Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Talking Pennsylvanian!

My brother in law (a Pennsylvanian living in Senegal West Africa) sent this to me today!

Talking Pennsylvanian

Once a Pennsylvanian, ALWAYS a Pennsylvanian!


About Pennsylvanians:

You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything but 'Philly' and New Jersey has always been ' Jersey'.

You refer to Pennsylvania as 'PA' (pronounced Pee-ay). How many other states do that?

'You guys' is a perfectly acceptable reference to a group of men and women.

You know how to respond to the question 'Djeetyet?' (Did you eat yet?)

You learned to pronounce Bryn Mawr, Wilkes-Barre , Schuylkill, the Pocono's, Tamaqua, Tunkannock, Bala Cynwyd, Duquesne and Monongahela.

And we know Lancaster is pronounced Lank aster, not Lan kaster.

You know what a 'Mummer' is, and are disappointed if you can't catch at least highlights of the parade.

You know what 'Punxsutawney Phil' is, and what it means if he sees his shadow.

The first day of buck and the first day of doe season are school holidays.

At least five people on your block have electric 'candles' in all or most of their windows all year long.

You know what a 'State Store' is, and your out-of-state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at the mini- mart.

Words like 'hoagie,' 'crick,' 'chipped ham,' 'dippy eggs', 'sticky buns,''shoo-fly pie,' 'lemon sponge pie', 'pierogies' and 'pocketbook' actually mean something to you. That's PA slang for purse!

You can eat cold pizza (even for breakfast) and know others who do the same. Those from NY find this 'barbaric.'

You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know it comes in several colors.

You know the difference between a cheese steak and a pizza steak sandwich, and know that you can't get a really good one outside PA, except Atlantic City on the boardwalk.

You live for summer, when street and county fairs signal the beginningof funnel cake season.

You know that Blue Ball, Intercourse, Paradise , Climax, Bird-in-Hand, Beaver, Moon, Virginville, Mars, and Slippery Rock are PA towns.(and the first three were consecutive stops on the Reading RR).

You know what a township, borough, and commonwealth is.

You can identify drivers from New York , New Jersey , Maryland or other neighboring states by their unique and irritating driving habits.

A traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a horse-drawn carriage on the highway in Lancaster County .

You know several people who have hit deer more than once.

You carry jumper cables in your car and your female passengers know how to use them.

Driving is always better in winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

As a kid you built snow forts and leaf piles that were taller than you were.

You know beer doesn't grow in a garden but you know where to find a beer garden.

You also know someone who lives 'down the lane'.

You actually understand all this and send it on to other Pennsylvanians for former Pennsylvanians!

YEAH! THAT'S 'PA' AND WE LOVE IT

5 comments:

  1. Since my hubby and I come from good PA stock (both his parents and my father), we know many of these things you mentioned. How neato, huh? We'd fit right in...almost. Guess we'd have to lose our surfboards and 'hey dude' verbiage first though. haha!

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  2. As a frequent visitor which really if you can get around the county roads without a map you're really a frequent local, you could add "ham ball" to that list!!! I can say some of the towns and I know for a fact that Virginia drivers are horrible too!!!

    Me be thinkin' so!!!

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  3. I may be from CA but now I am a true PA.

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  4. Well, I'm from PA, and happen to be back here right now! We live for home again on Saturday. I lived in Mars when I was young. Yep, it's true. Then we moved north to Portersville, which is where I am right this very minute. My husband and I both graduated from Slippery Rock High School.

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  5. Well Lady Jane,

    It wouldn't take you long to lose your Cali lingo - but I must say as a Native Californian that I still say "dude", "cool" etc...but not with a Valley Girl accent, although my daughter can do the "Valley Girl", like, totally awesome!

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