New England Terms Ipsum

Basement: the restroom, especially of a school. when i was growing up in the 60s and 70s, we would ask to go to the basement. clicker: remote control for a tv or other similar devices. elastic: also known as a rubber band. grinder: i'm told that elsewhere the long sandwiches they serve in pizza joints are called subs and hoagies. bizarre! jimmies: tiny candy that goes on ice cream. come in plain 'chocolate' and 'rainbow' varietys. known elsewhere as sprinkes! sprinkles to me sounds a little, well, feminine. leaf peepers: people who head up to new england to check out the foliage. usually found driving 20 mph on major roadways. of course, this is usually restricted to the mohawk trail (route 2 west of westminster). interstate i-190 is really nice too, and not really well known, of course the speed limit is like 70mph, so it's not as cool for the old folks. milk shake / flavored milk: milk and syrup. no-suh: translates to "i don't believe it" and is usually followed by "yes-suh" and maybe derived from "no, sir" out-of-stater: you ain't from around here are you? anyone who hasn't lived here their whole life basically. you can tell them apart because they usually have funny accents like those people on tv and don't know what the "curse of the bambino" is. package store / packie: package stores are not where you buy boxes, it's where you go to get beer. usually, people refer to them as "packie's". you go down to the packie on a friday to get ready for the weekend, especially if your from southie. you have to remember in massachusetts, the blue laws keep the packie's closed on the weekend. you want beer on a sunday? better drive north to new hampshire, it's cheaper there anyways. you also need to remember they don't generally sell alcohol in grocery stores here either, that requires a lot of paperwork and generally isn't done. parlor: living room or family room piazza: a word for porch, especially a porch of a three decker. not heard much anymore. racka: rocking chair spa: not a health club. a corner store with a soda fountain, selling candy, newspapers and lime rickeys. tonic: this is another word for soda, i don't hear it in worcester too often, mostly out by boston. this is the original word for soda in new england. treats: used to describe ice cream or snack cake, or any kind of sweet junk food wicked: a modifier...equivalent to "very", only stronger. when someone in new england says something is wicked, they aren't calling it evil..