Hello from the Windy City!!

[Jeff T]

Greetings to all! Just found the site, time to dig in!!

[Guest1]

Welcome Jeff, another Chicagoan here as well. Hope you enjoy our forum mate.

[TXTurbo930]

Welcome! Glad you found us. You'll find this group both friendly and informative! If you love watched you're gonna love this place!

[J-C]

Enjoy Jeff, happy to have you join the fun.

Chi-town is well represented here at RepGeek.

Make yourself at home and feel free to pm/post any questions you may have.

Cheers

[dtan888]

Welcome Jeff... Look around and post away...

Dan

[jiro]

wut up! wut up! chitown in da house~!!! WOOT!

Welcome to the forum my friend~

[Xyphis]

Welcome from Orland Park

[allbut6]

welcome, welcome my friend... glad to have you here.

[Zed]

Howdy Jeff

[Dave123]

Welcome from Canada!...

[njcurrie]

Howdy and welcome from over on the East Coast .... nice to have you with us.

[Rizing Sun]

Chi Town Represent!

Welcome.

[regulator31]

Always great to have another Chicagoan!

[chas1133]

hey Jeff...you're gonna love this place

[Neo]

Welcome and enjoy!

[P.T.R.]

Another one from chicago?
You guys are taking over the boards!!!
Welcome!
Phillip

[Xyphis]

Yes, quite a few of us. As we sometimes talk a bit different I thought I'd place this guide here to help everyone out. It's not a watch guide like so many of you do so well, but it's a start:

CHICAGO SLANG

1. Grachki (grach'-key): Chicagoese for "garage key" as in,
"Yo, Theresa, waja do wit da grachki? Howmy supposta cut da grass if I
don't git intada grach?"

2. Sammich: Chicagoese for sandwich. When made with sausage,
it's a sassage sammich; when made with shredded beef, it's an Italian
Beef sammich, a local delicacy consisting of piles of spicy meat in a
perilously soggy bun.

3. Da: This article is a key part of Chicago speech, as in "Da
Bears" or "Da Mare" -- the latter denoting Richard M. Daley, or Richie,
as he's often called.

4. Jewels: Not family heirlooms or a tender body region, but a
popular name for one of the region's dominant grocery store chains.
"I'm goin' to the Jewels to pick up some sassage."

5. Field's: Marshall Field, a prominent Chicago department
store. Also Carson Pirie Scott, another major department store chain,
is simply called " Carson 's."

6. Tree: The number between two and four. "We were lucky dat
we only got tree inches of snow da udder night."

7. Over by dere: Translates to "over by there," a way of
emphasizing a site presumed familiar to the listener. As in, "I got the
sassage at the Jewels down on Kedzie, over by dere."

8. Kaminski Park : The mispronounced name of the ballpark where
the Chicago White Sox (da Sox) play baseball. Comiskey Park was renamed
U.S. Cellular Field (da Cell)

9. Frunchroom: As in, "Get outta da frunchroom wit dose muddy
shoes." It's not the "parlor." It's not the "living room." In the land
of the bungalow, it's the "frunchroom," a named derived, linguists
believe, from "front room."

10. Use: Not the verb, but the plural pronoun 'you!' "Where use
goin'?"

11. Downtown: Anywhere near The Lake, south of The Zoo (Lincoln
Park Zoo)
and north of Soldier Field.

12. The Lake: Lake Michigan (What other lake is there?) It's
often used by local weathermen, "cooler by The Lake."

14. Braht: Short for Bratwurst. "Gimme a braht wit kraut."

15. Goes: Past or present tense of the verb "say." For example,
"Den he goes, 'I like this place'!"

16. Guys: Used when addressing two or more people, regardless
of each individual's gender.

17. Pop: A soft drink. Don't say "soda" in this town. "Do ya
wanna canna pop?"

18. Sliders: Nickname for hamburgers from White Castle , a
popular Midwestern burger chain. "Dose sliders I had last night gave me
da runs."

19. The Taste: The Taste of Chicago Festival, a huge
extravaganza in Grant Park featuring samples of Chicagoland cuisine
which takes place each year around the Fourth of July holiday.

20. "Jeetyet?": Translates to, "Did you eat yet?"

21. Winter and Construction: Punch line to the joke, "What are
the two seasons in Chicago ?"

22. Cuppa Too-Tree: is Chicagoese for "a couple, two, three"
which really means "a few." For example, "Hey Mike, dere any beerz left
in da cooler over by dere?"
"Yeh, a cuppa too-tree."

23. 588-2300: Everyone in Chicago knows this commercial jingle
and the carpet company you'll get if you call that number -- Empire!

24. Junk Dror: You will usually find the 'junk drawer' in the
kitchen filled to the brim with miscellaneous, but very important, junk.


25. Southern Illinois : Anything south of I-80. This is where
Smothers' is from....

26. Expressways: The Interstates in the immediate Chicagoland
area are usually known just by their 'name' and not their Interstate
number: the Dan Ryan ("da Ryan"), the Stevenson, the Kennedy (da
"Kennedy"), the Eisenhower (da "Ike"), and the Edens (just "Edens" but
Da Edens" is acceptable).

27. Gym Shoes: The rest of the country may refer to them as
sneakers or running shoes but Chicagoans will always call them gym
shoes! =============



This is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Chicago.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through
; May, you live in Chicago

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they
don't work there, you live in Chicago

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in
Chicago .

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who
dialed a wrong number, you live in Chicago

If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of I-80 for the
weekend, you live in Chicago .

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Chicago .

If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and
back
again, you live in Chicago .

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging
blizzard without flinching, you live in Chicago .

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use
them, you live in Chicago

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a
snowsuit, you live in Chicago

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80
and
everybody is passing you, you live in Chicago

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are
filled
with snow, you live in Chicago .

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter
and
road construction, you live in Chicago .

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you
live in Chicago

If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you live in Chicago
.

If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all
your
Chicago friends & others, you live or have lived in Chicago .

[Guest1]

Awesome Jokes Xy, those hit it all in the nail.

[M]

HAHAHA that was too funny Xyphis...
Another Chicagoan here. Wow, so there are a lot of us windy city-ers here huh?

[stevie7s]

Yeah, living in Chicago for a year really took me some getting used to being from Boston. We have our own little "english" problem...

Boston talk...

* "bubbla" or water bubbler — 'drinking fountain'
* bang a Uey — To take a U-turn
* cleansers — 'cleaners (mostly on signage)'
* digga - an extreme trip, usually involves falling flat on one's face; "He took a digga on the sidewalk."
* dooryard - the front yard or driveway area
* down cella' — 'in the basement'
* frappe — 'a blend of ice cream, milk, and syrup'[2] (milkshake refers to a concoction not made with ice cream)
* hoppa' - toilet or toilet seat; "He can't talk now, he's onna hoppa."
* inta' town — 'into Boston' (similar to New Yorkers' use of "the City")
* jimmies - chocolate 'sprinkles'
* johnny — a medical gown worn by patients for examinations
* milk shake - 'drink composed of milk and flavored syrup, without ice cream[3]'
* packie — 'liquor store', short for "package store"
* parlah' - 'living room', 'family room'
* pissah' - Good, great. Also an affectionate term for someone who does something mischievous (i.e. "Aaron is such a pissah, he invited us to a party and then charged us to get in!") Also, the cliche term "wicked pissah" is selectively used in Boston, though is becoming archaic.
* puffer — hand-held asthma inhaler
* regular coffee — 'coffee with milk (or cream) and usually two spoonfuls of sugar'
* rotary — 'traffic circle or roundabout'
* spa — 'convenience store' (originally, it meant a store with a soda fountain). A "Town Spa" is often a pizza restaurant.
* time — 'a party', e.g., "My buddy's having a time over at his place."
* tonic — 'soft drink' (tonic is retreating in favor of soda among younger speakers)
* town club or sports club - When Boston surburbia was woods and farms, men would gather here for deer hunting expeditions. When the land was subdivided into Levitt houses and McMansions, these "clubs" became places where the aging ex-hunters would gather to escape their wives and get drunk.
* The Pike - A term commonly used by Bostonians when referring to the Massachusetts Turnpike
* The T - Public transportation in the Metro Boston area. Refers to the subway, the streetcar, the ferry, and the bus.
* triple deckah' — or more commonly three decker a three-story, three-family home with one unit built on top of the other'
* wicked — 'very'; alternatively, 'wicked' may also indicate approval or become a universal descriptor, e.g., "That chowdah was wicked good."