Ah owe no why

Question

I just heard the lady in front of me in line at the cafe, remark to the cashier,

...Ah owe no why I keep on buyin wa'er...

It surprised me that I actually understood her without a doubt: I don't know why I keep on buying water...

If an English learner is immersed in this, I don't know how they could learn English.

What are some of your favorite (or most annoying) verbal contractions.

English or Spanish

Nice thread pesta. I can't understand any of those phrases, however they are mentioned a lot in movies and series. - ianta, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 1

Sumfink always gets me riled.

But one of the most common and to me irritating has to be the use of 'of' in place of 'have.'

I should of known. You should of asked.

You hear all sorts of tripe spewing forth from the mouths of native speakers. But these was the first fings what pacifically sprung to mind

Yea, well said. - annierats, Jan 18, 2012

Sumfink's rotten in the state of Denmark... Has a kinda nice ring to it.... :) :P - pesta, Jan 18, 2012

lol ;)) - territurtle, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 2

One of the most annoying to me is "I wanna ax you somefing."

Translated: I want to ask you something.

I used to have a supervisor who said this to me,and you can imagine how I wanted to answer!!!!

Please be careful, this is part of Afican American dialect. People who say this are not always aware of the sound differences. - Jubilado, Jan 18, 2012

Actually Jubilado, it was not an African American that said that to me. - Jraider, Jan 18, 2012

Interesting. Thanks for letting me know. - Jubilado, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 3

shoulda, woulda, coulda

I remember fellow student in school who actually thought that coulda was a contraction of could of. (it's really "could have")

I often hear "kind of" as "kinda" - and ... "it's kinda like this..." already not proper English usage, then contracted. It would be proper to use "it's somewhat like this..."

I do that a lot. And don't forget "gonna". - Goyo, Jan 18, 2012

I'm a gonna get to it.... :) - pesta, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 4

I'm living in Kentucky right now (original California) here they say and it bugs me,

"Where ya AT?"

They say tha tin Devon, England too.. - annierats, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 5

I heard on a TV show a really great contraction: Ah onna riskit! "I'm going to risk it"

Wasn't annoying but funny.

Annoying: When public speakers of Standard American English say "gonna" for going to and other auditory contractions like shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Answer 6

Mines as a possessive adjective, like to answer, "Whose is this?"

"That's mines."

I hear young people saying this all the time.

They should have also said, "Whoses is this?" hehe :) - pesta, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 7

Here is a complete guide to how Philadelphians and New Yorkers butcher the English language:

Aaeg - Egg

Addi-tood - Attitude

Aeneeding - Anything^

A-ite - Alright

A-ready - Already

Arnch - Orange (Pattie) Also "Aren't you" as in Arnch you glad to see me?

Ac-a-me - Acme Market

Alrighty - Stop it already with alrighty! The word doesn’t exist.

Arn or Eye-urn or Eyern - Clothes Iron.

Aster-ick - Asterisk

Ath-a-lete - Athlete

Ats All, Dat’s All - That’s all

Bat-tree - Battery

Baff-room - Bathroom

Beggles -bagels

Bee-yood-ee-ful - Beautiful

Big Ma-hoff - An ostentatious person; a big shot

Birff-day - Birthday

Bref-fist - Breakfast

Casina - Casino

Caus - Because

Coont - Couldn't

Con-fra-bill - Comfortable

Con-ter-versy - Contraversy

Crown - Crayon

Cump-nee - Company

Dahnashure - At the beach as in Lannick Ciddy, OhCee, Whilewould and the like. The alternative is upamount'ns to the poke-noes

Def-lee - Definitely

Dis, Dat, Dey, Dees, Doze, Dem, Dough - This, That, They, These, Those, Them, Though

Dint - Didn't

Do-in - Doing, as in "Hal ya doin?"

Draff - Draft

Draw - Drawer

E - He

Earl - Oil

Figger - Figure

Fighdollas - Five Dollars

Fluffia - Philadelphia

Fridge, Ice Box - Refrigerator

Fuss-trated - Frustrated

Ga head, GeHead, Gaw head - Go Ahead

Goff-forbid - God forbid

Gun-all - Canoli (the delectable Italian pastry)

Haff - Have

Hal? - How?

Hunnert - Hundred

Husbint - Husband

I-dear - Idea

Iggles - Eagles

Ice-ning - Icing

Ir-regardless - Regardless

Jeet? - Did you eat? No, Jew?- No, did you?

Kel-ler - Color

Lannick Ciddy or Lantic Ciddy - Atlantic City

Laasch, Las - Last

Leck-tric - Electric

Leven - Eleven

Lie-berry - Library

Lot-tree - Lottery

MAC - Local version of an ATM (automated teller machine)

Meer-oe - Mirror

My-en - Mine

MayazWell - May as well

Newsey - Nosey

Nuthin, Nuttin - Nothing

Offen - Often

Ollars - Dollars

Olney - A neighborhood in the Northeast, pronounced AH - LEN - EE or AH - LEH - NEE

Paa-ler - Parlor or living room

Pay-mint - Pavement

Pea-nits - Peanuts

Petique - Petite

Pix-ture, Pitcher - Picture

Pock-a-book - Purse

Plug - Fire Hydrant, specifically when used for first or third base in streetball or a boundryline. Limited neighborhood use, possibly south philly.

Prob-lee - Probably

Rawn - Ruin

Re-dic-liss - Ridiculous

Reg-a-ler - Regular

San-wich, Sang-wich - Sandwich

Sim-u-lar - Similar

Soar, Sol - Saw

Sow-Philly - South Philly, leave off the TH

Sparra-grass - Asparagus

Taawk - Talk

Tal - Towel

Took-en - Taken

Tree - Three

U-mid - Humid

U-min - Human

Ward-er or Whadder or Wooder - Water, H20

WaWa - A local conveniance store similar to but better than 7-11(similar to Oxxo in Mexico

Whaddya? - What do you?

Which-a-ma-callit - The name of a person, place or thing that Alzheimer’s has removed from your memory bank

Whoodaya? - Who do you?

Winda, Win-dill - Window

Wit - With

Wit-out - Without

Woont - Wouldn't

Yesta-day - Yesterday

Yea - Yes

Youse, Yziz - You (plural)

Zink - Sink

Excellent! - pesta, Jan 18, 2012

Wow!Extensive:) - Jraider, Jan 18, 2012

Jeje...Probably more like...."how sad"! :) - Nicole-B, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 8

...Ah owe no why I keep on buyin wa'er...

Oh, my gosh Pesta.....that's Philly at its finest. I am hanging my head in shame.

I will also add a few other Philadelphia specials:

Yo, youz guyz, jeet yet? Ibin waitin twunny minutes for youz!

Did you eat yet? I have been waiting twenty minutes for you!

You wunna cawfee?

Do you want coffee?

Gimmi a cawfee.

May I please have coffee?

and then there is my all time favorite, which I've posted before, but bears repeating:

Haha - that's a classic. Almost "nucular" :) - pesta, Jan 18, 2012

Oh yeah, "gimme" annoys me. I usually answer: "gimme" don't get! - Jubilado, Jan 18, 2012

Our cafe waitress said, "Do yous guys wanna cuppa cwafee?" hehe :) - pesta, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 9

You betcha!

(You bet you, meaning I'll bet you)

I believe that is from the Minnesota area and we also heard that from Sarah Palin. - Nicole-B, Jan 18, 2012

I've heard it in the far-western suburbs of Philadelphia, Lancaster county area. - pesta, Jan 18, 2012

Yes, I betcha that comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch. jeje - Nicole-B, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 10

Here is a complete guide to how Philadelphians and New Yorkers butcher the English language:

The only one I know that's missing from this list is ...

Filuhfia (accent on the "uh". - Philadelphia.

Edit:

Oh, sorry, I see it's there, spelled differently.

Gwan (go on!) is missing, though.

;)) - territurtle, Jan 18, 2012

Good catch. That is a staple for sure!! - Nicole-B, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 11

People who use "an" before a word they pronounce with a voiced "h". This seems to be particularly common among Ivy League graduates and 4th graders.

Did you add this as an historical note? :) - pesta, Jan 18, 2012

Answer 12

This is the actual name of a fast food restaurant in my neighborhood."Wit or Witout" refers to whether you want onions or not on your steak sandwich. If you say "wit", you get onions (or actually unyuns) . If you say "witout" you will not have onions on your cheese steak. And whatever you do....make sure you have made your decision prior to ordering. Anyone who does not know what they want when it comes time to place the order.....

Watch out!!!

Answer 13

There are loads around here, most place names are truncated for example Gloucester is Gloster, or if you have a real local accent, which I haven't, Glawster, Cheltenham is Cheltnum, and when I went to London for an interview the taxi driver didn't understand where I wanted to go until I said Tooin instead of Tooting

Then of course there are the usual gunna=going to, shulda=should have, sumthink=something, innit=isn't it. I am sure we could write an almost endless list.