10 Common Items That Have Different names
We’re a cultural melting pot and nowhere is that more evident than in the many regional dialects that we Americans speak. From coast to coast, American English is largely the same, though spoken with different accents, but there are a few terms that cause some confusion. Here are a few examples of 10 common items that have different names depending on where in the U.S. you are!
1. Sneakers or Tennis Shoes?
Depending on where you’re from, you might call athletic shoes with rubber soles one of three different names: sneakers, tennis shoes, or gym shoes. The majority of the United States uses the term “tennis shoes,” but New Englanders and southern Floridians call them “sneakers.” Only a few small pockets of the population refer to athletic shoes as “gym shoes.”
2. Lightning Bugs or Fireflies?
Head outside on a summer night and what do you see? The western half of the U.S. almost exclusively refers to the glowing bugs as “fireflies.” South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Florida, New York and most of the New England States use both terms, while large parts of the South and Midwest prefer the term “lightning bug.”
3. Soda, Pop, Tonic, Coke?
Ironically, the one term that no one uses for soft drinks is… “soft drinks!” Most of the northern half of the U.S. refer to soft drinks as “pop,” but the New England states, part of Wisconsin, much of Illinois and Missouri, Florida, and California call the fizzy drinks “soda.” If you live in “Southie,” outside of Boston, Massachusetts, you might call it “tonic.” People in Texas and most of the Southern U.S. sometimes refer to soft drinks as “coke.”
4. What is a Hoagie, Anyway?
It turns out that only people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey know what a hoagie is. Most of the United States calls the long, cold-cut sandwich a “sub,” but Pennsylvanians use “sub” and “hoagie” interchangeably. These sandwiches are also known as a “hero” in New York City, a “Po’boy” in Louisiana, a “grinder” in Massachusetts, a “wedge” in Westchester County and The Bronx, New York.
5. Crawfish, Crayfish and Crawdads, Oh My!
Which of these three do you say? In the North, people are more likely to refer to these freshwater crustaceans as “crayfish,” “crawdaddies” or “crawdads,” but in the South, people call them “crawfish.” If you’re curious, all three terms are regional versions of the original Middle English word, “crevise.”
6. Pancakes, Flapjacks, or Hot Cakes?
These three terms, which all describe the same syrup-smothered breakfast cake, all have wildly varying histories. The term “pancake” is the oldest, originating in the 14th century. “Hot cakes” are listed in the dictionary as an Americanism that came about in the late 17th century among early American settlers. Then, in the American West, cowboys came up the term “flapjack.” Back then, flapjacks were a little different from those we’re used to today — cowboys liked theirs hearty with whole grain wheat and oats.
7. Need A Drink of Water?
For most of New England, the South and the Midwest, you can get a quick sip of water at the “water fountain.” However, the West and a few pockets of the Midwest prefer to get a drink at the “drinking fountain.” Oddly, people in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and the eastern half of Wisconsin call them “bubblers.” This is not to be confused with another water-related item that goes by different names: Tap or spigot, depending on where you live.
8. Mixed (Traffic) Signals
You pull up to an intersection where the roads meet and form a circle that you need to drive around in order to find your exit. What do you call it? In Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maine, it’s a “rotary.” Most of the rest of the U.S. calls this a “roundabout.” But people in Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Southern California and the East Coast from Pennsylvania down through Georgia call it a “traffic circle.”
9. The Perfect Ice Cream Topping
For most of us, those small, colorful chocolate confections that we put all over ice cream, sundaes, and cupcakes are called “sprinkles.” To New Englanders, however, the correct term is “jimmies.” Where did that word come from? No one is quite sure, but the Just Born Candy Company of Pennsylvania says that they are named after an employee — Jimmy Bartholomew — who created them!
10. Supper? Dinner? Who Cares! Let’s Eat!
Lunch, dinner, and supper are three terms that are used differently all over the U.S. Depending on who you ask, you either eat lunch at noon or you have dinner. Evening meals are the same way — to some, the evening meal is dinner and to others, it’s supper. Even more confusingly, some people use dinner for formal evening meals and supper for more casual repasts. So is there a correct way to use dinner and supper? According to Dictionary.com, “dinner” refers to the main meal of the day, whether you eat it in the evening or at night.
Are there any other terms you’ve heard that are unique to a specific part of the U.S. where you live or where you were visiting? Tell us in the comments below!
Amber Kanuckel is a freelance writer from rural Ohio who loves all things outdoors. She specializes in home, garden, environmental and green living topics. Her article on woolly worm caterpillar folklore appears in the 2020 Farmers' Almanac.
-
Amber Kanuckelhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/amber-kanuckel
-
Amber Kanuckelhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/amber-kanuckel
-
Amber Kanuckelhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/amber-kanuckel
-
Amber Kanuckelhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/amber-kanuckel
Sofa v couch
Living room v family room
Seltzer (water) v soda water
Cream v half-n-half
How about a piece of furniture in your living room where 2 or more people sit side-by-side: couch – sofa – davenport – settee ….
Interesting! We didn’t think of that one. Thanks for sharing!
My grandmother in Mass called the front screened in porch the “piazza,” which is Italian for town square. No, she wasn’t Italian. Go figure.
Washrag or washcloth. Born and raised in Virginia and I say washrag.
Crayon & Crayola
In South Dakota a stop light is called a stop and go. We thought the young lady was refering to a convenient store. Lolol
I was raised to call it sheetrock. The midwest calls it wall board. Also: we call it a sofa. Others call it a divan.
In the northeast, we call that particular item of furniture a couch.
in the northeast it was a davenport
What about hose pipe and water hose? Here in North Carolina, it’s a hose pipe!
Gum bands for Anything with rubber banding : from pants with elastic waist to hair ties, is used here in sw pa. I’m A transplant from California . Where I always said a rubber bands is used to secure a bundle. Cracks me up.
In the west, you carry your groceries in a sack. In the east, you carry them in a bag.
I have really enjoyed this article! Growing up in Nebraska my family said yum yums for sloppy joes, some referred to the creek as the crick. It was always crawdads, lightning bugs, and locust.
I’m from Texas, and a few of us consistently have another name we use for __Tennis Shoes/Sneakers/Gym Shoes__ ….. we call them “Tenni-Runners. Yep, guess we’re all different. And isn’t it Fabulous!!!
I grew up on the west coast, & we called them shopping carts. My husband is from the Midwest & calls them buggies. To me, a buggie (as in baby buggie) is something you put a baby into, then go for a stroll.
I’m from Southern Illinois and we call them shopping carts. The first time I heard someone from the south call it a buggy I thought it was hysterical!
Ground hog around here. (So. ILLINOIS)
As a kid we called them pedal pushers, but as an adult I say capris.
Growing up soup beans could be Navy beans or Northern beans. Pinto beans were just called pintos. My folks were from Ohio.
I live in Illinois too, and I refer to the tags as the sticker on the plates.
We call them shopping carts in my part of Illinois.
I’ve noticed that too. Mother and Daddy. It was mom and dad for me.
ground hog or woodchuck
speed bump or speed humps or any of the other 100 or so names.
OK, how about……
Pedal Pushers
Capris
Clam Diggers
We called them pedal pushers when I was growing up in NJ in the 40s and 50s.
Soup Beans or Pinto Beans, I’m from Kentucky and I call them Soup Beans!
My husband is from KY, & calls them soup beans. But let me sneak Navy beans, or great northern beans, & he’ll as me if we were out of pinto beans?
front porch or stoop
In Alaska snowmobiles were always snowmachines.
Yes, I know that is weird, coming from Wisconsin. My friend from Alaska, called them “snow machines” and I was like “what?”. Also, on Alaska shows on TV, they call them snowmachines.
I’m from eastern Pa. Traffic circles are being added to some major highways, mainly State route 222. Myself, and some other locals, call them “circle jerks”. That term has other meaning also.
As a New York City child, linoleum was oil cloth ( my grandmother, a New Yorker, pronounced it earl cloth), now vinyl flooring. You entertained guests & families retired to the parlor after dinner. My grandmothers boyfriend said viaduct instead of bridge. You had a Garage sale(whether you had a garage or not) rather than Yard or Lawn sale. Raincoat, slicker. Home fried potatoes, usually served with breakfast eggs…haven’t seen a comparison
In Illinois our cars have license plates. When traveling to Florida I heard them called tags.
Here in the Canadian prairies a hoodie is called a bunny hug.
According to my mother, roundabouts are “hell”. 🙂
Growing up in Vermont I’ve always had to sweep the dust bunnies out from under the bed, but my husband from Alaska swept dusty mice!
Living room or front room….Diner or restaurant
Soft drink or pop…When I was growing up, we said front room in Cleveland, Ohio
We had a living room in Mass and NJ, but my husband growing up in Utah had a front room. The first time I heard his family use that term I wondered which room was the “back” room? LOL
Born in Michigan, California since age 14. Still can’t stop saying sideboard instead of counter, and “sideyard”, which no one seems to understand! I know there’s more, just can’t recall them all. Pop is very common if you’re from Michigan.
We live in the Nothern Great Plains and here we call them (instead of subs) Grinders and they are made with finely shredded cabbage rather than lettuce. They are delightful!
I was born and raised in South Philadelphia in 1950s. People that worked in 1940s at the Navy Yard – at southern most part of South Philly – wanted a hearty lunchtime sandwich of cold cut meats, cheese, lettuce, tomatos, sliced peppers (option), mayo (option), olive or vegetable oil (not an option), italian seasonings, salt & pepper; all wedged into a sliced elongated roll (“hoagie or steak roll”). Many of the workers called it either a “hoggie” – for Hog Island, which is a small parcel of land east of Navy Yard – or “hoagies.“ No south phillyer called them “subs” or a “hero”. Those were names used by “foreigners:” any one not from south philly.
If you took the same hoagie / hoggie and placed it in an over for a few minutes to heat the roll and meats and melt the cheese it was called a “grinder.”
Where this stuff got all confused about its identity i have no idear (sow-filly term for idea). 🙂 It must be an usurpation of a south philly staple, like cheesesteaks, by them darn “foreigners” from (New) Jersey, or worse yet, that big wormy apple, New York City.
When I moved to the south, I noticed most people referred to their fathers as Daddy, no matter how old they were. I called my father Daddy when I was a child, but once I grew up, he was Dad.
Shopping cart or buggy?
I grew up in California where that wheeled cart you use at the grocery store is called a shopping cart. I now live in Alabama where it is called a buggy.
Buggy in the Deep South.
I’m from Alabama. We call it “the grass”.
In Alabama we called it “the grass”.
We called the sofas “couches” in Seattle.
In Seattle it was a “parking strip”
I am from California and call it a tow truck. My midwest boyfriend calls it a wrecker.
Here in lower Michigan we call traffic circles Roundabouts!
I call them a pain in the keister because it doesn’t seem like most people know how to drive in them.
Speaking of ice cream sundae’s: in St. Louis, the South Side calls them ‘sunduh.’ In 40 years there, I don’t recall ever hearing a plural version.
I think most of the country knows what a milkshake is, but in the Boston area it’s called a Frappe. Not frapp-ae. Just single syllable fraaape.
And in Rhode Island in the fifties also known as cabinet my fav is chocolate from the creamery! Now I’m a WV yankee
Sandwiches, contain sliced meats cheeses lettuce & tomato are called grinders in RI.
Wreck or accident, signal or blinker, rubber band or elastic? I am a Mainer, but lived in NC for 9 years & constantly got teased for these. Glad to be back in Maine where I belong! (smiles)
I am a Louisiana girl born and raised, we had breakfest, dinner some people call this lunch and supper. Then I moved to Florida and this old dumb country girl was all confused lol so glad I’m back in Louisiana!!!!!
Think you forgot about “mud bugs”. That’s another term for crawdads I believe.
North Jersey people call this breakfast meat “Taylor Ham”, South Jersey folks call it pork roll.
In my area of Wisconsin, the strip of grass between the roadway curb and the sidewalk is generally referred to as a boulevard, and is owned by the city. When I find a water source in a building, I call it a drinking fountain. If it is outside on the street corner or in a park, that’s a bubbler. Since roundabouts seem to be getting popular with our local idiot politicians, I just call them a pain in the ass.
I agree wholeheartedly with you on the round abouts!
This should clear things up for you! lol
I live in north-central Missouri and the grassy area between the street and the sidewalk is called the “parking”.
We called it the swale in the northeast.
sara { 02.12.16 at 6:52 am }
This was a fun read. I think I have one, Interstate, Freeway, or Expressway: No matter what you call it the road will get you there!
Good one Sara,I say Highway.Also distance,30 miles away or 30 minutes away,I use the minutes.Oklahoma.
I use minutes regarding distance. I used to live in the Colorado Rocky Mountains where you could drive 15 minutes and only go 7 miles because of switchbacks (s-shaped curves).
Yes! BetteLee Henry – this is true in Maine. People tell you how long it will take instead of how far!
Northeast adds Thruway and Parkway, with the latter having a landscaped median strip.
used to ask a woman at the deli counter for a dipper of macaroni salad. the younger girls looked at me like i was crazy. a dipper was a 1 pint pan, a 1/2 dipper 1/2 pint. came from the pan you used to drink out of from the bucket at the well, or attached to the pump for a drink of water.
In Vermont what most people know as soft serve we call creamees.
There are many regional differences in what different things are called. I really enjoyed this article. In Canada we also have a few. At one time in Saskatchewan there was a dairy that produce a chocolate milk which was call ViCo. It became generic for chocolate milk, so when in a restaurant you ordered a ViCo. When I went out of province and order a Vico you wouldn’t believe the looks I got.
Another one that was unique to Saskatchewan was Bunny Hug. It was what most people call hoodies. It is a term I still use but when I get strange look I have to remind myself I am no longer in Saskatchewan.
I didn’t learn until my late 20’s that people in the south called their Grandma a “Meemaw”. Not sure if I’m spelling that right.
In California, I took my kids to the beach. In New Jersey, we go “down the shore.” At the park, they slid down the slide in California, and in NJ they went down the sliding board. In California they went sledding down snowy hills on sleds, in NJ they used sleighs and went sleigh-riding. In CA my coffee is black or with cream, in NJ it is dark, or light. And in California I kept my purse shopping cart, but here in NJ I put my pocket book on the buggy.
The name for the strip of lawn or grass between the curb and sidewalk seems to have many names. In the Chicago area I most often hear it called parkway. But in the Midwest I have also heard it called tree lawn, devil’s strip, hell strip, berm and curb lawn. Are there other names?
In Alberta, Canada, we call it a boulevard
MA calls it a treebelt. The 8 feet of your property front belongs to the town. The water pipes, gas lines and whatever else they have put underground belongs to the town to be protected against damage. If you plant a tree in that area, you can not cut it without a huge fine.
Most often in So. California it is “No problem” for “You’re welcome!” I think it comes from the Spanish “de nada”
Always lived in the Vancouver area, BC. Winter hats are Toques, athletic shoes are Runners, soda drinks are Pop, sofas are Couches or Sofas, large sandwiches are Subs,
we use rubber bands for office supplies and elastics for hair bands, and “Step on It” means go faster when driving:). Our fast roads are Freeways, but during rush hour they’re more like parking lots! I think our expressions are similar up and down the west coast, although we say You’re Welcome instead of Uh-Huh as they do in California….
I believe in Iowa, they call couches/sofas a “devan”. Remember that from my early childhood.
I was wondering when someone would mention that! Couch, sofa, devan, davenport. And a short one is a love seat.
Living in south central Indiana I grew up calling cantaloupe “musk melon.”
in Pittsburgh rubberbands are called ‘gumbands’ and we ‘red up’ when we tidy a room.