Linguistics meme (I added a question)

[beth_leonard]

This one, language! My guess is that this is supposed to show regionalisms or what have you. So my regional background: born in NY, started talking in San Jose, Ca, spent age 3-8 in MA, 8-9 in upstate NY, 9-11 outside St. Louis MO, 12-18 outside San Francisco, CA, 18-21 in SoCal, 22-32 (Gah!) in silicon Valley.

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
12. Shoes worn for sports.
13. Putting a room in order.
14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
17. How do you eat your pizza?
18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff?
19. What's the evening meal?
20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?
21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
22. The object in which a woman carries her keys and money.


1. creek
2. shopping cart
3. lunchbox
4. frying pan
5. couch/sofa
6. gutter
7. front porch
8. soda
9. pancake
10. sub
11. swim suit
12. tennis shoes
13. cleaning
14. firefly
15. rolly polly
16. seesaw/teeter totter
17. finger food
18. garage sale
19. dinner
20. basement
21. water fountain/drinking fountain
22. purse (although I know pocketbook and handbag make strong showings in other parts of the country. Diaper bag might also make it big in some circles ;-)

Comments

[feuervogel]

Have you spent any significant time on the East Coast? Weather is pretty horrid here: cold in winter, hot & humid in summer. But we still leave our patios uncovered.

I don't think of a stoop as covered. I think of a stoop as the entrance to (eg) a brownstone, usually roofless, but the door may be recessed a bit.

On a different topic, have you ever heard of "nabs"? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance,_Inc#Nabs)

[kirinqueen.livejournal.com]

Nono, they don't need to be covered at all. I totally misread your middle comment, because I was getting porches and patios mixed up in my head. And I expected them to be covered in the east, not uncovered. So you and I have been seeing different things. :) And stoops aren't covered as I understand them, either. The brownstone entrance is just what I picture when I think of a stoop.

"Nabs" is totally new to me. The only brand made by Lance that I've even heard of is Cape Cod potato chips, but I've never heard of anyone refer to those as nabs. Iiinteresting...

[feuervogel]

I'd never heard it until I started work at this job. I've seen Nabs crackers in the vending machine, but I've never heard anyone call generic vending machine snacks "nabs" before.

This leads me to assume that it's a regionalism, as Lance is based here in NC, so the "widely used" assertion by the wikipedia author is greatly exaggerated.

[kirinqueen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that seems fishy to me. Ah well, we're all prone to the Frequency Illusion now and then.