Sometimes when traveling out of state, you discover that people don’t use the same terms everywhere. While some of these differences are kind of small, others are just crazy. You call that what? If an outsider was traveling to North Dakota and said some of these words, they would only confuse people. It’s hard to believe these are all within the same language, but not within the same regional language. Take a look and see what you think:
- Dandle
Peat Bakke/Flickr I’ve always known this as a seesaw or a teeter-totter, but Rhode Island calls them a dandle. Where on earth did they even get that from?
- Alligator pear
Alan Sheffield/Flickr This is what they call avocados in the south, apparently. No one will know what you’re talking about here if you use this, but it might cause a few laughs.
- Jimmies
newwavegurly/Flickr I guess New England calls these “jimmies.” These are sprinkles, no doubt. If you asked someone here for jimmies on your ice cream, you’d get some pretty strange looks.
- Casserole
darice/Flickr You mean hot dish, right? That’s the proper term, period.
- Shopping Buggy/Carriage
roadsidepictures/Flickr Unless we’ve gone back in time, shopping carts are just carts.
- Grocery Sack
kengz/Flickr On a related note to shopping carts, these are just bags. Paper bags, plastic bags, whatever kind of grocery bags. I’m not saying sack doesn’t make sense, but they just aren’t called that.
- Soda
Mike Mozart/Flickr We’re a pop state, definitely not a soda state or a coke state. Soda is for baking, and if you asked for a coke in a restaurant here, you’d get one specific brand.
- Snowmachine
tourismnewbrunswick/Flickr Snowmachine makes me think of a shaved ice machine or something, but in Alaska it means the same as a snowmobile.
- Hero, wedge, hoagie, grinder
jeffreyww/Flickr The name for sub sandwiches seems to vary quite a bit regionally. You could probably get by with hoagie here, and maybe some restaurants serve subs under the name of grinders, but hero and wedge are definitely going to confuse people.
- Chughole
janellie23/Flickr Apparently states like Kentucky call potholes “chugholes.” Yeah, no, they’re potholes, plain and simple.
- Sloppy Joe
superdupermanda/Flickr They’re BBQ sandwiches… you can get name brand Sloppy Joe mixture in a can to make them, but the resulting sandwich is called a BBQ.
What are some other regional words you’ve heard that people from North Dakota probably wouldn’t know?
Peat Bakke/Flickr
I’ve always known this as a seesaw or a teeter-totter, but Rhode Island calls them a dandle. Where on earth did they even get that from?
Alan Sheffield/Flickr
This is what they call avocados in the south, apparently. No one will know what you’re talking about here if you use this, but it might cause a few laughs.
newwavegurly/Flickr
I guess New England calls these “jimmies.” These are sprinkles, no doubt. If you asked someone here for jimmies on your ice cream, you’d get some pretty strange looks.
darice/Flickr
You mean hot dish, right? That’s the proper term, period.
roadsidepictures/Flickr
Unless we’ve gone back in time, shopping carts are just carts.
kengz/Flickr
On a related note to shopping carts, these are just bags. Paper bags, plastic bags, whatever kind of grocery bags. I’m not saying sack doesn’t make sense, but they just aren’t called that.
Mike Mozart/Flickr
We’re a pop state, definitely not a soda state or a coke state. Soda is for baking, and if you asked for a coke in a restaurant here, you’d get one specific brand.
tourismnewbrunswick/Flickr
Snowmachine makes me think of a shaved ice machine or something, but in Alaska it means the same as a snowmobile.
jeffreyww/Flickr
The name for sub sandwiches seems to vary quite a bit regionally. You could probably get by with hoagie here, and maybe some restaurants serve subs under the name of grinders, but hero and wedge are definitely going to confuse people.
janellie23/Flickr
Apparently states like Kentucky call potholes “chugholes.” Yeah, no, they’re potholes, plain and simple.
superdupermanda/Flickr
They’re BBQ sandwiches… you can get name brand Sloppy Joe mixture in a can to make them, but the resulting sandwich is called a BBQ.
North Dakota has its own regional specialties and terms, like these iconic foods that we all known and love here (and yes, that includes hotdish – not casserole).
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