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.
62 wordspage 1 of 3
"Steel mill" (Pittsburgh pronunciation).
Pennsylvania holds two of America's most distinctive city dialects at its opposite ends. In the west, Pittsburghese gives the country "yinz" (you all), "jagoff", "nebby" (nosy), "redd up" (tidy), and "slippy" for slippery. In the east, Philadelphia answers with "jawn" — a single word that can mean anything — plus "hoagie", "youse", "water ice", and "wooder" for water. Between them lies Pennsylvania Dutch country, where German-influenced English adds "outen the light" and "redd up" too. Few states pack this much dialect into their borders.
Pittsburghese is the dialect of western Pennsylvania, centered on Pittsburgh. Hallmarks include "yinz" (you all), "jagoff" (a jerk), "nebby" (nosy), "redd up" (to tidy), "slippy" (slippery), and merging vowels so "downtown" sounds like "dahntahn".
"Jawn" is a uniquely Philadelphia word that can stand in for almost any noun — a person, place, thing, or event. "Hand me that jawn", "we going to that jawn tonight". Context tells you what it means.
A "hoagie" is the Philadelphia word for a large sandwich on a long roll — called a sub, grinder, or hero elsewhere. It is practically the official sandwich of Philadelphia.
