Shakespeare penned, “what’s in a name?” and here we are, 1) thinking we’ve used this same opening line in another blog but we’re too tired to check, and 2) releasing today’s episode which truly embodies that question. Those rubber-soled nylon foot coverings you wear to the gym? Well, they may be tennis shoes to us, but in other parts of the United States, they’re sneakers. In London (and, we might add, Hogwarts), they’re trainers. You may wear a sweater, but Harry Potter wears a jumper. Spewing in one state is burking in another. Want tomato sauce on your pasta? Well, if you don’t ask for gravy in the midwest, you just might get your noodles bare. If you get ice cream with dope in Ohio, you’re getting your frozen dessert with a topping. In other areas of USA, you’ll get your treat, a baggy of something illicit, and possibly a stint in county jail.
Definition of colloquialism
“b: a local or regional dialect expression, such as “Bodacious” which originated as a Southern colloquialism.
A colloquialism is used in informal, day-to-day speech, such as conversational phrases or words that are common to specific regions or nationality. So we pretty much used that word correctly although it is still very hard for some of us (Read: Kris) to pronounce.
Once we get past Pretty Litter and Val Kilmer (the two of which have NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING to do with each other OR our topic), we actually get to the meat of our episode: things that are called different things in different regions (in case we hadn’t made that perfectly clear yet). We also bring you some pretty fun phrases unique to various states (um, heretofore mentioned colloquialisms) and what some US brands are called in other parts of the world.
In true TMT fashion, let’s detour here in writing to recommend the documentary Val on Amazon Prime. We’re not sponsored by either Val or AP, so this is just a shoutout to a very talented and creative spirit in this world: Val Kilmer. If you have an opportunity to watch the documentary, do it do it do it. He is truly one of a kind and a treasure, and we (specifically Kris) send huge hugs and lots of loving vibes Val’s way.
Links and Answers
For links to the articles we cited (or forgot to cite…KRIS) and answers to the questions brought up during the conversation, look no further, especially since we are at the end of this very short blog:
- For Kym’s state phrases, find her source article at npr.com called Do We Talk Funny? 51 American Colloquialisms which is a hella-cool article (see what we did there? You will when you read the article…), so check it out because Kym didn’t cover all the states. Don’t be huhu.
- For different names for different things in the United States, see bestlifeonline.com’s article 25 Things That Have Different Names Throughout the U.S.
- Sticking with bestlifeonline.com, check out what your favorite soap, fast food, and other US brands are called in 27 Famous American Brands That Have Different Names Abroad
- And to find out why Harry Potter and company would need a translation spell, see Another page of words which are different in the U.K. and America at hintsandthings.com.uk which Kris failed to cite in the episode (for shame). And, as hinted (pun not intended) in the title, that website has more than one page of these kinds of words, so go hunt to your heart’s content.
- For Kym’s America’s Funniest Home Videos clip of the frog and the lightning bug, check out AFHV’s Facebook post.
- Tim Horton’s in Canada is NOT the same as Carl’s Jr., but it IS the same as Burger King, since the King took over the brand in 2014. Soooo close.
- Ketchup vs. Catsup: We’re still not sure why Ketchup is sometimes spelled Catsup here in the States, but this article helps explain the etymology.
- Psychokiller is, in fact, a song by The Talking Heads. Read this article for the inspiration story.
- For the fair food episode, start here with Who’s the Fairest Food of All?
In case you were wondering, here’s Kris’ bucks travel mug with the 2020 Wash Your Hands Plague Doctor sticker from redbubble.com:
Ooooh. One more thing. Is it NevAda or NevAHda? We still do not know.
Thank you for reading! If you’ve come this far, head on over to listen to the episode!
Check out The Mugly Truth Podcast’s episode “Whadya Say?.” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or (almost) anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast!
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Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox” by Espresso, Inc. through premiumbeats.com.
Outtake music At The Fair by The Green Orbs, through YouTube Audio Library.
Featured photo of Word Tiles by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com
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