How to talk right in Chicago

August 20, 2003 | from an e-mail

[Chi-townChief]

CHICAGOLAND PING

[Roscoe Karns]

That's da shizzle my fizzle nizzle.

[steveo]

warsh - 'hey stevie, when you gonna warsh those jeans'?

[Charles Henrickson]

Dudderday: That day a few days ago. "So I seez dis guy dudderday, and I sez to him, I sez. . . ."

[Charles Henrickson]

What Jamaican: Inquiry regarding dinner. "Hey Ma, what jamaican?"

[tiamat]

Ummmmmm..... Sliders...... Arrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!

Tia

i don't care what you say! i LOVE White Castles!

[saquin]

22. "Jieetyet": this is used to ask "did you eat yet"?

Hey, they stole that from us New Yorkers! :-)

(in fact, as I read the list, it seems that fully half of the items could refer to NY, too).

Most NY lists like this include the ubiquitous:
Jeet?
No, jew?

And, of course, as all NYers know, the proper response to the question, "How ya doin'? is, of course, ..... "How ya doin?"

:-)

[Charles Henrickson]

Cmaahn: Exclamation used while driving. "Cmaahn! Move yer *&%#! caar, fer cryin' out loud!

[rdb3]

warsh

I hear that more here in the south than in the midwest.

[Charles Henrickson]

Hizzoner da Mare: Mayor Daley. The real Mayor Daley, i.e., the late Dick Daley (not the current Richie). "Hizzoner da Mare, Richard J. Daley."

[BostonianRightist]

"chicagoese" HA HA!!

[Charles Henrickson]

North Side ping.

[willyboyishere]

Having lived in Chicago for all my life till '81 I can tell you that only people from the far flung neighborhoods,
like the Daleys' Bridgeport talk this way. And a minor note:
#12 "Use"---even though it's not a real word, it should be
spelled "youse", as it was spelled in the old newspaper cartoon "Humphrey Clinker" (or maybe it was Gasoline Alley).

[mhking]

They forgot such wonderful things as "Jew-town" - the old open-air market on Maxwell Street; "Jew-town Polish" - more politically correctly known as a 'Maxwell Street Polish', traditionally the single best polish sausage sammich in town; "The Circle" - freeway intersection between three of the busiest freeways in town, the Kennedy, Eisenhower & Dan Ryan; "Riverview" - an old amusement park rivaling New York's Coney Island for popularity in "da ol' days", it was torn down in 1967; "Garfield Goose" - an old kids puppet TV show on WGN-TV with Garfield Goose The First, Emperor of the United States; "Da Trib & Da Sun-Times" - The daily papers, the Chicago Tribune & Chicago Sun-Times.

[PackerBoy]

Another one: BUBBLER

(a/k/a a water drinking fountain.)

[Charles Henrickson]

Daeltodaloop: Means of transportation downtown. "I'm takin' da-El-to-da-Loop."

[Milwaukee_Guy]

You nailed it my friend! I grew up near Division and da Kennady Freeway in da 50's.

Let me add a few....

Caddy - A Cadillac automobile produced by GM.

Riv - A Riviera automobile produced by Buick.

Stang - A Mustang automobile produced by Ford Motor Company.

Thunder Chicken - A tricky one depending on what side of town you lived on. A Thunder Chicken could be a Thunderbird or also a Firebird TransAm wit da big fricken' decal on da hood.

Let's put it all together now,

Hey Nick! How are you doing?

I'm doing. Whazzaboutyu?

Hey, Me? I'm doing. You know, OK?

Lez us go out an get us a 'Talian Ice or sumtin' Huh?

Wat car we goin' da drive? My old lady got da Riv an da Caddy is in da shop.

Let's take my kid's Thunder Chicken. Dat's 'cause he cracked up my Stang last week.

Ok! I got shotgun! (the passenger seat)

[prairiebreeze]

Italian beef sandwiches are mighty fine cuisine too.

Prairie---never heard the "weedy lot" expression though--LOL!

[Chi-townChief]

Remember that before it was "The Circle", it was "Da Patch", an old Italian neighborhood.