The Wide, Wide World Of Slang

[suzyp]

To add to the regionalism of highways/freeways/etc., around the Chicago area (don't know how far it extends out) we call them Tollways if it has tolls and Expressways if it doesn't. Either kind are usually referred to by the name of the road. Either the name (Kennedy, Edens, Dan Ryan, etc.) or the number (90, 94, 294, etc.).

[topher]

Expressways

In Chicago, we also call it an oxymoron.

[suzyp]

Topher said:

In Chicago, we also call it an oxymoron.

My bad, should have explained it was named in hope not reality. Hee!

[raqs]

Oh! oh! How about...

• CheezZees/Corn Curls = any form of Cheeto-like snack. So called because - ta da - its a well known local brand.
  
• Crispy potato-based snacks are definitely chips. Fries are what comes with your burger.
  
• Slippers = flip flops. Bedroom slippers do not exist in the Caribbean (too hot).
  
• Sneakers or Keds = any and all forms of athletic shoe.
  
• Until a few years ago, what is commonly known as cole slaw was refered to as "salad" and what is known as salad was refered to as "greens". It took KFC to change all that with their little cole slaws.
  

Oh and when dining in the Caribbean be sure to ask what type of "dressing" is coming on your salad. Old-timers steadfastly belive that the only dressing is, and should be, mayonnaise. A dollop of that is sure to turn you off your greens.

[heyalice]

More from the West Indies:

Marina=undershirt
crep or boot=shoes
bakes=dumplings(that are fried, go figure)

[kindred]

Just now = soon

South Africans love this term and use it all the time. It's the most useful thing I've learnt from the Jaapies in my life.

Duke of URL, I most definitely refer to skiting still. And I still talk about people 'going round'.

Ang, my favourite Aussie-isms are 'rack off' for 'sod off', and 'paying out' for 'taking the piss out of'.

Oh, and I've had so many Americans not understand the concept of taking the piss, over the years.

I love that there are some fellow Kiwis on this site! At present my main Kiwi slang updates come via my Scribe CD. He's still flowing like a can of Speights, bro. Choice!

[ownlife]

"candy" is a small gooey lemon flavoured bit of hard jelly

I guess that would be a jellybean in the US. A Lifesaver-type sweet is called "hard candy."

Cheez Doodles (mmm) are large airy Cheeto-type snacks that leave fingers, face, the cat and couch covered in orange dust. Dipsy Doodles are ridged corn chips. I think that both Cheez and Dipsy Doodles are only sold in New York.

When I was growing up, flip flops or thongs were called "beatniks" for some reason. Maybe hippies wore them.

In the US, a traffic circle at a junction of roads is called a rotary; does it have a different name outside the US?

[kindred]

ownlife said:

I guess that would be a jellybean in the US. A Lifesaver-type sweet is called "hard candy."

In the UK anything like that is called 'sweets'. In NZ they're called 'lollies'. In the UK 'lollies' are iced confections, like Popsicles. In NZ they're known as 'ice blocks'.

When I was growing up, flip flops or thongs were called "beatniks" for some reason. Maybe hippies wore them.

In NZ they're jandals.

In the US, a traffic circle at a junction of roads is called a rotary; does it have a different name outside the US?

In both NZ and the UK they're called 'roundabouts' (presumably because you go round and round them if you miss your exit!)

[foxyepicurean]

In the US, a traffic circle at a junction of roads is called a rotary; does it have a different name outside the US?

I'm from the Northwestern US, and have done time in the Midwest. I've always heard them called traffic circles in my neck(s) of the woods. They're fairly uncommon--perhaps that's why we haven't thought of a jaunty nickname for them. (After spending time in England, I seem to have adopted the "roundabout" terminology. It's so evocative.)

Old-timers steadfastly belive that the only dressing is, and should be, mayonnaise. A dollop of that is sure to turn you off your greens.

My grandmother (lived in Idaho most of her life) still calls mayo "salad dressing." But she calls ranch, thousand island, and bleu cheese salad dressing, too. She used to confuse the heck out of me when we were making potato salad!

ETA: I've always used "freeway" and "highway" interchangeably. But I know a few people who call big interstates freeways and smaller ones (usually two lane, Route 66 type roads) highways. We hardly have any toll roads here, but we called them Turnpikes when I lived in the Midwest.

[goggle]

I'm not sure if it's slang , but:
Cul-de-sac or dead end?
I've heard both used , but it seems cul-de-sac is what people who live on (or are selling houses on) dead ends say because dead end sounds unpleasant. I always called it a dead end, though. Are they the same or are there different uses for them?