Learning to speak "Boston"

People not born in or near Boston often get confused by a native's accent and although I've successfully tamed my Boston accent (for the most part) my word choices are a dead give-away for anyone familiar with what I like to refer to as "Boston SLANGuage".

In a previous post I explained why the correct phrase is "bubbler" often pronounced as "bubblah" when referring to a fountain or water fountain... Feel free to revisit this language lesson here.

Normally, I focus on one word per blog entry, because I know how hard it can be to learn to speak proper English, but this image which was from the Boston Globe originally was just too tempting to pass up. I also find it fascinating that it includes what other parts of the country use similar language.

Learning to speak "Boston"

People not born in or near Boston often get confused by a native's accent and although I've successfully tamed my Boston accent (for the most part) my word choices are a dead give-away for anyone familiar with what I like to refer to as "Boston SLANGuage".

The word wicked in recent years (at least in gay circles) conjures up images of a beautiful Broadway musical, but when a Bostonian says the word it has a very different meaning. Wicked, when uttered by a Bostonian (and by the way its said here with a great deal of frequency), is intended as a superlative to stress something. Growing up I probably said something was "Wicked Awesome" a few million times. While it would give my cousins from the mid-Atlantic pause, after a second or two they usually caught on.

Learning to speak "Boston"

People not born in or near Boston often get confused by a native's accent and although I've successfully tamed my Boston accent (for the most part) my word choices are a dead give-away for anyone familiar with what I like to refer to as "Boston SLANGuage".

If you're not from the area you most likely would refer to this first image as a "fountain" or possibly "water fountain". However, you are terribly incorrect in calling this anything but a "bubbler" or if you want to be gauche, bubblah. See the little bubbles of water coming from the bubbler?

Ask anyone in Boston where is the fountain and they will direct you to a water feature in the Boston Public Gardens, Common or maybe on the new Rose Kennedy Greenway. Below, I've included a picture my favorite fountain.

The Trevi Fountain in Rome, which could never be confused with a 'bubbler'

Learning to speak "Boston"

People not born in or near Boston often get confused by a native's accent and expressions or as I like to refer to it the "Boston SLANGuage".

If you're not from the area you may even struggle to say this expression correctly. Don't be shy, its impossible to over-emphasize the second syllable of "Pissa". Incidentally, it is also correct to write this as "Pissah" in my book.

If you hear someone say "Wicked Pissa" what they are saying is something is really awesome. For example, watching the Celtics make the Lakers cry uncle in Sunday afternoon's game this past week was a wicked pissa.

Learning to speak "Boston"

People not born in or near Boston often get confused by a native's accent and expressions or as I like to refer to it the "Boston SLANGuage".

For those not from the area, you may think that this t-shirt above means running very fast. That would be understandable, but incorrect. It is actually referring to Red Sox outfielder, Jacoby Ellsbury.

Jacoby Ellsbury

Images of Back Bay

Brownstones along Newbury Street



Church of the Covenant
Noted for their Tiffany stained glass windows, mosaics and chandelier


The Hancock and Boston Public Library (a.k.a. BPL)


Prudential Building (a.k.a. the Pru)

Boston Slanguage

Translation:  Faster than a speeding bullet

Synonym: Jacoby Ellsbury