Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect

[@rachaelellenberger4139]

Why did Lisa comment "Toby" over 3 years ago? I think about this at least once a day for the past 14 months. I can't sleep, I can't love my children properly because this enigma haunts me throughout my waking moments. Someone. Anyone. Please help me unravel this mystery so I can be freed from this walking purgatory. I wish "Toby" had never come into my life. I curse the day I first found Barbara and Lisa, and stupid Toby. God why have you forsaken me?

[@alant34]

Have you solved this mystery yet?

[@Roadrage-oq5js]

It's hard to get rid of it, then you move to an other part of the country and everyone thinks you're a jag off

[@ronniev7724]

Yep and Yankees lol I live in Texas now I miss Pittsburgh been away 23 yrs now

[@AndrzejewskiDA]

Ah Yinz don know what yer tawkin abaught!!

[@therongjr]

My impression has been that self-interest in and active participation in Pittsburghese came about because Pittsburgh is a working class city: a lack of widespread formal education and a resentment at being judged for it led to a desire to own the language of the allegedly unrefined. I remember my sixth grade reading teacher saying in 1992 that employers would be less likely to hire us if we said "yinz," and I understand the conscious decision to possess such language in the vein of "Who are they to think they're better than us, with their fancy ways of speaking?" (Growing up, I assumed it was spelled "youns" as a simplified form of the contraction "you'uns" for "you ones." I had no problem recognizing it when I first saw it spelled as "yinz," though.)

[@redleg56]

+Theron Gilliland Except the the Burgh has been a center of higher education for many years. The Yinzers I have known have been proud of it.

[@bobmorgan5726]

I was born it pgh, stayed until I was 17. Joined the Navy in 1958 and they sent me to Florida. Warm weather,beaches sand, girls in bikini's and no snow! I am now retired in Alabama. The time in the military you could always tell when someone was from the pgh area. The yinz would give them away every time. I have since replaced "YINZ" with "YA'LL" because I never went back north. Stayed in the south since 58. But! I still remember some good times there.

[@ronniev7724]

Same I’m from Pittsburgh live in Texas lots of Pittsburgh talk went away smh 🤦‍♀️ I say yall funny story when I’m moved to Texas I asked where the machine was they was clueless lol I no longer say pop gumbands lol they don’t know what hoagies are lol I kiss home lol

[@traceysouth1047]

since nobody else replied, I just have to. I am from Pgh; born & raised , but moved to Calif in 1979. (am very homesick by the way) My sister recently gave me a sticker for my car that says Yinz, and I am so happy to have that. She also emailed me, back in the earlier days of the internet an article about Pittsburghese, which I thoroughly enjoyed and still have somewhere. My guess is, that article may have helped promote the evolution of us talking about our special language. I also recall sharing it with my Ca native husband and when I told him about yinz, and tried to explain it, he said "you mean like youenz?" and he is the only person I've ever heard that said that word or had heard of it. As you see I have no idea how to spell that. Interestingly, not my whole family speaks Pittsburghese. Only my Grandmother , Uncle & Nephew did, with most of it. Such as warsh, or red up ,jagger bush, etc. (well my nephew may only say yinz and a couple of others but he has the accent)

[@sonsofliberty3081]

Wait a minute, not everyone talks like this?

[@kathleendunworth9875]

I agree, no one in my family EVER said Yins! A true Pittsburgher says "you guys" I personally feel "YINZ GUYS" is ignorant, poor grammer

[@flyjarrett]

Don’t you mean “like iss?”

[@guhguhguhguhguhguh]

​@@kathleendunworth9875 Please tell me you're joking.

[@davidspeck8659]

I see now that people in Pittsburgh are using Yinz a lot more. I grew up in Pittsburgh and I can tell you that we didn't use the word as often or in the same way that people do now. It was only ever used in my recollection to refer to you plural. We never used it for you singular. If we were only talking to one person, we would never say "What are yinz doin?" Other words specific to Pittsburgh that i grew up with are nebbing or neb nose. Which mean are you being nosey. Gum band for rubber band. Nis and nat for this and that. Dahn for down. Tahl for towel. The l at the end of a word often turns into a w or hl sound. Stihl mill for steel mill. Stihlers for Steelers. I always thought it was an interesting accent. And yes I still have it even though I haven't lived there for 30 years. People often tell me I sound "Country". I guess that's polite, Ha Ha!

[@gumballism]

Its originally a Scottish word and spelt yin meaning one person or if it's more than one person it's yins Google Billy Connolly aka the big yin

[@hermanmarie333]

She really knows how to beat the fun out of the topic.

[@nagihangot6133]

I think that's perfect.

[@SpicyElaichi]

thats what academics do lmao

[@kristingallo2158]

Why you so worried about what we talk like?

[@trphy9655]

Youns is known as Pittsburghese, but it is not uncommon to hear people there say you-all. When'r you all gettin here? Would not raise any eyebrows in Pittsburgh, but it would in other parts of the northeast. But if you were to say you were analyzing accents, Pittsburghers would go out of there way to say: When are yinz getting here?

[@MrsCheesetoon84]

Toby

[@itscomplicatedwatches]

If she can provide any kind of facts to what she's saying i would believe it. I'd love to see "the doll that speaks pittsburgheese" come, on, lady.

[@willy4826]

I realize your comment is 4 years old but as a person who actually read the authors book I know that she provides ample research to back up what she’s talking about. You obviously didn’t read the book.

[@mrs.lionheart1403]

"yinz" is used in some areas of the south too", I heard it first in Arkansas.

[@Cathyladybug]

Oh I know thats right. Im from upstate SC born n raised, I say yuns mire than yall and sometimes it sounds like yins or yens. But tou dont hear it too often around here, except by the very few that keep the "old south" speak alive. Its goin extinct nowadays.

[@Cathyladybug]

Odd enough, my man was born up there, but raised down here and Im from upstate sc, yet Im the one that says the word. Not him..

[@bcubed72]

Well, English is a defective language, with no (official) way to differentiate between "plural you" and "singular you." So it's no surprise every dialect coins an informal you (plural) to do the job. (Ultimately, this wound would heal itself if a bunch of stuffy linguistic professors would just let it!)

[@DveDveSold]

Ive traveled throughout the south. All I can say is youre completely wrong.

[@moose7012]

@@bcubed72 Who cares if there is no "official" way. We used "you all", and other evolutions of that. Its not defective it works fine lmao

[@edwardfestor8726]

If the French had won the French and Indian War, the plural of “vous” might be “vinz”.

[@abrahamfroman246]

C’mon, CMU. Yinz can do better than this