There was a time when the United States formed a far more linguistically diverse patchwork than today, when being “on your beanwater” meant being in a good mood in New England, while a “frog strangler” described a torrential downpour in the South. Some of this regional vocabulary has faded under the homogenising effect of television, then social media, but certain terms still hold on locally.
This ranking of American regional expressions draws on a list of 50 endangered regional words compiled by the podcast network Acast in partnership with the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), rounded out by other well-documented regionalisms. Each term notes its home region, an example, and, where known, its origin.
1. Mad
Common in New York and New Jersey, “mad” replaces “many” or “very” in a sentence, a usage that has nothing to do with its standard meaning of “angry.” Example: “There were mad heads at the party last night.” An unaware visitor might misread this construction, looking for anger where there’s only amplified intensity.
2. Jawn
You can’t escape this word in Philadelphia, where it serves as an all-purpose stand-in for pretty much anything: an object, a place, an event, or a person. Example: “Don’t forget to bring the jawn for my new jawn.” The most common theory traces the word back to “joint,” though its meaning has since drifted far from that origin.
3. Wicked
This intensifier remains inseparable from Boston and Massachusetts, where it replaces “very” or “extremely” in most enthusiastic sentences. Example: “It was wicked refreshing.” The word is often heard alongside other markers of the Boston accent, like the dropped final “r” in words such as “car” or “park.”
4. Yinz
In the Pittsburgh area, this pronoun fills a gap in standard English, which lacks a true second-person plural. Example: “I’ll be seeing yinz at the shindig later.” The word derives from “you ones,” contracted over generations into a strong local identity marker.
5. Janky
In New Hampshire and nearby states, this term describes something low-quality, broken, or unreliable. Example: “That janky old car won’t get you anywhere.”
6. Y’all
A contraction of “you all,” this form remains one of the most recognisable regionalisms of Texas and the wider South, used to address several people at once. Example: “How y’all doing tonight?” Unlike most of the more confidential terms on this list, “y’all” has spread well beyond the South and is now heard nationwide, even among speakers not originally from there.
7. Burk
Used in Georgia and the surrounding South, this term refers to vomit, both precisely and vividly. Example: “She just burked all over my sedan.” The word belongs to a distinctly casual register, best kept for conversations between close friends rather than a formal setting.
8. Mom’n’em
This contraction of “mom and them,” typical of New Orleans, refers to one’s family broadly rather than a single person. Example: “How’s your mom’n’em?”
9. Cattywampus
In Alabama, this word describes something crooked, messy, or misaligned, often with a touch of humour. Example: “The rug’s all cattywampus.”
10. Frog strangler
Across the South, this striking image describes an exceptionally heavy rain, literally strong enough to drown frogs. Example: “We got caught in a real frog strangler on the way home.” The expression ranks among the most endangered regionalisms tracked by the Dictionary of American Regional English, largely replaced today by more neutral phrasing like “heavy rain.”
11. Hella
California’s version of the regional intensifier, “hella” plays the same role as “wicked” in New England or “mad” in New York. Example: “You make me hella nervous.” The word is thought to have originated in the San Francisco Bay Area before spreading through the rest of the state and beyond, carried by music and California pop culture.
12. Dude
Inseparable from California surf culture, this term works both to address someone and to express surprise or admiration. Example: “Dude, that wave was insane.” Unlike most terms on this list, “dude” has spread widely beyond California, to the point of being understood across nearly the entire English-speaking world.
13. Slug
In Washington D.C., this word refers to a hitchhiker within the informal carpooling system widely practised in the capital, known as “slugging.” Example: “My car’s in the shop, so I guess I’m slugging for now.” This organised practice, complete with its own pickup points called “slug lines,” remains largely unknown outside the Washington area.
14. Whoopensocker
In Wisconsin, this word denotes a more expressive, endearing version of “whopper,” used to describe something impressively big of its kind. Example: “That’s a whoopensocker of a cheese curd.” The term stays closely tied to the region’s cheese culture, a point of pride for the entire state.
15. Shoots
In Hawaii, this interjection serves as a relaxed way of saying yes, equivalent to “sure” or “okay.” Example: “Shoots, brah. Let’s do it.” The word belongs to Hawaiian pidgin, a linguistic blend born from contact between English and the languages of the islands’ various immigrant communities.
16. Baggin’ up
In Delaware, this expression replaces “cracking up” to say someone is laughing so hard they can no longer speak. Example: “I couldn’t get a sentence out straight, I was baggin’ up.” This regionalism remains among the least known outside its home state, even within the rest of the United States.
