Some words used in the Boston area but not in many other American English dialects (or with different meanings) are:

• barrel or rubbish barrel — 'wastebasket'
• bubbler or water bubbler — 'drinking fountain'
• camp — can refer to 'a summer cottage' or 'lake house'
• cape — used to refer to Cape Cod "we're going down the cape"
• carriage — 'shopping cart'
• cleansers — 'cleaners (mostly on signage)'
• clicker — pronounced "Clickah", 'television remote control'
• coffee; regular — 'coffee with milk (or cream) and usually two spoonsful of sugar'
• dooryard - the front yard or driveway area (very uncommon)
• donkey mix- 'phrase to denote confusion' (very uncommon)
• donut: chocolate frosted — 'a raised donut with chocolate frosting'
• donut: chocolate glazed — 'a chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting'
• double decker — 'a two-story, two-family home with one unit built on top of the other'
• down cellar — pronounced "down cellah" 'in the basement'
• elastic — 'rubber band'
• frappe — 'milkshake made with ice cream'
• fudgicle — as opposed to 'fudgesicle' with an s
• grinder — 'submarine sandwich'
• into town — 'into Boston' (contrast to New Yorkers' use of "the City")
• The Hub — 'another name for Boston, as in the Hub of the Universe'
• Jimmies - 'chocolate sprinkles'
• johnny — a medical gown worn by patients for examinations
• packie — liquor store
• pocketbook — 'purse'
• puffer — hand-held asthma inhaler
• rotary — 'traffic circle or roundabout'
• spa — 'convenience store' (originally, it meant a store with a soda fountain). A "Town Spa" is often a pizza restaurant.
• spuckey — 'submarine sandwich,' still commonly heard in East Boston. A "spuckey roll" is a short sub roll. (very uncommon)
• Staties - Nickname for the Massachusetts State Police, as opposed to local police.
• The T - Public transportation in the Metro Boston area. Refers to the subway, the streetcar, the ferry, and the bus. The ferry is highly recommended because it bypasses traffic, and they serve beer.
• time — 'a party', e.g., "My buddy's having a time over at his place."
• tonic — 'carbonated soda,' older speakers.
• town club / sports club - When Boston surburbia was woods and farms, men would gather here for deer hunting expeditions. When the land was subdivided into Levitt houses and McMansions, these "clubs" became places where the aging, ex-hunters would gather to escape their wives and get sloshed.
• townies — A native of any town in Massachusetts. A person has to be born in the town and spend their life there to be a townie. "Townies" hold clout in their town, and are allowed certain privileges. "Townies" are allowed drunken rants in town meetings. Furthermore, police usually ignore a townie's extreme drunk driving.^{[citation needed]} "Townies" will often drive home after having a "time" at the "town club".
• triple decker or three decker — 'a three-story, three-family home with three identical units built on top of the other'
• wicked — 'very'; alternatively, 'wicked' may also indicate approval or become a universal descriptor, e.g., "That chowdah was wicked good." Connected with this is also the word "pissah," which can be used either as an adverb or a noun meaning "great". The two words are also used in conjunction with each to denote something of very high quality, i.e. "That game was wicked pissah." "Pissah", while legendary Boston slang, is in reality considered vulgar (being derived from the word "piss") -- and not something true Bostonians would say in polite company. "Pissah" was a slang common to children and teenagers in the 70's. It is no longer used.

Note: Some of these words are only spoken in perhaps one small section of Boston, and unknown in most of the area. For example, almost no one will know what "dunkies" or "donkey mix" means, although an elderly grandmother may offer you a "tonic". Most of these words are remembered only by older and middle aged people. The younger generation of Boston is more influenced by Hollywood and "gangsta" language; however, there will always be a "T". Cape Cod (or simply the Cape) is an hook-shaped peninsula nearly coextensive with Barnstable County, Massachusetts and forming the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States. ...

See also

• Boston accent
• New England English

The Boston accent is the English dialect not only of the city of Boston, Massachusetts itself but also much of eastern Massachusetts. ... It has been suggested that Vermont English be merged into this article or section. ...

External links

• The Boston Slang Dictionary