Boston English

by Dana Lynn Wilson

"Ahftah the Bawhston Tea Potty, the Waw of Independence stotted and Ameriker was bawn."


Pleashaw - state of feeling of being pleased. "I don't remembah our being introduced, but it's a pleashaw to meet yuh."
Moa - the opposite of less and rhymes with boa. "Foa moa, please?"
Bawn - brought forth by birth. "Being bawn in Bahwston isn't a mattah of life and death. It's moa impawtant."
Pock - to place a vehicle in a stationary position. "What do yuh mean I cahn't triple-pock my cah? This is Bawhston isn't it?"
Shut - a garment for the upper torso, typically with sleeves and collar. "This shut hahse bean in the family for generations."
Ouwah - a unit of sixty minutes of time. "I've bean waiting an ouwah for yuh."
Goggle - mouthwash. "A salt wotta goggle is excellent for a soa throat."
Otter - a command. "Yuh bettah follow the doctah's otters."
Motch - to walk a military cadence. "History outside of Bawhston? The Minutemen didn't motch on Broadway, did they?"
Awnt - the wife of an uncle. "My awnt's a Cabot. Who's yuhr's?"
Lodge - the opposite of small. "Ah yuh referring to my feet as lodge?"
Impawtant - significant, noteworthy. "Of course, Benjamin Franklin is an impawtant man. He was bawn in Bawhston."
Waw - a conflict carried on by force of arms. "The Waw of Independence was stotted by the Stamp Act."
Shock - a large, ferocious marine fish. "Ah, ha, ha, ha! Yuh cahn't get a shock in fresh wotta."
Awt - the quality, production, or expression according to aesthetic principles of what is beautiful. "I've hud theyah's places called awt museums outside of Bawhston. But do they hahve awt?"
Bach - the sound a dog makes. "That dog's bach is awful."
Pawn - the abbreviation for obscene literature. "We don't ban pawn in Bawhston. We civilize it."
Shop - shrewd, astute. "If yuh're so shop, wheyah's your school tie?"
Weathuh - the state of the atmosphere defined by temperature, moisture, wind velocity, and pressure. "The weathuh? Now theyah's a stimulating topic."
Gull - a young female. "They didn't allow gulls in Hahvod in my day!"
Cod - a small, flat piece of stiff paperboard for playing bridge and other games. "I sawr that cod up yuhr sleeve."
Alahm - a call to arms or warning or danger. "And then Paul Revere rode out to sound the alahm."
Faughty - the number between 39 and 41. "We'll discuss promotions when yuh're faughty."
Such - to make a probe or careful investigation. "Such the records. My ancestahs didn't just sail on the Mayflowah. They built it."
Sauce - one that supplies information. "This awticle doesn't identify its sauces."
Cuber - the Caribbean island ruled by Fidel Castro. "Havanner. Yuh know, on the seashaw of Cuber."
Hod - difficult. "Yes, it's hod to know if the streets or the buildings came fust in Bawhston. But anyone who was bawn heyah knows."
Cawn - a tall cereal grass with kernels on large ears. "No doubt the Pilgrims wuhdah stahved without cawn."
Caught - the room in which trials are held. "So what, if the judge's caught is without heating and lights. It has an historic plaque!"
Cotton - a cardboard box. "Oh, I nevah through out an egg cotton. They may be valuable someday."
Cuppachowdah - a creamy stew of clams, potatoes, and onions served in a cup. "I ottered crackuhs with my cuppachowdah."
Hot - the muscular organ that pumps blood. "Mothah, don't break my hot! Everyone else approves of her."
Alogy - hypersensitive reaction to the environment. "Ahchoo! It's my alogy again."
Sot - a type or class of similar persons or things. "My fathuh was the sot who nevah drank."
Draw - a compartment in a chest for storing clothes. "That smotts. Yuh closed the draw on my fingah."
Altah - to change. "Altah Bawhston? Nevah!"
Fauce - to impose an action through power or strength. "When it comes to membahship, we prefer our own sot at the Union Club. Yuh cahn't faucet."
Potty - a social gathering. "The Bawhston Tea Potty was a wawning to the British."
Dock - the opposite of light. "The lantons of the old Nawth Church bunned in the dock to alert the Minutemen."
Hahbah - a port for sheltering ships and boats. "I know yuh've a yawht ankodd in Bawhston Hahbah. But is it a Twelve-Meter?"
Drawering - a sketch made with pencil, pen, or crayon. "Eighteen-century drawerings? Ahn't they a bit nouveau for our awt museum?"
Kneelee - almost. "Yuh kneelee shotchanged me a nickel!"
Dot - a small, slender missile, usually feathered at one end and pointed at the other. "Aim the dots at the dotbawd."
Sutton - definite, indisputable. "Oh, I'm sutton Abagail mayreed John Adams in the Weymouth Meeting House. My great-great-great grandfathuh was theyah."
Flaw - the surface of the room on which one stands. "I cahn covar any flaw with a rug."
Propuh - correct. "Is Bawhston the only place in Ameriker wheya propuh English is spoken?"
Tot - a small fruit-filled pie without an upper crust. "May I recommend my tots for breakfast?"
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