New York to Chicago Dictionary

There are many surprises when a person moves from the New York area to Chicago.  The city has its own slang and its own idioms, just like other places.  But when you’re new, you sometimes stare slack-jawed and wonder whether there’s a new language to learn.  A few examples:

New York – Chicago

Sneakers – Gym shoes.   But you use them to walk and to run.  And you’re not in a gym.

Living room – Front room.  Sometimes pronounced “fronchrum.”

Soda – Pop.  You can be looked at strangely when you say soda.  And the supermarket aisle signs read “pop.”  Did you ever see a label for orange pop or grape pop or cream pop?

Highway – Expressway.  Let me tell you, there’s nothing express about them.  No parkways or turnpikes.  Thruways are called Interstates.

Go along; go with me – Go with.  “Ya wanna go with?”  I heard that for the first time, and I stayed silent, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

Toll booth – Cashbox.  That expression is even used by traffic people on the radio.

Woods – Forest Preserve.  I never figured that one out.  Someone is preserving the woods, I guess.

Empty lot – Prairie.  This is a way to fancy up an unmowed patch of land.

Not all Chicagoans sound like the Saturday Night “Superfans” of Da Bearss.  That’s a take-off on some strong accents that can be found on the South Side (Sowtside).  There are definite dese dem dose sounds, but you can hear them in New York too.

And then there’s my favorite.  “We don’t have an accent.  They train anchormen in Chicago so that they lose their accents.” 

Right.  In Chicawgo they don’t have ay-accents.