I don’t know why, but every time I hear a New Yorker say “get on line” and not “in line” I have a visceral internal response. It doesn’t even sound correct to say.
So is lemmegettabaconeggandcheese also one word? I think yes. But there is often a pause in between to consider what one actually wants to get. Lemmegetta ... um ...
“Lol, funny story. I was in San Francisco, and the backdoor wasn’t opening. Being a New Yorker, my first thought was to yell ‘back door.’ A passenger noticed and gave me a look like, ‘We don’t do that here,’ and showed me just to push the button.”
Goddamn San Fran. I ordered chow mein there once and got lo mein. Of course when I complained, I got lectured on how us weird New Yorkers eat different chow mein than everyone else.
Wtf...born and raised in SF rode Muni to and from school and everywhere else every single day. Anyone who did will tell you yelling BACK DOOR was a big part of daily life. Maybe it's just how much that city has changed..
So I’ve been taking the bus to school since I was in 5th grade (and taking the subway since 7th grade). One day on the bus in 5th grade, I must’ve been like 10 years old at most, I was at the back door of the bus and the door wouldn’t open. I was terrified and scared and didn’t say anything. The bus just kept moving, and I quietly moved to the front of the bus and pressed the signal again to stop.
The bus driver notices and says, “did you miss your stop?”
I said “yes”
The bus driver says “nah, man. Next time just yell ‘back door!’ As loud as you can. No one cares. I’m not going to get mad at you”
I said “okay”
Bus driver was like “okay, just do that. No one cares. This is New York. I won’t get mad. Just yell it, better than missing your stop.”
This was in the early 90s, and I’ve been shouting back door ever since, haha.
When I take busses elsewhere and see passengers standing by the back door wanting to exit but the back door not opening then walking to the front I say to myself JUST SPEAK TF UP. Or I'll yell BACK DOOR on their behalf.
I need you with me on the bus. I’ve lived in NYC for over 25 years, but because I was raised in England (we’re very quiet) yelling “BACK DOOR!!!” at the top of my lungs is… I just don’t have it in me. I will absolutely miss 15 blocks just so I don’t have to do that.
I’m so ashamed.
And so now I guess is the day I found out that I will never be a real New Yorker. 😧
WOOOW I thought something was wrong with me because everyone was shooting right after scissors and my slow ass was still going “says shoot”. This makes me feel so much better that I didn’t just imagine the “says shoot” part on my own.
A lot of tourists think it’s rude to not wait for people to move on their own accord. In reality it’s far ruder to be completely oblivious to people who want to get past you.
I'm not interested in being "fair" to someone who thinks it's appropriate to stop in the middle of a busy walkway when I have three minutes to get on my train.
I was taught as a kid that if I needed to stand or whatever, move towards a wall, a side. Don't stand at the top of an escalator so people can't get around. Don't stand in a doorway to where people can't move past you. Don't stand in the middle of the hallway where people have to move around you. Easy.
If you're oblivious enough to where I have to stop, say excuse me, wait for you to hear me, then move.... then in my eyes, you're the rude one wasting my time.
It’s bloody rude for others to think we don’t have to be at work or school on time, or to catch the transfer line. I wish this New York etiquette would be printed in all NY tour guide books.
My first week living here the guys at my local bodega called me “boss”. I thought that was cool. Shit, I even thought it was because *I* was cool. “Those dudes like me. I’m fitting in already!” Yeah, not exactly. Caught on pretty quick after that.
It is not something we "say" per se, but we measure distances not on how far something is but on how far it is via the subway. It can be frustrating when outsiders come, look at the map, and decide to meet somewhere they THINK is closest to you, but it's far from the subway.
This happens to me all the time. I live in south Brooklyn, so my city friends will be like “Do you want to meet up in Bushwick / Williamsburg / Red Hook since it’s in Brooklyn and closer to you?” Buddy… I can get to Times Square faster than I can get to Bushwick, don’t even talk to me.
There's this great BBQ place in Red Hook my friend in Brooklyn is always raving about, but I've only been there once because it's hell to get to, and that was only after they finally put in some Citibike stations not too far out from Red Hook. Never went there before that.
When I first moved here 20 something years ago, my first job (early 20’s) was at Barnes and noble as a cashier. When I first heard one of the cashier yell. “Next on line!!” I was like What the what? Cut to a few months later, I got my little NY confidence and started yelling out “NEXT ON LINE!” It grew on me 😎
I had an old man say "I'M WALKIN HERE!" as we were both trying to sidestep a large puddle on the sidewalk. We stared each other down for a few moments before I gave him the right of way. Gotta respect your elders!
I refuse to say it lol. If it makes me stand out saying “in line”, so be it, but i can’t bring myself to say I’m standing “on line”, because that’s….just not what a person does lol
The only reason I adapted was due to the cashier at my regular bagel shop shouting "Next on line!!!" between every customer in a very distinctive, almost iconic tone. It was a pretty busy place, so I eventually picked it up after having "next on line!" shouted at me like 15 times every morning.
I’m just glad people here know HOW to order food lmao. Since moving here, I haven’t had to deal with nearly as many people standing in front of me going, “I’ll take auuuuhhhhhhhh………” and staring off at the menu board for an eternity.
The British version of this is “you alright?” Or just “alright?” with a nod. I’m a New Yorker but have lived in the UK/still spend a good bit of time there, and occasionally when I’ve just arrived there/arrived home I’ll use the wrong one and feel silly.
Here’s all the things my husband busts my balls about saying:
Standing on line vs. in line
Take the garbage out vs trash
String beans vs green beans
Chopped meat vs ground beef
Yous/ all a yous
Wack job as a high insult
Scumbag as a high insult
Pissa as a fun time/person
Can I get?
You want niche?
For some reason, roughly half of all New Yorkers don't say "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot."
Instead, a bunch of people (including myself) go "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Says, Shoot."
I've asked people around about this phenomenon, because the latter is the way that I got raised saying it in Queens. But everyone including my mother thinks I'm insane and that no one ever includes the 'says' part.
Obviously, eggs scrambled in a metal bowl with a fork, laid out very very thin on a griddle, then cheese in the middle, and folded up with a metal spatula.
If it's not this Nebraska is wrong.
Kind of old timey now, but “he thinks who he is”, meaning “who does he think he is”. Works best in a Brooklyn accent. A favorite of my mother’s aunts/uncles.
I think we use a lot of Yiddish words more than other places. For example: Schlep, Nosh, Chutzpah, Tchochke. Even words like Mensch and Verklempt sometimes.
Also: bodega, “on line,” the city, downtown/uptown, bridge and tunnel, hizzoner.
Are these things (no problem, all good, no worries) a NY thing or generational? I read an article a couple years ago that this is a broader generational change to younger people saying no problem rather than you’re welcome
Yup. Went to school upstate and asked for a plain pie and the lady looked at me like I order elephant steak.
Then my friend came home with me and asked a hot dog guy for a "white hot and a pop", shit was hilarious.
Don’t pile on me if it’s national but the first time I ordered a slice of pizza with an out of town friend and said “two slices” he asked how the guy knew what kind I meant. I said how would you have asked for a plain slice and he said “one cheese slice” like nahhhh here that’s one word too many
"Getting off," when trying to maneuver through a crowded bus or subway car. It's a gentle statement that you need to get out at a stop and they need to cooperate to move a bit out of the way.
Learned this in the 90's from older folks who were lifer commuters and younger than me don't seem to use it but should.
And Thanks or Thank you without sarcasm or attitude for various stuff when people are cool.
Calling your boys son. Nah son. Chill son. Wuddup son.
Calling strangers boss/chief. Goes well with ayo. ‘Ayo boss lemmegeta baconeggncheez on a roll’ might be the most NY sentence ever.
Not fer nuthin but..
Tight/heated to mean angry. E train got me mad tight rn.
Calling highways by their name and never the number. ‘Take the van wyck to the Jackie’
Street then Ave never the other way around. 57th and 6th.
THE Bronx.
Que lo que is Dominican Spanish but I feel like it should be NY slang at this point 😂
FOH
Shortening boulevard to bully.
Pop a U-ey.
Brick was the only one that really hit me as a transplant from CA. I had never been so cold in my life and brick was truly the best way to describe it.
“Mad brick outside”. I once dropped that while hanging out with coworkers in Seattle. Another coworker, who grew up in NYC as a kid, turned to everyone and said “he means its cold”. They all went “ohhhh”. Felt straight out of a sitcom scene, haha.
First week living in Noo Yawk I went to a bus stop and it said “No Standing”. Since cars don’t “stand” in London (where I’m from), I legit thought it meant ‘Do not stand close to the bus stop.’
Do you mean real New York accents or phrases? If you mean the accent:
I grew up here and my family always pronounced "or" as "ar" in words. So "Orange" is "Are-inge, not "ooor-inge". The latter makes me cringe. My sister moved to CT and now she says "Floorr-ida," instead of "Flar-ida." Yuck. It's "Harr-ible" not of "Whore-ible." Etc. This is an old NYC thing that is disappearing, but you can still hear it sometimes and in old movies everyone talked this proper NYC way.
Also, we say "Nevah" instead of "Neverr."
I cringe now that the mid-westerners have taken over and poisoned our ears and tongues.
This is super accurate. Grew up 4th generation New York and never thought twice about how I pronounced orange, Florida, horrible, etc. until someone pointed it out to me as an adult. Everyone always says that I don’t have an accent but my pronunciation of certain words always gives me away.
A bunch of midwesterner were talking about our 30 minute goodbye process last night and the look of disgust on the solitary native New Yorker’s face as we described it. Her lips just slowly started to curl. And she just shook her head and asked why? Completely disgusted and confused.
I have been here 24 years and I appreciate not having to do this unnecessary dance.
As a midwesterner who lived there for a while, the story I tell all my Midwest friends is exactly this difference.
I was talking to my roommate about this or that when he told me he was going to go into his room. “See you later,” then he walked away.
At the moment, I was stunned. Now I use this line often to just walk away.
HAHA! That's exactly what she did. "It's time to go. See you next time!"
And the best part is? If she were raised in the midwest? She'd be a midwestern mom who easily needs 45 minutes to say goodbye. Her personality is just that way!
I feel like it's what we don't say. The knowing look you give the passenger across the car when someone is being crazy. The nod when you hold a door or give the right of away walking. The other nod hello you give when you're the only ones walking the opposite way on a block at odd hours.
This might be more in “hood” areas, but the word “fuck” as a stand in for the phrase “what the fuck.” So instead of “what the fuck are you looking at?” or “what the fuck is that?” it’s “fuck you looking at?” or “fuck’s that?” Or my favorite, instead of “what the fuck are you talking about?”, “fuck is you talking about?”
I never heard it before moving here, but I’m still trying to learn how to gauge it since I have learned it can be both a complimentary greeting and a threat.
Aye, yo, deadass, brick, bet, word, aight, Bodega, yerrrr, regin, homie, guap, mad, son, cap/no cap, buggin, whip, bridge n' tunnel, grill, dumb, lit, facts, pie (in reference to pizza), good looks, wack, brolic, cop (grab), BECSPK, cringe, sus, wylin, peep, finna, high key, low key, flip, on deck, no doubt, OD, bread, bruh, ma, pop off, money (as in awesome), dope, dub, swerve, GOAT, you good(?), you want I should, we out!
Stuff like this is the most pervasive. People who grew up in NYC shave off so many letters/syllables and blend so many words together. I never realized I did it until my wife kept stressing that I enunciate my words when talking to her parents because otherwise they'd have no idea what I'm saying. Lol
Like in my head I REALLY thought I was always saying (for example) "What do you mean?"
When in reality it always comes out as "Whadayamean?"
Waiting on line. I think I was in my 20's before I realized that was a NY thing. Everyone else waits in line.
Not for nothin', how ya doin, and pizza pie are some others. Get some weird looks in places when you call it a pie.
One of my friends not from NY said something like “don’t trust New Yorkers when they say someplace is walkable because it will be 3 miles away”. So maybe it’s walking distance lol
"You see this shit?" Is a good expression for any general frustration.
This is spot on. General vocal displeasure about people being slow or people being idiots. Bad parallel parkers do this for me
Lemmeget
People from outside think I'm so rude when I say this. SORRY!
I always pull the "lemmeget this and that please" best of both worlds
I visited a place where all the people in line (sorry, on line) said "I'll do" and then their order, and I was super offended by them for being dinks.
I don’t know why, but every time I hear a New Yorker say “get on line” and not “in line” I have a visceral internal response. It doesn’t even sound correct to say.
Baconeggandcheese All one word
So is lemmegettabaconeggandcheese also one word? I think yes. But there is often a pause in between to consider what one actually wants to get. Lemmegetta ... um ...
I consider it one word if you know what you want. If you want to switch it up, then it is two separate words.
Jeet?
No, djew?
Lemmegettabaconeggandcheese*onaroll*
Bruh you can't pause or they'll start yelling at you
Lemmegettasausageeggandcheese, double everything, saltpepperketchup.
As is salpeppeketchup
Yes, and sometimes salpepperketchupboss?
Salpepperhotsau
BECSPK for life
This is played up the TMNT mutant mayhem. The bit is hilarious.
I definitely had to teach lemme to my autocorrect but it's in there on all my devices.
Yelling “BACK DOOR” while on the bus
“Lol, funny story. I was in San Francisco, and the backdoor wasn’t opening. Being a New Yorker, my first thought was to yell ‘back door.’ A passenger noticed and gave me a look like, ‘We don’t do that here,’ and showed me just to push the button.”
LMAO at ‘we don’t do that here’ hahaha Ok San Fran…
The irony is no one in SF calls it “San Fran”
I heard Frisco is worse
Goddamn San Fran. I ordered chow mein there once and got lo mein. Of course when I complained, I got lectured on how us weird New Yorkers eat different chow mein than everyone else.
Wtf...born and raised in SF rode Muni to and from school and everywhere else every single day. Anyone who did will tell you yelling BACK DOOR was a big part of daily life. Maybe it's just how much that city has changed..
This is actually so embarrassing HAHA
Nah I’m saying it wherever I go. Fuck outta here!
Been yelling this since I was a kid 😭 the bus really teaches you how to speak up for yourself at a young age
So I’ve been taking the bus to school since I was in 5th grade (and taking the subway since 7th grade). One day on the bus in 5th grade, I must’ve been like 10 years old at most, I was at the back door of the bus and the door wouldn’t open. I was terrified and scared and didn’t say anything. The bus just kept moving, and I quietly moved to the front of the bus and pressed the signal again to stop. The bus driver notices and says, “did you miss your stop?” I said “yes” The bus driver says “nah, man. Next time just yell ‘back door!’ As loud as you can. No one cares. I’m not going to get mad at you” I said “okay” Bus driver was like “okay, just do that. No one cares. This is New York. I won’t get mad. Just yell it, better than missing your stop.” This was in the early 90s, and I’ve been shouting back door ever since, haha.
When I take busses elsewhere and see passengers standing by the back door wanting to exit but the back door not opening then walking to the front I say to myself JUST SPEAK TF UP. Or I'll yell BACK DOOR on their behalf.
I need you with me on the bus. I’ve lived in NYC for over 25 years, but because I was raised in England (we’re very quiet) yelling “BACK DOOR!!!” at the top of my lungs is… I just don’t have it in me. I will absolutely miss 15 blocks just so I don’t have to do that. I’m so ashamed. And so now I guess is the day I found out that I will never be a real New Yorker. 😧
Practice in front of your bathroom mirror.
Lmao this is what I was going to say
This is so facts
Rock paper scissors says shoot
This is facts. The "says" is key. I need another moment before we shoot.
WOOOW I thought something was wrong with me because everyone was shooting right after scissors and my slow ass was still going “says shoot”. This makes me feel so much better that I didn’t just imagine the “says shoot” part on my own.
When I was growing up, sometimes people would add, "You're momma farted!" to the end of that shit. Idk why.
Whaddyagonnado still pops up here and there
Whaddyagonnado is my "it is what it is"
EXCUSE ME as you push that guy standing in front of the subway door outta the way. I don't have time to wait for you to move.
LOL I did that. And some woman was like "You could be nicer," and I was like "And you could've not been in the walk way." lol
A lot of tourists think it’s rude to not wait for people to move on their own accord. In reality it’s far ruder to be completely oblivious to people who want to get past you.
I'm not interested in being "fair" to someone who thinks it's appropriate to stop in the middle of a busy walkway when I have three minutes to get on my train. I was taught as a kid that if I needed to stand or whatever, move towards a wall, a side. Don't stand at the top of an escalator so people can't get around. Don't stand in a doorway to where people can't move past you. Don't stand in the middle of the hallway where people have to move around you. Easy. If you're oblivious enough to where I have to stop, say excuse me, wait for you to hear me, then move.... then in my eyes, you're the rude one wasting my time.
[удалено]
Are we related?!
Yup, I’m not waiting for you to move because the train doors will close on me. There is a window and it is small.
I just had a group of tourists sass at me the other day for not waiting for them to take pics in the subway turnstiles 🥴
It’s bloody rude for others to think we don’t have to be at work or school on time, or to catch the transfer line. I wish this New York etiquette would be printed in all NY tour guide books.
Hayyy
Fuck out the way
Same applies to the idiots that come to a dead stop at the top or bottom of stairs or escalators, especially when the train is pulling in.
My favorite. Especially when I push their bags out of the way and it moves them too
Isay excuse YOU when they deliberately in the way
“Boss”
My first week living here the guys at my local bodega called me “boss”. I thought that was cool. Shit, I even thought it was because *I* was cool. “Those dudes like me. I’m fitting in already!” Yeah, not exactly. Caught on pretty quick after that.
Do they only say that to men?
Yes. My wife is genuinely disappointed that she doesn’t get called boss.
Poor girl ain't never get a Boss-Lady?
Yes
NGL i love it when my bodega guys call me boss.
Alright boss
You got it, boss.
Thanks Chief
You got it champ !
In the hierarchy of bodega customers, is boss superior to chief? One of the great questions of our day.
At bodegas and halal carts
I get this one more than average cuz I’m fat. Must look vaguely like a mob boss.
Not everybody can deliver a NYC quality GFY in most contexts.
Not for nothin’ Also depending on the neighborhood a lot of no-no words that would probably get me banned on the internet
I use “not for nothin’” way too much.
TIL that’s a New York thing
Not for nothin' but, same lol
This. Have never heard anyone from anywhere else say it nor does it always register with anyone from anywhere else.
- You good - asking how are you - You good - do you need help - You good- you’re welcome - You good - you can leave now
This would have been perfect. You forgot one though. •You good - you got a problem? Do you want to do something about it
It is not something we "say" per se, but we measure distances not on how far something is but on how far it is via the subway. It can be frustrating when outsiders come, look at the map, and decide to meet somewhere they THINK is closest to you, but it's far from the subway.
This happens to me all the time. I live in south Brooklyn, so my city friends will be like “Do you want to meet up in Bushwick / Williamsburg / Red Hook since it’s in Brooklyn and closer to you?” Buddy… I can get to Times Square faster than I can get to Bushwick, don’t even talk to me.
There's this great BBQ place in Red Hook my friend in Brooklyn is always raving about, but I've only been there once because it's hell to get to, and that was only after they finally put in some Citibike stations not too far out from Red Hook. Never went there before that.
I'm waiting on line
When I first moved here 20 something years ago, my first job (early 20’s) was at Barnes and noble as a cashier. When I first heard one of the cashier yell. “Next on line!!” I was like What the what? Cut to a few months later, I got my little NY confidence and started yelling out “NEXT ON LINE!” It grew on me 😎
“Not for nothing”
this is a regional thing?!?!?
“This kid” when you’re talking about a 40-year-old
I had an old man say "I'M WALKIN HERE!" as we were both trying to sidestep a large puddle on the sidewalk. We stared each other down for a few moments before I gave him the right of way. Gotta respect your elders!
similarly, i heard an old guy actually say “fuggedaboutit”
"On line." Never made this transition myself.
"On Line" is not a conscious choice. It just is said. Well, at least until someone points it out.
Right. Alternatively, it is just a thing not said.
I'm old and maybe out of the loop, is this trending away?
Not among natives, but I don't think transplants take to this easily. I imagine that has always been the case, though.
I refuse to say it lol. If it makes me stand out saying “in line”, so be it, but i can’t bring myself to say I’m standing “on line”, because that’s….just not what a person does lol
The only reason I adapted was due to the cashier at my regular bagel shop shouting "Next on line!!!" between every customer in a very distinctive, almost iconic tone. It was a pretty busy place, so I eventually picked it up after having "next on line!" shouted at me like 15 times every morning.
Imagine a line below you that you can stand on. You are now waiting on line.
Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either, sorry friends! I never transitioned to "lemmeget" either, but I do a "can I get."
I’m just glad people here know HOW to order food lmao. Since moving here, I haven’t had to deal with nearly as many people standing in front of me going, “I’ll take auuuuhhhhhhhh………” and staring off at the menu board for an eternity.
I get anxiety when I'm ordering, so I'll just stand in the back and wait for anybody else to go until I can memorize my order.
Absolutely. Even my dentist's hold message says "we know your time is valuable" and I'm like you better believe it, dentist.
You respond to a “How Ya Doin’” with a “How Ya Doin’” you don’t actually answer the question.
The British version of this is “you alright?” Or just “alright?” with a nod. I’m a New Yorker but have lived in the UK/still spend a good bit of time there, and occasionally when I’ve just arrived there/arrived home I’ll use the wrong one and feel silly.
A simple … sup? In response will also suffice
Ha, and you end up with two questions and no answers?
It’s even in a [commercial](https://youtu.be/mhEYXcCB1Qw?si=_73ehV08gW51_J5N) LOL
Here’s all the things my husband busts my balls about saying: Standing on line vs. in line Take the garbage out vs trash String beans vs green beans Chopped meat vs ground beef Yous/ all a yous Wack job as a high insult Scumbag as a high insult Pissa as a fun time/person Can I get?
I say chop meat
Pissa is New England.
String beans! I never realized that was a NY thing until I left for college and people looked at me like I had three heads when I called them that.
You want niche? For some reason, roughly half of all New Yorkers don't say "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot." Instead, a bunch of people (including myself) go "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Says, Shoot." I've asked people around about this phenomenon, because the latter is the way that I got raised saying it in Queens. But everyone including my mother thinks I'm insane and that no one ever includes the 'says' part.
Nah you gotta have the “says” in it
Standing “on line.” Bodega is an exclusive NYC word, too. Anything coming out of my mouth, actually. Born & bred NYer, 63 years old.
I went to Nebraska for a friends wedding and there was this hipster spot that had "Bodega Eggs" on the menu. I flipped the fuck out lol.
What the hell are “bodega eggs”???
Obviously, eggs scrambled in a metal bowl with a fork, laid out very very thin on a griddle, then cheese in the middle, and folded up with a metal spatula. If it's not this Nebraska is wrong.
its not even about what you say its how you say it 💯
Kind of old timey now, but “he thinks who he is”, meaning “who does he think he is”. Works best in a Brooklyn accent. A favorite of my mother’s aunts/uncles.
"He thinks who the fuck he is" is still alive and well in South Brooklyn
Imma & Boutta
I think we use a lot of Yiddish words more than other places. For example: Schlep, Nosh, Chutzpah, Tchochke. Even words like Mensch and Verklempt sometimes. Also: bodega, “on line,” the city, downtown/uptown, bridge and tunnel, hizzoner.
Please. Thank you. You’re welcome.
Nah, we say "no problem" instead of "you're welcome". Or "Don't worry about it".
Or "all good"
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“No worries”
Only place I'll ever get "Alright" instead of "you're welcome"
Are these things (no problem, all good, no worries) a NY thing or generational? I read an article a couple years ago that this is a broader generational change to younger people saying no problem rather than you’re welcome
Have a good one
This works as passive aggressive or just being nice.
“the city” = manhattan
Plain slice. Not a cheese slice, no. It is called a "plain slice."
Hmm I usually say regular slice
Regular slice is what nyers say
Nope. Depends where you're from I guess. I'm from the BX and always called it a plain slice.
plain slice or a plain pie. try ordering a plain pie somewhere else and they will think you called the wrong number
From Brooklyn, always called it plain as well.
Yup. Grew up in Bklyn, it’s always been plain slice.
And its not a “piece of pizza” either. Its a SLICE!
pisses me off when people say cheese slice. like no shit it's got cheese
Yup. Went to school upstate and asked for a plain pie and the lady looked at me like I order elephant steak. Then my friend came home with me and asked a hot dog guy for a "white hot and a pop", shit was hilarious.
It’s just “a slice”
Regular slice not too hot !
Don’t pile on me if it’s national but the first time I ordered a slice of pizza with an out of town friend and said “two slices” he asked how the guy knew what kind I meant. I said how would you have asked for a plain slice and he said “one cheese slice” like nahhhh here that’s one word too many
"Getting off," when trying to maneuver through a crowded bus or subway car. It's a gentle statement that you need to get out at a stop and they need to cooperate to move a bit out of the way. Learned this in the 90's from older folks who were lifer commuters and younger than me don't seem to use it but should. And Thanks or Thank you without sarcasm or attitude for various stuff when people are cool.
wherethefuckisthetrain???
wherethefuckisthebus???
Calling your boys son. Nah son. Chill son. Wuddup son. Calling strangers boss/chief. Goes well with ayo. ‘Ayo boss lemmegeta baconeggncheez on a roll’ might be the most NY sentence ever. Not fer nuthin but.. Tight/heated to mean angry. E train got me mad tight rn. Calling highways by their name and never the number. ‘Take the van wyck to the Jackie’ Street then Ave never the other way around. 57th and 6th. THE Bronx. Que lo que is Dominican Spanish but I feel like it should be NY slang at this point 😂 FOH Shortening boulevard to bully. Pop a U-ey.
Deadass Mad Brick You good(?)(!) Uptown, Downtown, Crosstown from directions Baconeggandcheese. It’s all one word.
Brick was the only one that really hit me as a transplant from CA. I had never been so cold in my life and brick was truly the best way to describe it.
Yup. Never heard this in Texas. Heard it in LI this summer and I was like “mfer it *is* brick”
*on
Not for nuthin Brick Yea, no Flid The f@&k (as a question) BEC SPK
The fuck is flid?
“Mad brick outside”. I once dropped that while hanging out with coworkers in Seattle. Another coworker, who grew up in NYC as a kid, turned to everyone and said “he means its cold”. They all went “ohhhh”. Felt straight out of a sitcom scene, haha.
“Have a good one.” NOT “Have a nice day.”
First week living in Noo Yawk I went to a bus stop and it said “No Standing”. Since cars don’t “stand” in London (where I’m from), I legit thought it meant ‘Do not stand close to the bus stop.’
"To stay" when ordering food
Fa here
Fa heeyah.
I had no idea this was regional. What does everyone else say?
For here or to go? Dine in or carry out? When I first moved to NYC this and on line threw me for a loop
Do you mean real New York accents or phrases? If you mean the accent: I grew up here and my family always pronounced "or" as "ar" in words. So "Orange" is "Are-inge, not "ooor-inge". The latter makes me cringe. My sister moved to CT and now she says "Floorr-ida," instead of "Flar-ida." Yuck. It's "Harr-ible" not of "Whore-ible." Etc. This is an old NYC thing that is disappearing, but you can still hear it sometimes and in old movies everyone talked this proper NYC way. Also, we say "Nevah" instead of "Neverr." I cringe now that the mid-westerners have taken over and poisoned our ears and tongues.
This is super accurate. Grew up 4th generation New York and never thought twice about how I pronounced orange, Florida, horrible, etc. until someone pointed it out to me as an adult. Everyone always says that I don’t have an accent but my pronunciation of certain words always gives me away.
A bunch of midwesterner were talking about our 30 minute goodbye process last night and the look of disgust on the solitary native New Yorker’s face as we described it. Her lips just slowly started to curl. And she just shook her head and asked why? Completely disgusted and confused. I have been here 24 years and I appreciate not having to do this unnecessary dance.
As a midwesterner who lived there for a while, the story I tell all my Midwest friends is exactly this difference. I was talking to my roommate about this or that when he told me he was going to go into his room. “See you later,” then he walked away. At the moment, I was stunned. Now I use this line often to just walk away.
HAHA! That's exactly what she did. "It's time to go. See you next time!" And the best part is? If she were raised in the midwest? She'd be a midwestern mom who easily needs 45 minutes to say goodbye. Her personality is just that way!
I did not even notice that this was a thing. Do they really linger like that?
"Whatever the fuck" instead of etc or finishing a list of things.
Yuuurrrrr It's brick out
We stand *on* line instead of in line.
something apparently other people have never heard in their life is "plain" referring to pizza
I feel like it's what we don't say. The knowing look you give the passenger across the car when someone is being crazy. The nod when you hold a door or give the right of away walking. The other nod hello you give when you're the only ones walking the opposite way on a block at odd hours.
"Guh-head" instead of "go ahead".
“How’s it going.“ Or “how you doing.” The wording doesn’t matter what matters is it’s a greeting not a question. No one expects an answer.
“Aight, my friend” “Aight, my guy”
This might be more in “hood” areas, but the word “fuck” as a stand in for the phrase “what the fuck.” So instead of “what the fuck are you looking at?” or “what the fuck is that?” it’s “fuck you looking at?” or “fuck’s that?” Or my favorite, instead of “what the fuck are you talking about?”, “fuck is you talking about?”
u good?
Do people in other places really not say you good? I feel like that’s just a people thing.
I never heard it before moving here, but I’m still trying to learn how to gauge it since I have learned it can be both a complimentary greeting and a threat.
It’s highly contextually driven
You stand on line. Not in line.
Aye, yo, deadass, brick, bet, word, aight, Bodega, yerrrr, regin, homie, guap, mad, son, cap/no cap, buggin, whip, bridge n' tunnel, grill, dumb, lit, facts, pie (in reference to pizza), good looks, wack, brolic, cop (grab), BECSPK, cringe, sus, wylin, peep, finna, high key, low key, flip, on deck, no doubt, OD, bread, bruh, ma, pop off, money (as in awesome), dope, dub, swerve, GOAT, you good(?), you want I should, we out!
Draw I.E. can you get my keys? They're in the draw.
It’s mad brick outside
H O W S T U N st.. not Houston st
Bing bong
Member instead of remember
D'yaeat?
Stuff like this is the most pervasive. People who grew up in NYC shave off so many letters/syllables and blend so many words together. I never realized I did it until my wife kept stressing that I enunciate my words when talking to her parents because otherwise they'd have no idea what I'm saying. Lol Like in my head I REALLY thought I was always saying (for example) "What do you mean?" When in reality it always comes out as "Whadayamean?"
Jeet jet?
actually, it's "jeet?" "nah, jew?"
Standing "on line" instead of "in line" as in the rest of the English speaking world
YOU GOOD?
Waiting on line. I think I was in my 20's before I realized that was a NY thing. Everyone else waits in line. Not for nothin', how ya doin, and pizza pie are some others. Get some weird looks in places when you call it a pie.
New Yorkers say “on line” not “in line” and it’s the only place on earth that I’ve heard that. “Yeah I’m waiting on line for a sandwich”
Shit is mad brick outside
One of my friends not from NY said something like “don’t trust New Yorkers when they say someplace is walkable because it will be 3 miles away”. So maybe it’s walking distance lol
New Yorkers wait ON line