Speak REAL American English Regional English Expressions
Vanessa:
Hi, I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Do Americans have different accents?
Let’s talk about it.
A lot of students ask me, “Vanessa, what is
your accent?
You’re from the US, but you don’t sound like
you’re specifically from a certain region.
What’s your accent?”
Well, it’s kind of true because I generally
speak with what’s called a standard American
accent.
And this is the accent that you might hear
on TV.
An accent that you might hear, a Hollywood
celebrity use.
Maybe something that you would hear someone
like Ellen DeGeneres speak with.
It is a standard American accent that is not
specific to one region or another.
I’m not exactly sure why this developed in
me because I live in the South of the US.
Maybe it’s because I’m originally from the
North of the US and I moved to the South,
and my parents don’t really have a strong
accent one way or the other.
Who knows?
But for whatever reason, this is the way that
I speak.
But there are definitely different accents
and different ways of speaking around the
US.
The biggest difference that is often found
around the US is vocabulary choice.
And today I have a fun little lesson for you.
I’d like to introduce you to some words and
phrases that people in different regions of
the United States use.
And if someone uses one of these phrases,
other people might automatically know, “Ah,
that’s where you’re from.”
Because these words and phrases are commonly
known to be specific to those areas or maybe
someone from another area might say, “What?
What did you say?”
They might not even know the phrase at all.
So I would like to introduce you to these.
And if you are from the US and you are watching
these, let me know in the comments is this
true for you?
From where you’re from?
Let me know.
It would be always in interesting to find
out.
And to help you never forget what you’re going
to learn today about regional English expressions
in the US, you can download this free PDF
guide that I’ve created for you with all of
the expressions, the regions that they’re
used in, some ways that you can use them.
And also at the end of the free worksheet,
you can answer Vanessa’s challenge question.
So I hope this will be useful to you.
You can download it, print it out, put it
under your pillow and sleep on it.
I hope it will be a useful tool for you.
All right, let’s get started with the first
set of regional expressions depending on where
you’re from, you might use these.
How do you refer to a group of people?
This is a problem with the English language.
We don’t have one specific word for a group
of people.
So it depends where you’re from.
If you’re from the South where I live, you
say y’all, y’all.
Y’all ready?
Do you want to meet up later?
I don’t know.
What’s y’all doing?
Y’all.
But if you’re not from the South, you might
say you guys.
What you guys doing?
What you guys doing?
This is common in the North and in various
other areas of the US.
This is actually the one that I say the most.
Maybe it’s because my origins are in the North
and that’s the way that my parents speak.
But it’s common to say you guys in the North.
If you’re from the Northeast, you might hear
youse, youse.
This is so creative because here we have the
singular you, what are you doing?
And then we have the plural.
It just adds an S. Oh, great.
That’s what we do in English.
Cat, cats.
You, youse.
Maybe we should make that a more common word.
But if you are from the city of Pittsburgh,
now Pittsburgh is actually where I am originally
from, but this is not a word that I say in
my daily life, but it brings back some nice
memories of my family members who live there.
You might say yinz, yinz.
And this is kind of a fun Pittsburgh word
because often we refer to people from Pittsburgh
as yinzers.
If you’re from Pittsburgh, you’re a yinzer.
And it’s just because the word yinz is so
common in that area.
So in conclusion, we could say where y’all
want to eat tonight?
Where do you guys want to eat tonight?
Where youse want to eat tonight?
Where yinz to eat tonight?
All of these are acceptable.
What do you call this fizzy drink?
If you’re from the North, you might say pop,
pop.
And this is what I said when my family first
moved to the South and people kind of laughed
at me a little bit and said, “What?
You want to drink a pop?”
Because it’s pretty typical of the North of
the US.
And in the South of the US, people are more
likely to say soda or Coke.
So this one is a little bit strange because
the brand is Coca-Cola.
But when you go to a restaurant in the South,
your waitress might ask you, “What do you
want to drink?”
And you might say, “I would like a Coke.”
Okay, well, if you’re in another area of the
US they would bring you Coca-Cola.
But in the South, if you say, “I want a Coke,”
the waitress will then ask you, “What kind
of Coke?”
Oh, and you might say Dr. Pepper, Sprite.
So this word Coke can cover the general category
of soda.
It’s a very interesting little change here
in the South.
What do you call this sandwich?
Well, in most of the US, we call this a sub,
a sub sandwich, and this word has become popularized
by the restaurant franchise Subway.
It’s a sub sandwich.
But if you’re from certain areas especially
the Northeast specifically in Philadelphia,
you might call this a hoagie, a hoagie.
Sometimes I also call it this.
Maybe it’s because this word has also leached
into the Pittsburgh area where my parents
are from.
So maybe I sometimes say hoagie, but these
words have a little bit of gray area because
people in the US move around a lot so we have
origins in a lot of different places.
In New York, you might hear this called a
hero, a hero.
And if you’re from the upper Midwest, you
might call this a Dagwood.
If you’re from the upper Midwest, let me know
if this is something that is commonly used
in daily life, but this type of sandwich has
many different names.
When you go to the grocery store, you push
a cart.
A cart is what people in the North us would
say and it’s kind of more general English
as well.
But if you are from the South, you would call
this a buggy, a buggy.
This is a very Southern word.
I love to hear my Southern neighbors say,
“I was pushing the buggy.”
The buggy, that’s what that is called.
But in the Northeast, this can also be called
a carriage, a carriage.
Now to me, a carriage is something that maybe
a king or queen would ride in a big carriage
or a fairy tale princess was in a carriage
led by horses, but in the Northeast of the
US that is just a shopping cart.
When you want to buy liquor, hard alcohol,
not wine, not beer.
Where do you go in the US?
Well, you need to go to a specific store because
in a lot of states you cannot buy rum or whiskey
or other types of hard alcohol in the grocery
store.
In some places you can buy beer and wine in
the grocery store, but the US is a little
bit particular when it comes to alcohol.
You have to go to a specific store.
And what do you call that store?
Depends where you live.
So if you live in the North of the US or in
most of the US, you might call this a liquor
store, a liquor store.
But here in the South of the US, we call this
in ABC store and is because it is run by the
government.
It is kind of regulated by the government
so it’s like an alcoholic beverage company?
Cooperation?
Something like this.
And it is run by the government and regulated
by the government.
And if you saw a video that I made with Lucy
and Emma last year, I got lit in two by calling
this an ABC store.
There were hundreds of comments in this video
that we made that said, “That’s not an ABC
store that’s a liquor store in the US.”
And you know what?
It’s both.
So if you have not seen that video that shows
differences between British, American and
Australian English, I recommend checking it
out and you can see how I said that in the
US we call it an ABC store and really that’s
the South of the US.
But there are a couple other words we use
to describe this type of store in the Northeast
of the US, it can be called a package store,
a package store.
Now I’ve never lived in those areas so if
you are from those areas, let me know if that
is the most common word that you use and a
diminutive of that in Boston sometimes people
say a packie, a packie.
It’s kind of like a cute word.
I’m going to go to the packie.
It sounds so cute to me.
So you might say do you want to run to the
liquor store and buy some whiskey?
Do you want to run to the ABC store and buy
some whiskey?
Do you want to run to the package store?
Do you want to run to the packie and buy some
whiskey?
There’s a lot of different words we can use.
When you want to go for a run or do some exercise,
you need to put on some?
Well, it depends where you’re from.
If you’re from generally the North of the
US, you’ll say sneakers.
I need to put on my sneakers.
But for me, I’m from the South of the US,
the word sneakers feels a little bit old fashioned.
It kind of feels like something my grandma
might say.
And instead for me and for the rest of the
US, we say tennis shoes, tennis shoes.
Usually this word gets kind of linked together.
Tennis shoes, that S at the end of tennis
kind of gets forgotten, tennis shoes.
It’s not because we’re all playing tennis
all the time.
It actually has nothing to do with tennis.
Instead it’s just these shoes and we call
them tennis shoes.
You can use them for running, for hiking,
for basketball, for any kind of exercise or
just being comfortable.
I’m going to put on my tennis shoes.
In the US, most kids love going to the bank.
Hmm, why would they like to go to bank?
The bank’s kind of boring for kids, right?
Actually, it’s because it’s kind of a little
tradition that at the bank, the teller will
give kids a?
This is almost ubiquitous.
At every bank, tellers give kids depending
on where you’re from, you might call this
a sucker, a sucker.
Because what do you do?
You suck on it and that’s how you eat it.
This is common in the South and the Midwest,
but the rest of the US calls this a lollipop,
a lollipop.
You will hear the word lollipop in the South,
but it’s more common when you go into a bank.
If that person is really from the South, they
might say, “Do you want to sucker?
Can I give your kid a sucker?”
Extremely common.
What’s one of the most intimidating things.
When you’re driving?
Passing one of these things.
Well, what are these called?
Well, there’s a couple different words we
can use.
In the Northeast, you can call it a tractor
trailer.
And this is kind of the more technical term.
You might know that my four-year-old son is
obsessed with trucks so we have a lot of books
that talk about trucks and a term that they
often use is tractor trailer.
I think this is kind of the more specific
or technical term.
But if you’re from the South of the US, you
might call this an 18 wheeler.
So growing up, this is what I said.
I said, “Oh, there’s an 18 wheeler.”
Or you try to make the 18 wheelers honk by
going like this.
It’s kind of a kid tradition.
Does this happen in your country that when
you’re driving along and there’s an 18 wheeler
passing you, you go like this because that’s
how they honk the horn is there’s like a little
thing that they pull.
At least I assume so because that’s what we
did as kids, you do this and all the kids
are looking out the window and you hope that
the driver will honk the horn and then everybody
cheers.
It’s quite exciting, but there’s another word
we can use and that is semi, semi.
This is common everywhere around the US.
We would call this a semi.
So intimidating to pass a semi on the road.
It’s so intimidating to pass a tractor trailer
or to pass an 18 wheeler.
Have you ever felt like that?
If you’re going on a camping trip, you might
need to buy a of ice to put in a cooler so
that you can keep your food cold.
Hmm, what would you call this?
Well, in most of the US, it’s called a bag,
just a bag.
But in the South of the US, in some places
in the Midwest as well, it’s called a sack,
a sack.
Now I have a funny story to share with you
about this.
Dan, my husband, his grandfather is from Texas
and has a very strong Texas accent.
And he’s quite tall.
He’s 6'2".
I don’t know what that would be in meters,
but he’s very tall and he is kind of big,
and he was visiting the North of the US where
Dan’s family is originally from.
And he walked into a grocery store and he
said with a very strong Texas accent, this
big guy said, “I want sack of ice.
Where can I find it?
I want a sack of ice.”
So he said a sack of ice.
He wanted to buy a bag of ice to keep some
food cold.
But the way that he said it sounded a lot
like sacrifice.
So the poor cashier is looking at this guy
saying, “You want a sacrifice?
What?”
It was just a misunderstanding and they kind
of laughed about it for a moment, but it is
a common word that’s used in the South compared
to bag is a sack.
And you will hear the word bag used in the
South, but it’s common to say sack as well.
In general, there are three meals: breakfast,
lunch, and?
Hmm?
Well, it depends on where you’re from.
If you are from the North or the West of the
US, you just say dinner, I’m going to eat
some dinner.
But if you’re from the South and some places
in the Midwest, you might say supper, supper.
This is something that’s really common in
the South.
Time to eat supper.
We’re going to eat supper.
Now, this is a word that even though I live
in the South, I don’t really use.
I don’t feel like I’m Southern enough to use
this word.
Maybe it’s because my family is really from
the North and I don’t have strong origins
in the South, but the word supper is extremely
common and kind of makes my heart warm when
I think about it, because I remember all of
my Southern neighbors who say this and it
feels so nice.
You’re going to eat some supper.
Our three final expressions that are regional
expressions are kind of fun.
The next one is bless your heart.
Now this doesn’t really mean anything specific
in the rest of the US.
It just means, oh, I appreciate you.
Thanks.
Great.
It’s a positive thing.
It’s not said as often, but in the South,
I want you to know if you hear bless your
heart usually it means you’re an idiot.
It’s not a compliment.
So for example, let’s say that you are going
to a baby shower.
This is like a little party to celebrate someone
who’s going to have a baby.
And everyone brings some food and there is
a little Southern grandma and she’s eating
a brownie.
And she eats it and goes, “Oh, who made these?”
And you say, “Oh, I made those.
Those are vegan brownies.”
And she says, “Oh, bless your heart.”
This means she thinks those are terrible brownies,
but I’m going to say it in such a nice way.
This is kind of a hidden Southern expression
that if you hear it, make sure you keep in
mind all of those things because it’s commonly
used in the South.
In fact, there’s a really funny video on YouTube.
If you type in bless your heart It’s a Southern
Thing.
This is a YouTube channel.
It’s a Southern Thing.
You will see a hilarious video about all of
the different scenarios where people use bless
your heart in the South.
Quite funny and it’s a good way to learn about
culture as well.
The next regional phrase is give me some sugar.
Okay, well you can’t say it exactly like that
because this is common of Southern grandmas.
Maybe I’m partial to the South and know more
things about the South.
But if a Southern grandma said give me some
sugar to you, does she mean to pass the sugar?
No.
She means to give her a little kiss.
Give me some sugar, my little grandbabies.
Give me a kiss.
So she’s asking for a kiss, but in the rest
of the US if someone said, give me the sugar,
give me some sugar.
It means literally sugar, something sweet.
And our final regional expression is being
ugly.
Hmm, if someone said stop being so ugly, would
you think, “Oh no.
Is it my hair?
Did I forget to wash my face this morning?”
Hmm, if you’re from the North or the rest
of the US it’s about physical appearance.
To be ugly is about physical appearance.
But in the South, this has a special meaning.
If we say stop being so ugly, this means stop
being so mean or rude.
This is something that parents often say to
their children.
Stop being so ugly to each other, just get
along and play.
Stop being so ugly.
So ugly has more of a figurative sense here.
Your actions are ugly because you’re being
rude to each other.
So stop being so ugly.
This is a fun regional expression as well.
I hope you enjoyed all of these fun regional
expressions from the US.
If you’re from the US, let me know of more
in the comments or if you agree or disagree
with what I’ve said.
And don’t forget, you can always download
the free PDF for today’s lesson so that you
can remember all of these regional expressions.
And you can understand where people are from
based on what they say.
And you can also answer Vanessa’s challenge
question at the bottom of the PDF.
And now I have a question for you.
In the comments let me know, were any of these
words new for you?
Let me know in the comments and I’ll see you
again next Friday for a new lesson here on
my YouTube channel.
Bye.
The next step is to download the free PDF
worksheet for this lesson.
With this free PDF, you will master today’s
lesson and never forget what you have learned.
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Bye.