"20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? the cellar (pronounced 'cellah'). to go there is to go 'down cellar'"

We call it "something people who don't live 50 miles from the shore and 50 feet above sea level have". Also "something for people who don't live in a flood plain".

Yes, I always hear a double entendre when I hear thongs. But since no-one understands zoris anymore, I am left floundering with no word that feels natural. (sigh. It is what comes of moving... and of adoring language.)

as for creeks, it depends on whether I am in a mood... usually it has all the e's, only none of them really looong.

In the land of 10,000 lakes (and a few wierdos, as the shirt would have it), we grant quite a few marshy bogs the glamour of lake just to keep our lake-count up.

Oh, one more: what do you call a machine you can drink water out of (Drinking fountain).

I do so love words.

K

ZORI

A flat sandal with thongs, usually made of straw or leather.
ETYMOLOGY: Japanese zri : s, grass, straw (from Middle Chinese tsaw) + ri, sole (from Middle Chinese li).

From the American Heritage Dictionary online, http://www.bartleby.com/61/67/Z0026700.html


I never knew where it came from, it was just what we called it when I was growing up. Incidentally, I grew up in southern CA.

As I was looking up the etymology, I discovered a cool etymological hint...


The following is an excerpt from http://www.buber.net/Basque/Euskara/Larry/note_7.html which is about Basque etymology.

"...the word for 'bird'. This was originally , but for centuries now the only form in use has been the diminutive , . However, the original has not disappeared: it has merely undergone a striking shift in meaning. In the 16th century, it meant 'omen', but today, of course, it means 'luck'.

"This shift came about because of the ancient practice of seeking omens in the flight of birds. The Romans, who took this very seriously, had an official called the (literally, 'bird-watcher') to perform this function and to advise the state. "


That leads me to thinking that the word Auspicious comes from that tradition... which would mean that Auspicious would mean something like "birds are present"

The etymology here http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE405.html seems to bear that out.


Okay, have I geeked out enough?

flip-flops! not thongs.

WHAT DO YOU CALL:

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks? a creek, a stream, or maybe a brook (I may be affected by living near Minnehaha Creek). If the banks are artificial, it might be a wash.

2. What the thing you push around the grocery store? a cart

3. A metal container to carry a meal in? a lunch box

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in? a frying pan or skillet. I use cast iron all the time. Not sure if Aluminum pans can be called skillets or not, but the snob in me says no.

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people? a sofa or a couch, but never a davenport. Actually, I call it the futon.

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof? a gutter. I would not have thought about the downspout, but since you mention it, it's a downspout.

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening? a porch

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages? I grew up calling it coke. (A California thing). Now, it's generally soda or pop interchangeably, but I rarely drink it.

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup? pancake

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself? a hoagy or a hero. (Here's me wondering if Hero was an americanized spelling of Gyro, which is pronounced Hero in many countries...)

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach? swim trunks

12. Shoes worn for sports? tennis shoes. Although sneakers has crept into my vocabulary. Running shoes has not crept in, but I recognize it as a variant.

13. Putting a room in order? Tidying up, (cleaning is what you do with sponge and some sort of cleaning solution, tidying is putting things away. Of course, I generally call it "Sort and Toss" when I make a list.

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark? firefly

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball? pillbug

16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down? seesaw or teeter-totter

17. How do you eat your pizza? Pizza ideally is a round pie cut into wedges, and you pick up the wedge and eat is from the point outward.

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? yard sale or garage sale, depending on it's location. Usually, if the person is dead it is an estate sale. If the person is moving, it is a moving sale, and sometimes held inside. (When organizations do it, I've seen it called a rummage sale or a flea market.)

19. What's the evening meal? dinner.

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? The basement.

(more shoes)

21. The shoes with two straps you wear at the beach? I grew up calling them zoris, and in high school they became beachwalkers or beach combers. I have called them thongs, but never flip flops.

22. The shoes you wear at night before going to bed, or in the morning. Slippers. (I have heard them called flip flops, but have never done so myself.

Much more like this can be found via the American Dialect Society's website http://www.americandialect.org.

Cellah for cellar -- If you don't pronounce "greasy" as an exact rhyme with "sleazy," then I'd guess you to be from eastern New England, not very near Boston.

WHAT DO YOU CALL:
1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks? A brook.
2. What the thing you push around the grocery store? Shopping cart.
3. A metal container to carry a meal in? Lunchbox.
4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in? Frying pan; unless I'm being careful, I pronounce "frying" as one and a fraction syllables.
5. The piece of furniture that seats three people? Couch.
6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof? Rain gutter.
7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening? Porch.
8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages? Soda.
9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup? Pancake.
10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself? Hero.
11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach? Bathing suit.
12. Shoes worn for sports? Sneakers.
13. Putting a room in order? Straightening up.
14. A flying insect that glows in the dark? Fireflies
15. The little insect that curls up into a ball? Pill bug.
16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down? Seesaw.
17. How do you eat your pizza? Depends on if I buy one slice, or am sharing a whole pizza.
18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? Yard sale or garage sale. "Rummage sale" is when a church/synagogue/etc. has a sale.
19. What's the evening meal? Usually supper. However, a special meal is "dinner".
20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? Basement or cellar.

Only one of my grandparents had English among his native languages.

My mother's dialect was New York City. Mine is Hudson Valley, because of where I grew up -- Ulster County NY, the Catskills region. (If you want to hear what that sounds like, listen to the original Twilight Zone. Rod Serling grew up in the next county, and to me he has no accent. Hamminess, yes....) My father's accent was also Hudson Valley.
His parents had learned English in London; I wonder whether a good enough linguist could have detected that.)

1. A creek
2. A shopping cart
3. A lunch box
4. A pan
5. A couch
...
10. A sub
11. A bathing suit
...
13. Cleaning
14. Lightning bug
15. Rolley polley
...
17. With your hands, no matter how the pizza is sliced
18. Garage sale, or yard sale
...
20. Basement

Accent - If you listen carefully, there's Devonian. To find out what that sounds like--somewhat, anyway, since there are minor variations between North and East--read Stalky and Co. ;)

WHAT DO YOU CALL:
1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks? A stream.
2. What is the thing you push around the grocery store? Shopping trolley.
3. A metal container to carry a meal in? Lunchbox.
4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in? Frying pan.
5. The piece of furniture that seats three people? Sofa - unless you're in a student household and then that's anything from a stool to the kitchen table.
6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof? Gutter.
7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening? Patio.
8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages? Fizz.
9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup? Pancake. Although sugar and lemon for preference.
10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself? Baguette.
11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach? Swimming trunks.
12. Shoes worn for sports? Trainers.
13. Putting a room in order? Tidying.
14. A flying insect that glows in the dark? Firefly
15. The little insect that curls up into a ball? Never seen an *insect* do that, but you want to watch out for the caterpillars that do on Dartmoor. They're like stinging nettles - slightly poisonous.
16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down? Seesaw.
17. How do you eat your pizza? Fingers, of course.
18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? Garage sale.
19. What's the evening meal? Depends when you have it. Early is tea, late is supper. And special is dinner.
20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? Basement.

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in? if it's aluminum it's a frying pan. if it's iron, it's a skillet

Oddly, I don't use my iron skillet for bacon and eggs, but I DO use it to bake cornbread. And it's for fried chicken, except I then got a more specialized, deeper iron skillet with a cover especially for that purpose.

Then again, my mother used her skillet for bacon and eggs.

6. Its an eavestrough. The gutter is the bit at the side of the road where the rainwater goes to get to the sewer.

You are such a New Englanda.

down cella. *snickers* And then there's the whole "grinda" thing. :)