14 October 2008

Welcome to Mass, Blog Around The World Peeps!

***The contest is over, but thanks for stopping by!***

My name is Alicia, and I will be your tour guide.

Wicked nice to meet you!

If you're a regular around here, may I introduce the visitors from Blog Around The World. Regulars, if you don't already know what BATW is, go check it out! I'll be here when you get back. Promise.

I was born in Boston and though I have since moved out to the land of lawns and lawnmowers, Ma and Dad are still in the city.

Despite my good Boston upbringing, I dared to marry a Jersey boy who is also - gasp - a Yankees fan.

Not only did I bring shame to my people, I also became a terrible influence on my youngest sister who recently got hitched to an Up-stater (NY).

Thankfully, they are both wonderful men, so we forgive them that whole pinstripes and bad judgement thing. Supplying the 'rents with a fabulous grandson didn't hurt either!

So as the landing place of The Mayflower, Massachusetts is naturally a state of firsts.

The first subway - the T.

Photo Credit

The first public school - Boston Latin School.

SUMUS PRIMI! GO WOLFPACK!
(guess where I went to high school?)
Photo Credit

The first public park - The Boston Commons.

Photo Credit

The first Dunkin Donuts - in Quincy.Photo Credit


Even the first zip code in the whole US - 01001 in Agawam, MA.
(But then - I'm a little partial to zip codes!)Photo Credit


As fascinating as all that is, most people only want to know two things about Mass.

1. Do we really all sound like Mayor Quimby?



Photo Credit

And

2. Do I know the New Kids On The Block?

Photo Credit

No, and sadly, no. Though I did grow up in the zip code immediately adjoining one of them, and, bloggy confession time - stood outside one of their houses with a friend only to get the Dad's autograph instead.

Mr. Wood was quite lovely.

As you all will be spending the day in my fair state, I thought I'd give you a primer to help you get around under the radar, so to speak.

Contrary to popular belief, we do not only have 25 letters in our alphabet.
We have 26. One of them just happens to be "Ah." To illustrate: car = cah, water = watah.

It is widely believed that all people from Mass not only drop their Rs, but subsequently add them where they do not belong.
For example: Pizza = pizzer. This is only true of certain towns, however, mostly to the west of Boston proper.

We are also quite set in our ways when it comes to our vocabulary.
Soda is a carbonized drink. Bubblers are water fountains. Jimmies are the multi-colored toppings commonly found on ice cream cones.

For travel within the Boston City limits, it is vital to understand the relationship between the proper name of the location you wish to get to, and the local translation of that name.
A general rule of thumb is to either add "ie" to the name or bluntly abbreviate it. Following this rule, South Boston becomes Southie and Dorchester becomes Dot.

And just in case you don't follow New England sports, you should know that Fenway Park is a perfectly acceptable choice for a house of worship.
You say Amazing Grace, I say Sweet Caroline. Live and let live, right?

When in doubt, to emphasize the importance of either a statement or a request: Wicked.

Ok, so let's put it together, shall we?
Let's say you wanted to say the following:

Fitzwilliam, would it be possible to borrow your aunt's Cadillac? I would like to visit the liquor store to acquire additional tonic water for our beach party tonight.

Sure, Sullivan, Unfortunately you will have to drive as I have recently fallen down and injured my ankle.

Oh, my! Really?

Indeed.

Here's how it should sound:

Hey, Fitzy! Can we take yah Ahnt's Caddy? I need to hit the packie for some sodah for the keggah up Castle Island.

Yeah, Sully, but it's all you onna-counah I totally took a diggah and messed up my foot.

Nuh-uh!

Wicked pissah!

***

Please note: for maximum authenticity, the speaker should be wearing at least one article of Red Sox logoed clothing. We will also accept a collegiate baseball cap - preferably well worn and folded at the brim in a downward U-shape - from any of the fine institutions in either Maine or New Hampshire. Wearing a sweatshirt with "Harvard" on it will result in an automatic disqualification and expulsion from the state. If you are still confused, may I direct your attention to The Wicked Good Guide To Boston English.

I hope you will enjoy your trip through the Bay State today. As a token of hospitality, I will be giving a little something away.

No, not a 2008 Red Sox ALCS shirt!

How about this?

These lovelies are handmade with copper and freshwater pearls, and can be yours with the click of a mouse! Just leave a comment on this post, and don't forget to tell me what state you're from. I will close the comments at midnight on Thursday so everyone will have time to get in on the giveaway goodness.

Thank you all for stopping by!

It was

WICKED AWESOME!

(Please note: all photos, save the earrings, were obtained through Yahoo Images and are accompanied by their originating URL as "Photo Credit.")

70 comments:

  1. Love it, love it, love it!!! Especially the language lesson!! Boston is one of my favorite cities...I get to visit at least once a year...it seems a lot of the pharmaceutical companies I work with are headquartered there. Works for me!!

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  2. Wickedly awesome post! While reading the little dialogue I couldn't help but picture the boys of Good Will Hunting. Not a bad image.

    The earrings are beautiful!

    I'm currently residing in Alabama. I've been through Mass once, more along the western side though. Stopped at the Yankee Candle Company's flagship store...

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  3. I'm so glad I took the language lesson out of my post! Whenever I see your blog name I think of the old kids' show ZOOM and how they would sing their zip code: 02134: Send it to ZOOM!
    Wicked is definitely a Boston area word, I learned it in 6th grade while visiting family in Marblehead.

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  4. That was very informative and entertaining! TWO THUMBS UP! Wicked good!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog. I stopped by to return the bloggy love and lo and behold, it's your turn to be featured! YIPPEE!

    Daja, from California

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  5. Oh my goodness I feel like I've visited a foreign country with the "English" lesson. You gave a great tour and I had a smile on my face the whole time. I so can't wait to come visit some day. My hubby promised me a trip out there 2 years ago and I'm still waiting. Why does life have to get in the way of fun. shh don't tell him I've already been thanks to BATW and you. Nice to meet ya! Are Matt Damon and Ben Aflek (sp) from your area too? P.S. At one time I was in love with NKOTB too. Shhh!

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  6. Me again. I forgot but how I don't know to tell you I love the earings! Who ever wins them is a lucky gal!

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  7. Ahhhh! I have tried to comment three times now so I will keep it short.

    Love the post.
    I am from Texas, but live in Germany!
    Go Astros!

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  8. Loved the language lessons. Thanks for a hilarious tour! I'm a Brit living in Sweden so it's great to et to know more about other countries and continents!

    I'm taking part in Blog Action Day i the fight against poverty and am donating money to charity for every comment I get on my posts this week. So, leave me a wicked comment and I'll turn that into hard cash.

    http://ladyfi.wordpress.com/

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  9. thank you so much for the wicked awesome post. My brother went to Boston University, so I got to spend time with him there and it was fun. I didn't know the lingo though...I am sure I stood out! At one point he lived in Little Italy and his apartment smelled so good, it was a great place for him to live...

    I am from VA but live in Europe now...and love those earrings!

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  10. Much aloha from Hawaii! I laughed all through your post. Now getting Mr. Wood's autograph? Priceless. I'll keep it our secret. ;) Love the earrings!

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  11. I love it!! Too funny.

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  12. Hi from Arkansas! I love Dunkin' donuts!!! My sister who is about an hour from Boston got me hooked on saying WICKED GOOD!!!!
    Thanks for the tour.

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  13. Wicked Great Tour! Go, Red Sox!! I love jetting about from place to place with Debbie-isn't BATW great?

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  14. great tour!! loved it.

    ...and may i just add that i was in labor in october, 2004 when i watched the sox win the world series? i was so excited they won, even though i'm technically not a fan! lol (i tend to cheer for american teams in the world series, though it was especially important for the sox to win that year!!)

    illahee in japan

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  15. Congratulations on our BATW feature! I hope you enjoy your day in the sun.

    Thanks for your well wishes on my blog. I am sure that my little girl will be fine but, it can't hurt:-)

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  16. Love those earrings! Very pretty.

    I am from Georgia. By way of Florida. And my husband is from Mass - Stoneham to be precise. We went several years ago to visit his family there - and I just loved it. We were there in October and I couldn't believe all the houses decorated for Fall. Or how pretty everything is. We walked the Freedom Trail. Drove out to Ipswich and the Cape. We even drove the Mohawk trail. (Way before gas prices got insane!) And I didn't know before that visit that Dunkin was "invented" there. But man, there is a Dunkin donuts on every corner. Love me some Dunkin. I wonder if I can get my husband to bring some home after work...

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  17. I'm so impressed with your photo credits. Loved your tour. I never knew that Dunkin Donuts first opened in Quincy. They are my favorite. I'm from the south and I love Krispy Kreme's too. Thanks for interpreting the lingo there. I had a roommate in college from MA. It took us a while before we could understand each other. Good times though.
    From Joy in Texas, via BATW.
    P.S. The earrings are beautiful.

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  18. Perfect!! Boston is one of my favorite cities!! I am coming from TN and will take the earrings or my son would love the Red Sox shirt! He has become a big fan - for a 5 year old!!! Enjoy your day!

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  19. What a lovely city :)
    I've always wanted to live in Boston, and you have just affirmed that I should make it a life goal ;)

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  20. I haven't been to Mass since I was in 7th grade, and I'm DYING to come back... since my ancestors were Pilgram's, I consider it "the mother land" lOL!!

    Now I'm here in NC... noticing I need some new earrings....

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  21. So funny!!! I'm from Houston, TX. I hope to go back one day:)

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  22. Boston is One Place I Want to Visit Before I Die. I grew up and currently reside in Vegas. It's not as great as Boston!

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  23. oh, you are funny!

    And I would be totally lost understanding the native Bostonian speak!

    Thanks for the tour... BTW why is it called the T?

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  24. This is a fantastic post!! Thanks.

    My dad grew up in Saugus, MA and still orders jimmies on his ice cream. He's been in Kentucky 30 years and won't give in :)

    I went to college in Quincy, MA - kind of a big mistake all the way around. Now I'm in Detroit.

    Thanks again for the tour.

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  25. I love it! It's me, you already know me but I am from Louisiana, and I love your post and the pics, and the awesome earrings. Not to mention now I know your first name ;)

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  26. thanks for the tour and you make beautiful stuff. I love the earing. Oh and I am here from Michigan.

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  27. Hi, I'm here from Va, and I've visited Boston a couple times.
    My Mom is from Winthrop, so you can imagine my accent growing up, nobody understood me:(

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  28. What a lot of fun! Thanks for taking us all around Bean Town and beyond! You really live in a great place. BATW tours are the best!

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  29. That was great!
    Have fun reading all of your blog crack today.
    Gina in Washington(West)

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  30. Thanks for the tour. I am visiting from BATW by way of Georgia. You live in a beautiful place. I want to visit someday. Maybe take my kids on a historical trip and show them some places there. I love the word wicked, but I might be too old to use it. :)
    Congrats on your spotlight from BATW.
    Hugs, Amy ;)

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  31. Hi from New Orleans! So, I was totally born and raised in NY. HOWEVER, I've been to Boston a shitload of times, and I love the city. For our senior trip, we actually went to Boston for a dinner cruise on the harbor. Some of my classmates wore yankees stuff and got mean mugged the whole time. It was great. I'm not even a baseball fan... I love football. But I am a minnesota fan, and I know that doesn't make any sense.

    Thanks for the tour!

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  32. Alicia...Oh Alicia...how brilliant you are. This was one of my faves. I think you deserve an award. WICKEDLY AWESOME! Thank you thank you thank you. That was a treat!

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  33. Wow! That was totally WICKED!!!

    Loved visiting from BATW and the tour. I loved the architecture of your school - it reminded me of "Sixth Sense".

    Queenie from Utah, off to learnie me-ah some wicked.....

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  34. This is such a great post! I love it! And I love those earrings! This Mississippi Girl would love to have some Massachusetts "julry" (there's you some "Missippi" vernacular)! : )

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  35. From MN but living in Denmark. I love the language lesson. I visited Boston once and I got a laugh every time our waitress said fork :)
    The post was wicked awesome :)

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  36. I had trouble concentrating for a minute after the Dunkin Donuts picture.

    I enjoyed your wicked vernacular 101 lesson. I swear I couldn't have decoded it to save my life if someone said that to me.

    (visiting from BATW)

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  37. Hello from Alabama! You are a great hostess and tour guide, showing us the sites, making us laugh and even sending us home with jewelry. Thanks for the tour! Boston is on my list of places I would like to visit.

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  38. Great tour. I love Boston - went to school there for a little while. This really made me want to go back!

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  39. Oh that's too funny! I'm almost afraid of what will happen when my state is featured. I'm not nearly this creative :) Great description of Boston, and I LOVE how you got the NKOTB dad autograph. Great story, and I hope you still have it.

    Oh, and GORGEOUS earrings. I'd love to win them -- in Illinois, we don't make things that cool (was that nice and subtle?) :)

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  40. Wicked awesome post. (Nobody's said that yet, right?) ;-)

    Very funny post. Loved hearing all about Boston and especially the language lesson.

    I'm from UtAH. See? I fit right into your dialect!

    Have a fun BATW day.

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  41. i had a friend from beantown and she used to always say "wicked this" and "wicked that". and when we'd get a drink she'd say, "whaddya want for cokes?" too funny! thanks for hosting us on our BATW today!

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  42. Hi from Louisiana! Thanks for the great tour!

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  43. Love the tour!!! I am from Alabama so I understand the whole language thing! Just yesterday on my blog I wrote about a discussion my mom and I had on the correct spelling of the word "Y'all!"
    THANKS FOR THE WONDERFUL TOUR!

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  44. I loved your post! I learned a lot about your state. I loved the lingo the best:). I'm in Utah and it's a little different here.
    I had fun visiting your blog, thanks.

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  45. Oh my web address is www.thesassymom.blogspot.com
    I don't know why it's coming up as the sweet shoppe?

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  46. Never did make it to Boston in the years we lived in Wyben & Montgomery. Only got as close as Springfield. Wonderful years of our lives! Fantastic memories! Oh, and those fantastic Dunkin Donuts. Much better tasting than our famous Tim Horton's. And your fall scenery - totally amazing. Greetings from Alberta, Canada.

    Loved your tour, the photos and dialect lesson. Wicked great job!

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  47. Happy BATW :)

    I am just giggling reading all this because I am in Texas and you might as well be talking 'bout a different country--except the donuts because we can all agree that donuts are the best :)

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  48. Thanks for the great tour! I'm visiting from South Dakota.

    One of my good friends from high school moved out there about 7 years ago. We tease her so much about her new accent & language when she comes back to visit!

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  49. That cracks me up! I loved my visit to Mass on your site! Thanks for letting us BATW's invade Mass today!

    I LOVE those earrings! Very cool!

    Visiting by way of BATW and from Illinois! Thanks for the info. and fun!

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  50. Great tour and a giveaway? How fun is that?

    I think I just came by yesterday saying thank you for visiting me. I didn't know I'd be back so soon!

    Greetings from the Central Coast of California!

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  51. Thanks for the wicked great tour!

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  52. !!!! Blog around the world is fun! I'll have to join! Oklahoma, but TEXAN by birth.

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  53. I have always wanted to visit there!! And that was a faaaabulous language lesson!!! :)

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  54. Thanks for the wicked tour. and the language lesson always good to learn the local way of talking to fit in just right. Since I come from the state of North Dakota where there are no accents.

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  55. Happy BATW Day. I enjoyed the wicked tour.

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  56. Hello from Washington state!

    Thank you for the thoroughly entertaining tour. I truly enjoyed the language lesson. :)

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  57. Howdy from Texas!
    I love Boston! I've only been once, but I had the time of my life and hope to go back soon! Such a great post. I didn't make it by yesterday, but I didn't want to miss out on this tour. Better late than never. Love the earrings! I'll definitely be checking out your Etsy shop.

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  58. This fast pace, fast talking post was wonderful. Thanks for that. Stopping by from New Zealand to one of my favourite places in the world. I didnt know about the post code thing!Things you learn by travelling BATW.

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  59. Happy belated BATW day!

    Wicked post! lol I am originally from MA but transplanted to WI when I was 11. We recently visited in August and it didn't take long to pick the accent right back up even after living here for almost 30 years (yikes!). I did a simliar post for my BATW feature noting the differences between the two states as it was right after our trip.

    Speaking of NKOTB, I'm going to see them with a friend next week.

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  60. Thank you for the excellent, er, WICKEDLY good tour. Having never been to Mass, this was quite enjoyable. Should I ever happen to visit, I'll check back for any lingo updates.

    I'm brand new to BATW, so yours was a rockin' place to start. :D

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  61. Las Vegas NV, here. grew up in Weymouth went to UMASS and spent my summers down the cape. (Another Boston language particular...down the cape , up New Hapshire, out to Rhode Island) We south shore girls also add r's to words ending in a. My desert rat children laugh everytime I tell them they can ordah a pizzer for dinnah on Friday night.
    The one thing I was surprised to see was that you called colored sprinkles jimmies. Me and my gang only called chocolate sprinkles jimmies.
    Wicked good work on the lesson I must say...now I gotta get me a tonic and when I am done I am going to put and elastic in my hair and take out the garbage...

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  62. So great! I'm a little late getting around, but I sure am glad I came. You're hysterical!

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  63. That translation at the end was hysterical! Thanks for the tour!

    Oh, and since I'm stoppying by late, I saw your Grasshopper Brownies- already copied/pasted for my baking pleasure. Thanks!

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  64. Wicked pissah! I lived in Boston for almost ten years... but I moved back to NY in time to marry my husband who's from Peabody. Yes, I am a Yankee fan so we're a (gasp!) mixed marriage! I loved it there, though and miss it horribly... I managed to become well-versed in all the localisms you describe, which both impressed and charmed my husband. A NY girl who knows what a Hoodsie is? No sir!
    Great post! Thanks for the warm welcome.
    :) Robin
    cinnamon & honey

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  65. I think I found your through Bake at 350, but read only as far in this post as Mr. Wood signing an autograph for you.
    I'm from MA now living in VT and in my previous life worked in HR at Filene's Basement downtown. The point is Betty Wood worked at the basement for quite some time until she had to leave for health reasons. She was the coolest lady and we were all sad when she passed away (cancer). Any way, your post made me think of her.

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  66. I grew up (and still live) on the South Shore...almost on The Cape... I nodded and smiled at all your descriptions!!!

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  67. visiting from BPOTW, i loved the tour .. it was quite well narrated and the picswere lovely too !! Keep blogging :)

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