National Blog Posting Month

Linguistics, Language, and Lingo

Does anyone else have language quirks? Being a traveler, I pick up things I hear that I like, and I say them a lot. Such as, "What up," "My Bad," and other things I can't remember. People think I'm a freak here in Colorado at times, but it Pittsburgh it wasn't a big deal. Anyone else have speech weirdness?

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Permalink Reply by Julie Zaccone Stiller on November 7, 2007 at 6:36pm: Yes! I'll do that and then get the hairy eyeball look from uptight lingo folks. I especially have trouble when I travel to the Southern US, I'll end up with an accent for a few weeks.... I think learning new words and sayings makes us more interesting!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by s.e. smith on November 7, 2007 at 11:31pm: I soak up accents and weird slang like a sponge. I can't help myself. And then people think I'm mocking them, it's quite irritating. What I want to know is: where did I pick up "awesome possum"?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alianora La Canta on November 8, 2007 at 4:05pm: When I went to the Special Olympics in Cardiff, I apparently used three accents in the same morning. My usual Derbyshire accent turned into a Birmingham accent for a while after spending a few minutes talking to one swimmer, and then I picked up a Scottish accent within five minutes of talking to a different swimmer while waiting for a race. By the time I'd collected my medal for the race in question, I was back to Derbyshire accent. I say "apparently" because I couldn't hear the difference myself...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Southwood on November 9, 2007 at 8:39am: I am a Kentuckian that moved to California that moved to Oregon. When I call home or go home, I fall completely back into the drawl, and say things like "Lawsy mercy!" and "hahhh" instead of "hi" and "She looks so much lahk her sister, her fayce hurts".

Now, up here in Oregon, I say "Dude", "hella", "Gnarly", "Far out", "hecka", and "OMG" waaaay too much for the natives - because I keep getting these sidelong glances and awkward pauses.

Cats are all "meowser ebinowsers". Cuteoverload.com has me saying muzzlepuffs and 'tocks way too much.

Finally, I make up or borrow words that become every day language for me. 'Fneh' became and expression of a variety of emotions and the name of my cat. My husband and I call each other 'Apin'. "Woobie" was the blanket in "Mr. Mom" and now the word woobie applies to anything soft, cuddly, reassuring, warm, and calming. So food, restaurants, robes, cats, rooms with the right lighting and number of pillows, and people can all be woobie. Finally, my friend Lee from High School hollered once "I gotta weedle!" (ie: pee) and so now I only need to weedle, never to pee, and often at the weedle-atorium (my dad's phrase). My best friend, who years ago, she and I started calling "L'il Beaver" , abreviated to L'il B and finally to just B, has started calling me Boedle (beedle).

So yeah - I can relate to the weird language thing. I am barely speaking English anymore.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Liza on November 10, 2007 at 10:49am: I totally use muzzlepuffs and other cuteoverload.com lingo in my daily speech. Like "Fluffy McFluffersons," and now I forget what else!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Southwood on November 16, 2007 at 6:30pm: I am constantly saying 'teef' now.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mel Bergen on November 11, 2007 at 7:42am: It took me years to get "hella" out of my daily vocabulary. It's been replaced by "totally", which isn't an improvement. Being the only female in the house (including all but one pet), I use the word dude to address everyone else. It saves time on remembering everyone's names. :P; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Southwood on November 16, 2007 at 6:29pm: I just use 'dude' for everyone now. It's so simple.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by kperfetto on November 11, 2007 at 3:34am: I don't have a typical St. Louis accent, despite living there all my life. Does that count as a quirk? I refuse to say "warsh" for "wash," "farty" for "forty," or "hunnerds" for "hundreds." I blame it on studying broadcast journalism for two years (long enough to decide I did not want to be a journalist.) They'd give us "trick" words when we'd do our mock newscasts. (St. Louisans are notorious for saying things like, "Highway farty.")

Most people don't believe I'm a native. Or they think I'm stuck up.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by TK on November 11, 2007 at 7:22am: I picked up the "like" disease in junior high, "bloody" in high school, "cool beans" in college, "dude" when I worked in a hotel, and now that I'm living outside the U.S., I've got hordes of little Chinese words that sprinkle my vocabulary. I'm like verbal gumbo, but without the cool New Orleans connotations.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kajagugu on November 11, 2007 at 7:50am: I can't stand when people write "would of" or "should of". They need to find their grammar teacher and smack her in the head.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by orangemagoric on November 13, 2007 at 8:42am: I grew up in Massachusetts, so "wicked" is stuck in my vocabulary. "That was wicked awesome" etc. I say it allll the time. My boyfriend makes fun of me, and sometimes counts how many times I say it in a single conversation. I also say "stoked" a lot, as in "I was so stoked about that." But I have NO idea where that came from. I'm just a weirdo, I guess.; ▶ Reply to This