A recent journey through the Steel City. And yes I am a menace to public safety. This is downtown, which people from the ‘Burgh pronounce [dɑ:ntɑ:n] instead of the Standard American English [daʊn'taʊn]. If you’re not familiar with IPA, it’s more like donton. But not quite. It’s amusing.
Pittsburgh English is also sometimes called Pittsburghese, a term that I’m not especially fond of. But there is definitely a difference here. Two of the biggest things that people will notice are the use of a the word redd up, meaning to straighten up. That word is actually of Scots-Irish descent. My original suspicion was from the German aufraeumen, but that’s wrong. Pennsylvania Dutch has a strong influence in other parts of Pennsylvania, so it was the obvious starting point. Also, the verb need is used as the passive auxiliary so whereas in Standard American English (and most other dialects of English), you might say
The room needs to be vacuumed.
or
The room needs vacuuming.
Pittsburghers will say
The room needs vacuumed.
Most speakers reject this as ungrammatical. Interestingly, this Pittsburgh dialect also crops up all over Pennsylvania, but not so much in Philadelphia. My wife, who is from the York area (sort of East-South-Central PA), says these things also. They all sound perfectly grammatical to me now as I’ve grown accustomed to hearing them, but I don’t actually say them. (Yet?)
Amazing pics, babe! So amazing that I won’t even be offended by the fact that you pointed out my incorrect grammar on your blog. Really. I’m not bothered one bit.
I’m not saying you have bad grammar babe. I’m saying that your dialect differs from what most Americans are used to. There is nothing right or wrong about it. The only wrong thing is for people to criticize other people for the way they speak because of prescriptive rules invented in the 17th century and 18th centuries by people with crazy notions that English should behave more like Latin and that the dialect of poor people was inherently inferior to the dialect of rich people.
I personally love the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect, it’s really cool and reflects your history. Embrace it and be proud, my love.
I say “needs fixed, vacuumed” etc. and I say “n’ at” when I list things or ask a question sometimes. I say “pop” for soda and always drop my “g” on going “gowun” for me, and doing “doowun” for me. People make fun of me out here in Indiana and say I can’t talk. Nobody will even give me the time of day. Am I a Pittsburgher without even being aware of it?