PA dialect question

[targa911S]

Since moving here and not being from here I have noticed the the words "to be" are not in the PA vocabulary. They don't say "It needs to be fixed" They say "It needs fixed" and things like " It needs painted". I've even seen it worded that way in print ads. So why is that? I mean everybody says it that way around here. "Yinz" is grating enough but this makes me crazy.

[on2wheels52]

Here it's "It needed fixin'" and "It needed paintin'"
Jim

[Rick Lee]

I can't even find Valhalla, PA on Google Maps. But you must be near Yinzburg. I went school there and many of my college buddies were from Philly and NJ. We loved making fun of the Yinzers - pahndin' Ahrens dahntahn, shootin' gumbands, watchin' the Stillers, etc. Oh, the dialect is instantly recognizable anywhere in the world.

[bivenator]

Here the proper phrase would be " its fixin to git painted"

[onlycafe]

i see that on occasion too. i think it is more widespread than just pa though.

[targa911S]

valhalla PA is not on any map.

[targa911S]

I'm thinking it may be because of the german/amish influence here. It's a translation thing.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by targa911S

valhalla PA is not on any map.

Oooh. Sounds like a place I need to consider for retirement.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Since moving here and not being from here I have noticed the the words "to be" are not in the PA vocabulary. They don't say "It needs to be fixed" They say "It needs fixed" and things like " It needs painted". I've even seen it worded that way in print ads. So why is that? I mean everybody says it that way around here. "Yinz" is grating enough but this makes me crazy.

I've seen that a lot here on the board, mostly in the for sale section. I didn't know people actual *spoke* that way, I just assumed they were poor writers.

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Oooh. Sounds like a place I need to consider for retirement.

That is exactly what I did.

[red-beard]

People generally write the way they speak.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by red-beard

People generally write the way they speak.

Not me, I speak much worse!!

[dennis in se pa]

It's "colloquial" . I am a native Pennsylvanian, near the "Dutch" and Amish people. Every area of the world has it's own idiocyncracies. Our's are "funner" than some others. PA is a great place to live. You have to leave it for awhile, then come back, to appreciate this. I lived in California for awhile, another friend lived in Colorado. We are both glad to be back. That does not mean we don't want to "winter" in a warmer climate for 3 months.

[9dreizig]

Why don't you "red up yir room" and go to the Jynt Egle. Just stop worrying about how they sound ? I lived in Butler for a while and Greensburg before that.. drove me nuts (the ex wife is from there).
My sympathies my friend

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by bivenator

Here the proper phrase would be " its fixin to git painted"

same here!

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by 9dreizig

Why don't you "red up yir room" and go to the Jynt Egle. Just stop worrying about how they sound ? I lived in Butler for a while and Greensburg before that.. drove me nuts (the ex wife is from there).
My sympathies my friend

I'm not "worried" about it. I just thought it was a good question to ask. man you lived all around me. butler is like 30 miles east of me. Now I'm gonna go get a sammich and a pop.

I moved here from Florida, so they look at me real strange when my "southern" comes out. I'm sure "ya'll" sounds just as funny to them.

[Mericet]

The one that still gets to me after 13 years in the US: "Where you at?" instead of "Where are you"

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by 9dreizig

Why don't you "red up yir room" and go to the Jynt Egle. Just stop worrying about how they sound ? I lived in Butler for a while and Greensburg before that.. drove me nuts (the ex wife is from there).
My sympathies my friend

Yinz are prolly right.

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by Mericet

The one that still gets to me after 13 years in the US: "Where you at?" instead of "Where are you"

One of my friends mentioned that one too.

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

It's "colloquial" . I am a native Pennsylvanian, near the "Dutch" and Amish people. Every area of the world has it's own idiocyncracies. Our's are "funner" than some others. PA is a great place to live. You have to leave it for awhile, then come back, to appreciate this. I lived in California for awhile, another friend lived in Colorado. We are both glad to be back. That does not mean we don't want to "winter" in a warmer climate for 3 months.

Oh I'm deep in Dutch country. My Jynt eggle has a hitching post on the side of the parking lot. By the way I love it here. The nicest people I have ever met.