Coming into college from the outskirts of Philly, I never thought that my accent would be that different or even noticeable. I never thought that attending a college that was an hour away from my hometown would be that much of an accent difference. So here is an article for all of the Philly people …no matter how many people make fun of our accent, we will always be proud of where we grew up! Here are just a few words that every Philadelphian can relate to:
“Wooder Ice”
Correct Use: “Hey Sarah, wanna go get some “wooder ice” from Rita’s?”
Incorrect Use: “Hey Sarah, wanna go get some “Italian Ice” from Rita’s?”
Yes, we understand that water is not spelled with a d. No matter how many times you bring up the spelling we will forever call it “wooder ice”. Also it's not that we don’t know that it's referred to as Italian Ice, it's just we grew up getting “wooder ice” and not "Italian Ice".
“Tal”
Correct Use: "Can you hand me a "tal"? I'm gonna go get a shower!"
Incorrect Use:"Can you hand me a "towel"? I'm gonna go get a shower!"
The look I got when I asked for a “tal” was priceless. My roommates would ask be to repeat what I said because they had no idea what I was talking about. By the end of my college career, I got my roommates to start saying “tal” and not “towel”.
“Tap-Mac”
Correct Use: “I have to go “Tap-Mac” before we go to the movies”.
Incorrect Use: “I have to go to the “ATM” before we go to the movies”.
“Tap-Mac” is actually something that only people in Philly would understand. Instead of an ATM machine, Philly had MAC machines at local businesses to withdraw their money.
“Jawn”
Correct Use: “Hand me that “Jawn”!”
THERE IS NO INCORRECT USE because Jawn meaning anything and everything! If you went to see the movie “Creed” you know that Jawn was used frequently.
“Jimmies”
Correct Use: “Can I have chocolate ice cream with rainbow “jimmies” please!”
Incorrect Use: “Can I have chocolate ice cream with rainbow “sprinkles” please!”
This is a term that Philadelphians will use, both jimmies and sprinkles, yet we will always say jimmies first! Others might say that sprinkles are the rainbow ones and the jimmies are the chocolate one but I for one have called them both jimmies in my life time.
“Crowns”
Correct Use: “The kids colored pictures from their parents with the new “crowns”.
Incorrect Use: “The kids colored pictures from their parents with the new “crayons”.
In my opinion, in order for Philly people to say this word correctly it becomes the most awkward thing we have ever tried to say! We feel awkward and sound awkward saying it ..so don’t make us try it!
“Hoagie”
Correct Use: “Is it the “hoagie” fest at the Wawa yet?”
Incorrect Use: “Is it the “sub” fest at the Wawa yet?”
Come on does Sub fest sound appetizing? Wawa is mostly on the east coast and they understand that the proper term is “hoagie”. There I no arguing with WaWa
“Mummer”
Correct Use: “Are you going to see the Mummers this New Year’s?”
Incorrect Use: “What’s a Mummer?”
As I tell my friends of my New Years day plans they automatically say “What’s a Mummer?”. Us Philadelphians have a tendency to straight up say “Woah, you don’t know what a mummer is?” instead of explaining. Philadelphians see this as a huge event that occurs every year how could they not know about it!
“Down the shore”
Correct Use: “You guys want to go “down the shore” this weekend?”
Incorrect Use: “You guys want to go “to the shore” this weekend?”
Don’t pull out a map, we know the Jersey shore is east not south. So please just never correct us.
“Tawlk”
Correct Use: “Cant you see we are “tawlking” here?
Incorrect Use: “Can’t you see we are “talking”?”
It's just how we say our A’s. Try hearing us say a**, Class, glass etc. It all sounds the same.
In the end, I wouldn't have it any other way! PHILLY TAWLK ALL THE WAY!
