New England Terms Ipsum

Boyos: "southie" young thugs clicker: remote control for a tv or other similar devices. coffee milk: milk flavored with coffee syrup, *not* half coffee/half milk down cellar: where the freezer is, and the tools, and boxes of old stuff. drug store: also known as a pharmacy. this is where you went on sunday when the package store was closed and got your bottle of pickwick ale for medicinal purposes. dungarees: normally called elsewhere in the country as denim jeans, levis or slacks. elastic: known as a rubber band elsewhere fluff-a-nutter: peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. for those of you who don't know, marshmallow fluff is a regional delicacy. it's a very sticky white cream, usually just called fluff. it has the consistency of a big vat of melted marshmellows. i like fluff and strawberry jam, but the traditional application is with peanut butter. you only get one pass at applying it to the bread (because it's extremely sticky) and you certainly don't dip the knife in anything else once it's been in the fluff jar. frappe / cabinet: a frappe is made with milk, ice cream, and flavoring syrup, blended together in a frappe machine (mixer). cabinet is a word used primarily in rhode island. kenya: not the african word, it means can you 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. no-suh: translates to "i don't believe it" and is usually followed by "yes-suh" and maybe derived from "no, sir" 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. palor: palor is not used everyday. it is/was a formal living room for guests and sometimes a formal party. i'm 65. i remember palors. parlor: living room or family room piazza: a word for porch, especially a porch of a three decker. not heard much anymore. piss-ah: (really spelt pisser). which means awesome, very good. no, i'm not making this up, i don't know how this one started. 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. water bubbler: drinking fountain? who drinks out of a fountain? i'm told this is used outside of the region as well, so i guess we can't claim it as a unique new england word. wicked: a modifier...equivalent to "very", only stronger. when someone in new england says something is wicked, they aren't calling it evil..