Massachusetts Terminology
Back in December, some friends moved from California to Massachusetts. Being a native New Englander and having lived in Massachusetts in college and again from 1995 to 2013, I’m very familiar with the area. I wrote up a guide to the area to help them adapt. At the end of the guide was a list of terms you’d hear in Massachusetts. I’m not just talking different pronunciation (like “pahk” or “cah”), but vocabulary which would seem alien to anyone not from the area. A lot of these are things you can’t really look up online either. The list below was two full pages of a Google Doc and I could have filled several more.
- Allston Christmas – September 1st in Allston (and surrounding towns) is when most college students move out and leave old furniture on the curb. Free stuff!
- The B’s – The Boston Bruins
- Bang a uey – Take a U-turn
- Barrel – A trash can or garbage bin
- Beanpot – A beanpot-shaped trophy that Boston-area college hockey teams compete for
- Beantown – Nobody from Massachusetts EVER says this! There may be laws against it.
- Book it – Run
- Breakdown Lane – Shoulder of a highway to the right of the solid white line
- Bubbler – A water fountain that you drink from
- The C’s – The Boston Celtics
- Candlepin – Bowling with thin pins and small balls
- The Cape – Massachusetts has two capes: Cape Ann and Cape Cod. “The Cape” is always referring to Cape Cod.
- Carriage – Shopping cart
- Clicker – TV remote control
- Cumbys – Cumberland Farms convenience store
- Dirty Water – A song by The Standells which is played at Fenway Park following Red Sox victories
- Down Cella – In the basement
- Dropkick Murphys – Essentially the official band of Boston and the Red Sox
- Dunks – Dunkin’ (formerly Dunkin’ Donuts)
- Elastic – Rubber band
- Evacuation Day – Holiday in Boston and Suffolk County which celebrates the day that British troops were evacuated from Boston during the Revolutionary War. Takes place on March 17th each year.
- Fenway – Fenway Park
- The Fenway – A neighborhood where Fenway Park is located
- Fluffernutter – A peanut butter and fluff sandwich
- Frappe – A milkshake with ice cream. Pronounced “frap”.
- Greater Boston – Usually refers to anything inside Route 128
- Green Monster – The large (green) left field wall in Fenway Park
- Grinder – It’s like a submarine sandwich, hoagie, or hero.
- Hamburg – Ground beef you use to make hamburgers
- Hoodsie – A small cup of chocolate and vanilla ice cream sold by Hood
- The Hub – Boston…the “hub of the universe”
- Interstate – Nobody says this word. Interstate highways are just referred to by number only: “95”, “93”, “290”, “495”, etc. Except for Interstate 90 which is always called “The Mass Pike” or “The Pike”.
- Italian – A sub made with ham, American cheese, oil, salt, pepper, and various veggies. Mostly a Maine term.
- Jimmies – Chocolate sprinkles. If you ask for “sprinkles”, you may get rainbow sprinkles. Although there is no evidence the term originated as racist in the 1930s, many have stopped using the term just in case.
- Kowloon – An Asian restaurant on Route 1 North in Saugus. Legendary landmark!
- Leaf Peeper – Tourists coming to New England in the fall to drive slow and look at colorful trees
- Logan – Boston Logan International Airport
- Mass Pike – The Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 90
- Metrowest – The area of Massachusetts west of Route 128 and east of Worcester, but not really the areas north of Boston that are east of Route 3 or south of Boston that are east of I-95
- Milkshake – No ice cream in this drink…just milk and flavoring
- No Suh – “No way!”
- Out Straight – Very busy
- Package Store or Packie – Liquor store
- Patriots’ Day – A Maine and Massachusetts holiday that celebrates the battle of Lexington and Concord on the third Monday of April. Also the day of the Boston Marathon.
- The Pats – The New England Patriots
- Regular Coffee – At Dunkin’, this is a coffee with cream and sugar
- Rotary – Traffic circle
- Route 1 – A road that runs from Maine to Florida. It also runs through Massachusetts, but when people refer to “Route 1”, they are almost always referring to the section of Route 1 that runs across the Tobin Bridge up to Route 128. This section of the road was once filled with kitschy landmarks like the Orange Dinosaur, Hilltop Restaurant (closed in 2013), a “leaning tower of pizza”, Golden Banana, The Ship (torn down in 2017), Kowloon, and more.
- Route 128 – A highway that circles Boston and is also designated Interstate 95 from Peabody down to Westwood…but nobody refers to that section as I-95… It’s always “Route 128” or simply “128”.
- Southie – South Boston
- Spa – A neighborhood shop selling soft drinks, sandwiches, and grocery items. Known elsewhere as a bodega, deli, or convenience store.
- Spuckie – A grinder, but mostly around Southie
- Statie – State Trooper (there is no “Highway Patrol”, just “State Police”)
- Storrow – Storrow Drive runs along the Charles River in Boston.
- Storrowing – Every Labor Day weekend, some college kid takes a U-Haul on this road, hits a low bridge, and tears off the top of the truck. Sometimes bets are made on when this happens.
- Supper – Dinner
- Sweet Caroline – A Neil Diamond song sung during the 7th inning stretch of every Red Sox home game
- The T – The Boston subway system and ONLY the subway system. Other MBTA services are specified such as “T bus”, “ferry”, or “commuter rail”.
- Tonic – Generic term for soft drinks. Not tonic water. Rarely used these days…but never refer to it as “pop”.
- Townie – Native of Boston neighborhoods like Charlestown or Dorchester
- The Vineyard – Martha’s Vineyard
- Wicked – “very”
- Wrecker – Tow truck
- Yah Huh – The only correct response to “No suh!”
- Yankees – The baseball team that sucks. “Yankees suck! Yankees suck!” -Fenway chant