TALKING PENNSYLVANIAN

Once a Pennsylvanian, Always a Pennsylvanian !

About Pennsylvanians:  You've never referred to Philadelphia as anything but  'Philly'  and New Jersey has always been  'Jersey'.

We don't go to the beach, we go 'down the shore'.

You refer to Pennsylvania as  'PA'  (Pronounced  Pee - Ay).
How many other states do   that ??

'You guys'  (or even  'youze guys',  in some places)  is a perfectly acceptable reference to a group of men and women.

You know how to respond to the question  'Djeetyet ?'  ( Did you eat yet ?)
You know that the Iggles play football and so do the Stillers.

You learned to pronounce Bryn Mawr, Wilkes - Barre, Schuykill, the Poconos, Tamaqua, Kutztown, Tunkahannock, Bala Cynwyd, Duquesne and Monongahela.  also Conshohocken.

And we know Lancaster is pronounced  Lank - ister,  not  Lan-kaster.

You know what a 'State Store' is, and your out- of -state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at the mini-mart.

Words like  'hoagie',  'crick',  'dippy eggs',  'sticky buns',  'shoo-fly pie',  'lemon sponge pie',  'pierogies'  and  'pocketbook'  actually mean something to you.  (By the way, that last one's PA  slang for a purse!)

You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know it comes in several colors.

You know the difference between a cheese steak and a pizza steak sandwich, and you know that you also can't get a really good one anywhere outside of the Philly area.  (Except maybe in Atlantic City on the boardwalk.)


You know that Blue Ball,  Intercourse,  Paradise,  Climax,  Bird-in-Hand,  Beaver,  Moon,  Virginville,  Mars,  Bethlehem,  Hershey,  Indiana,  Sinking Spring,  Jersey Shore,  State College,  Washington Crossing,  Jim Thorpe,  King of Prussia,  Wind  Gap,  and Slippery Rock are all PA towns...... and the first three were consecutive stops on the old Reading RR!  (PS  -  That's pronounced Redd-ing.)

You can identify drivers from New York,  New Jersey,  Maryland or other neighboring states by their unique and irritating driving habits.

A traffic jam in Lancaster County is 10 cars waiting to pass a horse - drawn carriage on the highway.  (And remember that's  Lank - ister!)

You know several people who have hit deer more than once.

Driving is always better in winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

As a kid you built snow forts and leaf piles that were taller than you were.

You know beer doesn't grow in a garden, but you know where to find a beer garden.

This is scary,  isn't it !

Yeah !    That's good OL'  'PA'   And We Love It !

F. Y. I.

Light Bulb Moment
Researchers estimate that your brain gives off about the same amount of electricity as a 60 watt light bulb.

Quotable
By Benjamin Franklin
"Those things that hurt instruct".

State Stats
Dove Creek, Colo., is the Pinto Bean Capital of the world.

Still On The Books
In Juneau, Alaska, flamingo owners may not let their pets enter a barbershop.

Did You Know ?
Our bones are more than 50 percent water.

No Kidding
Most cows give more milk when they listen to music.

NOW YOU KNOW

• On April 13, 1743, the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, was born in Shadwell, Va..
• On April 14,1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth during a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington.
• On April15, 1947, Jackie Robinson put on his first Brooklyn Dodgers uniform (Number 42) and broke the Major League Baseball "color line".
• On April 16, 1947, the French ship Grandcamp blew up at the harbor in Texas City, Texas; another ship, the High Flyer, exploded the following day.  The blasts and resulting fires killed nearly 600 people.
• On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.
• On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.  (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.)
• On April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in Colorado as two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.
• On April 21, 1836, an army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas independence.
• On April 22, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson opened the New York World's Fair.
• On April 23, 1985, the Coca-Cola Co. announced it was changing the secret flavor formula for Coke (negative public reaction forced the company to resume selling the original version).
• On April 25, 1945, during World War 2, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River in a meeting that dramatized the collapse of  Nazi Germany's defense.

F. Y. I.

State Stats
The chickadee is the official state bird of Maine.

Did You Know ?
Cold water weighs more than hot.

Quotable
By Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady (1884 - 1962)
"Great minds discuss ideas.  Average minds discuss events.  Small minds discuss people".

So Called
The winged hat worn by the ancient Grek god Hermes (or, in Roman mythology, Mercury) was called a "petasos".

In Other Worlds
Donald Duck comics were once banned from Finland because Donald doesn't wear pants.

No Kidding
Leather has enough nutritional value to sustain life for a short time.

F. Y. I.

Morning Crunch
Apples, not caffeine, are reportedly more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

No Kidding
Beethoven was called "hopeless as a composer" by his teacher because he awkwardly handled the violin and, rather than improving his technique, preferred playing his own compositions.

State Stats
Bloomer, Wis., is the Jump Rope Capital of the world.

The Philly File
Oysters were consumed in such mass quanties in the 19th century that discarded shells were used to pave streets and build wharves along the Delaware River.

Quotable
By Benjamin Disraeli formerBritish prime minister (1804 - 1881)
"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own".

Did You Know ?
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

NOW YOU KNOW

• On April 1, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971.
• On April 2, 2010, on this date five years ago, Pope John Paul 2nd, who'd helped topple communism in Europe and left a deeply conservative stamp on the church that he'd led for 26 years, died in his Vatican apartment at the age of 84.
• On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death at the Lorrainre Motel in Memphis, Tenn. James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to assassinating King, then spent the rest of his life claiming his innocence before dying in prison in 1998.
• On April 5, 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death following their conviction in New York on charges of conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.
• On April 6, 1909, American explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson and four Inuits became the first men to reach the North Pole.
• On April 7, 1860, Will Keith Kellogg, founder of cereal maker Kellogg Co., was born in Battle Creek, Mich..
• On April 8, 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon and his expedition began exploring the Flordia coastline.
• On April 9, 1942, American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces; the surrender was followed by the notorious Bataan Death March which claimed thousands of lives.
• On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off on its ill-fated mission to the moon.  (Although the spacecraft was crippled when an oxygen tank ruptured in mid-flight, the crew managed to return safely.)
• On April 12, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.

NOW YOU KNOW

• On March 19, 1918, Congress approved Daylight Saving Time.
• On March 22, 1978, Karl Wallenda, the 73-year old patriarch of "The Flying Walleddas" high-wire act, fell to his death while attempting to walk a cable strung between two hotel towers in Puerto Rico.
• On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry delivered an address to the Virginia Provincial Convention in which he is said to have declared, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"
• On March 24, 1989, the supertanker Exxon Valdez, ran aground on a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and began leaking 11 million gallons of crude oil.
• On March 25, 1911, 146 people, mostly female immigrants, were killed when fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. in New York.
• On March 26, 1979, a peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and witnessed by President Jimmy Carter at the White House.
• On March 28, 1979, America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the Unit 2 reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Dauphin County.
• On March 29, 2910, on this date five years ago, as Archbishop Wood graduate Terri Schiavo entered her 12th full day without food or water, the Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed with her parents and joined conservatives in calling for Flordia lawmaker to order her feeding tube reinserted.
• On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriosly injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr.
• On March 31, 1880, Wabash, Ind., became the first town in the world to be illuminated by electrical lighting.

F. Y. I.

Of Note
Owls are one of the only birds that can see the color blue.

Did You Know ?
The smaller the size of a berry, the sweeter its taste.

Still On The Books
In Pennsylvania, dynamite is not to be used to catch fish.

Quotable
By George Burns
"I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate."

In Proximity
Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental United States, and Zabriskien Point, the lowest point in the United States, are less than 80 miles apart.

State Stats
New York was the first state to require license plates on cars.

F. Y. I.

Quotable
By T.S. Eliot, American Poet
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."

State Stats
The beehive, the state symbol of Utah, represents thrift and industry.

Early Aspirations
Robert Redford attendend the university of Colorado on a baseball scholarship.

So Called
Someone who speaks through clenched or closed teeth is called a dentiloquist.

Back Then
The only animal that was allowed into an ancient Roman temple was a cat.

Still On The Books
In Massachusetts, no gorilla is allowed in the back seat of any car.