Lingo

[robearal]

I trained to be a sociolinguist. I had little quizzes like this in at least 2 of my undergrad classes, then administered them in far bigger scale doing field work in grad school. But it's fun anyway. Here goes.

Age: 40
Where did you grow up? This is where my results become unusable. I'm a complete mutt. First 7 years in Cleveland OH, next 7 in Houston, TX, High school north of Baltimore (or Bawlmer, as the natives call it - just watch any early John Waters movie and cringe).

WHAT DO YOU CALL:

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks? a creek


2. The thing you push around the grocery store? shopping cart


3. A metal container to carry a meal in? lunchbox


4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in? frying pan


5. The piece of furniture that seats three people? couch (I got such a kick out of my maternal grandmother calling it the "Davenport")


6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof? gutters


7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening? porch


8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages? my own speech has settled on soda. When I lived in Texas, I called all of them "Cokes" when talking generically about carbonated beverages. And when I went to college in Detroit, I called it Pop.


9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup? Pancakes


10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself? Ah, the classic question. It's in every general linguistics and sociolinguistics text. And I studied at the feet of the Master of this question, Bill Labov, himself. I refuse to answer this one.


11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach? bathing suit. I often interchange this with swimsuit, but bathing suit is my default.


12. Shoes worn for sports? tennis shoes. I'm from the generation before a different shoe appeared for each sport, and before you generically referred to them by a particular brand name.


13. Putting a room in order? cleaning


14. A flying insect that glows in the dark? firefly is my default, but I will also use lightning bug with almost the same frequency.


15. The little insect that curls up into a ball? doodle bug


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? teeter-totter! (a see-saw hangs from a support and swings back and forth on the pivot. There is a difference, and I am unanimous in that!!)


17. How do you eat your pizza? all my training, and I have NO CLUE what word variation they are going for here, unless it's "slice" versus "piece". I talk of having a "piece a pizza" in general, but I eat slices.


18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? my default is Garage Sale, but i use "yard sale" also.


19. What's the evening meal? when I was groing up, it was supper (dinner was a fancy occasion); but now, I think I mostly use dinner.


20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? basement


21. The stretchy thing that one puts around a bunch of envelopes or the newspaper to keep the pieces together? rubber band


22. A group of two or three close friends when speaking to them or asking them something? "you guys" is my yankee default. During my 7 years in Texas, I resisted using "y'all". I will use "y'all", but I have to make a conscious effort to do so.


23. How do you ask someone to accompany you on a trip? "wanna come?"

Here's a joke. You may or may not get it.
Q: How many sociolinguists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: It varies.