How to talk Like a Fishtowner

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If you catch someone breaking into your car, you should...

do nothing

beat him senselesss

51%

restrain him until the police come

16%

take him out to dinner at a fine restaurant and explain the errors of his ways

11%

scream, "geez, mom, I've told you not to wear pajama bottoms when you're working!"

16%

Total votes: 37

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dan Posted at 15:09 on Tue, 02/28/2006

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Miscellaneous Fishtown

[This is my first draft of something I want to make a permanent part of the website. Please help add to it!]

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We Fishtowners speak standard English with a Philadelphia attitude.
However, there's a few things you should know to communicate around here...

STREET NAME PRONUNCIATIONS
Girard = Gee-rod or Gee-rahd
Almond = Al-mand or sometimes Ammind (rhymes with "wind", meaning "blowing air")
Salmond = Saaal-min (where the a is pronounced as in "hat")

NAMES OF VARIOUS THINGS
dirtball = an insulting name for someone. a strong negative, although not necessarily implying actual dirtiness
shed = a back porch closed in to make a room or rooms
pavement (often pronounced "payment") = sidewalk
culvert (often pronounce "colbert") = sewer entrance
cellar = basement
radio ball = water ice with ice cream in the center (sometimes called "gelati" in other parts of Philadelphia - not to be confused with actual gelati)
The Swimmo = the public swimming pool at the Fishtown Rec Center
The Cemo = the cemetary = Palmer Cemetary
Kenzo = a person from Kensington (or to say that someone was like a person from Kensington, and meant as an insult)
Dingus Day = a Polish holiday celebrated on Easter Monday in which the goal is for boys to flirtatiously soak girls with water, and in which girls got their revenge the next day by throwing dishes and pottery at the boys. Locally, the tradition has evolved that anyone soaks anyone on Monday.

SOMETIMES THE OLD NAME JUST STICKS
Newt's = Shissler's (the rec center)
The IGA = the grocery store at the corner of Dauphin & Frankford, no matter what its current name is

COLLOQUIALISMS
"basket of cheer" = a basket of alcohol, usually being raffled off as a fundraiser
"half hit in the a**" = drunk (apparently "hit in the a**" means passed out drunk)
"knock for" = to knock on someone's door and ask for them to come out

USAGE

'take' often is used instead of 'have', as in:
"take a stroke" = "have a stroke"
"take a seizure" = "have a seizure"

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Been working on my Fishtown

fishtownfilly Posted at 11:41 on Sun, 01/10/2010

Been working on my Fishtown accent for about 15 years now. Imagine being cursed with an accent from Boston/Compton/Fargo or so many others. I was born in Fishtown...a neighborhood in Ulm, Germany. They are known for their peculiar accent and Albert Einstein.

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right on Jeff....It's

Tracey Posted at 14:12 on Fri, 10/16/2009

right on Jeff....It's awesome not awful We can meet on the Giraad Ave payment and eat some wutter-ice together

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Pickle John in his Hey Day.

Kat Posted at 08:36 on Fri, 10/16/2009

Pickle John in his Hey Day. There are not alot of pictures of him as you know.

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2014

herself Posted at 01:50 on Fri, 10/16/2009

2014 susquehanna][quote=biggeo wrote:

lauraska wrote:

I've heard of kosher dills but not jewish pickles. Go figure.

there used to be a pickle factory on front st right above palmer , nothing but barrels of pickles everywhere in side outside you could smell the pickle juice a block away anyway on their wall was their sign (the best jewish pickles ) and they were

Did you live in that area because if you remember the pickle factory you probably remember "Pickle John" who reeked of pickles.He had two sets of clothes,one for work,one for going out which was a zoot suit.He thought you had to wash your face and hands before getting dressed for work or pleasure;he was harmless

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2014 susquehanna

TECH Posted at 15:12 on Thu, 10/15/2009

2014 susquehanna wrote:

biggeo wrote:

lauraska wrote:

I've heard of kosher dills but not jewish pickles. Go figure.

Nasty....I loathe pickles. I'd really hate to live near that and smell them all the time.

Back when I was in high school I had a summer job two years in a row working a a Jewish Pickle factory at American and Brown (Leyers) dont remember if that was the proper spelling, though the pickle processing was done out beyond Medford N.J. we didn't mind the ride each morning, got us out of the city! My job was mixing up the pickling brine 500 gallons at a time, we ate all the pickles we wanted, but how much can one eat. yet to this day I still love them . At the American and Brown site we did the packaging when we were not at medford.