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 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. 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! hamburg: um.. no. hamburg is not short for 'hamburger'. it's a way of referring to 'ground beef'. 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. kenya: not the african word, it means can you milk shake / flavored milk: milk and syrup. 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. 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 soda: pop is your father, not a drink. 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. tootle-loo: something my grandmother always says in place of "see you later". she is from concord, ma. 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..