So I'm from Hawai'i & it always amazes me on how people from where I come from say things differently.
Just keep it going for as long as you can, it can be anything & I mean anything(;

I call my shoes slippers, what do you call it?

CR<3

Shoes are for outdoors, slippers are for indoors

Here in Michigan, I call carbonated beverages Pop.

shoes are indeed for outdoors and slippers for indoors over here in Tennessee

carbonated beverages however are collectively referred to as coke

i've heard of flip flops being called other things though...

We in Virginia often refer to pop or coke to Soda.

I call my flip flops...flippers...don't ask why lol.

Often in Virginia I hear people say Norfolk as Norfork.

Hey, maybe you Dokugans can help find an answer for a question my boss and I have been debating for a long time. We rent out trailers... Anyhew, probably 10% of the people who call or stop in at our business to request a trailer, does not know the word. They say things along the lines of "you know, that thing you pull behind your car..."

I, perhaps exhibiting too little faith in humanity, believe these folks probably also don't know the names of common tools, have no idea what makes their car run, etc.

My boss suspects that in some regions, trailers are referred to as "pull behinds", and they simply do not use the word "trailer".

Who do you think is right?

Here's a funny one. In the not-too-distant past, people often wore waterproof boots that could be pulled on over dress shoes, to protect them from rain and mud. My parents, and the older folks I was acquainted with called them "galoshes". One of my early jobs was as an administrative assistant to a man who came from another part of the country, who often taxed my self-control by running around the office yelling "where's my rubbers?" when he had misplaced his galoshes... Being quite young, I was especially embarrassed when there were any visitors in the office to overhear...

Oh goodness my boyfriend does the same thing, he calls his golashes 'rubbers' too. It made me crazy for a while too. Of course not to long ago he told me to put "my trunk in the boot" while he were at the airport picking up a rental car. My poor brain stopped and thought "what?". Oh right British. He means for me to put my suitcase in the car trunk. But it was a very amusing idea to ponder for a few seconds. I was still thinking that boots go in the trunk. Of course it does not help that he mixes other odd language idioms in as well. HE is half Britsh and half Indian, and spent way too much time traveling for work all over the world. I get crazy words all the time, oh god and the spelling too. Text messages that make me wanna pull out my red correcting marker (what can I say I am a teacher by nature).

Galoshes, rubbers, wellies; here in the Deep South, we usually call them rain boots. And I've also heard folks use the Britishism "caravan" for trailer.

Hahah while we are seemingly on a Britishism kick let's not forget that it is a'Saloon' rather than a 'Sedan' verison of a car.

When I was stationed in England, I heard all sorts of strange things. However, I would then spout off with my West Virginia twang and had people scratching their heads in my direction.

In England, Cigarettes are Fags. The engine compartment of a car is a "bonnet". The bathroom is the "Loo" or "water closet".

I don't think that certain phrases are called certain names based on region, but more on parents. People are able to travel all over the world now and even settle down and become citizens of new countries. I'm sure that if my parents had been from Ireland I would have a different vocabulary than if they had came from South Africa.

I also noticed that as my duty station changed, so did my vocabulary and accent. I grew up calling Coke, Pepsi, etc. (DO NOT OWN) Pop, but when I moved to California, it became Soda. Likewise, when I was stationed with the Navy for half a year, the bathroom became the 'head' and the floor the 'deck'. I guess I just picked up bits and pieces along the way.

By the way, my family had a good laugh at my expense everytime I would come back to WV on leave.

This is all really cool! Here in Hawai'i we don't wear slippers indoors, we go barefoot. I have a cousin who grew up in california & he calls the remote for the tv a "clicker".

I live in san diego.. so yeah its nice weather- not as nice as Hawaii by far... but we have weird terms too I guess..

so many people wear flip-flops that slippers, sandals, Choose [like shoes but with a cheech and chong accent], and chunk-las [I dont know how to spell it, but its the spanish word for slippers] are all acceptable terms for flip flops... shoes is normally reserved for when youre wearing something close toed.

but dont call them thongs- only tourists call them thongs.

strangely enought, so many people wear converse shoes that we call the regular old school 'chuck talor' style ones "chucks" IE: "omg they dont sell the Orange chucks in my size"

strangely enought, I dont know a single person that dosent know what carnitas or a bean & cheese are/is and the best place to get them.

what I always thought was weird thought, is that the storm drains... you know those canals that hold the rain water and other stuff that comes from the street drains... they call them "drainage Ditches" out here- and no one knows why.

Well, it's not me who does this and it seriously confuses the heck out of me when my friend does it but...to me Tomato Sauce has always been just that...sauce...or pasta sauce, red sauce you name it. My friend...calls it gravy. To me gravy is the brown sauce to put on turkey, steak, meatloaf etc...but he drives me nutso because we'll be talking and he'll go "So did you figure out your grandma's recipie for gravy yet?" And I'll answer "yeah I've known that one for years" and he's like "Oh, I thought you didn't know the gravy recipie she used when she made pasta" and I of course reply "You mean sauce?"

Yep, it can turn into a rather amusing conversation.

My husband calls the place you store things in the dash of your car, the glove compartment. I simply call it the dash. So when I tell him to put it in the dash, he has to always make some smarty comment, like "behind the radio part of the dash" or something to that affect.

The term "rubber" for galoshes is new to me. I am more familiar with it being used for an eraser (they rub out mistakes). When I was in 10th grade, I went to an International school and had a fair number of British schoolmates. The first time one of them asked me to borrow my rubber, my mind went "???!!!!!".

Wow, these are all really entertaining!

The best ones I can think of in Texas are said only by old people, but they always make the younger generations laugh. Instead of pants, they say "britches" and instead of saying tv control, they say "clicker." My brother pointed this out to me a few years ago, and now I can't stop laughing whenever I hear it.

Also, a spanking is referred to as a "whooping," which never fails to make me laugh.

Oh, and of course there is the excessive use of the word "y'all" which I honestly don't ever use.

I personally always call carbonated beverages "soda," but my co-workers always call me a Yankee and say "in Texas, we say Coke, honey." Mind you, I was born and raised Texan, but my dad is from Philadelphia, so I guess I kind of get a mix of both. xD

I just wanted to share this with you all, while we are on the subject of funny things (old-er) people say or mix up.

Back around 1994, we had our phone service disconnected. Mom and Dad were going through a rough financial time, and let the phone go until things picked up again.

My grandfather used to take my sisters and I fishing alot. He came up one weekend to go fishing, and was suprised when we had made other plans. He ranted that we should have had enough manners to at least call so he wouldn't have made a useless trip. So, we explained that we didn't have a phone line to call with.

The following weekend, he came to the house to bring us a phone. He was so excited that he could help us out.

My sister looked at him like he was crazy! She was laughing so hard she was crying. She told him (repeatedly) that she couldn't use the phone because we didn't have service.

His reply was, "Of course you can, it's a wireless phone!"

She argued with him for an hour and could not make him understand that just because it was a 'cordless' phone that it still needed phone service. LOL

You know the spigot that comes out of the side of the house- that you attach a hose to water the lawn? I grew up calling that a sillcock. Now when I say that, people laugh at me. Anyone out there still call that thingy a sillcock?

We have always called Coke, Pepsi, et al, as "soda" or "soft drink" (as opposed to "hard drinks" i.e. liquor).

"Y'all" is a perfectly good word, as long as you remember that it is a plural, referring to more than one person.

Accents add so much to our languages as well. I've noticed that the Kansai accent has been used in a lot of anime for comedic or shifty characters, but in past times (such as the Warring States era)it was considered very refined.

Because of my extensive reading, i call putting your two cents worth in, 'two-bits worth' and all fizzy drinks are sodapop.

well i have moved through several states and I have always just called it soda but calling it coke or pop is understandable considering those are the two biggest companies

My issue is actual the name of the state i live in Missouri and i want to know why the hell people say and in one case of a former college professor write Missoura. or am i just nit picking?

Dragon wrote:
My issue is actual the name of the state i live in Missouri and i want to know why the hell people say and in one case of a former college professor write Missoura. or am i just nit picking?

I think that is just a matter of accents, mainly. I have heard different pronunciations for several cities and states.

I also hear differences in other words, such as "either" (pronounced eether or ither). My parents say "wrastling" but I have always said "wrestling." And down here in the South, there is always the issue of how to properly say "pecan" -- pee-can or puh-cahn. (I tend to use the latter and have had friends correct me.)

Years ago, when I started getting into a lot of works by British authors, I quickly learned about a few unfamiliar words. The ones that stick out in my mind the most are that cookies are called biscuits, robes are called dressing gowns, and a lorry is what I know as a semi truck, but I have also heard it referred to as an 18-wheeler or a tractor-trailer.

I'm from Australia, We call Flip Flops 'thongs' or at least my family and friends do. I say eraser Instead of rubber, seeing as everyone in my high school seem to giggle at te word rubber. shoes are shoes... or joggers or skates or sneakers ... XD A trailer is a trailer.. inless it is big enought to fit a working Sink and a bed in it, then it is a caravan, wellies are.. rain boots... i think. Headphones/Earphones.soda/soft drink/cordial. The most I get made fun of for by my friends is saying Iceblock insead of.. uhmm.. Ice pop or popsicle >.<

We have a LOT more.. but I cant think of anymore at the moment.

OH, my husband is really old, and he ALWAYS calls the refrigerator the ICEBOX.

I'm from Alabama. Having left the state only twice in my life, once when I was too young to remember it, my word usage should be pretty normal for this area.

Just this last week, my aunt asked if I wanted her to pick me up anything while she was at the store and I asked for variety pack of multi-colored rubbers. No, I didn't want her to get me either erasers or prophylactics. That's what both my mother and I call plain rubber hairbands. I use a rubber to tie off a braid. Scrunchies hold ponytails. Hair ties are ribbons or anything else that must be tied.

Shoes are any kind of footwear, minus socks. Slippers are worn in the house, usually over socks. House shoes are the fuzzy slippers that we wear with cute pajamas. Sneakers are what I wear out running or to the store. Boots are worn in winter and come up over the ankles. Sandals are worn in summer and are open-toed. Flip-flips are sandals with the thong between the toes, usually made of plastic. Rubber boots that go over shoes are rain boots, though I've heard older people call them galoshes.

Fizzy drinks are soda. Only coca-cola is called coke.

Despite stereotypes, we don't use the word "y'all" at all. We use "ya" as both plural and singular.

Icebox - what we call the refrigerator

Shoes... anything worn on feet. Except flip-flops and slippers. Slippers are the in house fuzzy comfy feet covers that aren't to be seen in public. Not that that stops us.

Coke - any kind of soda pop or carbonated beverage. A born and raised Louisianan can be sent to the fridge by a parent with an order to get a coke... and despite looking at 6 different brands and types they'll know exactly which one they meant.

Big Door - the large.. thick front door of the house that is locked at night.

Door - the screen door that's in front/before the Big Door when coming in from outside.

Getting down - getting out of the vehicle you're in to go into a place. I didn't know this was weird until my mom's friend from Boston visited us. We were sitting in the parking lot of Walmart and I asked my Mom if I could get down with her. The friend thought I wanted to burst into song and dance.


I'll add more if I remember/realize which ones are 'weird'. >.< And if anyone is interested, LOL.