8 Words I Only Heard While Visiting Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania certainly has its own unique vocabulary. Here are 8 words I only heard while visiting Pennsylvania.

[Ken]

The hoagie is a Pennsylvanian invention, that means that the rest of the world is wrong when they call it anything else.

[aaronmtvs]

As a Pennsylvanian of growing up in Western Pennsylvania I can certainly say that Eastern Pennsylvania is like a completely different state, so many things are different including words, foods, culture and style of architecture. Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania have a unique charm. One things Pennsylvanians can agree on is we all call the state PA instead of Pennsylvania.

[gracegalvan]

My favorite Pennsylvania pronunciation is the Reading Railroad. Everyone I play Monopoly with pronounces the railroad as "reeding" and don't believe me when I tell them the correct pronunciation is "redding".

[lwnasidh]

Surprised you didn’t encounter “jawn, ” which in Philly is an all purpose noun, such as “can you grab me a jawn while you’re up?” or “Hand me that jawn over there.” And don’t ask me how, but we just seem to instinctively know what the other person is talking about.

[dariahuber]

The area of PA where I grew up would use "younse" for you, "red up" for clean up, and "worsh" for wash. We would also play in the "crick" rather than the creek. I had a lot of explaining to do when I moved to Chicago.

[alice_rabbit]

Hey from Reading PA! I live between a Wawa and a Sheetz. Each about a mile away. I’m truly blessed 😊

[jonglass]

And then there's the small stream called a "crick", not "creek". Others mentioned "red up" the room, etc. I grew up thinking everybody spoke that way, and it wasn't until I went to FL to college that I discovered that nobody knew what "yinz" meant, and who knows how many other words, and they couldn't understand half of my word because I ran them all together like this: "Jeet jet?" "No. jew?" (translated: "Did you eat yet?" "No. Did you?")

[NCSGaming]

Fun fact: Philadelphia used to be a large but short city due to there being a law against building taller than the William Penn statue, so everything looked dinky. That law was later removed so skyscrapers could be built, but as an homage the tallest tower, the Comcast building, has erected a mini William pen on top.

[johnhelwig]

My grandmother is Pennsylvania Dutch whose family is from the Harrisburg/Lebanon area. Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect of German origin and has a ton of words and phrases that you, Laurence, can have fun with. Terms like "It wonders me", "Outen the lights" and "Don't eat yourself full" and words like spritzing (raining), rutsching (squirming) and schnickelfritz (troublemaker).

[lairdcummings]

"Berm" is a common word in the US, but the one entertaining bit is that the rest of the country uses the word to have a different meaning. "Soft Shoulder" is Pennsylvania and Ohio usage. Everywhere else, a "berm" is a long pile or ridge made of dirt, frequently used to restrain water, or to mark a boundary. Or to use as a shooting backstop.

[junepearl]

We're from Lancaster. My daughter moved to California and asked her new roommate where he kept the sweeper. She wanted to use a vacuum. He had no idea. Thought she wanted a broom.

[joelressner]

I'm from Philly and never heard of "nebby". What a sheltered life I've lived! The unincorporated area of Wawa PA is on US 1 a bit west of Philadelphia. The legend goes that the area was called "Wawa" by the Lenni Lenape who lived in the area, the "wawa" emulating the sound of the geese that were abundant as they migrated. The Wawa signs all have a flying goose logo.

[donaldmcpherson]

And in the West there is the notable absence of “to be:”

The car needs washed - or, often, worshed. (As in the capital, Worshington DC)

My room needs red up.

The stove needs cleaned.

The shoes need polished.

[bannisher]

"Yinz going to sheetz to get some hoagies for the stillers game?" Gotta love Pittsburgh!

[lioninwinter]

Moved to FL from eastern PA. THANK GOD FOR WAWA!
Oh, and water in Philly is pronounced "wooder".

[saudade]

I moved to Pennsylvania with my wife, lived there a couple years. I had lived in the Keystone State in the past, but not a native. So I was used to it.
A suit is an article of clothing often worn by a business executive.
A suite (pronounced "sweet") is a collection of furniture.
But in Pennsylvania, or at least central pennsylvania, a collection of furniture may be described as a "bedroon suit".
That aggravated my wife.
But then I served her scrapple, and she required psychotherapy for PTSD.

[lancomedic]

As a 66 year resident of PA in Philly and Central PA I have never in my life heard the word "nebby"

[robtvogel]

As a Philadelphian, I'm offended by the lack of jawn on this jawn.

[JJordan-be]

I lived for far too long in Lancaster County, PA. The 'PA Dutch Country; Amishland' I moved there from northern California when I was a teen. The cultural difference was stark. I grew up all over the US as an Air Force brat and I can't imagine anywhere in the US with more colloquial language, a weird mix of English and German phrases. 'Redd up the house, ' meant 'clean up the house;' 'Outen the lights;' meant 'turn off the lights.' The countryside there is beautiful, the locals there a strange breed. The only things I miss about that place are the Sheetz and Wawas!
Thanks for the fun videos. Keep up your great work!

[rei]

I’m a Texan, but went to college in PA. They made fun of me for ‘y’all’, but I still maintain that ‘yinz’ is a far sillier word.