Stupid Regional Sayings

What the hell is up with other english speaking countries having "torches" for flashlights? Torches to me are compacted fuel on sticks that you light when exploring ancient ruins.

Freedom Fries = About the stupidiest thing I've heard for french fries.
Like the Brits, sometimes we Canadians call them "chips" as in "fish n chips" or often simply referred to as "fries". French cooks make "patate fritte" or potato fritter.

Canadian Bacon = back bacon
Mountie = RCMP

Both will fetch a laugh at your expense if you use them in Canada.

Sounds like something someone from "out west" would say

Lol, well in the technological evolution from a flaming brand to an electrically powered handheld light, the function remained exactly the same and so did the name !

Flashlight ? Nah, I like a nice constant beam when I'm using a torch, if it flashes then the battery connections are probably knackered

I love regional dialects, great source of pub (bar ?) conversation

Function is exactly the same? I think you'd be hard pressed to ward off a room full of snakes while looking for the ark of the covenant with an electrically powered handheld light.

My friend from Durham, North Carolina says that instead of saying "I don't know you from Adam" (as in Adam Kadmon), they say "I don't know you from Hoolay the Chunk."

LOL Chance ! Well that's progress huh ?

i hate snakes

Hmm, I can't think of too much in the way of stupid regional phrases here in Toronto. Well, other than we call Toronto "Tronna".

I believe that, as part of my hometown dialect, I tend to call the built-up/city core section of towns and cities 'uptown' instead of 'downtown'. I've heard this is relatively unique to Huron County (where I's from).

And it's pop, dammit. What's this soda crap?

Also, tardcore = something really really stupid, usually in the context of something someone has done. "OMG dude, that was tardcore!"

Aww. I should introduce you to my friend's bull snake, Bronx. He's a sweetie. He likes hiding in hair, and sticking his tongue in people's ears.

Yes yes, I know it's an Indy reference...

Maybe if you flash it on and off at them quick enough it'll give them epileptic fits?

Cross -- my dialect agrees with you on "pop." A soda is a beverage made with soda water and ice cream.

And if you ask for directions to "Uptown" in the Twin Cities, you'll not get directed to either city center -- you'll be shown the way to a secondary commercial/residential area of Minneapolis further south but on the same traffic artery, that for decades has been known officially as Uptown. It's a curious blend of the trendy and the crunchy, where almost literally you can find Tibetan restaurants next door to the GAP.

Why don't we all compromise and call it "soda pop?"

Though it is "soda" dammit... : p

They even said soda uses soda water, so it must be "soda pop." But using two words is messy so let's just all say "soda," even though we all secretly know it's "soda pop."

And I'm stealing "tardcore."

For the Brits:

Smoking a fag...(this phrase sounds perverted or bizarre in the U.S.)

For the Yanks:

Shagging...(sure it's an old-timey dance, or possibly a term for catching a baseball; but my British friends think it's hilarious when I say "My grandma is going to her shagging lessons...)

I can. No offense, but your entire country has no idea how to pronounce the word "out". It's not "oot", it's not "oat", it's "out".


Then why in the name of all that is decent and holy does it clearly say "orange soda", "cream soda", "club soda", "grape soda", "black cherry soda" etc. on the label? If I want an orange pop, I'll flag down the nearest icecream truck and buy orange flavored ice on a stick. If I want a carbonated orange flavored beverage, I'll go to a vending machine, put in some coins, and get a bottle that says "orange soda" right on it. There's no such thing as a bottle that says "orange pop".

Pop... Come on. Wars have been started and peoples conquered over less, my friend.

As for those who claim a "soda" is a carbonated beverage with ice cream in it, that's a "float", just like it says on the menu of every single Friendly's in the world. You don't walk in and say let me have a root beer soda, or (after they look at you like you have 9 heads) they'll give you a plain old rootbeer, maybe with some ice in it, but certainly no icecream. If you want icecream in it, you say "let me have a rootbeer float," just like it says on the menu. In fact, if you google "rootbeer float" right now, you'll find all kinds of recipes for putting icecream and rootbeer in the same glass (you'll also find a weird site explaining why rootbeer is lighter than water, but I think we can ignore that one). If you google "rootbeer soda", all you get is information on rootbeer itself. Case closed.

Arrrrgh! I was wondering when someone would come along and dredge up this horrible myth. Canadians do *not* say "oot", or "oat" or anything even closely resembling that. I have never met *anyone* from Canada that pronounced "out" in this manner. From the east coast to the west coast and all points in between it's always "out".

Where in the world does this misconception come from? Did it start with the South Park movie, or was it just popularized there?

I think someone has trouble hearing their own accent.

Actually, some accents from Canada's east coast will say "oot" But you know what? Its really the correct pronunciation if you administer to the "King's English".

Example the word "tour"

It is pronounced by most of us as "toor", but WE are wrong. It should be "tore"

Why should "four" or "pour" be pronounced any differently?

You forget one thing. Americans didnt invent English.

Pickematers = Please remove those tomatoes from the vine.

putteminnerpocket = place them in your pocket

or my personal favorite

Viddles! = Dinner is ready please come and prepare your plate.

Uppity = excitable (to blazing saddles fans "The damn uppity *bleep* done hit me upside the head w. a shovel)

I think Viddles is a form of the word "victuals"

A dumb as it sounds to others out of the region, it does merit origin.

Some people in my area don't take the time to pronounce:

Idea = Ideer (like someone posted earlier)
Point = Pernt (what the hell?)
Fifty = Fitty (hahaha)
Get = Git (I remember this because my 8th grade teacher used to bitch some students about it)

EDIT:
Dontcha = Don't You
Ya'll = You all
Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (yes they say it for that long) = cute, adorable, poor thing

Even if they didn't invent it, his point is still correct about not having ice cream (edit: it says often, not always, so everyone loses- but since it doesn't HAVE to have ice cream then he wins... sort of). Here's the definition via Webster:

so·da

Etymology: Italian, from Arabic suwwAd, any of several saltworts from the ashes of which sodium carbonate is obtained
1 a : SODIUM CARBONATE b : SODIUM BICARBONATE c : SODIUM -- often used in combination <soda-feldspar> <nitrate of soda>
2 a : SODA WATER 2a b : SODA POP c : a sweet drink consisting of soda water, flavoring, and often ice cream
3 : the faro card that shows faceup in the dealing box before play begins


Edit: So the essentials are soda water and flavoring according to the above.

This isnt' regional, but it's still stupid:

"So and so is 'spinning in his grave.'"

What the hell does that mean? Does anyone spin when they are alive and something offends them?! Oh, you Catholics- I'm so mad at you I'm spinning! Do people occasionally burst out in song too when they are spinning in contempt?

Maybe it's some weird corpse logic.

"Spinning in Contempt" sounds like a really terrible song name.

Webster is an American dictionary.

Interestingly enough, the word "pop" does not appear in the Oxford dictionary as a beverage. It is derived from "soda pop" which has common usage in the west. Shortened forms are common like "fridge" or "fax". That being said "pop" is not as stupid as it is regional.