IJMC - A Boston Primer

I need to remember that my body absorbs liquids much faster after twenty 
miles of biking. I know I am having trouble remembering what all I had 
wanted to write in this and the next blurb. Which reminds me of one 
thing, I head out of town tomorrow to help celebrate my grandmother's 
85th birthday. Since I will be out of town for a few days, I have sent 
out a few extra posts in the past week and I will finish with one extra 
tonight and then pick back up next week when I return. So read slow if 
you think there is a chance you will end up deprived over the weekend. 
Which I doubt, so do not mind me. Mmm, good liquid.                -dave


 YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM BOSTON IF...

  1. You think of Philadelphia as the midwest.
  2. You think it's your God-given right to cut someone off in traffic.
  3. You think there are only 25 letters in the alphabet (no R's).
  4. You think three straight days of 90+ temperatures is a heat wave.
  5. All your pets are named after Celtics or Bruins.
  6. You refer to 6 inches of snow as a "dusting."
  7. Just hearing the words "New York" puts you in an angry mood.
  8. You don't think you have an attitude.
  9. You always 'bang a left' as soon as the light turns green,
     and oncoming traffic always expects it.
 10. Everything in town is "a five minute walk."
 11. When out of town, you think the natives of the area are all whacked.
 12. You still can't bear to watch highlights from game 6 of the 1986 
     World Series. 
 13. You have no idea what the word compromise means.
 14. You believe using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.
 15. You don't realize that you walk and talk twice as fast as
     everyone else.
 16. You're anal, neurotic, pessimistic & stubborn.
 17. You think if someone is nice to you, they must want something,
     or are from out of town.
 18. Your favorite adjective is "wicked."
 19. You think 63 degree ocean water is warm.
 20. You think the Kennedy's are misunderstood.

 WHEN WE SAY/WE MEAN...
 bizah = odd
 flahwiz = roses, etc.
 hahpahst = 30 minutes after the hour
 Hahwahya? = How are you?
 khakis = what we staht the cah with
 pissah = superb
 retahded = silly
 shewah = of course
 wikkid = extremely
 yiz - you, plural
 popcahn - popular snack

 HOW WE'LL KNOW YOU WEREN'T BON HEAH:
 You wear a Harvard sweatshirt.
 You cross at a crosswalk.
 You ask directions to "Cheers."
 You order a grinder and a soda.
 You follow soccer.
 You eat at Durgin Park.
 You pronounce it "Worchester" or "Glouchester".
 You call it "COPEly" Square.

 GETTING AROUND:
 Pay no attention to the street names. There's no school on School 
 Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on 
 Water Street. Back Bay streets are in alphabetical odda. Arlington, 
 Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D.
 If the streets are named after trees (Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on
 Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets, you're in Wellesley.
 All avenues are properly referenced by their nicknames: Comm Ave, Mass
 Ave, Dot Ave. Dot is Dorchester, Rozzie is Roslindale, JP is Jamaica 
 Plain. Readville doesn't exist. 

 THE NORTH-EAST-SOUTH-WEST THING:
 Southie is South Boston. The South End is the South End. Eastie is East
 Boston. The North End is east of the West End. The West End and Scollay 
 Square are no more - a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night.

 DEFINITIONS:
 Frappes have ice cream; milk shakes don't.
 If it's fizzy and flavored, it's tonic. Soda is club soda.
 Pop is Dad.
 When we mean tonic WATER, we say tonic WATER.
 The smallest beer is a pint.
 Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish.
 If you paid more than $6 a pound, you got scrod.
 It's not a water fountain, it's a bubblah.
 It's not a trash can, it's a barrel.
 It's not a shopping cart, it's a carriage.
 It's not a purse, it's a pockabook.
 Brown bread comes in a can. You open both ends, push it out, heat it 
 and eat it with baked beans.
 They're not franks, they're haht dahgs. Franks are money in France.

 THINGS NOT TO DO:
 Don't call it Beantown.
 Don't pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd. They'll tow it to Meffa (Medford) 
 or Slumaville (Somerville).
 Don't swim in the Charles, no matter what Bill Weld tells you.
 Don't sleep in the Common.
 Don't wear orange in Southie on St. Patrick's Day.

 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
 There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses, two
 Hancock buildings (one old, one new).
 Route 128 is also I-95. It is also I-93.
 It's the Sox, the Pats (or Patsies if they're losing), the Seltz, the 
 Broons.
 The underground train is not a subway. It's the T, and it doesn't
 run all night (fah chrysakes, this ain't Noo Yawk).
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