Language and Place: "PnTSBURGHESE"
people in Pittsburgh think Some words that are associated with Manythere is a distinctive kind of English "Pittsburghese" have commercial sources spoken here and nowhere else. They and were spread through the media. call it "Pittsburghese." When people talk "Klondike" was a trade name invented by about "Pittsburghese," they mention words Isaly's for ice cream bars sold in its dairy like "yinz," "slippy," "nebby," "chipped ham," store chain. According toBrian Butko's history "gumband"; Isaly's, — and sounds like the vowel in of "chipped ham"— the lunchmeat "dahntahn" (downtown); and expressions and the wordfor it was invented when a like"n'at." Examples of"Pittsburghese" can be store manager tried running some tough found on t-shirts, postcards, souvenir shot- ham through the slicer that was used for glasses, and other such items, as well as on the chipping dried beef. The origin of "gum- Internet and inoral performances like those ous vendors sellin; band" isn't known, but it's possible that the of WDVEradio DJ Jim Krenn. An informal se the Strip District. first ones sold in Pittsburgh were called "dictionary" of"Pittsburghese," Sam McCool's "gumbands" rather than "rubber bands" by New Pittsburghese: How to Speak Like a Pittsburgher, is available their manufacturer. The spelling of East Liberty as "S'liberty" was inmany places where Pittsburgh books and souvenirs are sold. apparently created as part of a public-relations campaign to draw According to linguists, there isn't a dialect unique to people to the neighborhood. Pittsburgh. Many of the words, grammatical structures, and "Pittsburghese" is a good example of how geographical places sounds that people inPittsburgh think are found only here can and the customs associated withthem can have different meanings actually be heard in other states and regions, too, and even the in different contexts. Many Pittsburghers do speak witha regional most local ofthe features of"Pittsburghese" can be heard ina fairly accent (linguists would call this "North Midland" English). Some large area of Pennsylvania. This is in part because the English- of them would like to lose this local sound, because it can be a speakers who first brought many of the words and grammatical liabilityinschool and on the jobmarket. Research by University of structures associated with "Pittsburghese" didn't just settle in the Pittsburgh graduate student Christina Gagnon showed that when Pittsburgh area but also to the west and south, primarily along the Pittsburghers are asked to compare voices reading ina local accent Appalachian mountain chain. Many ofthese firstEnglish-speaking with more standard-sounding, news-announcer-like voices, they settlers were "Scotch-Irish" (also called "Scots-Irish"): Scots who evaluate the local-sounding voices as lower class and less desirable. emigrated "Pittsburghese," —Pittsburgh had tonorthern Ireland before moving toNorthAmerica But dialect— as it's represented incar- in the 17th and 18th centuries. Among the words and structures toons, on T-shirts, and on theradio can function as a symbol of used in this area that are Scotch-Irish are "redd up,""nebby," and local identity and pride. Pittsburghers talk about and want tohear "slippy." Some of these words are still in use in Scotland and about local speech more than people inalmost any other Ameri- Northern Ireland. "Yinz," which is found throughout the can city,both inhumorous contexts and inmore serious forums Appalachians invarious forms (such "you'uns"), is Scotch-Irish as like museum exhibits, presentations to community groups, and well,as is the grammatical construction in"needs washed." magazines like this. © Other words found in lists of "Pittsburghese" are associated Barbara aprofessor the with later immigrant groups: "babushka" and "pierogie" come Johnstone is in Department of English, Carnegie Mellon University. For more information on Pittsburghese: from Slavic languages and remind people of Eastern European http://english.cmu.edu/home/johnstone/recentpubs.htm customs. Still other elements of the popular conception of local speech are words associated with working-class life: the "Stillers," and "Imp n' Am" (Imperial whiskey and Iron City beer), also Butko, Brian. Klondikes, Chipped Ham, and Skyscraper Cones: The Story ofIsaly's (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2001). a "boilermaker," again a called millreference. Gagnon, Christina L. "Language Attitudes in Pittsburgh: 'Pittsburghese' vs. Standard English," MA Thesis, Department of Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh, 1999.
46 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY | SPRING 2002