The Wide, Wide World Of Slang

[foxfair]

I only recently came across the whole 'sammich' thing and...I thought it was kind of sweet and funny! In fact I have been consciously saying it lately. Hopefully I don't run across any of you at the deli counter and get punched in the mouth!

Also, for the longest time I thought "in his/her cups" meant - uh - orgasm. Don't ask me where the hell I got that.

[tinyshoes]

One of my friends got me started on the whole "sammich" thing a few years back. I can understand why it can be annoying (most "cutesy baby talk" bugs the snot out of me), but I like using it when I'm feeling dorky.

Re: "off his tits". Love it. I'm going to have to start using it.

[chiqui]

Ever since he saw A Clockwork Orange my hubby has been fascinated with the phrase 'snuff it.' Like, "The gorda (fat one) feels she is going to snuff it" "I'm so depressed, I just want to snuff it." He won't use the Mexican slang anymore.

[monsterzero]

That reminds me, I still got to use 'horrorshow' and make it popular again, o' my brothers...or droogs, your choice.

[mrpancake]

I'm not to good, but just a few things to add.

I can always tell when people aren't from California (well, there's a lot of giveaways usually, but this is a big one) when the call if Cali. Everyone I've met in New York (and these are all people coming from different states...) refers to it as Cali, though I've never, ever, ever in my life heard a native Californian call it Cali.

Another thing is "like." I know a lot of people here think it reflects stupidity, and I can testify it doesn't. Yes, I'll concede it's a heinous and horrendous habbit, but I use the word "like" a lot, and it really is a distinctive California thing. No one I've met from other places has used it anywhere near as much as everyone I know from home.

Another, from Northern California is "hella." There aren't really words to describe my hatred for that phrase. I've seen some of my friends go to N. California and turn over to the darkside. They come back at Christmas talking about things being "hella stupid," "hella cool," etc.

Like, total ug.

[snacktastic]

I would blame the Cali thing on LL Cool J.

Btw, when i think of Hella:

Cartman: You guys are hella stupid.
Stan: Why do you keep saying 'hella", Cartman?
Cartman: 'Cuz I'm hella cool, that's why

[mansonlamps]

Sammich drives me mental but it still runs a close second to samwidge. The first one I can attribute to laziness; the second is just stupid.

Even more irritating is when there are more than one sammitch and Rachel Ray calls them 'sammies'. With that 'cute' giggle. Barf.

My personal pet peeve is when people say aiight (or however you spell it) instead of alright or okay. What the hell is that? I just chalk it up to being generational but it makes me crazy every time I hear it.

[Deleted]

Another thing is "like." I know a lot of people here think it reflects stupidity, and I can testify it doesn't. Yes, I'll concede it's a heinous and horrendous habbit, but I use the word "like" a lot, and it really is a distinctive California thing. No one I've met from other places has used it anywhere near as much as everyone I know from home.

I've lived on the east coast, west coast, in the midwest, and south, and there are people in every region who say "like" a lot. The one I've noticed more in California is "you know" as opposed to "like" or "um."

I went to high school and college in the Boston area, and I still use the word "wicked" as a synonym for "very", as in "that movie was wicked good." Although Boston is known for its use of "wicked," I went to middle school in NY and it gained popularity there when I was in fifth grade. So I always thought of "wicked" as an uncool early 90s slang word like "rad" until I moved to Boston.

[Deleted]

I've always lived in or around Boston and, yes, "Wicked" is very unique to us. I recall in high school, a cousin of mine was talking about some other kid and expressing how smart the kid was. He said, "Oh, that guy's smart. He gets wicked A's." Yes, we acknowledge that "wicked" is a strange adjective around here, but that was pushing it! We never let him forget that.

[LurkerNan]

My personal pet peeve is when people say aiight (or however you spell it) instead of alright or okay. What the hell is that? I just chalk it up to being generational but it makes me crazy every time I hear it.

Dude, it took me weeks to perfect my "aiight". It drives my son and husband nuts when I say it, which is why I do it.

Which brings me back to "Dude"... I'm a SoCal girl, which is why I say it. A Lot... And when I say girl, I mean a minivan-driving fortyish white woman, so it's not like something only teens say out here.

And "So-Cal" is how we refer to Southern California. I've never heard "Cali" from anyone local, because California folks always distinguish the North from the South. (The country likes to pretend we are one big state, but we are really two very different places...)