PITTSBURGHESE – BECOME A YINZER - Pittsburgh Purple Travel Guide
When you visit Pittsburgh, you may hear some people speak a strange language called Pittsburghese. Pittsburghese is a unique blend of words, grammar and intonations borrowed from languages of the many immigrant nationalities that have settled here over time. Pittsburghese is quite complex – and people speaking Pittsburghese are often called Yinzers. So, here, I have only listed some words and phrases you may hear. Click on the picture below or here to get to a website that can teach you all about the language.
Here are some examples:
- ahr = hour
- aht = out
- bawdle = bottle
- blinkers = turn signal
- buggy = shopping cart
- chipped-chopped ham = very thinly sliced ham made from pieces, trimmings, and spices (see here for #7 in Pittsburgh Food)
- cole = cold
- court = quart
- crik = creek
- dahntahn = downtown, the Golden Triangle
- fahrworks = fireworks
- forgetting "to be" as in “this car needs cleaned”
- gumband = rubber band
- haht = hot
- haus = the house you live in
- hoagie = big sandwich
- icebox = refrigerator
- jagoff = jerk
- jeet jet = Did you eat yet?
- jumbo = bologna lunch meat
- lunch-head = idiot
- n’at = "and that" meaning "et cetera" or "whatever"
- naht = not
- nebby = nosy
- Pixburgh = Pittsburgh
- pop = soft drink
- raht = route
- redd up = clean, tidy up
- ruff = roof
- sammitch = sandwich
- slippy = slippery
- soap powder = laundry detergent
- spicket = spigot
- Stillers = Steelers
- sweeper = vacuum
- wills = wheels
- winner = winter
- yinz = you all
Source: "Pittsburghese"; digital artwork by Ron Magnes
The following names are not Pittsburghese, but you can feel like a pro when you pronounce them correctly:
Allegheny – alle-ghe-ni (/ˌæləˈɡeɪni/)
Duquesne – doo-cane (/duːˈkeɪn/)
Monongahela – mo-nongaheela (/mə-NONG-gə-HEE-lə, /)
Zelienople – zi-li-anoupel (/ˌziːliəˈnoʊpəl/)
Author: Rudy at Backpack and Snorkel
Bio: Owner of Backpack and Snorkel Travel Guides. We create in-depth guides to help you plan unforgettable vacations around the world.
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