Words Pennsylvanians say that are unique to Pennsylvania

(WHTM) – Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest state and has multiple dialects across the state.

From “Pittsburghese” to Philadelphia English or Delaware Valley English in the southeastern part of the state, you may hear multiple words that are unique or said differently than you may say them.

Red Things Up

When your mom comes in the room and tells you to red things up you better do it quickly because you either have guests coming or dinner is about to be ready.

In Pennsylvanian, this means to tidy up or clean up whatever you are doing.

Dippy Eggs

I like my eggs dippy with a side of sausage, bacon, and hash browns, but what are dippy eggs you may ask?

The simple explanation is that it’s eggs that you dip your toast in and it will break the yolk.

Other states call them either over easy or sunny-side up.

Breakfast with dippy eggs, pancakes, and bacon

Djeetyet?

Well, Djeetyet? If you haven’t you better because you look starved!

Instead of slowly taking our time to ask you if you have eaten food yet, well we get quickly to the point with “Djeetyet.”

Creek

This word is said differently throughout Pennsylvania, if you meet someone from a larger city area they may say it “KREEK,” but if you meet someone from rural Pennsylvania they will tell you it’s a “CRICK”.

Someone who says crick will say that a kreek is the sound a chair makes and those who say kreek will say that a crick is in your neck.

Yinz, yous, youse guys, y’all

Why make it easy when talking to a group of people in Pennsylvania?

If you are a Yinzer from Pittsburgh then you’ll say Yinz as in, “Yinz want to go to the Steelers game?”

The eastern part of Pennsylvania will say “youse guys” as in, “Youse Guys want to grab some hoagies?

Rural Pennsylvania uses y’all, yous, and youse guys, it just depends on who you ask.

Jawn

Mostly used in Philadelphia, a jawn can be whatever you want it to be, some examples:

“Where did you put my jawn?
That jawn was wild last night!”
“See that jawn over there?”

Basically, a jawn is a person, place, or thing.

Scrapple

In the morning when you ask for dippy eggs at a diner, the waiter/waitress may ask if you want to add scrapple to your order.

Scrapple was created by the Amish and is made up of pork fat and trimming with flour and seasoning baked into a load.

Buggy

Need to load up on groceries? Go to the store, grab the buggy, and get those groceries.

In other states, the grocery cart is the term they would use.

In rural areas that have Amish in the area, people call the thing Amish’s horses pull them around in a buggy or horse and buggy.

Gotchies

In Pennsylvania, Gotchies refers to underwear.

Pop

Most of Pennsylvania will say soda but out in the Western part of the state, you’ll hear someone ask for a pop and they aren’t talking about a lollipop.

Long Johns

No, not Long John Silvers, just Long Johns.

Parents might tell their kids to put long johns on before they go outside to play during the winter months.

Long Johns are just pants and/or a shirt that goes underneath your jeans or sweatshirt and the term is used by many Pennsylvania Dutch, Amish, and Lancaster folks.

Jimmies/Sprinkles

Do you want Jimmies on your ice cream? Well, what is a Jimmie?

A Jimmie is just another word for sprinkles that can be put on your ice cream but some say that jimmies are just the chocolate sprinkles and all other colors are regular sprinkles.

Hoagie

If someone asks a Pennsylvanian if there is a difference between a sub and a hoagie, the Pennsylvanian will say ABSOLUTELY!

A hoagie is a cold-cut sandwich that is on a long roll but no hoagie is a hot sandwich.

Wooder

During the summer, on those hot eastern Pennsylvania days, someone might need to buy a wooder from the store to quench their thirst.

Wooder is just water but with a slight accent, mostly spoken in the eastern part of the state.

Needs Washed

Pennsylvanians don’t need the “to be” for this sentence.

“Do those dishes need washed” or “The clothes need washed.”

Gum Bands

No this isn’t actual chewing gum but instead, it’s just a Pennsylvanian asking you if you have some rubber bands.

Unless you want rubber bands to serve one specific purpose, consider buying packs of rubber bands with assorted colors and thicknesses so you can use them for a variety of tasks.

Slippy

If a Pennsylvanian truly cared about you, before you left their house they might say “Be careful the roads are slippy tonight.”

That’s just them making sure that you know that the ice is slippery and not to drive fast.

Gesundheit

If you sneeze around a Pennsylvanian, instead of saying “Bless you” they might say “Gesundheit!”

But why? Well, the word Gesundheit has Pennsylvania Germanic roots but this word has grown to be used around the United States.

Sweeper

When the carpet is dirty, non-Pennsylvanians will use the vacuum to clean it, but in Pennsylvania, we grab the sweeper.

Sheetz or Wawa?

Yeah, Pennsylvania has the Eagles vs. Steelers, Pirates vs. Phillies, and Penguins vs. Flyers, but the true Battle of Pennsylvania is whether you think Sheetz or Wawa is better.

Those not from Pennsylvania most likely do not care but in Pennsylvania, the answer to this question could make or break a friendship.

Non-Pennsylvanians may not even know what these are, both are gas stations but serve food, and no not just hot dogs and candy bars.

Sheetz has Mexican, breakfast, sandwiches, smoothies, coffees, burgers, fried foods, etc. and Wawa is known more for their hoagies but also has other options.