You nailed it! (We could probably do a whole thread on Pittsburgh-ese). Your description is quite apt: White Ebonics. I've never before seen it characterized in that manner but it's accurate since the speech mannerisms as well as the syntax are anything but standard American English. There are some that find that particular regional dialect and grammar charming. Not me. That's one of the many reasons why I fled the tri-state area and headed back to my real home in Texas. I'll confess that I do like the Tidewater dialect. You probably get some traces of it up your way?
I mean, “lawn needs cut”; “leave” for “let” and vice-versa - geezie wee. Makes my skin crawl. (I was completely flumoxed when my husband asked “did you leave the dog out?” - totally confused. The dog was clearly inside. Of course I didn’t KEEP her outside. But I had ALLOWED her outside earlier.
Well played and that just scratches the surface. That area seems prone to botching verb-subject agreement. "He don't" may be heard elsewhere but it's seemingly part of the Western Pennsylvania DNA. Now be a good wife...and...
Apologies to all for the thread diversion.
Indeed, it’s grating, not cute. (I actually comprehended “red up” as an alliteration of “ready up” - not wonderful, but logical and understandable. But apparently I’m wrong about how that came around.) I haven’t been all around real long, but it’s the 1 I find absolutely irritating.
And I love when M-I-L or such describe it as “accent” - it’s not an accent, it’s a grammar system. Accent is how you say things; the grammar is what you say.
I don’t know if I’m “tidewater”; I’ve traces of Baltimore-ese and Southern (which feeds Bawlmorese anyway). I’ve been described by people who live here as Southern, never mind when I worked up in New England. It’s probably mild, though. I definitely like “you all”. ;-)
It’s funny, because there are a lot of “every-day” abuses of the language all over, as is. Everyone says “Tommy and me are going...” and “Where are you going to?”. PA invents new grammatical (and as you can see, vocabulary) errors all for itself that I’ve never experienced anywhere else (including “on TV”).
I bug my husband about it and ask him if he learned the “King’s German” or “dialect” German in HS and college and how he spoke on his trip to Germany. Never mind what they all were taught in English class there. Puts him in a conundrum; he has no answer.
(Again, sorry for the thread hi-jacking!)