Pittsburgh and environs
all the time
There are 27 columns in my Pennsylvania Series. We have visited all of these marvelous places of interest on the way to, or from, various hikes. These are some of our experiences while hiking in and near the Burgh.
There is no better way to capture the essence, the spirit and the attitude of Pittsburgh than this bumper sticker…
PITTSBURGH
WE GOT 6
HOW MANY YINZ GOT?
The “6” of course, refers to the number of times the Steelers have won the Super Bowl. This message has it all: attitude, pride in the Steelers and therefore pride in the city and of course, a popular Pittsburghism, which ties neatly into the accent.
Rather than try to describe the sound of flattened vowels and contractions, I offer you this short translation key. Many longer explanations and discussions are available in several books and articles on the topic, all written by someone who is not me.
haus
the building where you live at
dahn
opposite of up
dahntahn
the business district sort of in the center of the city
fahnd
makes you happy when you do this to a lost object, past tense
jient iggle
Giant Eagle, the largest grocery store chain in tahn
gumbans
what they put arahnd the broccoli in the jint iggle
jag
to tease or annoy
jag arahnd
to play or fool around
jagger bush
thorn bush
jagoff
https://www.asiwentwalking.com/2024/05/12/jagoff/
Mahnawlver
Mount Oliver, a local community
nebby
looking too closely into someone else’s bizniss
bizniss
their doin’s, not yer doin’s
pop
carbonated drink, known to the rest of the world as “soda” or “soda pop”
redd up
what you do to your haus before company comes, an’at
sahrkraht
goes great on a hot dog or pierógi
slippy
what the ice is aut your front door
yins
you, or you guys
You would also do well to drop a few unnecessary words here and there…
. Instead of saying, “The yard needs to be redd up,” yins oughta just say, “The yard needs redd up.”
And of course, add an’at to amplify a thought that doesn’t need amplified…
. “I’ll bring the kolbassi and sahrkraht to the picnic, an’at.”
In October, 2014, Gawker.com, a blog focusing mostly on celebrities and pop culture, announced the results of a poll called the Ugliest Accent in America. Pittsburgh won! And we’re prahd of it!
An’at.