Yo! And Other Lexicographical Peculiarities

R. Whitney Tucker published "Notes on the Philadelphia Dialect" in the journal American Speech back in 1944. Many of the words are still common, especially among older speakers.

The Philly "Yo": Tucker may have been the first to recognize this one. Like those who came later, he only noticed it as a greeting: "Yo Eddie," meaning "How's it going?" In my neighborhood we also used it as a complaint:"Yo, Eddie!" meant "Cut the crap."

"Square" for "block":as in "Walnut Street is two squares south of Market."

"You're in the road" for "You're in the way": Tucker says this may be a Pennsylvania Dutch influence.

"Taffy": Used to mean lollipop.

"Anymore," used positively, as in: "Marian goes to high school anymore." This use is mentioned in The Harper's Dictionary of English Usage, and roundly condemned by the usage panel. Red Barber (who used to work for thePhiladelphia Record) called it "a South Philadelphia barbarism." Actually, as the Oxford English Dictionary could have told anyone on the panel, the positive use of anymore is found in many dialects in the United States andEngland. D. H. Lawrence used it, so why can't I?

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Dennis Lebofsky, my first linguistics teacher at Temple University back in 1967, wrote The Lexicon of the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area (1970) as his doctoral dissertation, basing his conclusions on a survey of Philadelphia speakers at thetime. Lebofsky classed his respondents by age and area of the city, and was able to establish some truly exotic facts about us.

If you pronounce gas "gaz" and "opal" with the accent on the second syllable ("oh-PAL"), you probably say, "My mother made (not gave) me a beautiful wedding reception" — and you're almost certainly Jewish.

If you ever heard the word "garreter" for "gossiper," you're probably from South or Central Philadelphia, almost certainly Irish — and probably heard your grandmother use it.

If you use the word "blinds" for "windowshades," you're either very old, or grew up in Chestnut Hill.

If you say "tellypole" instead of "telephone pole," you're probably from Kensington or the Lower Northeast.

What did you do and say on Halloween?

"Went out begging" or "went out for Halloween" and said, "Anything for Halloween?": you're over 60.

"Went trick or treating" and said, "Anything for Halloween?": 50 to 60.

"Went trick or treating" and said, "Trick or treat": under 50.

What do you call the thing water comes out of in the sink?

Spicket is Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania suburbs. Pronounce it "spiggot" and you're likely to be old enough to recognize all the memories in Edgar Williams' column in the Inquirer.

Faucet is younger, and more common in New Jersey.

What's another word for dragonfly?

Devil's needle: mostly Philly, not the burbs.

Darning needle: mostly burbs, but recognized in Germantown, Chestnut Hill and North Philadelphia.

Bad man's needle: from a small section of Central Philly. All who knew it were black.

What do you call an apple covered with hard candy and stuck on a stick?

Candy apple: college-educated.

Apple on a stick: Kensington and the Northeast.

Apple taffy: the rest of Philadelphia.

— Jim Quinn