"Boston is a state of mind." Thomas Gold Appleton

Last week's Weblog about my mom generated a lot of responses. Thank you. I made an editing error and accidentally deleted the names of two of my mom's grandchildren, Kaleigh and Grace. I apologize to them and their parents for the error.

This edition could be considered either educational in nature or a remedial reminder. Local magazines, and comic Jeff Foxworthy, are either amazed or bewildered by the language spoken in New England or the habits that New Englanders have developed over the years.

Many former New England residents read the Weblog, so I am providing this material today to refresh your memory about where you came from.

To those who are unfamiliar with the superior slanguage and habits enjoyed in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, prepare to be enlightened. I used Yankee Magazine and New England Magazine for the list of words, but the definitions are my own, in case you are an attorney for either publication.

(Map copyright by Kappa Map Group and used without permission).

The words and phrases below are NOT meant to be representative of ALL New Englanders because I haven't lived all over New England, although I've worked all over New England.

Massachusetts, and especially Boston, is where I learned the slanguage and I feel pretty confident in the accuracy of the material that follows.

With that being said, here are some phrases that make a difference.

Bang a ’Uey

Not sure why it is 'bang' a uey, but the words cannot be separated. By that I mean, you can't 'make a uey' or 'bang a U-turn' it must be 'bang a uey' for authenticity. Most drivers believe that the "NO U-TURN" signs are merely suggestions.

Whole Bellies

There are two types of fried clams. There are those 'clam strips' that contain leftover pieces of clam formed into a shape, and then there are whole belly clams that have flavor, mouth feel and occasionally some sand. That's real summer eatin, although you may have to take out a loan to buy a quart of clams down the Cape in the summah.

Bubblahs

The generic term 'drinking fountain' may work in most of the country, but here, those fountains are bubblahs. The same warning applies to all children: don't put your mouth on the spigot.

Brown Bread

Many people have never had the pleasure of eating bread out of a can. Brown bread has the same exterior markings or impressions as jellied cranberry sauce out of the can, but it is larger and browner. Saturday night 'suppah' includes brown bread, baked beans and hot dogs.

Carriage

When you go to the grocery store, or mahket you might use a shopping cart, but the majority of us here use a shopping carriage, to hold our brown bread, lobstah, and pastah. Some places have signs in the parking lot that says 'Carriage Return' for people with manners who return the carriages.

Clickah

We know that a synonym is remote control, but clickah is how we were raised and is the most accurate description. Note: even soundless remote controls are clickahs. (Note: clickah is also a synonym for automobile turn signal).

Elastic

Everyone knows what elastic means, but here a rubber band is commonly referred to as an elastic. Not sure why. Elastics are saved and stored on a designated doorknob. Again, not sure why.

Fluffernutter

Since marshmallow fluff was invented here, along with Thanksgiving and constitutional democracy, putting fluff and peanut butter together gives you a fluffernutter sandwich. The ideal lunch for an elementary school child since no refrigeration is required. Not exactly sure what food group marshmallow fluff belongs to. Any suggestions?

Frappe

It is not 'Frapp-A'' it is frapp, rhymes with... never mind. (The 'e' is silent?) Milkshakes are only lowly milk and flavored syrup, but a frappe is made with ice cream instead of milk and it is thick, cold, creamy and delicious, not to mention way overpriced almost everywhere.

Frost Heave

So, a crack in the road gets filled with water, then freezes and creates a bump that that then collapses into a pothole. So, a frost heave is a pre-pothole.

Grinder

You may know it a submarine sandwich, but up here it is a grinder. Can you imagine if Subway was called 'Grinder-way'? Just in case you wondered, the phrase submarine sandwich was originated here, but when they are called grinders they taste better. If this term is new to you, then you may not know that Grinder Trucks preceeded Food Trucks by decades.

Jimmies

When I was a kid, my nickname was Jimmy, and I felt a sense of pride when I learned that the tiny colorful candies sprinkled across ice cream or birthday cakes were called jimmies. You can have chocolate jimmies or rainbow jimmies, according to family preference, but a jimmy is a jimmy.

Johnny

A johnny is a hospital gown, especially in Boston. It’s believed the term came from the gown’s open back, designed to provide easy access to the toilet, aka the john. I have never met anyone who smiled when wearing a Johnny, have you?

Leaf Peeper

Leaf peepers are tourists who visit New England in the Fall to look at trees and the colorful leaves that appear. We all feel grateful that we don't have to stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast to see colorful trees: we just look out the window. If you are a leaf peeper thanks for boosting the economy every year.

Ma**hole

The word was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2015 as “a contemptuous term for a native or inhabitant of the state of Massachusetts.” There is pride in that definition for some. FYI, there are a lot of ma**holes here.

Mud Season

So, the snow melts a little bit, sinks into the ground, ruminates and produces mud and more mud. The kind of mud that ruins shoes and gets tracked into the house and results in punishment for the perpetrator, regardless of age. Mud season is the original reason for removing shoes when entering a house, and of course, the 'mud room' was invented to isolate the mud to non-carpeted areas of the home.

Packie

Massachusetts once had the most restrictive alcohol sales laws in the nation. 'Blue Laws' prevented sale on Sundays, kept alcohol sales away from church neighborhoods and so forth. Liquor, beer and wine were only available at a package store, a 'packie,' apparently because the things purchased were in a package or a brown paper bag. A common phrase is "a quick run to the packie.' Everyone knows what that means.

Pissah

From the Latin 'pi-sa' meaning to 'urinate,' somehow pissah became the opposite of 'sh*tty" and no one knows how or why. We all know when something is pissah, though, whether it is a move, a car, a football player or a whole belly clam.

Prince Spaghetti Day

For decades, a little kid, Anthony, in the television commercial for Prince Spaghetti was called home by his mother from an iconic North End brownstone on Wednesday because it was Prince Spaghetti Day. Most of us grew up eating pastah on Wednesday, and some still do.

Regular Coffee

If you walk into anyplace (except maybe Starbucks) and order a Regular Coffee, it will automatically come with cream and sugar. That's what regular means. If you order regular coffee and are greeted with an inquisitive look, you know that you are being served by an outsider.

Rotary

A circular intersection is called a rotary. Some may call it a roundabout or a traffic circle, but not the traffic reporters sharing that "the Falmouth Rotary is backed up over the bridge."

Tennis Shoes

They may also be referred to as 'sneakers' but most of us grew up with tennis shoes even if we never played tennis. Because "Keds are for kids." was an advertising slogan in the old days, some still refer to athletic shoes as Keds. But they are tennis shoes.

Scrod

If it is firm whitefish, regardless of whether it is cod, halibut, haddock or pollack, it can appear on a menu as Scrod. The Parker House hotel in Boston claims to have created the term (along with Parker House rolls and Boston cream pie) so that its menus would not need to be updated depending on the catch of the day.

Tag Sale

Doesn't matter whether it is in a garage, driveway or sidewalk, it is a tag sale. Summer Saturdays boom with tag sales.

Tonic

This term for a carbonated beverage, you may know as soda, is still used in the Boston area. More than once in my travels across the country, I stumped a server with a request using the word tonic.

Wicked

This is probably the most famous slang term attributed to the area. It kinda, sorta means 'really' or 'very' and can be used as an adjective with hundreds of nouns.

Wicked Pissah

Combining two of the more famous vocabulary words creates the highest praise a New Englander or Bostonian can apply to anything. There were years that the New England Patriots were wicked pissah, and other years when the weather was wicked pissah, and I am hoping that this Wednesday Weblog is also wicked pissah.

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders...Forget Rednecks ….

• If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t work there, you live in New England.
• If you’ve worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.
• If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
• If Vacation means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.
• If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.
• If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.
• If you have… switched from ‘heat’ to ‘A/C’ in the same day and back again, you live in New England.
• If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.
• If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.
• If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.
• If you design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England.
• If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph, you’re going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.
• If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.
• If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England.
• If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.
• If you find 10 degrees ‘a little chilly’, you live in New England.
• If there’s a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.
• If you think everyone else has a funny accent, you live in New England.
• If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your New England friends, you live or have lived in New England.