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 draw: this is the way my friends and i pronounce, drawer, as in, "it's in the top 'draw' of my bureau." or, "open the 'draws' and look for it!" which tends to confuse people from out-of state, who don't really understand what drawing has to do with shelving. 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. 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. 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. 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. milk shake / flavored milk: milk and syrup. 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. parlor: living room or family room piazza: a word for porch, especially a porch of a three decker. not heard much anymore. pock-a-book: it could also be pronounced as pocket book. it is another name for handbag or purse. racka: rocking chair sneakers: tennis shoes spa: not a health club. a corner store with a soda fountain, selling candy, newspapers and lime rickeys. tin foil: aluminum foil 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. tonic water: carbonated water flavored with quinine as used in a "gin and tonic". tootle-loo: something my grandmother always says in place of "see you later". she is from concord, ma. treats: used to describe ice cream or snack cake, or any kind of sweet junk food 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..