9 Massachusetts Sayings That Sound Rude to Out-of-Staters but Aren’t

Tell a Boston driver you’re lost, and you may be told to bang a U-ey at the next light.

Many out-of-staters wince at those words.

Here are the Massachusetts sayings that often sound rude to visitors, and what locals mean by them.

1. So Don’t I

Tell a coworker in Boston that you have a dog, and you may hear “so don’t I” in reply.

To many visitors, that sounds like a flat disagreement.

The field guide from WBUR, Boston’s public radio station, defines it as a way to say me too, so your coworker has a dog as well.

Despite the “don’t,” you’re hearing a yes.

2. No Suh

Time Out Boston’s slang list translates “no suh” as “no sir” or “no way.”

Mention a surprising price to a local, and the rushed reply shows surprise at what you said.

It’s often pronounced as one word.

Many out-of-staters hear a curt refusal in it, but you’re getting a reaction to your news.

3. Yah No

In local slang, “yah no” means no chance, and it pairs with “yah huh,” which means yes way.

If you ask about a long shot, “yah no” is a plain no, even though many newcomers hear a speaker who can’t pick a side.

4. Wicked

Merriam-Webster defines the adverb “wicked” as very or extremely, and its example is a car that goes wicked fast.

A friendly “wicked good” can sound like a threat to some tourists, but a local who calls your chowder wicked good is praising it.

5. Pissah

To many out-of-towners, “pissah” sounds like an insult.

The word means awesome, and locals sometimes pair it with wicked as “wicked pissah.”

It’s often used in jest or sarcasm, and Bostonians are divided on whether people say it at all.

If a local calls your new hat wicked pissah, you may be getting a compliment or a joke.

6. Bang a U-Ey

To a lot of drivers from other states, being told to bang a U-ey sounds like a threat to the car.

It means making a U-turn in traffic, and Time Out Boston’s slang list jokes that the turn you’re being told to make is likely an illegal one.

7. I’m Hip

If you tell a local about a bakery you found, “I’m hip” may be the reply.

The phrase means the local already knows about it, though some transplants hear smugness in it.

WBUR’s guide shows one speaker saying they just got hip to the local music scene and another answering that they’re hip.

8. On Dead Dawgs

A wild story you hear may end with “on dead dawgs,” which sounds morbid to many out-of-staters.

The phrase, spelled “dead dawgs” or “dead dogs,” is a way to say you’re serious or to stress that the previous statement is true.

When you hear it, the teller is vouching that the story is true.

9. It’s Lookin’ Slow

Some visitors might take “it’s lookin’ slow” as a dig at a place.

The phrase means the place looks empty or not fun, so a local who says it as you walk up to a bar is describing the place.

Friendliness Reputation

A 2021 Boston Magazine column answered a reader’s question about whether Massachusetts is the least friendly state in New England.

The columnist stayed a skeptic of the studies that claim to measure friendliness.

The column cites the travel website Big Seven Travel, which says residents’ indifference toward strangers can wear on visitors.

He still conceded there must be some truth to the assertion.

He also wrote that stereotypes such as the Masshole describe only thin slices of a state of almost 7 million people.

He also noted that in some places people may be warm on the surface but judgmental beneath, so a greeting alone may not tell you much.

Time Out Boston’s slang list defines Masshole as a derogatory term for the state’s residents that locals have reappropriated.

The History of Wicked

Boston.com traces the intensifier you hear in Boston today to an early use in a 1663 play by Thomas Porter, which has the line “a wicked hot day.”

A 1927 Listerine ad used “wicked cold,” and the Boston Globe printed a “wicked good price” in 1934 and a “wicked cold morning” in 1936.

In a Yale survey, about 90 percent of eastern New Englanders accepted the sentence “Jordan wants to go there wicked bad.”

The Word Kid

WBUR’s guide defines “kid” as a term of endearment that doesn’t only apply to children, and it says people use it much like dude.

Time Out Boston’s slang list gives a narrower reading, a term you use for your closest friends.

Locals’ Names for Boston

Bostonians rarely use the nickname “Beantown” with a straight face, WBUR says.

Some locals dislike it, and it’s mostly visitors who say it earnestly.

Time Out Boston’s slang list also has an entry for in town, which says locals refuse to refer to the City of Boston as a city.

If you’re visiting, you can say Boston and skip the nickname.

Sayings Among Younger Speakers

Dartmouth linguist James Stanford launched a 10-year study in 2010 that analyzed the speech of 993 New Englanders, including 80 face-to-face interviews in South Boston.

He found that many traditional features of the Boston accent are fading, especially in younger generations.

The dropped "r" you hear in "pahk the cah" is particularly at risk.

Stanford described the timeline for the accent's end as complex, and a subtler vowel pronunciation could outlast the dropped r.