Example of regional language variation in English
A post this morning asking why so many varieties of Spanish were spoken in Spain got me thinking about regional variations in English in the United States. My father was in the Navy and we moved around a lot when I was a kid, so I heard a lot of different versions of "standard American English".
I was born in Michigan. There we "throw a baseball". When we want someone to throw the ball to us we say, "Throw it here." When I lived in upstate New York all the kids said chuck instead of throw. Throw it here became Chuck it here. When I lived in South Carolina all the kids said chunk intead of chuck. Chuck it here became Chunk it here.
When you're used to getting a pop from the refrigerator and someone tells you to get a soda from the ice box it can be confusing. Anyone who wonders why Spanish words and meanings are so regional has obviously never traveled around their own country very much.
19 Answers
Down south, Atlanta, there is no such thing as soda or pop, only coke. This refers to any carbonated beverage and we will laugh you out the door if we hear pop. We say fridge instead of refrigerator, and you won't hear ice box much. We say y'all for uds. as opposed to yous guys or yins up north (which i just saw in another post).
Let's see: blinkers or turn signals, subs, and there is so much more, but I'm not from the deep south, or even south Georgia. There you will hear about folk and kin, and a whole different language that some of the historic minorities have out in the country.
Question in Atlanta, Georgia, USA:
I'm fixin' ta go to the store. Wanna come?
Translation: I am about to leave to go to the store. Would you like to join me?
You gave two of the most common differences, Kevin... A lot of the differences are more in how we pronounce words. I have gotten grief over how I pronounce the word "wash"... where I grew up, it sounds like "warsh", but a lot of people pronounce it "wosh or wawsh"
A grinder is a sub sandwich and jimmies are chocolate sprinkles. The pharmacy is usually called the drug store.
I am so surprised that you use "jimmies" in New England. That is definitely a regional term used in Philadelphia/NJ area. I tried ordering "jimmies" in Indiana once and they looked at me like I had two heads.
For sub sandwiches, we say "hoagie". "Did you eat?" is translated to "jeet?". If you hear the word "twunny" in Philly, it is referring to the number 20. And of course coffee sounds more like "cawfy".
I think it would be fun if we recorded the different English dialects, words, expressions and accents for others to hear. I have been trying to learn Australian so that I can speak to Ray and Annie, but I have been too busy with Spanish. 
Here is a video (including subtitles) which gives an example of how most people in Philadelphia and South Jersey speak. Even though there are subtitles, probably only Pesta will understand most of it. At times, when overemphasizing, I thought this guy almost sounded southern. But it does give an example of how we butcher the English language 
Jaja, well... one way to tell someone is from New Orleans is if they pronounce it right, and it'll sound like "Nawlinz" or if they're from any southern part of Louisianna outside New Orleans it may sound like "New Awlins". Some even spell it "nawlins" there to relay the point and provoke proper pronounciation from visitors.
For those who don't know New Orleans is a famous and historical city in Louisianna. Louisianna is a a state in the US.
Good point Kevin! I have a few other examples too.
Here in Massachusetts, we say bubbler instead of water fountain and frappe instead of milkshake. Turn signals on a car are usually called the directionals. If something is wicked fast, it's very fast. A grinder is a sub sandwich and jimmies are chocolate sprinkles. The pharmacy is usually called the drugstore.
Interesting Kevin ! Here we may" throw" a game ,if we are caught doing so,
we may "chuck " or "chunder" or " throw up . We" pass" the ball if we do not
pass it we can be either penalised or given an enema.link text
I was in the USA in 1978
Invited to a friend's house - I was shown a "trash compacter"
Later I had forgotten what they called it and referred to it as a "refuse compressor"
They fell about laughing. 
Imagine my puzzled shock when my new father-in-law asked if I wanted a good recipe for loose-meats about 35 years ago. Being new to the family, I just enthusiastically replied that I would love one.
I had no idea what he was talking about until he started reciting a recipe for sloppy joes (barbecued ground beef on a bun).
He is proudly from Western Iowa, served in the Marines on Guadalcanal, and to this day loves his loose-meats!
And, of course "youse" is the common sense plural of you. Your bartender would ask, "What can I get youse guys?"
Interesting! I thought "yous guys" was a Philadelphia/New Jersey thing. There is also "y'all" in the Southern US and "yinz" in SW Pennsylvania/Pittsburgh.
Here in Wisconsin we have French and German influences on our idiom. "Come here once!" is used along the Michigan Lake Shore and "Ain't so?" is at the end of many statements. And, of course "youse" is the common sense plural of you. Your bartender would ask, "What can I get youse guys?"
Some people around me have such a deep southern accent, it's funny.
'ow d' yuh' do? I gunna guh t' thuh sto-ore.
How are you? I'm going to go to the store.
Yes, somehow, store becomes two syllables. Along with 'corn', 'bread', and many, many more.
Comments in Baltimore, Maryland, USA:
He kicked you?! That's so ignorant!
Translation: He kicked you?! That is so rude!
I need wooder!
Translation: I need water!
I guess we've gotten a little off the original question posted.... however....
Can you imagine the confusion of a non-English speaking person if they HEARD this?....... (said very fast) " Where'djago?" For "where did you go?" I hear this a lot in the Chicago/upper midwest area.
The UK has a rich and wide variation, as for Scotland, well, there is Lallans and the Gaelic as well. It all helps your ear. I was a Merchant seaman in my youth and the crew came from all over the UK the wide variety of accents and vocabulary was wonderfully rich.
We used to imitate and caricature each others accents, very good for the ear. As for the 'States, amazing, I remember there was even a subtle change from one city to another as we went up the Great Lakes and of course that took in Canada as well. As for say New York and Texas...hotdamn!!
