Each region of the United States
has its own dialect, idioms, and colorful phrases. Pittsburgh, and Western
Pennsylvania, is no exception. Perhaps most famous in the Pittsburghese
lexicography is the use of the word, “Yinz,” or you ones. It is used frequently in Western Pennsylvania to make
informal inquiries or observations, as in “Yinz going to the Steelers game?”
Kennywood is an iconic amusement
park, dating from the late-19th century, in the metropolitan Pittsburgh area.
It is famous among locals and natives as a place of great rides, school outings
and summertime fun. Yet, if you ask or tell a male in Pittsburgh “Kennywood’s
open,” it has a profound effect. You are indicating that the person’s pants
zipper is down. It is widely known and employed, in fact a local restaurant
chain has the phrase on the men’s room door to remind patrons to check their
wardrobe before exiting.
My grandmother, a long-term
resident of Louisville, Kentucky, was fond of saying criticizing people by
saying something was, “Lit up like Levy’s.” The reference was to Levy’s
Brothers Department Store, in downtown Louisville, which had a large and bright
Christmas display each year. If there were too many lights on in the house,
which usually meant she considered it a waste of electricity, they she would
utter the phrase.
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