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. butts: smoking, in reference to a cigarette, either an unused one, or the ones in the ashtray. clicker: remote control for a tv or other similar devices. coffee milk: milk flavored with coffee syrup, *not* half coffee/half milk elastic: known as a rubber band elsewhere 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. 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. hamburg: um.. no. hamburg is not short for 'hamburger'. it's a way of referring to 'ground beef'. 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. 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. 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. racka: rocking chair sneakers: tennis shoes spuckie: south boston, "southie" spuckie is a grinder and or sub sandwich. 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..