Schlep, Schmear, We're Walkin' Here: NYC Wants To Preserve Its Tawk

NEW YORK CITY — Schlep, schmear, I'm walkin' here! Only in New York do people tawk like that.

But locals fear the New York City dialect shared by Ratso Rizzo and Fran Drescher risks dying out, according to a new poll by Writing Tips Institute.

Sixty percent of New Yorkers surveyed said they want New York's dialect, phrases and slang protected by law, the poll found.

"Residents here do not want phrases such as ‘wack!’ (crazy), 'beef' (having a grudge) or 'waiting on line' (or 'in line' everywhere else) to disappear from the local lexicon," a release about the poll states.

Put another way, New Yorkers don't want "fuhgeddaboudit" to be forgotten about.

Language, of course, is both part of identity and something that changes all the time.

Many regional accents and dialects in the U.S. are at risk of disappearing, and efforts have emerged trying to revitalize some of them, a report by The Conversation recently detailed.

The Writing Tips Institute poll noted that the British government took steps to protect Welsh by making it an official language. The poll asked Americans if they wanted the same for their own regional dialects, and New Yorkers said "yerrr."

"Preserving local dialects is important not just for linguistic diversity, but for cultural preservation as well," said Shaun Connell, founder and CEO of Writing Tips Institute, in a statement. "Each state's dialect is a reflection of its history, community, and identity."

Even if New York City's dialect isn't officially protected, it likely will be forever preserved, parodied and skewered in videos such as this.

New Yorkers interested in testing their knowledge of other regional dialects can try this quiz by Writing Tips Institute.