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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania slang: regional words, sayings, and how locals talk.

This page collects regional vocabulary from Pennsylvania: slang you'll hear in conversation, sayings that travel through families, and pronunciations that mark a person as a local. Pick a city to narrow the list, or keep "All cities" to see the full Pennsylvania picture.

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All cities Philadelphia Pittsburgh

19 words

Stream (rural pronunciation of "creek").

Pennsylvania · West Virginia · Kentucky · Ohio · +3 more

gum band Dialect

Rubber band.

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh

haluski Loanword

Cabbage and noodles, butter-fried.

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh · Ohio, Cleveland

A long sandwich on a roll. Outside Philly: "sub" or "grinder."

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia · New Jersey

An annoying or contemptible person.

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh · Illinois, Chicago

A universal noun: thing, place, person, situation.

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Bologna (the lunch meat).

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh

kielbasa Loanword

Polish-style smoked sausage.

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh · Michigan, Detroit · Ohio, Cleveland · New York, Buffalo · +1 more

And that. A general-purpose Pittsburgh sentence-ender.

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh

Nosy, prying (Pittsburgh).

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh

pierogi Loanword

Stuffed dumpling (potato + cheese is canonical).

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh · Ohio, Cleveland · New York, Buffalo · Illinois, Chicago · +1 more

Soft drink (the Midwest answer to "soda").

Ohio · Michigan · Wisconsin · Minnesota · +5 more

To tidy or clean up.

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh · Appalachia

Slippery.

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh · West Virginia · Ohio

Generic term for a carbonated soft drink (Northeast/CA).

New York · New Jersey · Connecticut · Massachusetts · +3 more

still mill Dialect

"Steel mill" (Pittsburgh pronunciation).

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh

Water (a Philly pronunciation).

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

You all. The Pittsburgh second-person plural.

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh · West Virginia

You all (Philly / NJ / older NYC).

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia · New Jersey · New York, New York City