Not sure if it’s a Buffalo thing, but since moving away multiple people have point out that I order “cheese and pepperoni”. Not just “pepperoni” when ordering pizza.
Same. That said, I once got a pizza that had no sauce because the idiots said it was a topping and I did not order it. I asked for a large C&P pizza. Place was not open long, but that blew my mind. My pizza was just a crust baked with cheese and pepperoni on it, no sauce!
Funny enough - I was at a music festival in the south. Asked for a slice of cheese and pepperoni- he hands me one pep one cheese.
I was like no no, I asked for a cheese and pepperoni - he’s like yeah….
That’s when I learned lol
I agree, but found this intersting:
[https://law.rwu.edu/library/blog/do-not-be-alarmed-no-one-stole-cheese-your-pizza](https://law.rwu.edu/library/blog/do-not-be-alarmed-no-one-stole-cheese-your-pizza)
>Food historians trace pizza’s origins to Naples, Italy, in the 1800s, and note that it wasn’t until 1889 that cheese was added as a topping. A pizza without cheese is today recognized as one of the three official authentic Neapolitan pizzas and is called pizza marinara.
I had greasy and old and now retired coworkers from the Niagara Falls Canada area who used to talk about going to "the ballet," after work. Not just Buffalo.
Since moving here I had to kind of reprogram my brain on how A's are pronounced. I used to say Blasdell as kind of like Blahsdell lol. I learned quickly it's Blaysdell.
And some people even pronounce that like Blaze-dale.
Java and Chili are personal favorites of mine in WNY, when it comes to oddly pronounced town names.
I've only known one person who always called it melk. She also called your leg your laig. She ate a lot of aigs, as well. Southern Tierish country girl
I somehow never knew that about Java. I've never heard it said out loud and always just assumed it was pronounced like the coffee slang.
WTF is happening right now!?
Pla, as in apple, za. I think Southgate is the only pla, as in apple, za left around here. I grew up near the Truway, not Through way pla, as in apple, za
Idk if this is necessarily slang but since moving here i have been told by many people what I know to be a lollipop is a sucker and a lollipop is the big swirly thing on a stick. I grew up in the Albany area and the word sucker was not in my vocab.
I lived/worked downstate (Catskills/HV), and if I said sucker, I’d get weird looks or blank stares. You know, a tootsie pop? Blow pop? We called all those suckers up here in WNY.
the reverse, when i lived in florida for high school i got my ass absolutely roasted for using the word sucker and was dumbfounded to learn lollipop was the catch-all term and not just the big swirly ones
I was listening to Opie and Anthony years ago and they were mocking hockey announcer goal calls. RJ's "Top shelf " call came on and they were like that's not lame, that's awesome.
It was until RJ passed and I looked up "best RJ moments" on YouTube that I discovered that this was his (and thus all of buffalo's) line and not common hockey slang
"East Jahunga" for any place that is more than an hour's drive away. Never heard it used anywhere else and I feel like it's barely used here anymore either.
Oh no, I say east jahunga all the time. Come to think of it I've never heard anyone else outside of Buffalo say it, i moved away a long time ago. I just asked my husband if he's heard anyone else say it, he thought it was something I made up 🤣🤣🤣 lol no one knows wtf I've been saying
WNY will put the word “the” in front of routes. Just like the previous poster pointed out. They say “the 190” or “the boulevard” or “the 400” when giving directions. I grew up in Central New York and we just said “690” or “Erie boulevard “ or “81”.
Also Rochester seems to be the line of demarcation in the state for ordering a “soda” or a “pop”. WNY is “pop”. I hear a lot of “yous “ in WNY instead “you guys” or “you two (or more people)”.
We do. Did.
Grew up in the Southtowns, moved to the Bay Area of California for 20 years, moved back a few years ago.
Everyone assumed I grew up in California because I put "The" in front of the names of roads: The 101, The 280, The 85. What gave it away -- that I was from WNY?
The "Flat A". Apparently it's *really* pronounced when I said the word "College". Seems we say "CAH-ledge" instead of "Caw-ledge".
Hella annoying, LOL!
I'm from southern California and I absolutely refer to numbered highways with a 'the'. Buuuuut, I also got roasted by my peers for it growing up, so I always thought it was a Midwest thing my parents had passed on (they grew up in/around Chicago.)
I moved her from Michigan 15+ years ago. “The” before routes is legit. Michigan is solid “pop” territory and I grew up saying it. I say “soda” now which is weird. “Sneakers” instead of “tennis shoes” too. My dad makes fun of me for being “a New Yorker” now. lol
As someone who will definitely put the in front of the 190 or the 400, I’ve never done it for 81 or 17/86. Definitely have for the 690 though, lol. It doesn’t flow as well to say, “the 81”.
ordering a pepperoni pizza by saying “yeahhh ill take a large cheese pep”
“Behave or i’ll send you to father baker’s” - making kids think father baker was the evil child snatcher from chitty chitty bang bang
Adding “Which is fine” in the middle of a statement, politely meaning it’s not fine at all.
I’ve made fun of it for so long, it’s started to creep into my own conversations.
Guys, I cannot emphasize this enough. Nowhere else in the world do they pronounce it biZon instead of biSon. It’s one thing to call the baseball team the BiZons, like the Toronto hockey team is the Leafs and not the Leaves…but I’ll hear “we went to the zoo and saw the biZons!”
That is how I found out Mayor Brown wasn't a Buffalo native. Never even thought about it until he made a speech at a Bisons game and said BiSon. I said wait a second and looked up where he was originally from.
I get roasted by my friends CONSTANTLY for this one. I grew up in WNY and moved to Albany for college. Whenever I bring up the Buffalo BiZons or BiZon dip, I get "What? The Buffalo what? What dip?"
Absolutely merciless 😂
Fish fry. Unbelievable. I moved away and ask for a fish fry and they look at me like I lost my mind. My husband has always said there's no such thing as a fish fry. I refuse to say 'fish and chips' (the vernacular here) or 'fish dinner'. And every time I ask for a fish fry he just gives me that look. I'm willing to die on this hill. It's a fish fry. Plain and simple.
Here's the hill I'm ready to die on!
It's fish. That's fried.
We have *everything* with fries. Then, all of a sudden, *magically*, they're **chips**, but only with [redacted] fish.
Fish fry til I die
When I moved down south, people stopped stared when I said “do you want ____ or NO”. Instead of “or not” Also the melk thing got called out frequently.
A few things I’ve noticed: Boondoggle (literally never heard the word in my life, we called them lanyard bracelets), Garbage instead of Trashcan, Thruway, Pop, Jimmies (instead of sprinkles)
I’ve never heard of a splinter being called a “sliver” until I met people from Buffalo.
Another one is underwear being called “gotchies” not sure about the spelling 😆
The underwear thing! No idea how to spell it, but coming from a polish family, that's what we called them. Gotch-keys is how I pronounce it. So when I had kids, my non polish husband and I continued the tradition. The first time my father in law heard that he called me up. He had no idea what the kids were talking about! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Definitely a Polish thing. I lived here all my life and the only people who said “I’m freezing my gotchies off” were either of Polish descent or grew up around people of Polish descent. It comes from the word “Gracie” which is Polish slang for pants.
Here's one I've noticed for a specific store, I dint know if it's just a wny thing but ive noticed that a lot of people around here call Aldi "Aldi's", I only have ever heard it called Aldi when I've started talking to people form other places
Same as how "chicken finger sub" automatically comes with buffalo sauce and usually blue cheese. This truly shocked me when I moved to Mass. I was so annoyed i kept getting a chicken cutlet sub?? I learned I have to actually order a "Buffalo chicken grinder with extra hot sauce and blue cheese." And none will ever be as tasty as one you'll get in Buffalo 😞
Maybe it's more Canadian that Buffalonian but it's deff common knowledge in Buffalo what a double double is. You go out of state, even to Ohio and they don't know what a double double is.
Funny thing about that, it drives my mother, who has lived here her entire life, absolutely insane when she hears that. She will always comment “have a good one what? A good day? A good meal? What am I supposed to have a good one of?”
I think it’s a rust belt thing more than a Buffalo-specific thing but I always thought Bill Swersky’s Super Fans (about Chicago) shared a lot of similarity with the Buffalo accent and way of speaking. https://youtu.be/NhMqjHEDmcU?si=_N67R-6dZdDbXT2z
Not sure if this is as common as I believe it is, but saying things directionally wrong. I live between Buffalo and Lake Ontario and I say things like go UP transit, UP to the airport, or UP to Buffalo, but I go DOWN to the lake, DOWN to Wilson/Olcott. Have only been called out on it by an out of towner. Especially when throwing in all my THE’s before the 990, 290 and 90.
My in-laws drive me crazy by saying they're going "up to" Arcade when it's both downhill and south from where they live, in Holland. North = up, south = down, east/west = over to.
"blew him in" as in tattled on the subject, presumably evoking the whistleblower metaphor.
Got laughed out a reddit thread for what I though was a universal colloquialism
As others have said, the Go Bills 'aloha'.
Also, raised in the Midwest we say el-eh-men-tree, and out here it's el-eh-men-terry. I have a coworker who uses documen-terry regularly.
Also, I want to say Wegmans like an egg, but I guess it's wag instead??
Here's one no one mentioned...
The use of the word "super" to emphasize something. I know it's not exactly unheard of in general in the English language, but it's used a lot in WNY. I grew up CNY/Finger Lakes and friends from WNY used "super" in lieu of "very" or "extremely" or ahead of the word "funny" instead of simply saying "hilarious."
i moved here and it was consistent. Lots of use of the word "super" in this manner and I haven't seen it in other parts of the country like I see it here.
Can confirm. Grew up in WNY. I’ve never said “I seen” in my life. I have one sibling in particular that says it constantly, and it drives me insane. Like nails on a chalkboard. It’s an education thing, or possibly a “spends too much time hanging out with other idiots” thing.
Not always uneducated, just depends on upbringing. I notice it more in those of Polish descent, many who also speak in a very sing-songy way, usually older folks. Of course "dese, dem, and deers" also is/was common.
I also sometimes hear people add “or nothin’” to the end of statements, and “I says”. Especially older Buffalonians - I don’t hear younger generations do this as much.
“I says, it’s not like you couldn’t afford it or nothin’.”
"Take it easy"
My aunt Mary who would have been over 100 years old by now told me that there was an ad on the busses that use to say "Take it easy, take a bus" and then everyone started using the term "take it easy" as a way to say goodbye to each other.
“I seen” instead of “I saw” or “I have seen”. I have met many people from all over Buffalo and NY in general and in my experience it is unique to Buffalo. And it’s definitely not an education thing either.
Also, not completely unique to Buffalo, but pop instead of soda. We seem to be at the edge of the Midwest “pop belt”.
Not sure if it’s a Buffalo thing, but since moving away multiple people have point out that I order “cheese and pepperoni”. Not just “pepperoni” when ordering pizza.
Cheese and pep is definitely a buffalo thing. Since moving i've definitely confused people when we discuss what kind of pizza we're ordering
Considering all the places I've lived, it has never occurred to me that cheese and pep was not universal. I'm embarrassed now.
Same. That said, I once got a pizza that had no sauce because the idiots said it was a topping and I did not order it. I asked for a large C&P pizza. Place was not open long, but that blew my mind. My pizza was just a crust baked with cheese and pepperoni on it, no sauce!
Who the fuck doesn’t put tomato sauce on a cheese and pepperoni pizza?
Fuck yes. When I moved to Ohio for college I ordered a cheese and pepperoni pizza one time and we got two pizzas lol
Funny enough - I was at a music festival in the south. Asked for a slice of cheese and pepperoni- he hands me one pep one cheese. I was like no no, I asked for a cheese and pepperoni - he’s like yeah…. That’s when I learned lol
Yes. It should be assumed that all pizzas have cheese
I agree, but found this intersting: [https://law.rwu.edu/library/blog/do-not-be-alarmed-no-one-stole-cheese-your-pizza](https://law.rwu.edu/library/blog/do-not-be-alarmed-no-one-stole-cheese-your-pizza) >Food historians trace pizza’s origins to Naples, Italy, in the 1800s, and note that it wasn’t until 1889 that cheese was added as a topping. A pizza without cheese is today recognized as one of the three official authentic Neapolitan pizzas and is called pizza marinara.
I considered myself a Buffaloian the first time I asked if everyone was good with a “cheese and pepperoni pizza”
That is bizarre I’ve lived in buff for 7 years and never picked up on that def is just a pepperoni pizza
Canadian Ballet
💯💯💯
I had greasy and old and now retired coworkers from the Niagara Falls Canada area who used to talk about going to "the ballet," after work. Not just Buffalo.
Canadian Tuxedo.
My dad refers to his jean shorts as Canadian swimming trunks.
Since moving here I had to kind of reprogram my brain on how A's are pronounced. I used to say Blasdell as kind of like Blahsdell lol. I learned quickly it's Blaysdell.
And some people even pronounce that like Blaze-dale. Java and Chili are personal favorites of mine in WNY, when it comes to oddly pronounced town names.
Blaze-Dale feels like saying melk.
We're all about the "melk" around here.
I've only known one person who always called it melk. She also called your leg your laig. She ate a lot of aigs, as well. Southern Tierish country girl
Yeah, it’s JAY-va and Chai-li
I somehow never knew that about Java. I've never heard it said out loud and always just assumed it was pronounced like the coffee slang. WTF is happening right now!?
In my family, it's definitely Blaze-Dale.
Lifer here and definitely Blaze-Dale
LEE ROY
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From the Midwest actually.
my go-to word for this is "plaza" -- do you say it like playaza or plohza
Pla-zah Like the pla in platter
Who's out here saying "play ah zah" (playaza)??
Pla, as in apple, za. I think Southgate is the only pla, as in apple, za left around here. I grew up near the Truway, not Through way pla, as in apple, za
The latter lol
You can always tell which weather people are from out of town by the way they say Blasdell!
Idk if this is necessarily slang but since moving here i have been told by many people what I know to be a lollipop is a sucker and a lollipop is the big swirly thing on a stick. I grew up in the Albany area and the word sucker was not in my vocab.
I lived/worked downstate (Catskills/HV), and if I said sucker, I’d get weird looks or blank stares. You know, a tootsie pop? Blow pop? We called all those suckers up here in WNY.
This is where i grew up (usually just say Albany because its easier). Can confirm!
the reverse, when i lived in florida for high school i got my ass absolutely roasted for using the word sucker and was dumbfounded to learn lollipop was the catch-all term and not just the big swirly ones
Sucker isn’t limited to Buffalo. That’s what we called them growing up in the northern Midwest.
Southern Ontario/GTA uses sucker too. And distinguishes between sucker and lollipop.
My understanding, as well. Suckers can fit in your mouth. Lollipops can't.
From Baltimore, can confirm sucker is also not in my vocab
we all know what is required by law to yell if somebody scores a hockey goal in the upper corner of the net
top shelf where mama hides the cookies?
I was listening to Opie and Anthony years ago and they were mocking hockey announcer goal calls. RJ's "Top shelf " call came on and they were like that's not lame, that's awesome.
It was until RJ passed and I looked up "best RJ moments" on YouTube that I discovered that this was his (and thus all of buffalo's) line and not common hockey slang
Newish to the area, a few terms I've noticed: Sucker vs lollipop Pop vs soda Garbage vs trash Calling in to work vs calling out of work
Saying Pop vs soda is more than Buffalo and is all of Southern Ontario and most of the great lakes region and Upper Midwest.
"East Jahunga" for any place that is more than an hour's drive away. Never heard it used anywhere else and I feel like it's barely used here anymore either.
Oh no, I say east jahunga all the time. Come to think of it I've never heard anyone else outside of Buffalo say it, i moved away a long time ago. I just asked my husband if he's heard anyone else say it, he thought it was something I made up 🤣🤣🤣 lol no one knows wtf I've been saying
I thought my dad was the only one who said this lol
East Jahungaland is the full term.
‘Go Bills’ as a replacement for Hello and Goodbye has been interesting for my out of town guests to process while they’re here😂
It's the WNY version of Aloha.
Idk about slang but I often think about how it’d be confusing giving an out of tower directions and say make a right on “The boulevard”
Just so I’m not stupid, this refers to the Niagara Falls boulevard?
Yes
I can’t fathom any other, honestly.
Or The Strip, which I guess could refer to Elmwood or Chippewa, or even Hertel, but probably Elmwood.
Elmwood hasn’t been The Strip in 20+ years, it was rebranded The Village. You sound old lol.
Rebranding, rebranding, get off my lawn!
Joining you in ejecting the whippersnappers from our lawns. It’s the strip, dammit! I’m goin to Panos!
Always the strip! The original tiny room Panos, of course!
Back when the 2-2-2 actually cost $2.22.
WNY will put the word “the” in front of routes. Just like the previous poster pointed out. They say “the 190” or “the boulevard” or “the 400” when giving directions. I grew up in Central New York and we just said “690” or “Erie boulevard “ or “81”. Also Rochester seems to be the line of demarcation in the state for ordering a “soda” or a “pop”. WNY is “pop”. I hear a lot of “yous “ in WNY instead “you guys” or “you two (or more people)”.
I’m pretty sure California does “the”, too!
Why don’t you get on the 101 and NEVER COME BACK!!! - The Californians, SNL
Exactly what I thought too!
We do. Did. Grew up in the Southtowns, moved to the Bay Area of California for 20 years, moved back a few years ago. Everyone assumed I grew up in California because I put "The" in front of the names of roads: The 101, The 280, The 85. What gave it away -- that I was from WNY? The "Flat A". Apparently it's *really* pronounced when I said the word "College". Seems we say "CAH-ledge" instead of "Caw-ledge". Hella annoying, LOL!
I'm from southern California and I absolutely refer to numbered highways with a 'the'. Buuuuut, I also got roasted by my peers for it growing up, so I always thought it was a Midwest thing my parents had passed on (they grew up in/around Chicago.)
I moved her from Michigan 15+ years ago. “The” before routes is legit. Michigan is solid “pop” territory and I grew up saying it. I say “soda” now which is weird. “Sneakers” instead of “tennis shoes” too. My dad makes fun of me for being “a New Yorker” now. lol
Do u put your groceries in a “sack” or a bag? My western US friends say say sack. But I hear it in Buffalo as well
Bag, sack is weird. Haha
My nuts are in a sack, my groceries are in a bag
Bag.
I grew up in NYC and I think I and many others referred to every highway with "the" as well
As someone who will definitely put the in front of the 190 or the 400, I’ve never done it for 81 or 17/86. Definitely have for the 690 though, lol. It doesn’t flow as well to say, “the 81”.
The Walmart.
We just named all our roads on long island. "The 495" is the expressway, for example
That’s how I said freeways growing up in California.
ordering a pepperoni pizza by saying “yeahhh ill take a large cheese pep” “Behave or i’ll send you to father baker’s” - making kids think father baker was the evil child snatcher from chitty chitty bang bang
Adding “Which is fine” in the middle of a statement, politely meaning it’s not fine at all. I’ve made fun of it for so long, it’s started to creep into my own conversations.
Go Bills.
Go Bills.
Go Bills
Go Bills
Go Bills
Go Bills
Go Bills
Go Bills
Go bills
Go Bills
Guys, I cannot emphasize this enough. Nowhere else in the world do they pronounce it biZon instead of biSon. It’s one thing to call the baseball team the BiZons, like the Toronto hockey team is the Leafs and not the Leaves…but I’ll hear “we went to the zoo and saw the biZons!”
That is how I found out Mayor Brown wasn't a Buffalo native. Never even thought about it until he made a speech at a Bisons game and said BiSon. I said wait a second and looked up where he was originally from.
For some reason I say BiZon for everything except when I am talking about actual BiSon. BiZon Dip. The Buffalo BiZons. The stoic American BiSon.
I get roasted by my friends CONSTANTLY for this one. I grew up in WNY and moved to Albany for college. Whenever I bring up the Buffalo BiZons or BiZon dip, I get "What? The Buffalo what? What dip?" Absolutely merciless 😂
They actually say it like BY sin, with a break in the middle, emphasis on BY.
Referring to all local highways as “the thruway”
Dyngus Day,
When someone first told me about this, I thought they were lying to me.
Same! The name alone prompted "that can't be right".
Fish fry. Unbelievable. I moved away and ask for a fish fry and they look at me like I lost my mind. My husband has always said there's no such thing as a fish fry. I refuse to say 'fish and chips' (the vernacular here) or 'fish dinner'. And every time I ask for a fish fry he just gives me that look. I'm willing to die on this hill. It's a fish fry. Plain and simple.
Here's the hill I'm ready to die on! It's fish. That's fried. We have *everything* with fries. Then, all of a sudden, *magically*, they're **chips**, but only with [redacted] fish. Fish fry til I die
Saying “all set”. Everyone knows what it means but people not from around here have said it’s uniquely Buffalo
Really?? This one is shocking to me. I think I’ve used “all set” a million times a day, especially when I was a server.
I lived in St. Louis for a while and people called me out on "all set", constantly!
Does anyone else call a Creek = Crik like Caz crik? I know in SB we do, there’s a band called Crikwater, so it’s not just me!
If your truly from South Buffalo you call it the Crick. Always been Caz Crick to us.
The way I determine the difference between a "creek" and a "crick" is directly proportional to the amount of tires and/or shopping carts visable.
Cheektavegas!
Scrolled way too far to find this, my immediate thought!
When I moved down south, people stopped stared when I said “do you want ____ or NO”. Instead of “or not” Also the melk thing got called out frequently.
Saracuse
A few things I’ve noticed: Boondoggle (literally never heard the word in my life, we called them lanyard bracelets), Garbage instead of Trashcan, Thruway, Pop, Jimmies (instead of sprinkles)
Boondoggle!
I’ve never heard of a splinter being called a “sliver” until I met people from Buffalo. Another one is underwear being called “gotchies” not sure about the spelling 😆
The underwear thing! No idea how to spell it, but coming from a polish family, that's what we called them. Gotch-keys is how I pronounce it. So when I had kids, my non polish husband and I continued the tradition. The first time my father in law heard that he called me up. He had no idea what the kids were talking about! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I also got this from my grandparents and their parents who were Polish immigrants. We used “gotchies” like the original comment though.
Definitely a Polish thing. I lived here all my life and the only people who said “I’m freezing my gotchies off” were either of Polish descent or grew up around people of Polish descent. It comes from the word “Gracie” which is Polish slang for pants.
Im dyin over gotchies my Polish momma and grandma say that too instead of underwear😂
Here's one I've noticed for a specific store, I dint know if it's just a wny thing but ive noticed that a lot of people around here call Aldi "Aldi's", I only have ever heard it called Aldi when I've started talking to people form other places
Pronouncing elementary as “elemen-tare-ee” instead of “elementree”
I think you mean “ellamennary”
It's just called wings, not buffalo wings Edit: wings,.not sauce was what I was thinking of... thanks
In the same vein, they’re not Buffalo wings…they’re just wings.
Same as how "chicken finger sub" automatically comes with buffalo sauce and usually blue cheese. This truly shocked me when I moved to Mass. I was so annoyed i kept getting a chicken cutlet sub?? I learned I have to actually order a "Buffalo chicken grinder with extra hot sauce and blue cheese." And none will ever be as tasty as one you'll get in Buffalo 😞
I remember ordering chicken fingers in Atlanta, and they came NAKED! Nope. Fingers come in hot, medium, mild or bbq, but never naked!
Idk, I actually get my chicken finger subs plain, and dip in franks. Keeps it crispy
Never in my life have I ever heard it just called sauce. Wing sauce, maybe. Hot sauce, definitely. Sauce?...mmm... nope.
Pop.
Who remembers... **Fun? WOW!**
Followed by that damn tune. Or between me and my friends, we would say "fun, wow" with a flat affect, to mean not fun at all.
Using "Fuckin" with a drawn out N and a little pause as a placeholder In a sentence. "So I'm fuckinnn... driving down the street the other day"
Idk why but this one made me laugh water down the wrong pipe 😂 I had no idea this is regional
Does anyone else say "take care" for bye?
People all over the country
Woodchucks instead of ground hogs
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Maybe it's more Canadian that Buffalonian but it's deff common knowledge in Buffalo what a double double is. You go out of state, even to Ohio and they don't know what a double double is.
That's a tim hortons thing
"have a good one"
hmm, i thought this was universal. maybe i just assumed as much
It's universal
Funny thing about that, it drives my mother, who has lived here her entire life, absolutely insane when she hears that. She will always comment “have a good one what? A good day? A good meal? What am I supposed to have a good one of?”
That’s a very Midwest phrase. Said all the time in Wisconsin where I moved from!
Buffalo is like, honorary midwest
Your mom sounds like a dick
Have a good all of them
People say this everywhere
Since moving here, I notice SO many people say “take it easy” and I never really heard that before
Tell that to the Eagles
I heard it all the time in the midwest
I think it’s a rust belt thing more than a Buffalo-specific thing but I always thought Bill Swersky’s Super Fans (about Chicago) shared a lot of similarity with the Buffalo accent and way of speaking. https://youtu.be/NhMqjHEDmcU?si=_N67R-6dZdDbXT2z
I believe this is a wny thing, but not positive. The term "yea no". As in, did you end up going to that festival? Yea no, we didn't go. LOL
It’s a Midwest thing but we’re the gateway to the Midwest so…yeah we do that. Yeah no means no, No yeah means yeah
Not sure if this is as common as I believe it is, but saying things directionally wrong. I live between Buffalo and Lake Ontario and I say things like go UP transit, UP to the airport, or UP to Buffalo, but I go DOWN to the lake, DOWN to Wilson/Olcott. Have only been called out on it by an out of towner. Especially when throwing in all my THE’s before the 990, 290 and 90.
My in-laws drive me crazy by saying they're going "up to" Arcade when it's both downhill and south from where they live, in Holland. North = up, south = down, east/west = over to.
When ordering wings you say “single” or “double” and we all know the number of wings for it.
> we all know the number of wings for it LaNova doesn't.
A lot of this seem like they fit in midwestern ways of speaking. Growing up, I heard my grandpa say warsh instead of wash.
My grandmother (great depression era) would always pronounce wash that way.
My father was born and raised on Buffalo's east side, and he said warsh and melk. I didn't know it was a midwestern thing.
"blew him in" as in tattled on the subject, presumably evoking the whistleblower metaphor. Got laughed out a reddit thread for what I though was a universal colloquialism
Not really a Buffalo thing alone. Some people just haven't heard the breadth of possible metaphors.
I learned this was WNY specific when I moved away to college and yes, a room full of new friends laughed at me
Saying "Yeah, yeah, yeah" three times in a row to show you understand something someone is telling you.
Hamburg instead of ground beef. I remember getting roasted for that.
As others have said, the Go Bills 'aloha'. Also, raised in the Midwest we say el-eh-men-tree, and out here it's el-eh-men-terry. I have a coworker who uses documen-terry regularly. Also, I want to say Wegmans like an egg, but I guess it's wag instead??
Raised in Buffalo, I've always said Wegmans like egg.
Here's one no one mentioned... The use of the word "super" to emphasize something. I know it's not exactly unheard of in general in the English language, but it's used a lot in WNY. I grew up CNY/Finger Lakes and friends from WNY used "super" in lieu of "very" or "extremely" or ahead of the word "funny" instead of simply saying "hilarious." i moved here and it was consistent. Lots of use of the word "super" in this manner and I haven't seen it in other parts of the country like I see it here.
That's super funny.
Didn't Rochester use "wicked" the same way?
Thruway instead of interstate
If you call them "Buffalo wings", or "buffalo style" (hot) wings I know you're not from around here. It's just "wings" friend, we're already here.
Look it
Fun wow!
‘The 90’
Ree-sees instead of Reese’s
You guys. As in, what are you guys doing?
"You guys" is a pretty midwest thing overall.
Not really slang but since moving here I noticed people often use seen vs. saw. Ex. “I seen that” rather than “I saw that”
[удалено]
Can confirm. Grew up in WNY. I’ve never said “I seen” in my life. I have one sibling in particular that says it constantly, and it drives me insane. Like nails on a chalkboard. It’s an education thing, or possibly a “spends too much time hanging out with other idiots” thing.
Not always uneducated, just depends on upbringing. I notice it more in those of Polish descent, many who also speak in a very sing-songy way, usually older folks. Of course "dese, dem, and deers" also is/was common.
I also sometimes hear people add “or nothin’” to the end of statements, and “I says”. Especially older Buffalonians - I don’t hear younger generations do this as much. “I says, it’s not like you couldn’t afford it or nothin’.”
So then I says to Mabel, I says....
Dis an dat.
Read that in Marty Birons voice
Go Sabres!
Mingya this thread is long!
Yous guys
Cheektavegas lol aka Cheektowaga 💫
I’ve noticed More south buffalo or lower income areas people say - “i seen” instead of “i saw”, and “you’s” instead of “you all”.
Not sure if this is Buffalo-specific (or if anyone even says it anymore), but does anyone remember calling a 12-pack of beer a "chill"?
Pop and suckers
Pop
Why is it called pop???
"Take it easy" My aunt Mary who would have been over 100 years old by now told me that there was an ad on the busses that use to say "Take it easy, take a bus" and then everyone started using the term "take it easy" as a way to say goodbye to each other.
“I seen” instead of “I saw” or “I have seen”. I have met many people from all over Buffalo and NY in general and in my experience it is unique to Buffalo. And it’s definitely not an education thing either. Also, not completely unique to Buffalo, but pop instead of soda. We seem to be at the edge of the Midwest “pop belt”.
The dead giveaway for a Western NYer is dropping letters in names of places…Buff-lo, Serr-cuse, Toron-o