What Do You Call
2003-12-17, 10:45 a.m.

An interesting survey, taken from DivaMel and Gnomad who both got it from TranceJen who got it from Trinity63

What do you call?

The Basics I�m a Midwest girl. Lived in Michigan all but 2 years of my life. And those two years were when I was too young to remember: one year in Walhalla, SC and one in ATL.

A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks. A creek.

What the thing you push around the grocery store is called. Much to the disgust of PJH, I call it a buggy. I never really knew where that came from until I went to visit my dad this last May in SC and my cousin Polly called it a buggy!

A metal container to carry a meal in. A lunch pail or box, depending on what I feel like that day.

The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in. A frying pan.

The piece of furniture that seats three people. A sofa

The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof. Wait � let me ask PJH. It�s called a gutter.

The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening. A porch, if you have one. At my house: the screen tent out back.

Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages. Soda. Are there carbonated alcoholic beverages?

A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup. A bad idea since I�ll be hungry again in an hour. Otherwise known as pancakes.

A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.A sub. Unless I�m in New Orleans, where it�s a po� boy.

The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach. A swim suit.

Shoes worn for sports. Athletic shoes if I�m trying to be fancy. Otherwise, tenna shoes.

Putting a room in order. �Why the hell am I the only one who ever tidies up around here? It�s not my junk all over the place�.� Oh, wait. Okay, tidying up.

A flying insect that glows in the dark. A firebug or firefly

The little insect that curls up into a ball. I don�t know that much about bugs, really. I never knew that there was such a thing. I�m a city girl, darlin�.

The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down. A teeter-totter.

How do you eat your pizza? I�m not even going to try to be funny on this one since topping Gnomad in the funny department would be impossible. Pointed end first.

What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? Depends on where they have it. If it�s in the garage, a garage sale. If it�s in the yard, a yard sale. If it�s in a fancy neighborhood, an auction or an estate sale.

What's the evening meal? Dinner. Unless I�m talking to my mom or my dad, both of whom are Southern, in which case it�s supper.

The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? The basement.

What word(s) do you use to address a group of two or more people? Off the cuff, without thinking, �y�all� or �all y�all� and if I�m thinking, it�s �you all.� Never �you guys� unless I happen to be talking to a bunch of guys. As if that ever happens.

Would you say "Are you coming with?" as a full sentence, to mean "Are you coming with us?" Only if I�m trying to annoy my brother in law for whom that is a major pet peeve.

Would you say "where are you at?" to mean "where are you?" I do. It�s funny really because ending a sentence in a preposition is a huge irritation of mine but I did this for years without even realizing it. Until a friend of mine pointed it out and said that it�s a product of having grown up in the inner city.

Modals are words like "can," "could," "might," "ought to," and so on. Can you use more than one modal at a time? (e.g., "I might could do that" to mean "I might be able to do that"; or "I used to could do that" to mean "I used to be able to do that") Only if I�m tired or under the influence. Hey, I was raised with Southern parents. You should hear all the things I�ve managed to eradicate from my speech pattern!

What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road?

I don�t think I�ve ever called it anything other than �that grassy area between the sidewalk and the road.�

What do you call the area of grass that occurs in the middle of some streets? The boulevard.

What do you call the long narrow place in the middle of a divided highway? The median.

What do you call the drink made with milk and ice cream? A milkshake.

What do you call the miniature lobster that one finds in lakes and streams for example (a crustacean of the family Astacidae)? I don�t call �em anything. I don�t eat �em. However, I know they are properly called �crawdads� though spelled �crawfish.�

What do you call the kind of spider (or spider-like creature) that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs? Gross. Otherwise known as a daddy long legs.

What nicknames do/did you use for your maternal grandmother? I always called her Grandma. Or when I was really little maa-muh.

What about your paternal grandmother (is there a distinction?) Grandma Sharpe

What do/did you call your maternal grandfather? We never saw him so we never called him anything. When referring to him in the 3rd person, it was usually, �Your dad.�

Paternal grandfather? Grandpa Sharpe

What do you call the big clumps of dust that gather under furniture and in corners? I suppose if one had them they�d be called dust bunnies. I do not have them. Of course, tufts of cat fur is a whole other story.

What term do you use to refer to something that is across both streets from you at an intersection (or diagonally across from you in general)? Finally, after 36 years, I know what �kitty corner� is supposed to mean. I however am more specific and say on the north corner (or whichever) of So and So Street or else I point if I�m actually there and say �over there.� �over yonder� if I�m with my dad.

What do you call the activity of driving around in circles in a car? Ridiculous.

What do you call paper that has already been used for something or is otherwise imperfect? Either scrap paper or scratch paper, interchangeably.

What is your *general* term for a big road that you drive relatively fast on? Highway.

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining? Weird? A cruel act of God?

When you are cold, and little points of skin begin to come on your arms and legs, you have: Goosebumps or goosepimples or gooseflesh. It just depends on what I feel like that day.

What do you call the gooey or dry matter that collects in the corners of your eyes, especially while you are sleeping? Sleep.

What do you call an easy course? A lovely thing. I think back in the day, when I was a student, we called them a �blow off course.�

What do you call a traffic situation in which several roads meet in a circle and you have to get off at a certain point? If they meet in a circle, as opposed to a square, I think they�re called a rotary. We don�t have the circular kind in Michigan, thank God. We just have the square kind which are called an intersection. Or oddly, in small towns where there pretty much is only one intersection, the four corners or Town Name Corners.

What is the thing that women use to tie their hair? I can never remember what to call the various hair apparatus so I call them all �hair doo-gees.�

Do you use the word cruller? Nope I eat regular ol� doughnuts.

Do you use the term "bear claw" for a kind of pastry? I can identify them but I don�t eat them.

What do you call someone who is the opposite of pigeon-toed (i.e. when they walk their feet point outwards)? Someone who is going to have serious knee problems when they get older.

Can you call coleslaw "slaw"? I don�t, but people �round here do.

What do you call the box you bury a dead person in? A coffin.

Do you say "vinegar and oil" or "oil and vinegar" for the type of salad dressing? Vinegar and oil.

What do you call it when a driver changes over one or more lanes way too quickly? :fill in the expletive:

When you stand outside with a long line of people waiting to get in somewhere, are you standing "in line" or "on line" (as in, "I stood ___ in the cold for two hours before they opened the doors")? on line because my 5th grade teacher did and I copied everything she did that I could.

Do you say "frosting" or "icing" for the sweet spread one puts on a cake? Frosting.

What is "the City"? New York City.

What is the distinction between dinner and supper? Who I�m talking to. If it�s either of my parents then dinner is the noon meal and supper is the evening meal. If it�s anyone else I probably never say supper but dinner is the evening meal.

Do you cut or mow the lawn or grass? I, love, am a princess and do neither. However, PJH mows the lawn.

Do you pass in homework or hand in homework? Hand in.

What do you call the insect that looks like a large thin spider and skitters along the top of water? What is it with all the bug questions? I don�t know anything about bugs. I�d call it icky. As in �PJH come get this icky bug outta here.�

What do you call the thing from which you might drink water in a school? A water fountain.

What do you call a public railway system (normally underground)? �Round here? Nonexistent. Otherwise depends on where I am. In Boston, the T. In Chicago, I think it�s called the �L�.

What do you call the act of covering a house or area in front of a house with toilet paper?

TP-ing. And cause for much retaliation in the form of eggs in places you really don�t want them.

What do you call a traffic jam caused by drivers slowing down to look at an accident or other diversion on the side of the road? A pain in my ass and the reason why I�m freaking late for work.

What vowel do you use in bag? Short a.

What do you call the paper container in which you might bring home items you bought at the store? A sack. Or a paper sack.

What do you call the night before Halloween? "The night before Halloween". Or �the night I go buy Halloween candy.�

What do you call the end of a loaf of bread? Trash. No one in my house likes it.

What do you call a point that is purely academic, or that cannot be settled and isn't worth discussing further? Moot. Except I can�t think of too many things that isn�t worth discussing further!

How do you pronounce the -sp- sequence in "thespian" (the word meaning "actor")? Thess-pee-en

What do you call a drive-through liquor store? A great place for cops to get drunk drivers.

What do you call food that you buy at a restaurant but then eat at home? Take out.

What do you say when you want to lay claim to the front seat of a car? I�m sitting in the front.

What word do you use for gawking at someone in a lustful way? Leering or ogling. Or making cow eyes. Or just making eyes.

Do you say "expecially", or "especially"? Especially. I also ask rather than ax.

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