What do you call it – a hero sandwich, a sub, a grinder, some other regional name for a tasty sandwich on a long roll? It likely depends on where you live.
How about a bear claw – if, to you, that is "a large sweet pastry shaped like a bear’s paw" you may be from the west, or possibly New York, but most likely not in the mid-west.
In New Jersey we called them "staties" but in another state, that term would draw strange looks – "state trooper" would be the accepted term.
Throughout American, regional phrases to name the most common items are found.
What is the Dictionary of American Regional English?
The Dictionary of American Regional English is "a multi-volume reference work that documents words, phrases, and pronunciations that vary from one place to another across the United States."
According to Joan Houston Hall, chief editor of the DARE, creating this vast dictionary is "a massive effort to collect and record local differences in American English." Four volumes are now in print covering A-Sk- and the fifth, and last, volume is scheduled for publication in 2011.
In the works since 1965, the project was based on face-to-face interviews with people in all 50 states, as well as letters, diaries, newspapers, and many other print sources. The project still relies on input from real people living all over the US as the final volume is completed.
At present, they are looking for help detailing a variety of phrases, including this sampling taken from the DARE website:
- tax strip – “Strip of grass between sidewalk and street.” There is one Ohio reference for this.
- slatch – “An interval of good weather, a respite.” All of the evidence is from Nantucket. Is this phrase still used there or elsewhere? "What about the corresponding adjective, slatchy?"
- stiff starch – “A children’s game.” DARE has evidence of the name from Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, but they don’t know what the game is.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to the project can visit the Help Us section of the DARE website.
How to Use the DARE?
The Dictionary of American Regional English is not available online, but they do have a sampling of entries that teachers can access and use with their classes. There is also a list of 100 interesting words that could form the basis for many classroom discussions. The website also has a series of educational resources, quizzes, articles and lesson ideas including a downloadable PDF called "DARE in the Classroom" by Joseph Algeo.
A Few Classroom Activities
Teachers could build lessons around the quizzes that are listed in the educational resources section. Each of those could be used to reinforce dialect and regional use concepts. Here are a few to try – can you match these:
- davenport
- kitten
- maple bar
- flapjack
- walking stick
with these:
- dust bunny
- praying mantis
- chesterfield
- griddle cake
- long john
The answers can be found on the DARE site. There five quizzes, with answers, in all.
The Dictionary of American Regional English will give teachers many opportunities to enrich their students' vocabulary and build on the idea that we all have a dialect. Various words and phrases could add a bit of color to regional Social Studies lessons, and finding unusual synonyms would enhance many an English class.
As the DARE website says, "Word lovers of all stripes will delight not just in the entry words, but also in the quotations that illustrate their use. Open the pages of DARE and browse: you'll be amazed by the treasures of our language as it reflects the richness and diversity of our culture."
Source:
Hall, Joan Houston. "How to Speak American." Newsweek, August 9, 2010.
Dictionary of American Regional English
Dictionary of American Regional English. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press/Belknap Press, 1985-2002.
