Dialect in Tacoma: We Say 'Pop' and 'Tennis Shoes'

This post was written by Jennifer Squires and Akiko Oda.

Tacoma residents "mow the lawn" and drink "pop," but we're split on whether the miniature freshwater lobster is called a "crawfish," "crayfish" or "crawdad."

These are just a few of the factoids about language in the United States that are depicted in a new series of maps created by a graduate student in North Carolina State University.

Joshua Katz's maps have gone viral this month, spurring online debate about who says what where and why that is.

On the West Coast, the night before Halloween is simply "October 30th" but Michiganites, it's "Devil's Night." Near Philadelphia, it's "Mischief Night."

The regional differences in the term for a sweetened, carbonated beverage are also pronounced. Texas and many nearby Gulf states call it "coke" while the East Coast and California uses "soda." Here in Washington—as well as much of the Midwest—most people say "pop." Among those surveyed from Tacoma, 66 percent say "pop" and 23 percent use "soda." Another 5.9 percent term it "coke" and 4.3 percent use "soft drink." 

Katz, a graduate student in statistics, made the maps from Bert Vaux's online survey of English dialects. They show the variety of word choice, pronunciation and slang in the United States.

Most Americans in the South and Midwest identify the little gray creature that rolls up in a ball when you touch it as "roly poly". On the other hand, nearly 67.9 percent of Tacoma residents call them "potato bugs" and only 16.7 percent call them "roly poly". In fact, the term "potato bugs" is mostly used in Washington, Oregon and Utah.

Meanwhile, more than 50 percent of Tacoma residents don't think it's correct to refer to coleslaw as "slaw," though that's an appropriate term for the cabbage dish in the South.

In the Pacific Northwest—and throughout the West Coast—a bear claw is a pastry. Elsewhere, people know the term but don't use it.

There's also divide with kitty-corner vs. catty-corner, the later of which being widely used in the South.

West Coasters have garage sales. Yard sales are more of an East Coast thing and, in a tiny area in the Dakotas and Nebraska, the events are called rummage sales.

In total, Katz mapped 122 dialect questions. See them here.

What unique vocabulary do we use in Gig Harbor and Washington? Share your favorite localisms in the comment section below.