Boston Accent - Lexicon

Lexicon

Some words used in the Boston area are:

• banger - a wicked bad headache

• barrel - a trash can, garbage can

• blinkers - automobile directional signals

• breakdown lane - the shoulder on a highway

• bubbler or water bubbler – drinking fountain. This term is also used in Wisconsin.

• bullshit - has a second meaning of "very angry"

• bundles - full bags of groceries from the supermarket

• carriage - shopping cart

• cellar - Another term for basement used frequently in New England

• clambake - clams, corn on the cob, lobster and other seafood

• clamboil - clams, quahogs, mussels, linguica, chourico, potatoes

• clam diggers - short pants worn in the summer time

• "clicker/channel changer" - a television remote control

• coffee regular - coffee with half and half or light cream and 2 sugars.

• elastics - rubber bands

• gonzo - crazy, bizarre; the term originated in South Boston but is now used nationally

• grinder - pronounced "grinda"; a baked submarine sandwich, but not the equivalent of a toasted sub.

• guzzle - a small inlet on a beach creating a tidal pool. Also drinking beer or an alcoholic drink quickly.

• Hoodsie – A small cup of ice cream, the kind that comes with a flat wooden spoon (from HP Hood, the dairy that sells them.) Also (very offensive slang), a teenage girl. Elsewhere occasionally known as a dixie cup.

• The Hub - Boston, short for Hub of New England.

• jimmies – 'chocolate ice cream sprinkles

• nylons - women's pantyhose

• packie – liquor store (from "package store")

• parlor - living room. This is an Anglo-Irish term as in the well-known popular song If You're Irish Come Into The Parlour

• piazza - a porch, typically on the back of a three-decker house.

• pissa - means something akin to "great" either realistically or sarcastically. Also spelled 'pissah'. This is just the word "pisser" with a Boston accent. Often combined with "wicked" to yield "wicked pissah".

• quahog - a large clam-like seafood

• rotary – 'traffic circle' (although rotary has a more precise definition than traffic circle, and these high-speed circular intersections are unusually common in Greater Boston, especially as one moves toward Cape Cod). These are common in England, as well.

• spa - A convenience store that has tonic on tap and (usually) sells sandwiches.

• ice cream soda - ice cream and soda water (or soft drink, for example Coke) served in a large wax paper cup with a long plastic spoon and a straw.

• spuckie - 'submarine sandwich'; used in some older inner-city neighborhoods.

• steamers - clams

• Staties - Massachusetts State Troopers

• a time - a social event, usually a retirement party or political function

• Southie – Refers to blue-collar neighborhoods in South Boston

• tonic – soft drink; known elsewhere as soda

• townie – Refers to someone who has lived most of their life in the same town

• triple-decker - house having three apartments, one on each of three levels, normally with a flat roof.

• whiffle - a crew cut or male haircut done with electric clippers.

• wicked - 'very', in the extreme; as in 'wicked cold' meaning 'very cold'.