Regional Vocabularies of American English - Regionalisms

Regionalisms

Historically, a number of everyday words and expression used to be characteristic of different dialect areas of the United States, especially the North, the Midland, and the South; many of these terms spread from their area of origin and came to be used throughout the nation. Many today use these different words for the same object interchangeably, or to distinguish between variations of an object. Such traditional lexical variables include:

• faucet (North) and spigot (South);
• frying pan (North and South, but not Midland), spider (New England; obsolete), and skillet (Midland, Gulf States);
• clapboard (chiefly Northeast) and weatherboard (Midland and South);
• gutter (Northeast, South), eaves trough (in-land North, West), and rainspouting (chiefly Maryland and Pennsylvania);
• pit (North) and seed (elsewhere);
• teeter-totter (widespread), seesaw (South and Midland), and dandle (Rhode Island);
• firefly (less frequent South and Midland) and lightning bug (less frequent North);
• pail (North, north Midland) and bucket (Midland and South).

Many differences however still hold and mark boundaries between different dialect areas, as shown below. From 2000-2005, for instance, The Dialect Survey queried North American English speakers' usage of a variety of linguistic items, including vocabulary items that vary by region. These include:

• generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage
• drink made with milk and ice cream
• long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on
• rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class, for athletic activities, etc.

Below are lists outlining regional vocabularies in the main dialect areas of the United States.