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. boyos: "southie" young thugs coffee milk: milk flavored with coffee syrup, *not* half coffee/half milk dungarees: normally called elsewhere in the country as denim jeans, levis or slacks. elastic: known as a rubber band elsewhere elastic: also known as a rubber band. flatlander: someone who is from an area south of new england. a person not from new england who does not know anything about fishing, hiking, or other outdoor activities. grinder: i'm told that elsewhere the long sandwiches they serve in pizza joints are called subs and hoagies. bizarre! hamburg: um.. no. hamburg is not short for 'hamburger'. it's a way of referring to 'ground beef'. hoodsie cup: commercial at first, but came to include ice crean manufactured by companies other than hood. a small cardboard cup of ice cream. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. pock-a-book: it could also be pronounced as pocket book. it is another name for handbag or purse. racka: rocking chair soda: pop is your father, not a drink. spa: not a health club. a corner store with a soda fountain, selling candy, newspapers and lime rickeys. tonic water: carbonated water flavored with quinine as used in a "gin and tonic". townie: someone who has basically lived in the same town for an extended period of time. ie. since the dawn of time. (not that awful tv show that used to be on, where the accents of the actors changed every episode). 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..