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: 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. grinder: i'm told that elsewhere the long sandwiches they serve in pizza joints are called subs and hoagies. bizarre! ice cream soda: i don't know where you get your ice cream sodas but in lowell, ma. an ice cream soda is a mix of equal portions of cream, syrup, and soda water mixed together with a scoop of ice cream on top. kind of like a float. ice cream soda: an ice cream soda is similar to a frappe, but with soda water instead of milk. 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. johnnie: another word for a hospital gown. 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" 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. 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. parkie: a summer employee of the city or town who organizes games for the local children. usually a college age boy or girl. skilled in snaps and/or gimp. 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. pock-a-book: it could also be pronounced as pocket book. it is another name for handbag or purse. soda: pop is your father, not a drink. spuckie: south boston, "southie" spuckie is a grinder and or sub sandwich. tin foil: aluminum foil tonic water: carbonated water flavored with quinine as used in a "gin and tonic". wicked: a modifier...equivalent to "very", only stronger. when someone in new england says something is wicked, they aren't calling it evil..