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

This post was written by Jennifer Squires and Caitlin Moran.

Shoreline 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. (Lake Forest Park is not individually represented in the project.)

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 Shoreline, 63 percent say "pop" and 28 percent use "soda." Another 4.2 percent term it "coke" and 3.8 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.

The northern half of the U.S. says "garbage can" while the southern half prefers "trash can," though in Shoreline close to one-third of those surveyed reported that the two terms refer to different items. 

Close to 50 percent of Shoreline 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 Shoreline and Washington? Share your favorite localisms in the comment section below.