Where do you speak like?

[Crackpot]

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013 ... 08400&_r=0

[Lord Jim]

New York, Newark/Patterson, and (Lord gimme strength) Yonkers...

That pretty much tells me everything I need to know about the validity of this...

Apparently I received this shame for using the word "sneakers" (which I think is probably more of a generational thing then a regional one...)

[Crackpot]

It was right of me though I do have a few regional giveaways (pop and devils night (apparently))

[Econoline]

My "three most similar cities" were Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Minneapolis/St.Paul. (Wait, that's 4 cities...don't they know how to count in Michigan and Minnesota?) When I look at the coloration on the accompanying map they showed with my results, it looks like Chicago is also a very good match--better than Minneapolis/St.Paul, in fact.

I'm guessing that the main reason it seems like I'm from Michigan is that I knew of the term "devil's night", but that's just me; most people around here don't call that night anything special at all unless, like me, they happen to be familiar with the Detroit term. I do have a number of connections to people and places in Michigan, but I was born in Chicago and have lived here all my life (so far ).

[Crackpot]

You probably missed the "sub" question doesn't Chicago have it's own regional name for them?

[Big RR]

Pegged me from the northeast; the same results as Jim (and I called them sneakers as well).

[Lord Jim]

When I look at the map that was created, mine makes more sense than the matches they came up with...

The area from the mid-Atlantic down through the upper south is also pretty red, which is what I would have expected...

But Newark and Yonkers as my closest matches?

[Econoline]

Nah, CP... AFAIK they're "submarine sandwiches" or "subs" here too. And pop is pop here too. (It also said "kitty-corner" was a regional slang term common to those other cities, but I and my family have always used that term and never used any of the other terms mentioned in that question.)

[Lord Jim]

My father who was from North Carolina and most of the older southern people I've known use the term "supper", but so did Ralph Kramden, so go figure...

[oldr_n_wsr]

New York, Yonkers and Newark/Paterson.
Oh what a surprise.
Don't think they broke it down to Lawn-Guy-Land as an answer.

[Crackpot]

Nah, CP... AFAIK they're "submarine sandwiches" or "subs" here too. And pop is pop here too. (It also said "kitty-corner" was a regional slang term common to those other cities, but I and my family have always used that term and never used any of the other terms mentioned in that question.)

I thought "Grinders" was a Chicago term. That one recently made inroads round here (people will no longer stare at you blankly for saying it)

[oldr_n_wsr]

heros and soda
(took me a while to understand "subs" and "pop" when I went to school in Buffalo NY)

[Sue U]

The sandwiches are called hoagies. And properly should be made with an Amoroso's (or Aversa's) roll.

"Hoagies," "mischief night" and "sneakers" put me in the Philadelphia-Newark/Paterson-Yonkers complex, with the map the deepest red pretty much right on top of my house, so I'm not going to complain about accuracy. My accent is not nearly as bad as the typical South Jersey or Philadelphia accent, but I do use all the same vocabulary and regionalisms.

[Big RR]

Crackpot--I've heard grinders used in Vermont and New Hampshire while skiing (in radio ads and on signs) as well as in Philadelphia (I always thought it was a Philadelphia term, perhaps Sue would know).

oldr--when I was a kid in Brooklyn we called them heroes (or hero sandwiches), but it seemed to change to subs over the years.

Sue--I've used the term hoagies only for hot sandwiches, never cold; would you use it for both?

[Sue U]

There's no such thing as a hot hoagie (eww, gross).* You want a hot sandwich around here, you get a cheesesteak, a sausage-and-peppers or a meatball parm. I had never heard of a "grinder" until I was in college, and I thought that was strictly a New England term. I was aware that New Yorkers called their hoagies "heros" and sometimes "subs," and also that they didn't put mustard on their soft pretzels. Weird.

ETA:

* For the record, a hoagie is a split long roll, splashed with olive oil and red wine vinegar, dusted with oregano, and then piled with cheese, meat, sliced tomato, thin-sliced onion, chopped lettuce, and (optional) hot peppers, splashed again with oil & vinegar and topped with another sprinkling of oregano, and a little salt and pepper. They come in "Italian" (provolone, ham/capicola/prosciutto, salami), "American" (American cheese, baloney, salami), "Cheese" (mixed provolone and American), "Turkey," "Roast Beef" and "Tuna" (all self-explanatory).

[Big RR]

Interesting how the use of the same terms differs so much over areas in close proximity. Re hot sandwiches, cheesesteaks would sometimes be called hoagies, but meatball and sausage sandwiches were not. What I recall the term being applied to were things like hot pastrami or corned beef on an Italian roll (instead of the usual rye bread). And you're right, I was in college before I ever put mustard on a pretzel.

Thanks for clearing up "grinders" as well; you learn something every day.

[Lord Jim]

(took me a while to understand "subs" and "pop" when I went to school in Buffalo NY)

"Pop" is also a southern expression...

I remember Barney frequently asking Andy if he wanted to over to the gas station and get a bottle of pop...

(Those guys really knew how to party...)

[Sue U]

Re hot sandwiches, cheesesteaks would sometimes be called hoagies, but meatball and sausage sandwiches were not.

There is such a thing as a "cheesesteak hoagie," which is a cheesesteak with lettuce and tomato on it:



although why anyone would want such a thing is beyond me.

What I recall the term being applied to were things like hot pastrami or corned beef on an Italian roll (instead of the usual rye bread).

I suppose you could make a corned beef or pastrami hoagie, but it's not something you'd typically encounter around here (I don't think I've ever seen one, even on a menu).

And you're right, I was in college before I ever put mustard on a pretzel.

Again, weird.

[Lord Jim]

although why anyone would want such a thing is beyond me.

Me neither. I love a good cheese steak, but that looks downright heretical...

[Big RR]

I have to join in that sentiment; maybe it's the inclusion the four food groups, grains, steak (protein), salad, and dairy that makes it interesting to some?