Boston Local Custom Tips by diver-x

You know you're from Massachusetts when...
1) The person driving in front of you is going 70mph and you are cursing him for going too slow.
2) The fact that Route 128 and I-95 are pretty much the same thing doesn't confuse you.
3) When ordering a tonic, you mean a Coke...not quinine water.
4) You actually enjoy driving around rotaries.
5) You almost feel disappointed when someone doesn't flip you the bird when you cut them off or steal their parking space.
6) You know how to pronounce the names of towns like Worcester, Billerica, Haverhill, Barre and Cotuit.
7) You have driven to New Hampshire on a Sunday in order to get beer.
8) You know that there are two Bulger brothers, and that they're both crooks.
9) You know what they sell at a packie.
10) You know at least one bar where you can get something to drink after last call.
11) You can actually find your way around Boston.
12) Colleges are used as landmarks for directions, i.e., Go past MIT until you hit Harvard. Take a right and go past Lesley. Keep going until you get to Tufts
13) Evacuation Day is a recognized holiday.
14) You know at least one guy named Sean, Pat, Whitey, Red, Bud or Seamus.
15) You think the rest of the country owes you for Thanksgiving and Independence Day.
16) You laughed at the kids down south who never got snow days.
17) You feel that the rest of the world needs to drive more like you.
18) You have never been to Cheers.
19) You can recognize a girl from Revere simply by her hair.
20) You know that there is a bigger difference between Roxbury and West Roxbury than just a compass direction.
21)When the words 'WICKED' and 'GOOD' go together.

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Boston Glossary:

cah = car

tonic = soda or pop

squawlops = scallops

bare = beer

packie = liquor store

wicked = very (ex: 'wicked good' means excellent)

Dottie = Dorchester

Southie = South Boston (not the South End)

Townie = Someone from Charlestown

rotary = roundabout or traffic circle

The New Gahd'n = The Fleet Center, near the site of the old Boston Garden. A place for concerts and sporting events.

Big Dig = Public works project to fix the disfunctional Expressway.

The Expressway = The JFK Expressway or the portion of Route 93 that goes through town.

The Ah-tery = The Central Artery or The Expressway or the portion of Route 93 that goes through town.

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If you're looking for a parking space in the wintertime, especially if it has recently snowed, be careful. Residents who shovel the snow out of a parking spot on the street will, for the rest of the winter (and sometimes into spring), view that parking spot as belonging exclusively to them. When their car is not in that spot, they will "reserve" the space by leaving a chair or a trash can or anything else they have on hand in it. If you should remove this debris and park your car there, you may find scratches, broken windows, or some other damage to your car when you return. Be careful!!!

Don't think too badly of the Bostonian for this lapse in friendliness. There is so little parking around town - and the snow makes it that much harder to get a decent spot. I've spent hours shoveling snow & chipping ice out of a spot. And when somebody else "steals" your spot, it forces you to "steal" your neighbor's spot. Winter's nasty enough without this inconvenience!

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Visitors from outside of New England are often confounded by local pronunciations, especially of Massachusetts cities and towns. Here’s a guide that’ll help you sound like a local:

City:
Pronunciation:

Worcester
WUH – stuh; also acceptable: WIS – tuh
Just remember not to pronounce any r’s in Worcester and you’ll be fine.

Leominster
LEH – min – stuh
Forget about the “O” in Leominster! The first 2 syllables sound just like “lemon”.

Leicester
LEH – stuh
Pronounced like Lester.

Haverhill
HAYV – rull (2 syllables!)

Woburn
WOO – burn
Make sure the first syllable rhymes with “who”.

Hingham, Dedham, Stoneham
Almost any town that ends in “ham”: First syllable accented and the “H” in “ham” is silent. The “ham” is actually pronounced “um”. So we have: HING – um, DED – um, STONE – um.

Waltham
WALL – tham
An exception to the above rule, actually pronounced almost as you might expect.

Quincy
QUIN – zee
Although some locals do say Quin – see, all of the old-timers will pronounce it with a ‘z’.

Peabody
PEA – b’dee
Please don’t pronounce Peabody like Mr. Peabody and Sherman with the Wayback machine! It’s pronounced with somewhere between 2 and 3 syllables.

Gloucester
GLAH – stuh
We like to keep city and town names down to 2 syllables whenever possible, regardless of the number of vowels the name may contain. Gloucester should rhyme with Foster.

Medford
MED – fid
It is commonly believed that people who live in Medford pronounce the name MEF – fid, but I’ve found this to not be the case. The “D” is pronounced but only lightly.

Copley
COP – lee
Not really a town, but a district in Boston. I don’t know why I have to point this out, but I’ve found that a lot of tourists pronounce it COPE – lee, with a long “O”. Maybe they just expect names to be pronounced in unexpected ways? But fear not, Copley is pronounced just the way it looks, with the first syllable rhyming with “pop” and “hop”.

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