Bostongrrl's VirtualTourist Home Page

Bostonians do NOT refer to Boston as Beantown. NEVER! It may be called the Hub. And Cheers from the TV Show is NOT the restaurant in Quincy Marketplace. It is actually the Bull & Finch on Beacon Street.

"Getting around Boston"

Pay no attention to the street names.
There's no school on School Street,
no court on Court Street,
no dock on Dock Square,
no water on Water Street.

Back Bay streets are in alphabetical oddah:
Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, etc..

So are South Boston streets:
A, B, C, D, etc..

If the streets are named after trees (e.g. Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill.

If they're named after poets, you are not in Boston, you're in Wellesley.

Southie is South Boston.
The South End is the South End.
JP is Jamaica Plain and HP is Hyde Park (pronouced High Pahk).
Eastie is East Boston.
The North End is east of the West End.
The West End and Scollay Square are no more, a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night.

Definitions:

Frappes have ice cream, milkshakes don't.

If it is fizzy and flavored, it's tonic.
Soda is CLUB SODA.
Pop is Dad.
When we mean Tonic WATER, we will ask for Tonic WATER.

The smallest beer is a pint.

A Packie is where you buy beer and liquor. (Packie - short for Package Store)

Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish.
If you paid more than $6/pound, you got scrod.

It's not a water fountain; it's a bubblah.

It's not a trashcan; it's a barrel.

It's not a shopping cart; it's a carriage or a wagon.

It's not a purse; it's a pockabook.

They're not franks; they're haht dahgs.
Franks are money in France.

Things not to do:

Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd ... they'll tow it to Meffa (Medford) or Slumaville (Somerville).

Don't sleep in the Common.

Don't wear Orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day

Things you should know:

There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses, two Hancock buildings, (one old, one new).

Route 128 is also I-95. It's also I-93.

The underground train is not a subway. It's the "T" and it doesn't run all night (fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk)

Bostonians...

think that it's their God-given right to cut off someone in traffic.

think that there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R's).

think that three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heat wave.

refer to six inches of snow as a "dusting."

always "bang a left" as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it.

say everything in town is "a five-minute walk."

believe that using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.

think that 63-degree ocean water is warm.

Have a "wicked" good time in BAHSTON!