Lots of buzz about Boston this week because of the DNC convention. I've been catching some of the posts and pictures of the convention from the bloggers because frankly, this event isn't exactly going to create any kind of unforseen news or anything, so the bloggers give interesting updates as to what's going on in the Fleet Center. I wonder if the bloggers were informed of the proper English to use. E.g.:
Y'wanna staht?
Loud, boisterous, bluffing type challenge heard in the Nawt' End. Not intended to start a real fight, really means more like "Ya really stahtin' ta piss me off."
And, Trish and I have argued about the existence of this one since we've been dating (I grew up in Boston you know):
Spuckie
Sometimes, spukie. What some Bostonians still call a sub or hero (there's even a sub shop in Dorchester called Spukies 'n Pizza). Some people refuse to believe it's real, but it must be, because the Middlesex News wrote about it in 1993. From spucadella, a type of Italian sandwich roll you can still buy at some of the bakeries in the North End and Somerville.
David Keene reports: " 'Spuckie' is indeed a Boston word. It is not used much anymore, the older Italians used it. Growing up in Chelsea we alway bought 'spuckies' at Gallo's market. My wife bought spuckies at the Italian stores in Eastie when she was a kid. The word is not used much anymore, because there are so few of us that know what it means." Richard Karasik, meanwhile, recalls that "Santarpio's pizza parlor (in Eastie) was the center of spuckie heaven."
These and many others can be found at Boston-online.
2 comments:
I just found your site, and it's a year old, so probably this won't get read by anyone. Oh well. I'm fifty years old, and I can remember being sent to the local bakery in East Cambridge, MA when I was a child to buy bread. Having to say - Please give me a loaf of Italian bread and six spukies - was always very embarrassing. I was very glad when the term started to fade, although I do in general deplore the homogenization of culture that is taking place.
That's hilarious. My wife and I fight all the time about the existence of spukies.
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