New to this site.....

I have the "Pittsburghese" book plus two magnets.

Yes and we root for the Picksburgh Stillers!

Hi Jill, I believe I joined the forum the same day you did but wanted to say Welcome too. While reading all the other "Welcomes" I saw all the Pennsylvanians and had to laugh because although I am a Florida native my husband is from Butler, PA! LOL!
I have gone back to Butler with my husband and have seen that PA is a beautiful state. I love all of your accents too.

Sparrowx in Florida

Accents? What accents?

I'm sure it concerns the weather issues from December to March. Blech.

Here in central Pennsylvania many of the natives say "you'uns" when addressing more than one person, so that might explain the origins of the western Pennsylvania "yinz."

One of my brothers lives in Butler.

Work. I used to work for Ames Departments Stores. I transferred from a store in SW PA to the corporate office in Connecticut. I was able to get a job here after they went out of business.

Hey yinz, can I be an honorary Pennsylvanian, if I read the book and all??

Luv2Tvl, Black Friday is kind of chaotic, but it's the only sport I can get into...ha! (Hey, that doesn't knock me out of the Pennsylvania club, does it?)

Absolutely Nancy. I will make you an honorary member of the Yinzer Club and Western Pennsylvanian. We call rubberbands - gumbands; we call carbonated beverages like Pepsi - pop; and the best phrase of all....when cleaning our rooms - we "Red" up the room. Where that phrase came from is a mystery.

PirateGirl I know that one! It's Pennsylvania Dutch to "clean the room" . My grandmother was Pennsylvania Dutch.

Thanks Mrhub. I never could figure out where that came from and I have lived here all my life.

My in-laws used to "red" up the room, also. Hubby had to explain what it meant, I had no clue. The in-laws had some really interesting colloquialisms.

But where I was born (New England), we called water fountains "bubblers" and rubber bands "elastics." I had to unlearn that lingo right quick when my parents moved us all to Maryland. And where I addressed a group of friends as "you guys" my new schoolmates said "you all" (not "y'all," we weren't far enough South for that).

I always figured it was a shortened version of "ready up the room". I have heard "red up the room" before.

I looked it up. It isn't short for "ready" or even Pennsylvania Dutch at all.

The terms redd and redd up came to the American Midlands from the many Scottish immigrants who settled there. Meaning "to clear an area or to make it tidy," redd is still used in Scotland and Northern Ireland; in the United States it is especially common in Pennsylvania as the phrasal verb redd up. The term, which goes back to Old Norse rydhja, can be traced from the 15th century to the present, particularly in dialects of Scotland and the North of England.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/redd

It's "pop" for us here in Minnesota, too.

I am in GA, it doesn't matter what it is, it's Coke!

But being from Cali, I was raised with soda.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Dutch_English

What ever!

Thanks Mrhub! I see they like "dippy ecks". So do I.

I'm learning all kinds of stuff today!

I love the "bubbler" and "gumbands"...those are great! Isn't it funny how we all live in the same country, but still say things different?

There was a show on PBS once about it, called "Do You Speak American?" and it was all about the different words and even sounds we use all across America. It was fascinating!

I'm late to the party- but wanted to say WELCOME!