Editor's Corner

A couple of days ago, I sent an article about garbage and differences in regional word choices. Here is an article on other regional word choices you may find, followed by a link to one of my favorite sets of “language maps.” First, from Richard Lederer:

…One aspect of American rugged individualism is that not all of us say the same word in the same way. Sometimes we don’t even use the same name for the same object.

I was born and grew up in Philadelphia a coon’s age, a blue moon and a month of Sundays ago—when Hector was a pup. Phillufia, or Philly, which is what we kids called the city, was where the epicurean delight made with cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and onions stuffed into a long, hard crusted Italian bread loaf sliced lengthwise was invented.

The creation of that sandwich took place in the Italian pushcart section of the city, known as Hog Island. Some linguists contend that it was but a short leap from Hog Island to hoagie, while others claim that the label hoagie arose because only a hog had the appetite or the technique to eat one properly.

As a young adult I moved to northern New England (N’Hampsha, to be specific), where the same sandwich designed to be a meal in itself is called a grinder—because you need a good set of grinders to chew them. But my travels around the United States have revealed that the hoagie or grinder is called at least a dozen other names—a bomber, Garibaldi (after the Italian liberator), hero, Italian sandwich, rocket, sub, submarine (which is what we call it here in California), torpedo, wedge, wedgie, zep and, in the deep South, a poor-boy (usually pronounced poh-boy). [KC – I don’t know what a wedgie is in your neck of the woods, but here on the West Coast, a wedgie is something very different from a sandwich!]

In Phillufia, we washed our hoagies down with soda. In New England, we did it with tonic, and by that word I don’t mean medicine. Soda and tonic in other parts are known as pop, soda pop, a soft drink, Coke and quinine.

In northern New England, they take the term milk shake quite literally. To many residing in that little corner of the country, a milk shake consists of milk mixed with flavored syrup—and nothing more—shaken up until foamy. If you live in Rhode Island or in southern Massachusetts and you want ice cream in your milk drink, you ask for a cabinet (named after the square wooden cabinet in which the mixer was encased). If you live farther north, you order a velvet or a frappe (from the French frapper, “to ice”).

For the remainder of Mr. Lederer’s article, click here.

For the language maps, click here.

On a side note, if you are interested in learning a little bit about working with Word, I’m presenting a 60-Minute University class on Thursday, July 28 called: What You Need to Know About MS Word Templates, Track Changes, TOCs, and More. I’ll be focusing on the items in the title and more. Generally, these are Symitar lunchtime classes, but if you want to attend via WebEx, you can.

Here’s some additional information if you are interested:

Time: 11:30-12:30 PT
Location: San Diego, C-124

If you would like to attend a session onsite or via WebEx, register on the LMS (search for 60 minute) or visit the 60-Minute University SharePoint site where you’ll find links to register for sessions, recordings from past sessions, and a link to suggest a 60-Minute University session that you would love to attend (or present).

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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