Talk:Boston slang

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A recent edit removed some terms that the editor considered non-Boston specific. I think they should be put back unless someone can prove that they are very widespread terms. -- LGagnon 20:58, May 3, 2005 (UTC)

I fully agree. --int3gr4te 08:49, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Hawke666 2 Blinker 3 Bomb(1) 4 Bomb(3) 5 Booked 6 Bubbler 7 Bumfuck, Mass. 8 Children's 9 "Cool your jets" 10 Decked 11 Fluffernutter 12 Jimmies 13 Maw 14 Necco Wafers 15 Sketchy 16 Sloshed 17 Superette 18 Uh-Doy 19 Whip 20 Wicked 21 Kill a yuppie 22 Milkshake and Frappe 23 Spa 24 SoWa and SoBro? 25 "Grinder" 26 Hoodsie 27 BoSox? 28 Mass Pike 29 hi hosey 30 Repetitive Pronunciation Reminders 31 Slang, not accent 32 Attention: Slang Glossary policy discussion underway 33 "can't get" 34 Necessary?

[edit] Hawke666

Are you retahded? :) Terms don't have to be specific to the city of Boston exclusively to be considered "Boston slang". Boston slang is New England slang; nobody from outside of New England that I have ever met recognizes "jimmies" or "fluffernutter" (or even marshmallow fluff!). We speak Boston slang in New Hampsha too - or are you suggesting a separate page for "non-Boston-specific New England slang"? --int3gr4te 08:48, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

If they don't have to be specific to the city of Boston, what's the point of this article? If they're not specific to Boston, they're not Boston slang. Otherwise we might as well have an entire slang dictionary on this page. If you want to create a "New England slang" page, that's your call. Pleased to meet you; now you've met someone from outside New England that recognizes "jimmies" and "fluffernutter". And good luck finding a speaker of English outside of N.E. that doesn't know what a blinker is. Hawke666 20:40, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Bear in mind fluff is a product of Massachusetts... --int3gr4te 11:32, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Blinker

"Blinker" is not specific to Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bomb(1)

Does "xxx is bomb" also include "xxx is the bomb"? If the latter, it's not specific to Boston... — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bomb(3)

Bombed meaning inebriated is definitely not specific to Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Booked

Booked meaning to go fast is not specific to Boston. Is booked meaning "to run away" distinct from this? — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bubbler

"Bubbler" is not specific to boston. Note the linked page on bubbler: "The Bubbler was developed in 1888 by the then-small Kohler Water Works (now Kohler Company) in Kohler, Wisconsin..." The term is also used in Wisconsin. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bumfuck, Mass.

The only thing boston-specific about this is the ", Mass." "We're out in bumfuck" meaning the middle of nowhere is common elsewhere. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Children's

Not boston-specific, children's hospitals everywhere are known as "Children's". The specific use of it to refer to "Children's Hospital Boston" is specific to boston, but the term itself is not. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Cool your jets"

Not Boston-specific. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Decked

Neither form is specific to Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fluffernutter

Not specific to Boston. The page on fluffernutter describes it as local to "new england" at the broadest, "Massachusetts" at the narrowest. It is certainly known outside of both. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jimmies

Not specific to Boston, see the linked page. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Maw

Not specific to Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Necco Wafers

This just a product name. Not slang, and they're sold all over the place outside of Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sketchy

Not specific to Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sloshed

Not specific to Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Superette

Is it really a slang term if it's not even used [in conversation]? — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Uh-Doy

Not specific to Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Whip

Not specific to Boston. — Hawke666 20:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wicked

I'm not so sure that "or occasionally cool" should stay. I've never heard someone seriously use wicked to mean cool. Maybe as a joke, but not seriously. -- LGagnon 20:37, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

I have heard it used as both a modifier and as an adjective to describe something as "cool." Maybe just the word "occasionlly" could be removed to make the definition more accurate.Assawyer 21:30, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

Actually, that would be less accurate. Honsetly, how often do you hear someone say "Wicked!"? It's extremely outdated and it would only make this article inaccurate if we suggest that people normally use it that way. -- LGagnon 21:35, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

I have heard people say, and have used wicked in the following and similar usages: "That was a wicked throw." Unfortunately you do not agree. Assawyer 21:30, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, I'll at least compromise on this: the article should at least mention that wicked is not used as an interjection. That is my main concern with defining it as "cool" (as that is the one variant of it that is absolutely not used by the vast majority of people in MA). -- LGagnon 00:55, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Kill a yuppie

As much as I second the spirit (though not the literal meaning) of the phrase, I think it doesn't hold up as actual slang. It's just graffiti, not something people say. If it was more widespread than just graffiti, maybe it would count. For now, it seems to be used only by a small group of people (if not just one guy with a grudge against gentrification). -- LGagnon 21:08, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Milkshake and Frappe

Note: I've put this here since I had this exchange on an anon IP's talk page, and it could be of interest here, since the changes were to this article. BCorr|Брайен

Why are you deleting the references to a milkshake without ice cream? Are you thinking about McDonald's milkshakes or something? BCorr|Брайен 22:25, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

I grew up in Boston, and have never heard of or seen anything without ice cream called a milkshake. Nor has anyone else from the area that I asked. The information was inaccurate, so I removed it.

I've lived in Boston since 1987, this was one of the first things I learned here -- after being teased mercilessly for saying "pop" for a soft drink -- and it's not terribly common anymore, but it is real, and not just at one or two places. It's more common south of the Boston (Quincy, Brockton, etc.) as it's the standard in Rhose Island, but can be found up in New Hampshire too. A more complete explanation is in the milkshake article here, but there are plenty of non-Wikipedia references to it:

• Answers.com
• SurveyCentral message board with people having the same argument
• Sherwood Hotels brochure about their Boston facilities (pdf format)

Thanks, BCorr|Брайен 15:14, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Born and raised in Boston. Lived here for more than fifty years. A frappe has ice cream, a milkshake does not. Dubhdara 14:14, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

• Dubhdara is right. It's also notable that elsewhere in the US, nobody recognizes the word frappe. --AStanhope 23:38, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spa

I hear it used in South Boston and parts of Dorchester (Savin Hill, around Columbia Station, Andrew Station). Dubhdara 14:14, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Also in Brookline, as noted in the article. -Brookline native

[edit] SoWa and SoBro?

I've lived in Boston all my life and have only recently heard these terms. My impression is that SoWa and SoBro are buzzwords created by realtors rather that organically evolving colloquialisms.

SoBro is, and always has been common in Brookline, and is used to distinguish the extremely affluent, semi-rural southern part of the town from the (admittedly only slightly less affluent)north. However, I've never heard it used anywhere else.-Brookline native

SoWa, like SoBo (South Boston) and EBo (East Boston), is a term created by the real estate industry. Fox 25 News in Boston just did a report on these terms, and except for real estate agents, most people interviewed considered them a joke.

Dubhdara 17:31, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Grinder"

I have lived in Boston all my life and never have I heard this used to describe a submarine sandwich. Bostonians call it a "sub." "Grinder" is the term used in Western Massachsetts, Conneticut, and New York. I am going to fix it but I wanted to leave an explaination here so that no one would revert it. TheBill 18:53, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

You changed it on the basis of original research (that is, the fact that you've never heard it). That is not a justifiable reason to change the article under Wikipedia's guidelines. -- LGagnon 19:53, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Without a source, though, the removal’s just as valid as the inclusion.

Grinder is not a Boston term. Period.

• This is certainly a term I am familiar with having grown up on the South Shore. The word I would personally use would be "sub," but I can remember my father calling them grinders and if somebody suggested "picking up grinders for lunch" it wouldn't strike me as unusual. I even think that some of the older pizza shops - the (Insert the name of your town here) House of Pizza - have "Pizza & Grinders" on their signs. --AStanhope 23:46, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

• Speaking of which... Does "House of Grease-a" merit inclusion? --AStanhope 23:46, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
• Just because it's used in Boston doesn't make it Boston slang. Grinder is used outside of Boston.

[edit] Hoodsie

When I grew up in South Boston and Dorchester, a hoodsie refered to a younger teenage girl of who tried to act older. A hoodsie dressed older, or dated older teenagers or young men. She was flirtatious and precocious. The term was often derogatory: "He'll get in trouble if he keeps dating that hoodsie." "She's just a hoodsie."

Popular knowledge told that the expression came from the idea that the Hoodsie ice cream treat made by HP Hood came in a small cup that was the same size as the bra cup of a hoodsie. Dubhdara 17:31, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] BoSox?

I've never heard BoSox spoken. And I've only seen it in print in the headlines of wire articles in newspapers. I think it should be removed. Maw

I've heard it use by sports reporters a couple of times. Not common, but not unheard of either.

Dubhdara 22:41, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm not a Boston native but went to school in Boston. Everytime my dad (from Florida) uses the term "BoSox," I want to cringe. I never heard anyone in Boston call them that. Tamb forever 16:11, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm from New Hampshire and in school in Boston now, and the only time I've heard "BoSox" is when we're playing the "ChiSox" - purely for differentiation purposes, and even then it's iffy, since I more often hear the differentiation as "us" and "them". Sportswriters think "BoSox" makes them sound cool. int3gr4te 23:42, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mass Pike

Is this Boston slang or more widely used? A recent visitor from New York (upstate) did not understand it, I had to say all of the "Massachusetts Turnpike". Cema 02:32, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

I'ts already listed as "The Pike". -- LGagnon 03:35, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Should it be listed as "Mass Pike" as well? -- Cema 06:51, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

No. That'd be redundant. -- LGagnon 14:00, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] hi hosey

It might just be because I am younger, but I've never heard of this. I've always used and heard 'dibs.'--134.88.188.44 14:57, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

I think it is actually "I hosey". My father, who grew up in Southie during the 20's and 30's, used it all the time.

[edit] Repetitive Pronunciation Reminders

This article has quite a few instances where the boston accent pronunciation is shown in parenthesis next to the entry. I think they should be removed for a few reasons. First the article already links to another article about the Boston accent. Second, the pronunciation shown is ambiguous. I'm not sure what the wiki policy is regarding this, but I would think that if it's insisted upon that the pronunciation reminder remain, you should use the IPA symbols. For instance, you have the phoneticised "crew-zah" which doesn't really tell you how it's pronounced; I'm from north Jersey and if I didn't know how Bostonians spoke I might think the "ah" could be pronounced as an open back unrounded vowel. Who knows what someone from England, Ireland, Australia or a non-native speaker might think it's pronounced. Anyway, once I get your feedback on this I'm also going to go ahead and fix the fact that half of the entries aren't capitalized.

[edit] Slang, not accent

This article is about slang, which is not the same as mere changes made by an accent. Because of this, I've removed all entries that are only about the accent and not an entirely different word from what the rest of the country uses. The except to this is "chowda", as we residents of MA always mean our chowder when we say it. :) -- LGagnon 03:42, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

I'd have to agree. Is the recent addition "retarded" really a qualified candidate for "Boston slang?" Okay, so it might sound different with the accent, but it's not a term (or usage) unique to the area, and as far as I know it didn't originate here. As it's unsourced, I'm going to remove it unless someone has a compelling objection. -Pjorg 15:06, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Attention: Slang Glossary policy discussion underway

Slang glossaries violate the following policy:

Wikipedia is not a dictionary

Wikipedia is not a dictionary or a usage or jargon guide. Wikipedia articles are not:

1. Dictionary definitions. Because Wikipedia is not a dictionary, please do not create an entry merely to define a term. An article should usually begin with a good definition; if you come across an article that is nothing more than a definition, see if there is information you can add that would be appropriate for an encyclopedia. An exception to this rule is for articles about the cultural meanings of individual numbers.
2. Lists of such definitions. There are, however, disambiguation pages consisting of pointers to other pages; these are used to clarify differing meanings of a word. Wikipedia also includes glossary pages for various specialized fields.
3. A usage guide or slang and idiom guide. Wikipedia is not in the business of saying how words, idioms, etc. should be used. We aren't teaching people how to talk like a Cockney chimney-sweep. However, it may be important in the context of an encyclopedia article to describe just how a word is used to distinguish among similar, easily confused ideas, as in nation or freedom. In some special cases an article about an essential piece of slang may be appropriate.

---

Due to the many AfDs which are initiated to enforce this policy and due to the resistance to such deletion by defenders of the glossaries, I have started a discussion at Wikipedia talk:What Wikipedia is not#Slang glossaries to rewrite the policy in order to solve this problem and to readdress this question: should slang glossaries by allowed on Wikipedia? --List Expert 23:20, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "can't get"

The Boston Online guide includes "can't get" meanig "can get" in Boston Slang.[1] This is their example:

Can get. An example of the negative positive in Boston English: "Let's go see if we can't get yoah cah fixed."

I am certainly familiar with the term. Is this something we only say in Boston? Is it not standard American English? --AStanhope 00:25, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Necessary?

I know this might be an inciting statement, but is this article necessary? The contents, almost to a "word", are slang phrases that can be attributed to linguistic origins in the United Kingdom (apparent negative, ie: "Let's see if I can't"), coastal phrases (bulkhead for storm cellar entrance), etc.

The few that do remain have lost their place among common coastal phrases such as "ripper" (yes, it means the same from Boston to St. John's), brand-names (Docksider, Superette), blinker (for turn signal), etc. Are there any true students of Boston colloquial speech working on this? CMacMillan 22:04, 5 November 2006 (UTC)