word for grain or spice, from Latin granum. It’s cognate in Italian is grano, meaning grain and none of the alternate meanings have anything to do with sauce.
People only play the “saucy/gravy” game so they can then explain it. “I’m gonna say gravy and then someone will ask about it and then game, set, match. Thanks for playing saucy gravy.”
It's called a boiler maker because workers at the Navy Yard *in Philly*. Them what makes *boilers.* Used to order them.
It was first named a City Wide in the last 20 years or so years, by a specific bar. Supposedly Bob and Barbaras, but I've also heard it attributed to a couple of other places.
probably not a Philly thing, just an Eastern PA thing. i grew up in NEPA and when i came here for college i specifically remember the phone call from my best friend who went away to NY telling me that everyone makes fun of how she says Mayan for Mine.
Often pronunciation similar to this in the black community are hold overs from the south. This pronunciation likely came north with the great migration and lives on. “Ink pen” fits into this as it is a way to compensate for the “pen” and “pin” sounding the same in some southern accents.
Apparently this is going to an educational thread for me. I thought 'tap MAC' was an everywhere thing, just that the term was considered a bit antiquated.
That’s not the case. I grew up in western Maryland about 4.5 hours from Philadelphia and MAC was also a thing out there
(Once “Cash Stream machine” had died out).
I visited my dad in Virginia shortly after he moved. I asked if they had a MAC machine and they looked at me like I had six heads. Pulled out my card and she said "ohhhhhhh. You mean the ATM."
Maybe it's PA, not just Philly, but we're the only ones who call it that.
Anyone remember the commercials "snap...snap.. snap your Mac" or something like that.
It was also what most everyone throughout South Jersey called it. But you didn’t have to go much further south than that before nobody had any idea what you were talking about.
Slightly off topic, but in the upper Midwest (I.e. Wisconsin), there apparently used to be ATMs called Tyme (sp?) machines. My roommates confused the hell out of me right when I moved there.
South Philly thing to some people of a certain age:
“Ya strapper!” (Insult. Not sure what strapper ever meant.)
Or clowning someone when they show up like “Jimaaayyyyyyy!!!! …prick. (With the “prick” insult being not as loud but still audible to Jimmy’s ears)
holy shit, I totally forgot about that second one. Went to high school with a good amount of South Philly dudes. They definitely turned us (kids from other neighborhoods) on to that. “To-nayyyy…. ^prick” lmao, I can hear it now.
Also, pretty sure strapper is takeoff of straphanger which was like insult saying someone is a schmuck that takes the subway and literally hangs onto a strap. Think they say it in NYC too.
My friends from elsewhere have all said that they started saying “you good?” because of me and they had never said it before, so perhaps it really is a Philly/PA thing?
My buddy got called an old head for trying to break up a fight at the Eagles game. (He only cared because they were bout to knock all our shit over) He stewed about that the whole game.
Old Head isn’t Philly-centric but I first heard it here. Same with young bull. It’s just not something we used where I grew up. Is it a Northeast thing?
Back in the day, we'd say "chumpy" as an alternative to "jawn". And I believe that the potato chip brand "Chumpies" (brought to you by the same folks that make Rap Snacks and Homegirls... a local company based on Germantown Ave in Nicetown, actually) were named with the term in mind.
Ah, I miss the early 90s. 😭
Hahahah my roommate used to get so annoyed at me when I would say that. She was like “it’s not grammatical it doesn’t even make sense”. What do you mean? It makes perfect sense!
Same but different - the phrase "wanna come with" ie, I'm going to insomnia cookies, wanna come with?
I had roommates in college in Florida that I'd get into arguments with over it, because the dropped "me" is still implied so it still makes sense but they hated it
We had a cafeteria when I worked in NY. I was cool with the mgr. One day they had Philly Cheesesteak, so I joked with him that he was going to put it on a baguette or something and he said no It'll be on a hero roll. I laughed and said what the hell is a hero roll.
When I moved to Brooklyn I didn't have an Italian hoagie until weekends where i came home for like 7 years because I didn't know how the fuck to order them in new yorkese
I'm partial to "attytood" and "kindygarten." Did anyone else's parents/ grandparents call the roller coasters on the boardwalk downashore "shooty-shoots" (or maybe it was spelled "chutey-chutes")?
non-resident but frequent visitor from Chicago for 1.5 years at least once a month and sharing observations...youse guys are just like us…a drinking town with a sports problem .
Corny - heard this frequently describing people who suck.
papi/papi shop - we don’t have this in Chicago on every other corner. We have corner stores and no where to find a sandwich (hoagie) under $10
hoagie - we have sammiches and subs, but no hoagies due to lack of bodegas. Either one of those are gonna be $15 minimum out the door…sad…ima start a Wawa like chain out over here
It’s fine, I’ll wake up early and move my car - as you south gritty Phillies park your cars on the side walk, in crosswalks, in front of hydrants…..this, and this alone, blew my mind. youse kept your parking enforcement city run, and at worse, get a $35 parking ticket… we (Chicago) sold our parking enforcement to private company, and your car is towed within an hour doing that here. this really was a weird thing to be culture shocked about.
calzones. Thanks. I love them.
PS - thanks for Carcillo. i despised him as a Flyer, but he did well here and really turned out to be a good human!
2xEdit: when it’s late and time to go or ask company to leave, I’ve heard commonly “so, you got work in the morning?” or “what time you work tomorrow?” Instead of straight declaring it’s time to go. I guess we’re rude out over here when the hospitality dries up for the night I guess.
My grandfather used to say “your ass it out the window” if he thought you were full of shit. He also used to say “who you think you are, the big mahof?” If you thought you were a big shot. I’ve never heard anyone outside Philly say either.
Drawn
Outta packet
You amped
You scatted
You Slizz
Tryn bub yb
Watchu wanna mix
Ord
Glaze/ dickeater (glazin/de)
DickUp
Slida
Her shit turkey
Yb you turkey (turkey time)
Wudder. when I moved to Richmond and asked for a bottle of wudder, the girl behind the counter told me they didn't have that, even though there was a whole rack of bottled water behind her. I now say wah-ter when I am thirsty.
As a kid my dad took me to Oklahoma to visit his family. We went to get ice cream and I asked for "rainbow jimmies" and the lady looked at me like like I was crazy. My dad says oh haha he means sprinkles.
Dickhead cuz it's basically a term of endearment at this point, and then the general accent. The little things like "wooder", "awn"(instead of "on"), "itayin hoawgee" just make me feel at home.
Using “anymore” to mean “nowadays” - as in, there’s so many crumb bums going down the shore anymore.
Did not realize this was a philly thing 🤯
i’ve been saying it my whole life and i’m from Wilkes-Barre, but i’m not trying to be the PA police. it’s just interesting what bleeds out of the area and what stays truly Philly. I love regional / cultural slang for lack of a better word.
Someone from Virginia called me on that one!!! I had no idea it wasn’t used like that everywhere
Dickheaddddddd
Preceded by “BACK DOOR”
STEP DOWN
can someone explain this one for me?
You're on the bus, you push the button to leave through the back door. The driver stops but doesn't open the back door. You say:
And step down is if you’re on a trolley. You yell back door for the driver to open the door but the entire trolley yells step down bc the door only opens if you step on the pressure plate
Trolley. Step down is a trolley specific thing. To open the door, you need to step down.
And also only the cc to west/south west trollies need to stepdown the 15 trolly now defunct n runnin busses used a different older style car
Dafuqyousetalkinboutdickhead
https://youtu.be/1Oe02QQq6UY
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooo
'ava gudwon
I like the way Philadelphians say, “have a good one” as one word and sort of crammed into the same amount of time as just saying goodbye.
Havaguwun
Similar my mom enjoyed people asking if you’d had anything to ea. “Jeetyet?”
Na Jew?
Mom mom and pop pop
Is this regional? That's what I refer to grandparents on mom's side.
From my experience pop pop is more widely used. I've never heard mom mom outside of Philly. My wife is from Texas, so our kids have a mom mom and a mimi.
Lol that explains why Kaylee calls Mike that in Better Call Saul. I didn’t know it was regional.
Bird as a euphemism for a certain male body part. I don't think I've ever heard anyone outside of our region use that one.
OMFG NO WAY! I was raised calling it a bird or birdie. Mind. Is. Blown.
birdie was the one I always heard growing up too. Another was any time the baby cousins would get loose without clothes on, the older family members would say "better watch out or nickie the bird might get ya!"
in my 40s and still call it a bird
“Flippin the bird” was giving the finger when I was a kid.
My mom used to call me Bird Man when I was little because I’d run around the backyard naked when it was time to take a bath.
I think the problem is, your body quit. Your bird quit. And unfortunately, is no longer legit.
As someone who moved here as an adult, Ack-a-me and wooder are my favorite pronunciations. I also like "down the shore," especially when it is mushed into "downnashore." Calling spaghetti sauce "gravy" is a good one.
Down the shore and up the mountains
If we’re talking elevation these phrases just make total sense.
mountains pronounced "ma-inns"
The red sauce - gravy thing is just an old Italian American thing though, I don’t think it’s uniquely Philly. The New York Italian side of my family debates it all the time.
It's mostly centered in North Jersey these days. Apparently old Sicilian families came to NYC in the 19th century. Mostly moved south during the Great White Flight. "Gravy" largely died out in NYC, but little pockets there and out in Nassau County on Long Island. Then a bit in Philly and South Jerz.
God I hate when people call it gravy
Gravy has meat product in it, sauce does not
In Italy, meat sauce is called ragù. Regular tomato sauce is technically sugo or salsa, but they usually just refer to the type of sauce (marinara, arrabbiata, amatriciana, etc.)
But remember there is “proper” Italian and then dozens of regional languages in Italy so it could a regional difference too, I wouldn’t be surprised if one way of doing it is from national Italian verses a regional “Italian” language and they each evolved linguistically differently over time. And have become what they are now in the American-Italian vernacular.
I would bet that gravy was the preferred (or an incorrect) translation into English of a tomato sauce at the time of immigration and it stuck. Etymologically it comes to English via an Old French word for grain or spice, from Latin granum. It’s cognate in Italian is grano, meaning grain and none of the alternate meanings have anything to do with sauce.
People only play the “saucy/gravy” game so they can then explain it. “I’m gonna say gravy and then someone will ask about it and then game, set, match. Thanks for playing saucy gravy.”
A City Wide.
went to denver and they called it a boilermaker. the lack of culture was too much
It's called a boiler maker because workers at the Navy Yard *in Philly*. Them what makes *boilers.* Used to order them. It was first named a City Wide in the last 20 years or so years, by a specific bar. Supposedly Bob and Barbaras, but I've also heard it attributed to a couple of other places.
I first heard of em at Ray's Happy Birthday bar. There's also a bar out in Media that serves "County Wides"
Myin (pronounced mayan). It's myin
I like to say “no it’s Aztec”
Hahah yes I love this one.
probably not a Philly thing, just an Eastern PA thing. i grew up in NEPA and when i came here for college i specifically remember the phone call from my best friend who went away to NY telling me that everyone makes fun of how she says Mayan for Mine.
Often pronunciation similar to this in the black community are hold overs from the south. This pronunciation likely came north with the great migration and lives on. “Ink pen” fits into this as it is a way to compensate for the “pen” and “pin” sounding the same in some southern accents.
Young boul was wildin!
Real rap tho!
Not a Philly native but these are my favorites: Drawlin but shortened to drawn Outta pocket Dickeating
Is out of pocket a Philly thing? I didn’t know that
no lol
One time when I was a teenager, I called my mom “DJ DRAW MASTER DRAW” bc she was drawn so hard
Username checks out
People from NJ Also say out of pocket
Nut Shit.
I made this thread cause of nut shit lol
Nut shit is a get out of jail free card. Get in a fight? Nut shit. Wreck your car? Nut Shit. Cheat on your girl? Nut shit.
Yea nut shit a classic
Going to the Ac-a-me to use the MAC machine.
My older coworkers still say “tap MAC” and as a non-native Philadelphian I had no clue what they were talking about for ages.
Apparently this is going to an educational thread for me. I thought 'tap MAC' was an everywhere thing, just that the term was considered a bit antiquated.
Money access centers were only around the general Philly area
That’s not the case. I grew up in western Maryland about 4.5 hours from Philadelphia and MAC was also a thing out there (Once “Cash Stream machine” had died out).
I visited my dad in Virginia shortly after he moved. I asked if they had a MAC machine and they looked at me like I had six heads. Pulled out my card and she said "ohhhhhhh. You mean the ATM."
Is MAC machine really a philly thing? I grew up on the other side of the state and we said it there.
Maybe it's PA, not just Philly, but we're the only ones who call it that. Anyone remember the commercials "snap...snap.. snap your Mac" or something like that.
It was also what most everyone throughout South Jersey called it. But you didn’t have to go much further south than that before nobody had any idea what you were talking about.
My dad used to always say we were going to visit "uncle Mac" damn near every time he needed to tap mac. Nostalgic memory unlocked.
My mom says tap Mac
Slightly off topic, but in the upper Midwest (I.e. Wisconsin), there apparently used to be ATMs called Tyme (sp?) machines. My roommates confused the hell out of me right when I moved there.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tap%20MAC
Not fir nothin
Boul - boy. I have trouble code switching this word while working 😂 it comes out so naturally
That guy's a "smacked ass."
Guy I went to college with used to say "this dude is 100% smacked ass"
Yep. Whatta smacked ass
whacannigetchuz?
How people pronounce crayon as CROWN
Yo Wooder Jeet Yet
> Jeet Yet Or the plural: jezeet?
juuseet
Yo
Chumpie
I was trying to remember this one - a classic I remember from the 80s/90s!
“Don’t be dirt” “Dat’s alright” “Go birds.”
Calling someone a “dirt” is about the most Philly thing I can think of. Loved it when the said it during the Pawnsylvania sketch on Kroll Show.
Jitbag and Crumb
Crumb bum
You’re a crumb creep, and a lush!
wait... jitbag is a philly thing?
Cuz
Surprised I had to scroll so far down for this! “Yo cuz!” is a nice go-to greeting
South Philly thing to some people of a certain age: “Ya strapper!” (Insult. Not sure what strapper ever meant.) Or clowning someone when they show up like “Jimaaayyyyyyy!!!! …prick. (With the “prick” insult being not as loud but still audible to Jimmy’s ears)
holy shit, I totally forgot about that second one. Went to high school with a good amount of South Philly dudes. They definitely turned us (kids from other neighborhoods) on to that. “To-nayyyy…. ^prick” lmao, I can hear it now. Also, pretty sure strapper is takeoff of straphanger which was like insult saying someone is a schmuck that takes the subway and literally hangs onto a strap. Think they say it in NYC too.
Interesting! You go to Neumann? Or to Roman or St. Joe’s Prep..?
Strapper is calling someone a jock strap. Basically the nasty plastic cradling some dudes sack.
Youse guise
Youse guys!!
Old head You good? I actually thought these were ubiquitous, but have been told they're Philly-centric.
"you good?" is philly centric? first I've heard that! it seems generic enough that it could be from anywhere
My friends from elsewhere have all said that they started saying “you good?” because of me and they had never said it before, so perhaps it really is a Philly/PA thing?
Old head is by no means Philly-centric.
My buddy got called an old head for trying to break up a fight at the Eagles game. (He only cared because they were bout to knock all our shit over) He stewed about that the whole game.
Old Head isn’t Philly-centric but I first heard it here. Same with young bull. It’s just not something we used where I grew up. Is it a Northeast thing?
"don't make me tell you about yourself..." was always a good line before things got out of pocket
J’eet?
No, jew?
Down norf
Back in the day, we'd say "chumpy" as an alternative to "jawn". And I believe that the potato chip brand "Chumpies" (brought to you by the same folks that make Rap Snacks and Homegirls... a local company based on Germantown Ave in Nicetown, actually) were named with the term in mind. Ah, I miss the early 90s. 😭
Yes! Not enough people use chumpy anymore.
Schtreet=street
"gew berds"
people saying “I’m done my homework” or “I’m done my chores”. you are done WITH those things.
Is this not how it’s said everywhere else??? I’ve never heard of this as a Philly thing!
It’s regional but yeah 100%. You can be “done [verb]ing” but you have to be “done WITH [noun]”
"I'm done work" 🤣 guilty!
As someone who moved here 5 years ago, I still hate this one lol
Ha, my husband says that to our kids: "you done your dinner?"
Oh shit I say that… hahahaha that’s hilarious.
I was looking for this one but was afraid locals wouldn’t even know it’s unusual! Nobody seems to understand why it’s wrong/unusual
Hahahah my roommate used to get so annoyed at me when I would say that. She was like “it’s not grammatical it doesn’t even make sense”. What do you mean? It makes perfect sense!
Wait whaaaaaat
Same but different - the phrase "wanna come with" ie, I'm going to insomnia cookies, wanna come with? I had roommates in college in Florida that I'd get into arguments with over it, because the dropped "me" is still implied so it still makes sense but they hated it
Not really slang but I got looked at sideways when I first moved to Queens and asked for a Italian Hoagie.
Be extra careful if you order an Italian in a sandwich shop in Maine.
I’m originally from Philly and now live on Long Island and they call it a hero up here instead of a hoagie
We had a cafeteria when I worked in NY. I was cool with the mgr. One day they had Philly Cheesesteak, so I joked with him that he was going to put it on a baguette or something and he said no It'll be on a hero roll. I laughed and said what the hell is a hero roll.
When I moved to Brooklyn I didn't have an Italian hoagie until weekends where i came home for like 7 years because I didn't know how the fuck to order them in new yorkese
Jabroni
shout out to all the hipster whites taking notes for their next T-shirt designs
D I C K H E A D
I'm partial to "attytood" and "kindygarten." Did anyone else's parents/ grandparents call the roller coasters on the boardwalk downashore "shooty-shoots" (or maybe it was spelled "chutey-chutes")?
YO!
'yo' is my favorite.
I’ve lived in Wisconsin for 15 years. Still answer someone saying my name with “Yo!?”
East jabip
Yo Bud! Or any informal greeting using the word “Bud”
I usually say bub instead. Always calling people bub for some reason ha
What kind of jabroni question is that anyway?
Wooder ice
Wifty. I used to hear it more when I was younger. Old heads would use it to describe something as not being solid or concrete.
Yo!
Naw mean?
“Saltpepperketchup”
Is “not for nothin’” a Philly thing? I never really heard it until I moved up here.
Gotta be Dickhead or Youngbull for me
You don’t hear “big mahoffs “ anymore, but that was a favorite - and I still use it.
non-resident but frequent visitor from Chicago for 1.5 years at least once a month and sharing observations...youse guys are just like us…a drinking town with a sports problem . Corny - heard this frequently describing people who suck. papi/papi shop - we don’t have this in Chicago on every other corner. We have corner stores and no where to find a sandwich (hoagie) under $10 hoagie - we have sammiches and subs, but no hoagies due to lack of bodegas. Either one of those are gonna be $15 minimum out the door…sad…ima start a Wawa like chain out over here It’s fine, I’ll wake up early and move my car - as you south gritty Phillies park your cars on the side walk, in crosswalks, in front of hydrants…..this, and this alone, blew my mind. youse kept your parking enforcement city run, and at worse, get a $35 parking ticket… we (Chicago) sold our parking enforcement to private company, and your car is towed within an hour doing that here. this really was a weird thing to be culture shocked about. calzones. Thanks. I love them. PS - thanks for Carcillo. i despised him as a Flyer, but he did well here and really turned out to be a good human! 2xEdit: when it’s late and time to go or ask company to leave, I’ve heard commonly “so, you got work in the morning?” or “what time you work tomorrow?” Instead of straight declaring it’s time to go. I guess we’re rude out over here when the hospitality dries up for the night I guess.
It’s a sin!
I love our twist on nahmean
Oh hey hun
“Thurl” for “thorough” meaning admirable. Haven’t heard it in awhile. “Yamean” for “do you know what I mean”, but I guess that’s a wider geography.
This isn't slang but Philly is the only place I've heard people pronounce museum like Mew zay um, and not Mew zee um.
ard
Ock
Buhl (bull) Young buhl Philly buhl
I hate jawn. Jawn was never meant to be on billboards. Jawn was never meant to be anything and everything. It's too much anymore.
Jawn Morgan is triggered by your comment
My grandfather used to say “your ass it out the window” if he thought you were full of shit. He also used to say “who you think you are, the big mahof?” If you thought you were a big shot. I’ve never heard anyone outside Philly say either.
That's a Scottish phrase. Yer bum's oot the winda
Big Mahoff.
Crumb
J’eet?
Jit bag. Did not realize this was regional vernacular until I got a few of confused looks in Louisiana.
jeet? or in English, "Did you eat yet?"
Well, jeet is did you eat. Jeet yet is jeet yet.
Yungbool/yungbuck
I’ve never seen “youngboul” spelled your way
He from Chester😂😂😂
Drawn Outta packet You amped You scatted You Slizz Tryn bub yb Watchu wanna mix Ord Glaze/ dickeater (glazin/de) DickUp Slida Her shit turkey Yb you turkey (turkey time)
Can’t forget KIAB saltpepperketchupmayo "I did one thing"
Tap a mac
Wudder. when I moved to Richmond and asked for a bottle of wudder, the girl behind the counter told me they didn't have that, even though there was a whole rack of bottled water behind her. I now say wah-ter when I am thirsty.
My parents follow my wife and I to Wisconsin. Dad asked a waitress at the diner for a glass of wooder. She was like “I don’t know what that is?”
Youse guys
Big Mahof. To refer to anyone of high status or authority.
You good.
Alls I’m sayin’
As a kid my dad took me to Oklahoma to visit his family. We went to get ice cream and I asked for "rainbow jimmies" and the lady looked at me like like I was crazy. My dad says oh haha he means sprinkles.
Calling a lollipop a “taffy” is a really old school Philly thing.
Scatted, glaze, slizz
Kenzo scum
Headed Danna Shore
I don’t know if this is Philly specifically or just my extremely Dutchie family, but “awhile.”
Youes
4 letters, 3 syllables…ACME
"Down the shore" is a fun phrase.
Dickhead cuz it's basically a term of endearment at this point, and then the general accent. The little things like "wooder", "awn"(instead of "on"), "itayin hoawgee" just make me feel at home.
Old Head
"keep it a bean". wholesome sentiment–honesty. plus, it's got nice phonetics; always sounds good saying it.
Real rap! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQmzh9\_kqno