Monday, April 29, 2013

Bostonian Words Demystified

For those of you who have relatives in the Boston area and are confused by the language they speak, here is a complete guide, courtesy of Facebook.  Liked by all.

YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE BOSTONIANS 
The geographical center of Boston is in Roxbury. 
Due north of the center we find the South End. 
This is not to be confused with South Boston which lies directly east from the South End. 
North of the South End is East Boston and southwest of East Boston is the North End.
There is no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, and no water on Water Street.
Back Bay Boston streets are in alphabetical awddah: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, etc. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D, etc.
If the streets are named after trees (e.g. Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar) you are on Beacon Hill. If they are named after poets, you are in Wellesley.
Massachusetts Avenue is Mass Ave.
Commonwealth Avenueis Comm Ave.
South Boston is Southie.
The South End is The South End.
East Boston is Eastie.
The North End is east of the former West End.
The West End and Scully Square are no more; a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night.
Roxbury is The Burree.
Jamaica Plain is J.P.
There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses, and two Hancock buildings (one is very old; one is relatively new).The colored lights on top the old Hancock tells the weatha:
"Solid blue, clear view."
"Flashing blue, clouds due."
"Solid red, rain ahead."
"Flashing red, snow instead." (except in summer, flashing red means the Red Sox game was rained out!
Most people live here all their life and still do not know what the hell is going on with this one. Route 128 South is I-95 south and it is also I-93 north.
The underground train is not a subway. It is the T, and it does not run all night
(Fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk).
Order the cold tea in China Town after 2:00 AM; you will get a kettle full of beer.
Bostonians: think that it is their God-given right to cut off someone in traffic.
Bostonians: think that there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (No Rs, except in idear.)
Bostonians: think that three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heat wave.
Bostonians: refer to six inches of snow as a dusting.Bostonians: always bang a left as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it..
Bostonians: believe that using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
Bostonians: think that 63 degree ocean water is warm.
Bostonians: think Rhode Island accents are annoying.
The bridge connecting Boston and Cambridge via Massachusetts Avenue is commonly known as the Harvard Bridge. When it was built, the state offered to name the bridge for the Cambridge school that could present the best claim for the honor. Harvard submitted an essay detailing its contributions to education in America, concluding that it deserved the honor of having a bridge leading into Cambridge named for the institution... MIT did a structural analysis of the bridge and found it so full of defects that they agreed that it should be named for Harvard. This is all true!
Do not pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd. They will tow it to Meffad (Medford) or Summahville (Somerville).
Do not sleep on the Common. (Boston Common)
Do not wear orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.
The Sox = The Red Sox.
The Cs = The Celtics.
The Bs = The Bruins.
The Pats = The Patriots.
How to pronounce these Massachusetts cities correctly:
Worcester: Wuhsta or Wistah.
Gloucester: Glawsta.
Leicester: Lesta.
Woburn: Woobun.
Dedham: Dead-um.
Revere: Re-vee-ah.
Quincy: Quinzee.
Tewksbury: Tooks-ber-ry.
Leominster: Lemon-sta.
Peabody: Pee-ba-dee.
Waltham: Walth-ham.
Chatham: Chad-dum.
Samoset: Sam-oh-set or Sum-aw-set, but nevah Summerset!
Massachusetts Facts:
Frappes are made with ice cream - milkshakes are not.
If it is carbonated and flavored, it is tonic.
Tonic means Soda.
When we want Club Soda we ask for CLUB SODA.
When we want Tonic Water we ask for TONIC WATER.
Pop is another name for Dad.
The smallest beer is a pint.
Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish. If you paid more than $7 per pound, you got scrod.
It is not a water fountain... it is a bubblah.
It is not a trash can... it is a barrel.
It is not a hero, or a grinder... it is a sub.
It is not a shopping caht... it is a carriage.
It is not a purse... it is a pockabook.
They are not franks... they are haht dahgs.
Franks are money used in Switzahland.
Police do not drive patrol units or black and whites... they drive a crewza.
If you take the bus, your on the looza crooza.
It is not a rubber band... it is an elastic.
It is not a traffic circle or round about... it is a rotary.
"Going to the islands" means going to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket.

Send this to your friends who do not live in Boston and also the ones who do!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

SATA on Facebook


I wrote a corny limerick to win a contest that SATA is running on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/sata.airlines

It's the only airline that flies to the Azores.  First prize is a trip to Sao Miguel.  Second prize is a trip to Lisbon.  ;-P

There is an island called Faial,
Where families gather to call,
their friends in the States,
who shiver and wait
to return to that land best of all.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Boa Sr: La Ășltima hablante de la lengua bo

The last speaker of an ANCIENT language has died.

Article here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1248754/Last-member-65-000-year-old-tribe-dies-taking-worlds-earliest-languages-grave.html

Video which includes the sound of the language itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OEnieIRIuLY

BTW: The speaker & language existed on an ISLAND!!

Please listen to your Grandmother, or an elder, or a foreign language.  It is not only the words themselves, but the ideas, history and stories that we shall miss.  Especially those we have never heard.

I remember my Vovo, her voice (in Portuguese) her English -which I was always embarrassed by when I was a child.  Today I am embarrassed that I didn't/don't speak Portuguese.