| PRONOUNCIATION KEY |
| AHM |
Arm. |
| AJIDA |
In the old North End and East Boston Italian-American neighborhoods, agida referred to heartburn or being mentally irritated. From the Italian word
agitare which means to churn or agitate. |
| ALLAGY |
Allergy. |
| ANSA |
Answer. |
| ANTENOR |
Antenna. Inverse "r" example. |
| AUDER |
Order. |
| BAH |
A bar, or place that
serves alcohol. |
| BAHF |
Barf. Slang for "vomit." |
| BAHBA |
A barber, or person that cuts hair. |
| BADING SUIT |
Bathing suit. |
| BEDDA |
Better. |
| BLINKERS |
Automobile directional signals. |
| BLOODY BEAN |
Obscure nickname for the streets of Boston, and often used within
the state and county prison system. |
| BREAKDOWN LANE |
A highway shoulder. |
| BUBBLA |
An office water fountain (bottled), or public drinking fountain. |
| BULKIE |
A small round sandwich bread or "roll." |
| CAH |
An automobile. |
| CARRIAGE |
A supermarket shopping cart. |
| CHOWDA |
Clam chowder. |
| CLICKAH |
A TV remote control unit. |
| CON |
Corn. |
| CONNA |
Corner. |
| CRUISER |
A police car. |
| CUBBID |
Cupboard. |
| CULLA |
Color. |
| DECENT |
Cool or Unique; a popular term in the 1970s. |
| DISINTERGRATED |
Disintegrated. Inverse "r" example. |
| DOOZY BATZ |
In the old North End and East Boston Italian-American neighborhoods, it described a person that was fearless or had violent tendencies. Pazzo means crazy in Italian. "Tu Sei" (you are) + "Pazzo" (crazy) is the probable origin.
"Du Say Batzo" evolved to "Doozy Batz." How one pronounced it, and one's body language, conveyed how "fearless" that person was. |
| DUFF |
To deliberately avoid a person or break a promise to meet with someone. Old North End and East Boston term. |
| EASTUH |
Easter. |
| ELASTIC |
A rubber band. |
| ENVIAMENT |
Environment. |
| EYEIN |
Iron. |
| FOEWID |
Forward. |
| FOILAGE |
Foliage. |
| FOK |
Fork. |
| FOTTY |
Forty. |
| FRAPPE |
Pronounced "Frap." Whipped milk, ice cream, and flavoring. This editor used to mix hot coffee with vanilla ice cream and heavy cream back in the
old days! Similar to a milkshake. |
| GAHBIDGE |
Garbage. |
| GAVONE |
In the old North End and East Boston Italian-American neighborhoods, it meant someone that was overdressed or completely out of place; from the Italian
word Cafone which roughly translates to a loud and obnoxious person. Also pronounced gavoni which is phonetically closer to Italian. |
| GRAVY |
Spaghetti sauce. |
| GUVANNUH |
Governor. |
| HOODSIE |
A small cup of vanilla & chocolate ice cream sold by ice cream trucks. Eaten with a paper-wrapped small wooden spoon that resembled a short popsicle
stick. Also (very offensive slang), a teenage girl. |
| HUSSES |
Horses; in the Irish-American neighborhoods it was pronounced Husses, and in the Italian-American neighborhoods it was pronounced Hosses
(often with a nasal sound). |
| IDEEAR |
Idea. |
| ITALIAN ICE |
Shaved ice with various flavorings added; also known as Slush. |
| JIMMIES |
Ice cream sprinkles, usually chocolate. |
| LAYBUH |
Labor. |
| LIBERRY |
A book depository or library. |
| MACKRIL |
Mackerel. |
| MYIN |
Mine. |
| NACKINS |
Napkins. |
| NAYBUH |
Neighbor. |
| NAYCHA |
Nature. |
| NEKKALACE |
Necklace. |
| NO'REASTER |
A weather system that swirls counterclockwise over the New
England coastline. Such weather patterns can cause huge blizzards or wind-driven
rain with accompanying storm surge. |
| NOTH |
North. "R" is silent; add nasal sound. |
| OVA |
Over; as in "Over the Rainbow." |
| OUWWAH |
Hour. |
| OVICHA |
Overture. |
| PACKY |
A liquor store, or "package" store. |
| PAHDEE |
Party. |
| PAHDEE PLATTA |
A tray of cold cuts sold as one unit; party platter. |
| PAHLA |
The Family or Living Room in a house or apartment; parlor. |
| PATS |
The New England Patriots football team. |
| PERPERTRATOR |
Perpetrator. Inverse "r" example. |
| PAYPAH |
Paper. |
| PIDJUN |
Pigeon. |
| PIMPLE BALL |
A 1950s and 1960s inflated off-white rubber ball about the size of a baseball. The exterior had horizontal rows of bumps, with an embossed star on the top and
bottom. Used for handball or step (gutter) ball games. Often cut in half for half-ball games. A popular term in many Northeast cities. |
| PISSA |
Very good; often prefixed with WICKED. |
| PITCHEZ |
Pictures. |
| POCKET BOOK |
A woman's purse or handbag. |
| PODADAH |
Potato; also pronounced Podado depending on your town or neighborhood. |
| PRIVLEDGEZ |
Privileges. |
| PUNKIN |
Pumpkin. |
| PUSS |
To have a miserable expression on one's face; "Why the Puss on your face?" |
| RAG |
To exaggerate; tell ragtime stories. |
| ROTARY |
A traffic circle or round-about. |
| RUBBISH |
Trash or Garbage. |
| SATTADAY |
Saturday. |
| SCOOTCH |
In the old North End and East Boston Italian-American neighborhoods, it referred to someone that was annoying; from the Italian word Scocciare which roughly translates
to the verb "to bother." Also, in old Yankee slang, to scooch was to crouch down. Often pronounced similarly in a way that rhymes with "Butch." Children and pets could be called "Scutches"
for example. Irksome is a close match in English. |
| SCROD |
Fish; sometimes haddock, sometimes cod. Originally derived, most likely, by the combination of Scrawed (to cut and then dry) and Cod. |
| SELLA |
A cellar; or basement. |
| SELTS |
The Boston Celtics basketball team. |
| SHERBERT |
Sherbet. Inverse "r" example. |
| SHOTS |
Shorts, as in cut-off jeans. |
| SHOUWAH |
Shower. |
| SKEAVE |
Repulsive or disgusting (often describing another person). From the word schifo in Italian. Very popular term before 1990 in the old Italian-American North End and East
Boston neighborhoods. |
| SLUSH |
Shaved ice with various flavorings added. Also known as Italian Ice. |
| SNEAKIZ |
Sneakers; tennis or athletic shoes. |
| SODER |
Soda Pop. See "Tonic." |
| SOLDJA |
Soldier. |
| SOLDJIZ |
Soldiers. |
| SOX |
The Boston Red Sox baseball team. |
| SPA |
A mom & pop small luncheonette. |
| SPEEKAH |
Speaker. |
| SPUCKIE |
A short, stout French roll with pointy ends; bigger than a bulkie roll, but smaller than a submarine roll. If memory serves, grilled sandwiches
such as Chicken Parmesan and Meatballs were popular in Spuckie rolls. A sub would be wrapped in paper, while a Spuckie may be wrapped in foil to keep it warm. Purportedly coined from a North End
Spucadella roll, and the Italian word Spacatto
which means cracked or cross-section. |
| SKWAYAH |
Square. |
| STAHVIN |
A person that is hungry; "starving." |
| STAYPUHLA |
Stapler. |
| SUB |
A hogie, hero, grinder, "submarine" sandwich. |
| SUPPA |
Dinner. |
| TEMPUHCHA |
Temperature. |
| TEYEID |
Tired; exhausted or fatigued. |
| TONIC |
Soda pop. |
| TRIPLE-DECKER |
3 story wood house, usually all apartments. Also known as a Three-Deckah or Tree-Deckah house. |
| ULTZSIR |
Ulcer. |
| VARIETY STORE |
A mom and pop convenience store. |
| WEIUD |
Weird. |
| WICKED |
Extremely good. |
| WHIFFLE |
A short crew cut, or boy's or men's haircut done with clippers. |
| WOM |
Warm. |
| WOTTA |
Water. |
| YAWW |
"Yes" + "Yay" combined; very popular in the
1970s. |
| YAWS |
Yours; as in "yours truly" or "your's, mine, and our's" (an old slang cliche). |
| YOGITT |
Yogurt. |
| LOCAL PLACES |
| BACK BAY | The area west of the Public Garden. |
| B.C. | Boston College. |
| B.P.L. | Boston Public Library. |
| B.S.O. | Boston Symphony Orchestra. |
| B.U. | Boston University |
| CHAHLZ RIVAH | Charles River. |
| COMBAT ZONE | The old burlesque area of Boston at the foot of Washington Street near Essex Street. |
| COMM AVE | Truncation of Commonwealth Avenue. |
| HAHVID | Harvard University. |
| I.C.A. | Institute of Contemporary Art. |
| LANDSDOWN | Lansdowne Street, Boston. |
| MASS AVE | Truncation of Massachusetts Avenue. |
| M.F.A. | Museum of Fine Arts |
| PRU (The) | Prudential Center. |
| QUINCY MARKET | Faneuil Hall Marketplace. |
| SCOLLAY SQUARE | The old burlesque area of Boston at the junction of Tremont, Court, Hanover, and Cambridge Streets. |
| T (The) | The MBTA transit authority. |
| FAR AWAY PLACES |
| CAPE (The) | Cape Cod. |
| CHATTIM | Chatham, Massachusetts |
| CONKIDD | Concord, Massachusetts |
| EVRIT | Everett, Massachusetts. |
| FLORIDER | The State of Florida. |
| GLOSSTA | Gloucester, Massachusetts. |
| HOPKINGTON | Hopkinton, Massachusetts |
| INDIANER | The State of Indiana. |
| LEMMINSTAH | Leominster, Massachusetts |
| MEDFID | Medford, Massachusetts. |
| NEWHAMSHA | The State of New Hampshire. |
| NEWHAMSHIN | A Person From New Hampshire. |
| NEWYOCK | The State of New York. |
| PEEBAHDEE | Peabody, Massachusetts. |
| P-TOWN | Provincetown, Massachusetts. |
| QUINZEE | Quincy, Massachusetts. |
| RHODEYELIN | The State of Rhode Island |
| RUHVEEA | Revere, Massachusetts. |
| SUMMAVILLE | Somerville, Massachusetts. |
| VAHMONT | The State of Vermont. |
| VAHJINYA | The State of Virginia. |
| VINYID | Martha's Vineyard island. |
| WATTATOWN | Watertown, Massachusetts. |
| WINTRUP | Winthrop, Massachusetts. |
| WHISTAH | Worcester, Massachusetts. |
| WOOBIN | Woburn, Massachusetts. |
| NEIGHBORHOODS |
| BURRY | Roxbury neighborhood. |
| EASTIE | East Boston neighborhood. |
| DOT | Dorchester neighborhood. |
| J.P. | Jamaica Plain neighborhood. |
| ROZZY | Roslindale neighborhood. |
| SOUTHIE | South Boston neighborhood. |
| TOWNIE | A Charlestown neighborhood person. |
