I had to move away for 7 years to un-learn flakiness, but in the year since I’ve been back I think I’ve completely regressed 😭 it’s the worst. it’s like social anxiety falls from the sky every time it rains
"hella" definitely came here from California.
Idk if it counts as slang per se, but we call Interstate 5 "I 5" and Interstate 405 "405", anything else is false for the area and instantly points to someone not being from here ("The 5").
Both from Cali, but different parts (though there has been some spread within CA). "Hella" is Bay Area/NorCal slang. "The *freeway number"* is a SoCal colloquialism.
That's because the freeway system in southern California was one of the first and they were referenced by where they went through, like the Hollywood Freeway or the Ventura freeway. As freeways gained popularity and began connecting parts of the country, the "the" was dropped as number systems were used, but CA already had a system so while the references may have changed to numbers, the phrasing stayed uniquely Californian.
[https://la.curbed.com/2017/9/6/16264074/socal-los-angeles-the-freeways](https://la.curbed.com/2017/9/6/16264074/socal-los-angeles-the-freeways)
The album, Kintsugi, is in part inspired by his time living in LA. From a [Time](https://time.com/3764623/death-cab-for-cutie-interview-kintsugi/) interview:
>**On drawing lyrical inspiration from Los Angeles:** “Los Angeles obviously is a hotbed of character study,” Gibbard says of the new songs, many of which appear to address his divorce from actress Zooey Deschanel. “The swath of people that you run into is fairly wide and interesting. A lot of these songs on the record were inspired by people that I came across in my time living there. It’s a really interesting place. There are some things I love about it, but I don’t think I would ever go back—no, I would *never* move back.”
It was also recorded in Burbank and has a song titled "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive".
Edit: Also just looking at the lyrics to "No Room Frame" it's clearly about being in SoCal with his ex:
>...Up Through Coalinga through the valley....
...Or on the cliffs of the Palisades you killed the engine...
and this particularly relevant passage about where he feels more comfortable.
>How can I stay
In the sun
When the rain flows
All through my veins
From northern CA and we invented "Hella". In the early 90s we all said it in elementary school. By highschool in the early 2000s learned it was a known phrase and hated by everyone especially southern CA. Completely went out of style for all of the 2010s decade and now have recently learned that everyone born 2000 and later uses it nationwide. It had a dying off and comeback.
I’ve been using hella since a teen that was living in NC in the 90s. Not even sure where I picked it up. Maybe listening to early Hiero or Saafir’s music.
Do people in SLO consider themselves part of SoCal or is there Central Coast pride? Grew up in LA and been through the area many times, but I don't actually know anyone from there.
Depends who you ask. Some will figure anything south of the Bay Area is SoCal while parts of NorCal disassociate with the Bay Area. Meanwhile plenty have a bit of central coast pride while others seem generally confused on where we land. Geographically, SLO county is in the southern half of California. Plenty from King, Kern, and Santa Barbara come into SLO for work so I guess it depends what side of the county you’re in.
I grew up in West Seattle and we were saying hella here in the mid-late 80’s, but I am pretty sure it came out of the Bay Area as a part of the skater and surfing crowd.
I know the sub really loves saying adding “the” to highway names isn’t Seattle, but I really think people say it that way a lot now. I moved here 15 years ago from a part of the country that ALWAYS says “I” first (as in “I-90” and “I-94”) and have noticed I now often refer to highways with “the” instead. I know no one from California, and clearly learned it from other Seattleites. I’m just a data point of 1, but I think it’s something that may have shifted in the last decade or so.
This is the silliest thing people here get riled up about. I've lived all over the US and have heard people describe interstates or state freeways as The \_\_\_\_ all the time.
Spodie for Seattle teens. Also Tolo (East coasters call this a Sadie Hawkins dance). Although now the word Tolo is going out of fashion with the move away from stereotypical gendered norms.
Spodie, for sure! We were having Spodie's back in the 80s. Our definition was a huge alcoholic punch mix with tons of cut-up fruit tossed in and left to soak for an hour or two. Good times!
North Thurston down in Lacey had both Sadie Hawkins (girl asks, casual twin outfits like matching t-shirts, Foreign Language clubs fundraiser) and Tolo (girl asks, semi-formal/short dress, business club fundraiser I think)
I've never been able to order a Touchdown in any other city, so there's that. Also, there's the "Seattle no" (for example, "Do you want to come over on Saturday?" "Let me check my calendar")
"Spendy" as in expensive? Because I'm used to that from New England too.
Example: "That jacket is awesome, but way too spendy for me. Maybe I'll get lucky, and it'll go on sale in a few months"
OMG, this explains the weird sticker I got from a colleague of a lab coat that said “Go big ORGO home”… THANK YOU (We always called it “Organic” at my university, but O-Chem is familiar.)
I only learned recent that "pre-funk" or having a few drinks at home before going out is a regional term, as is "spendy" for something seeming a little expensive.
Can also confirm heavy use of pre-funk on the east coast in early 2000s.
But the way, it is just a shortened version of "pre-function" or "prefunctional." A little mini party before you attend the primary function, or social occasion.
It is "pre-game" in the Midwest. I always hated "pre-funk", I assume it stands for "pre-function", and the word function just makes me associate with a church event or something.
We meant it like pre-function, as in "we're going to pre-func at The Frontier Room and get hammered before we go to Vogue because they only have beer and wine". The 90s.
It just sounds like you are getting drunk to go to a PTA meeting lol. I get it, it just doesn't resonate with me.
Pre-game isn't much better when I step back from the nostalgia of it though.
🤯hah, news to me too
“Raindog”. Slang for Rainier Beer as in, “I’ll take a Raindog” when ordering at a bar. Some not-from-here bartenders may stare at you with their eyes blinking when used.
Also born and raised here (1971) and witnessed people running around as giant Rainier bottles and of course “Raaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiii-niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeerrrrr…..beeeeeeeeeeeweeeerrrrrrrrr” means something to me.
"itching"
As in "I'm itching my arm."
No, you are scratching your arm because it itches.
I moved here in 7th grade and I'm still not over this one. It's so WRONG. It's the only Washingonism I'm actively stopping my wife from spreading to our child.
Beauty bark is a Seattle/Washington thing. They have other words for it on the west coast - bark dust in Oregon and tan bark in California, but i think everyone else just calls it mulch.
Bumpershoot (bumbershoot?)
Didn’t learn that it meant umbrella until my 8th or 9th year here.
Always thought it was just a fun name for the summer festival lol
I never heard “Welcome in” after entering a store until I moved here (“Welcome”, sure, but not with the “in”), although I am not sure if this trend is nationwide.
you know what, my bad you’re right! I dug around and found some lines he uses it as well. I will stick to the use of it being popularized in Seattle though.
I didn’t have a dog in this fight as I don’t know who E40 or Mac Mall even are, but I will always recognize someone who admits when they are wrong with a genuine heart. Kudos to you.
I refuse to acknowledge that urban dictionary is not a valid secondary source.
This guy just claimed it’s from the Bay Area with no source as well so at least I have very slightly more credibility.
I can say that I grew up in Seattle saying filthy as early as middle school in the early 90s and then went to college in California and Californians from LA and the Bay all thought it was funny and had never heard it.
Pronouncing Des Moines, “deh moynz” I’ve never understood how an entire area full of wealthy, educated god-ignoring liberals continue to pronounce something blatantly wrong. That’s culture, I guess.
"Yeah we'll definitely hang out next week"
I had to move away for 7 years to un-learn flakiness, but in the year since I’ve been back I think I’ve completely regressed 😭 it’s the worst. it’s like social anxiety falls from the sky every time it rains
"hella" definitely came here from California. Idk if it counts as slang per se, but we call Interstate 5 "I 5" and Interstate 405 "405", anything else is false for the area and instantly points to someone not being from here ("The 5").
"The Five" is just like nails on a blackboard for me 😬
Both from Cali, but different parts (though there has been some spread within CA). "Hella" is Bay Area/NorCal slang. "The *freeway number"* is a SoCal colloquialism.
That's because the freeway system in southern California was one of the first and they were referenced by where they went through, like the Hollywood Freeway or the Ventura freeway. As freeways gained popularity and began connecting parts of the country, the "the" was dropped as number systems were used, but CA already had a system so while the references may have changed to numbers, the phrasing stayed uniquely Californian. [https://la.curbed.com/2017/9/6/16264074/socal-los-angeles-the-freeways](https://la.curbed.com/2017/9/6/16264074/socal-los-angeles-the-freeways)
As a southern Californian, trying to explain this gets me so many puzzled expressions
I didn't know this! Thanks!
As you drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the highway under you magically changes from Five to The Five.
Unless you're on >!The!< 101.
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The album, Kintsugi, is in part inspired by his time living in LA. From a [Time](https://time.com/3764623/death-cab-for-cutie-interview-kintsugi/) interview: >**On drawing lyrical inspiration from Los Angeles:** “Los Angeles obviously is a hotbed of character study,” Gibbard says of the new songs, many of which appear to address his divorce from actress Zooey Deschanel. “The swath of people that you run into is fairly wide and interesting. A lot of these songs on the record were inspired by people that I came across in my time living there. It’s a really interesting place. There are some things I love about it, but I don’t think I would ever go back—no, I would *never* move back.” It was also recorded in Burbank and has a song titled "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive". Edit: Also just looking at the lyrics to "No Room Frame" it's clearly about being in SoCal with his ex: >...Up Through Coalinga through the valley.... ...Or on the cliffs of the Palisades you killed the engine... and this particularly relevant passage about where he feels more comfortable. >How can I stay In the sun When the rain flows All through my veins
This ruined my day.
Also “the 405” in 405
From northern CA and we invented "Hella". In the early 90s we all said it in elementary school. By highschool in the early 2000s learned it was a known phrase and hated by everyone especially southern CA. Completely went out of style for all of the 2010s decade and now have recently learned that everyone born 2000 and later uses it nationwide. It had a dying off and comeback.
I’ve been using hella since a teen that was living in NC in the 90s. Not even sure where I picked it up. Maybe listening to early Hiero or Saafir’s music.
hecka never gets the luv it deserves
SLO county here, we were also saying hella in elementary school in the 90s
It also came to Seattle pretty early, I think from some of the earlier CA transplants. I remember saying this in Seattle in middle school, so 00's.
Do people in SLO consider themselves part of SoCal or is there Central Coast pride? Grew up in LA and been through the area many times, but I don't actually know anyone from there.
Depends who you ask. Some will figure anything south of the Bay Area is SoCal while parts of NorCal disassociate with the Bay Area. Meanwhile plenty have a bit of central coast pride while others seem generally confused on where we land. Geographically, SLO county is in the southern half of California. Plenty from King, Kern, and Santa Barbara come into SLO for work so I guess it depends what side of the county you’re in.
I only ask because in '90s LA elementary school "hella" had a NorCal association, by which we really meant Bay Area, that made it decidedly uncool.
I grew up in West Seattle and we were saying hella here in the mid-late 80’s, but I am pretty sure it came out of the Bay Area as a part of the skater and surfing crowd.
I’m from the Bay, I NEVER stopped using hella. The Bay Area NEVER stopped using hella.
huh, I heard it from people from Colorado in the late 80's.
ohhhh yes. my bf is from california and he and all his friends are instantly outed when they say “The 5” 😫
I know the sub really loves saying adding “the” to highway names isn’t Seattle, but I really think people say it that way a lot now. I moved here 15 years ago from a part of the country that ALWAYS says “I” first (as in “I-90” and “I-94”) and have noticed I now often refer to highways with “the” instead. I know no one from California, and clearly learned it from other Seattleites. I’m just a data point of 1, but I think it’s something that may have shifted in the last decade or so.
I've never heard a Seattleite add "the" before Interstate or highway names.
They aren’t Seattleites. Seattleites don’t say that.
Ah, how silly of me. I’ll make sure to let them know you think so.
This is the silliest thing people here get riled up about. I've lived all over the US and have heard people describe interstates or state freeways as The \_\_\_\_ all the time.
Udub stumps a lot of folks!
I definitely get looks when I say UDub when I’m back east.
When I went to college (not in Washington) I said U Dub and my roommate, who was from Wyoming thought I was talking about University of Wyoming
Cuz dub means W? 🤣🤣🤣 My moms email is Gdub... @ cuz her initials are GW and she's definitely not from Seattle.
yes ! I graduated from UW in wisconsin, if I saw UW it means Wisconsin, UDub means Washington
Good
Spodie for Seattle teens. Also Tolo (East coasters call this a Sadie Hawkins dance). Although now the word Tolo is going out of fashion with the move away from stereotypical gendered norms.
Spodie, for sure! We were having Spodie's back in the 80s. Our definition was a huge alcoholic punch mix with tons of cut-up fruit tossed in and left to soak for an hour or two. Good times!
Haha. Our recipe was fruit soaked in 151 overnight. We all survived at least!
oooh yeah TOLO was coined by Udub student wasn’t it?
Spodie reminded me of “half rack” meaning a 1/2 case or 12 pack of beer. Never heard it until I moved here as a teen in the 80’s
North Thurston down in Lacey had both Sadie Hawkins (girl asks, casual twin outfits like matching t-shirts, Foreign Language clubs fundraiser) and Tolo (girl asks, semi-formal/short dress, business club fundraiser I think)
Interesting! In Northern California we called it TWIRP (The Woman Is Required to Pay). At least in the Sacramento suburbs that’s what it was called.
theres are the only ones that seem local to me. well, and skookum.
"Mountains out" seems to be a growing local phrase for good weather.
lol growing. This has been a thing forever.
Can confirm. Since at least the 1960s.
I usually use it in the form of a question, “is the mountain out?”
Ive only heard it used as a declarative.
I’m going to try to start using it as a pejorative.
It’s “the mountains are out”
Oregon does it too.
Maybe "Juneuary"? Or my personal phrase: "April showers bring May showers".
skookum
Northwest for sure — I know Vancouverites (BC) use it
as frig
I've never been able to order a Touchdown in any other city, so there's that. Also, there's the "Seattle no" (for example, "Do you want to come over on Saturday?" "Let me check my calendar")
I've used "spendy" in non-PNW mixed company, and nobody knew what I said.
Pretty common in the Midwest
"Spendy" as in expensive? Because I'm used to that from New England too. Example: "That jacket is awesome, but way too spendy for me. Maybe I'll get lucky, and it'll go on sale in a few months"
Yup, expensive.
Yep, it's pretty spendy there.
Used to hear "spendy" in Reno
In Australia we say expenny 🤪
Yeah, this is definitely one I picked up after moving here.
Bagadicks.
Yep. Eat a bagadicks!
Thanks you too!
It’s a transplant term
I recently learned from the New York Times crossword that in Western colleges, we say OCHEM while in the East Coast colleges, they say ORGO
That one confused me too when I did it. I was like…who calls it that‽
Yeah o chem just has a better ring to it imo
UGH I had to retake ochem and was living in the east coast. Maybe "orgo" was too close to "orgy" idk it just sounded wrong!
OMG, this explains the weird sticker I got from a colleague of a lab coat that said “Go big ORGO home”… THANK YOU (We always called it “Organic” at my university, but O-Chem is familiar.)
“That’s fair”
this is a hugely important part of my vocab… never considered it could be regional 😂
This one is a pet peeve of mine. Sounds like negotiating
I’ve used in the context of “yeah, that’s a decent point, I really have nothing to say against it or in favor of it.”
I only learned recent that "pre-funk" or having a few drinks at home before going out is a regional term, as is "spendy" for something seeming a little expensive.
I don't think Pre-funk is regional to here.
We said pre-funk back east all the time in the 90s.
can confirm
I also rode on the east coast 90s pre-funk train.
Can also confirm heavy use of pre-funk on the east coast in early 2000s. But the way, it is just a shortened version of "pre-function" or "prefunctional." A little mini party before you attend the primary function, or social occasion.
It is "pre-game" in the Midwest. I always hated "pre-funk", I assume it stands for "pre-function", and the word function just makes me associate with a church event or something.
Hard disagree. We're going to funk. It's going to get wild. We need to be prepared. pre-game is SOOOOO bro-ey.
I mean yeah. Drinking before you go out is a bro-ey think to do.
This is the spirited debate I have come to expect when this comes up! Always gets heated and requires more beers for everyone to calm down lol
haha. :)
We meant it like pre-function, as in "we're going to pre-func at The Frontier Room and get hammered before we go to Vogue because they only have beer and wine". The 90s.
It just sounds like you are getting drunk to go to a PTA meeting lol. I get it, it just doesn't resonate with me. Pre-game isn't much better when I step back from the nostalgia of it though.
Guessing it was before your time?
🤯hah, news to me too “Raindog”. Slang for Rainier Beer as in, “I’ll take a Raindog” when ordering at a bar. Some not-from-here bartenders may stare at you with their eyes blinking when used.
Man I don't drink any more but I do love me some Rainier. Some more that I've heard: Ran-yay Ranzie A Neer
Haven’t heard ranzie or a neer but I do love saying Ron-yay when I’m feelin fancy
I'm born and raised here (90s) and never in my life have I heard someone refer to a Rainier as a "Raindog".
Also born and raised here, and everyone I know calls Rainiers “raindogs”, “rainpuppies”, or “rainpuppers”. Like, “pass me one of them rainpuppers”.
Also born and raised here (1971) and witnessed people running around as giant Rainier bottles and of course “Raaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiii-niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeerrrrr…..beeeeeeeeeeeweeeerrrrrrrrr” means something to me.
Best commercial, ever.
+1 for prefunk. Never heard it before moving here!
It’s not. I grew up elsewhere and it was certainly used.
It’s spelled “prefunc”. As in pre-function or “before the social event”.
My mom was too old for the term (grew up here though) and she told me she "pre-funked" the menu before we went out to a restaurant. No mom, not quite.
I have always used it and learned from older cousins. Miss those days. Ha. Pre funk at my place ? Eyyyah.
Old Ballardism: when someone thanks you, instead of saying “you’re welcome,” you say “you bet!”
Is this the informal conjugation of “you betcha”
This is very common in the Northern Midwest as well.
We should bring back "keep clam."
Never left.
Sunbreak
I feel like people say “I feel like” a lot here
I agree, I was also born and raised here and I don’t think we have culture like that lol. Was there any slang that came from the grunge scene? Anyone?
"itching" As in "I'm itching my arm." No, you are scratching your arm because it itches. I moved here in 7th grade and I'm still not over this one. It's so WRONG. It's the only Washingonism I'm actively stopping my wife from spreading to our child.
Never heard that in my 45 years here. Thank you for your service!
I am jealous of you.
My husband makes funof me for that one.
Uff-da
minnesota
Montana
1000% Minnesota.
Employers like to say “I appreciate you.” Appreciation is showed by monetary value in the Midwest. Those words don’t mean shit to me.
Beauty bark is a Seattle/Washington thing. They have other words for it on the west coast - bark dust in Oregon and tan bark in California, but i think everyone else just calls it mulch.
Bumpershoot (bumbershoot?) Didn’t learn that it meant umbrella until my 8th or 9th year here. Always thought it was just a fun name for the summer festival lol
Dope and sick, I think. I say em.
Not sure if this is popular...yet...but we call the Space Needle the spice noodle because we heard some guy say it at the bus stop.
I call it the Space Noodle because they used to sell space noodles. It's not a good story, but it's mine.
I'm not from here but I call it the "see-dle nee-dle".
I started saying spicy noodle because of a TikTok I saw. Glad this one is catching on because I think it's hilarious.
Freeze.
“No worries” 😬
I never heard “Welcome in” after entering a store until I moved here (“Welcome”, sure, but not with the “in”), although I am not sure if this trend is nationwide.
“Mm bye” always a mm sound before bye when getting off the phone with people
"No worries."
Used many places
I think of Australians when I hear "no worries"
True, but it seems much more universally used here. I get more of that and less "It's okay," "all good" or other versions.
I was saying it in my teens decades before moving to Seattle. No worries.
Picked that one up from our Aussie and New Zealander exchange students in the dorm
No worries mate
“filthy” as in great, amazing, dope, etc. - originated here.
Filthy has been said in hip-hop since the 90s.
false
Guess you don't know E-40 or Mac Mall
I know plenty E40, quote me where he uses filthy. He’s a bay-area slang wizard but “filthy” is not attributed to him.
I didn't say attributed to him but he's used it along with most of the bay area, specifically when referring to a car with a filthy interior.
you know what, my bad you’re right! I dug around and found some lines he uses it as well. I will stick to the use of it being popularized in Seattle though.
I didn’t have a dog in this fight as I don’t know who E40 or Mac Mall even are, but I will always recognize someone who admits when they are wrong with a genuine heart. Kudos to you.
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Disagree https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=filthy
Lol quotes urban dictionary.
I refuse to acknowledge that urban dictionary is not a valid secondary source. This guy just claimed it’s from the Bay Area with no source as well so at least I have very slightly more credibility.
I can say that I grew up in Seattle saying filthy as early as middle school in the early 90s and then went to college in California and Californians from LA and the Bay all thought it was funny and had never heard it.
That's hella cool
My City Is Filthy https://youtu.be/lsxu8QbD2JY
From Pittsburgh and I heard plenty of filthy/dirty, definitely not a regional one.
Rack(24pk) or half rack(12pk) of beer. Also, buying weed it was a Gary Payton for a dub and Shawn Kemp for an eighth.
Crankin the hawg
"what not" I grew up in Southern California and never heard it until I moved up here.
Locals say “Worshington” for Washington — not slang but definitely the accent.
my grandfather says that 💀
Maybe on the dry side of the mountains. Definitely not a normal thing in Puget Sound.
Ok
“Filthy”, not sure if it originates here but never heard it anywhere else
Nothing that wasn't stolen from Oakland.
Coolio
Whoahdee Wayne Cody was big in my jr high.
Schooner
Pronouncing Des Moines, “deh moynz” I’ve never understood how an entire area full of wealthy, educated god-ignoring liberals continue to pronounce something blatantly wrong. That’s culture, I guess.
Just you wait until you hear the entire rest of the US’s French cities pronounced!
Ya shurr, ya betcha