Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 2:23PM |  13°
MENU
Advertisement
A
4
MORE

10 Pittsburghese words that are on their way ahtta tahn

Dan Gigler/Post-Gazette

10 Pittsburghese words that are on their way ahtta tahn

There is in my neighborhood a vintage clothing store that, to walk by the window on a daily basis is to get a lesson in sartorial history, based on what they have on display. One week it might be vintage Hawaiian shirts, another week zoot suits, and once even a Duquesne High School football uniform from the 1940s. It is always an explosion of color, that of a just-opened time capsule.

A few months ago, one of the items on display at Three Rivers Vintage on the South Side was a circa 1984 “Pittsburghese” T-shirt, and despite it being 34 years old, I couldn’t help but marvel at how much of the local lingo — our lexicon-on-the-Mon, beloved to some and infuriating to others — has held up, despite massive population shifts during that time and a homogenization of American culture owing to mass media and the Internet.

Go to section So here’s the story …

Advertisement

As recently as 2006, The New York Times once labeled Pittsburgh as the Galapagos Islands of American dialect for our tendency to use words and pronunciations here that exist nowhere else in this country. In a nutshell, per Wikipedia: “The Western Pennsylvania accent, lightheartedly known as "Pittsburghese,” is perhaps best known for the monophthongization … such as the stereotypical Pittsburgh pronunciation of downtown as dahntahn.”

A tweet from Eric Matava, who appeared on
Michael Pound
No one will remember what Eric Matava won on 'The Price is Right.' But we'll never forget his shirt.

The holy trinity of iconic Pittsburgh words — yinz, jagoff and nebby — aren’t going anywhere. Neither are gumbans. Nor pop. Or a parent telling their kid to: Redd up their room n’at and git water from the spicket ‘cuz the floor needs worshed. And wipe it after it so it ain’t slippy.

And if that last sentence makes perfect sense to you, well my friend, you and I are kindred spirits. And we should celebrate the linguistic anomalies of our Midland American dialect

But time passes and things do change. We aren’t immune to that.

Advertisement

And so there were a few words on that shirt that didn’t ring a bell at all, or if they did, have been greatly diminished in common local usage. I cross-referenced them with an office copy of Sam McCool’s, “Pittsburghese: How to Speak Like a Pittsburgher,” first published in 1982, and found some of those same words there, and a few others in that 36-year-old text.

So with apologies to Rick Sebak and his paean to Pittsburgh’s past, “Things that Aren’t There Anymore,” here are, in my observation, 10 Pittsburghese “Words That Aren’t Here Anymore” — or at least 10 that are on their way ahtta tahn. 

Babushka – Though she was not of Eastern European ancestry, my grandmother would frequently tie a scarf or kerchief around her head to cover her hair — particularly if she’d just visited the beauty shop and rain was in the forecast -— as did seemingly every other Pittsburgh woman of her generation. Rarely see them anymore.

Carbon Oil – A phrase for kerosene, which is not exactly used for household heating the way it once was.

This sign can be found on doors in the men's bathrooms at local Eat 'n Park restaurants.
Dan Gigler
Question: Why do Pittsburghers say 'Kennywood is open' when they mean zip up?

Chipped Ham – One of two lunch meat staples on this list that have moved from near ubiquity in the local diet to nostalgic novelty at best. You can still find Isaly’s chipped ham — and its watery barbecue sauce — in plenty of supermarkets. And people do buy it for a craving. But this was probably the most common school lunch sandwich I can remember as a child in the 1980s. I doubt that’s still the case. Kids get hummus and baby carrots and supermarket sushi in their lunch now. Chipped ham? Not so much.

Grinny – Apparently this is (or was) a word for a chipmunk. Go figure.

Jaynell – In the city more closely and historically associated with steel than any other, the mills are mostly silent. One of the last within city limits was the Jones & Laughlin — J & L or Jaynell (which sounds like a woman’s name) for short, mill that straddled two enormous swaths of riverbank on the South Side and across the Mon in Hazlewood. That mill still lives in history books and the mind’s eye of older Pittsburghers but every year further away we get from its late 1980s closing, every year that its former site is home to a Cheesecake Factory, its resonance in local culture fades.

Jumbo – The second lunch meat on this list (a.k.a. baloney) and just saying the word makes me smile, as the promise of a “jumbo sammitch” for lunch instantly transports me to my gram’s kitchen 35 years ago. Nowadays, I have a fried jumbo sandwich maybe twice a year, usually at Nadine’s on the South Side. It is a wonderful treat, and then I’m good for another six months. But this is another thing that people just don’t eat like they once did. 

Imp ’n’ Ahrn – One hopes that Pittsburgh never loses its shot-and-beer sensibility, and as long as Iron City and I.C. Light continue to exist, people are going to drink them with the extra kick of a whiskey shot. But when was the last time you saw Imperial whiskey at a bar or heard someone order it by name?

Onion Snow – Another term I’d never once heard, it refers to a late snow, in early spring, after a gardener or farmer would’ve already planted their onions. This phrase is not specific to Pittsburgh, but rather coined by the Pennsylvania Dutch, and still in use in that part of the state.

Streetcar – A forebear to the modern bus system and light rail transit we have today, there is still a reasonable argument that Pittsburgh never should’ve gotten rid of its streetcar or trolley system in the first place. The T is essentially a souped-up version of a streetcar, but no one calls it that. It’s just the T.

Telepole – One can only assume that this is some shortened name for a telephone pole, which with the advent of cell towers and decrease in landlines are, like some words in Pittsburghese, on their way out.

Dan Gigler: dgigler@post-gazette.com; Twitter @gigs412.

First Published: August 30, 2018, 1:00 p.m.

RELATED
The Sky Rocket coaster at Kennywood has been closed since mid-May after a generator melted.
Anya Sostek
Kennywood is open, but quite a few rides aren't
John Carroll Lynch embraces a full Pittsburgh yinzer accent for his role as Bud Cal on the CBS All Access show,
Maria Sciullo
Speakin' yinzer n'at: 'One Dollar' actors say they find no language barrier in our unusual dialect
Comments Disabled For This Story
Partners
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin (71) celebrates in front of Florida Panthers' Aleksander Barkov (16) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
1
news
Evgeni Malkin's Stanley Cup rings missing after Penguins star's home burglarized
George Pickens of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium on January 04, 2025, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
2
sports
Jason Mackey: Timing is everything with how Steelers handle George Pickens
Russell Wilson, front, and quarterback Justin Fields work out before the Steelers' NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
3
sports
Mike Tomlin undecided on Steelers starting QB for 2025 season
An aerial view of the neighborhood of Mt. Washington with the Pittsburgh city skyline in the background photographed on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021.
4
business
‘What’s the hurry?’: Developers urge city council to be more deliberate in tackling affordable housing
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) makes the catch agaimnst Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis (56) during the first half of an NFL football game, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
5
sports
Gerry Dulac's Steelers chat: 01.15.25
A "Pittsburghese" T-shirt circa 1964 on display at Three Rivers Vintage at 1718 E. Carson St. on the South Side.  (Dan Gigler/Post-Gazette)
The recipe for Isaly's Chipped Ham Barbecue  (Isaly's)
Streetcars are now found in museums: This 1905 Pittsburgh Railways streetcar, No. 3487, takes visitors for a ride on June 23, 1963, opening day of the trolley museum.  (David H. Hamley)
J&L Steel on the South Side is silhouetted against the Pittsburgh skyline May 22, 1983. The mill has since been torn down, replaced with the SouthSide Works complex.
Dan Gigler/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST local
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story