Every state has their own accent and their own language. Nutmeggers use some words in a way that the rest of the country finds puzzling, confusing, and sometimes downright impossible to figure out. And if you come from a small town, the slang is even a little more quirky. But for the locals, Connecticut lingo isn’t at all hard to understand, we know exactly what we are trying to say and the right words to use.
- CMT
Flickr/Alberto G. What it means everywhere else: Country Music Television.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The Connecticut Mastery Test, a standardized test given to elementary and middle school children in Connecticut that causes anxiety, stress, and sleeplessness.
- Phone Tap
Flickr/SPB242 What it means everywhere else: When the FBI listens to your phone conversations.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The radio segment on the morning show of KC101.3 where listeners get pranked by Elvis Duran and his crew.
- Field
Flickr/killfile What it means everywhere else: The location of softball and baseball games.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The place where we go to party on the weekends.
- Package Store
Flickr/Greg What it means everywhere else: A place to buy boxes.
What it means in small town Connecticut: That’s where we head to buy beer, wine and liquor for our party in the field.
- FFA
Flickr/U.S. Department of Agriculture What it means everywhere else: Letters in the alphabet.
What it means in small town Connecticut: Future Farmers of America which is an organization that either yourself or one of your friends belongs to.
- Pet
Flickr/John Flannery What it means everywhere else: Dog or cat and occasionally a fish.
What it means in small town Connecticut: It includes dogs, cats, and fish, but the list doesn’t end there. More often than not, pets also includes goats, chickens, and horses too.
- Manure
Flickr/Ian Barbour What it means everywhere else: A stinky pile of cow poo.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The best fertilizer in the world for our backyard vegetable gardens.
- The City
Flickr/Aurelien Guichard What it means everywhere else: The city nearest to where you live.
What it means in small town Connecticut: New York City, the biggest and best place to escape from our small towns.
- Metro
Flickr/Roman Boed What it means everywhere else: An underground subway system.
What it means in small town Connecticut: Metro North, an above ground train that takes you out of Connecticut and into the city.
- UCONN
Flickr/Jimmy Emerson, DVM What it means everywhere else: A territory in Canada.
What it means in small town Connecticut: University of Connecticut, the place that either yourself or one of your friends attended or plans to attend college.
- Mystic
Flickr/John Blyberg What it means everywhere else: Of or relating to magic.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The aquarium and seaport in Mystic, Connecticut.
- Grinder
Flickr/jeffreyw What it means everywhere else: A tool or machine used for grinding something.
What it means in small town Connecticut: It’s the sandwich that you order at the town deli. Even though Connecticut is where the original Subway was founded, it’s not a sub, it’s a grinder.
- The Sound
Flickr/slack12 What it means everywhere else: Vibrations that travel through the air and can be heard when they reach your ear.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The Long Island Sound, a great place to go fishing or watch the sunset.
Do you use these words in the Nutmegger way? What other Connecticut lingo did we miss? Not only do we use some odd words, but check out the bizarre things in our junk drawers.
Flickr/Alberto G.
What it means everywhere else: Country Music Television.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The Connecticut Mastery Test, a standardized test given to elementary and middle school children in Connecticut that causes anxiety, stress, and sleeplessness.
Flickr/SPB242
What it means everywhere else: When the FBI listens to your phone conversations.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The radio segment on the morning show of KC101.3 where listeners get pranked by Elvis Duran and his crew.
Flickr/killfile
What it means everywhere else: The location of softball and baseball games.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The place where we go to party on the weekends.
Flickr/Greg
What it means everywhere else: A place to buy boxes.
What it means in small town Connecticut: That’s where we head to buy beer, wine and liquor for our party in the field.
Flickr/U.S. Department of Agriculture
What it means everywhere else: Letters in the alphabet.
What it means in small town Connecticut: Future Farmers of America which is an organization that either yourself or one of your friends belongs to.
Flickr/John Flannery
What it means everywhere else: Dog or cat and occasionally a fish.
What it means in small town Connecticut: It includes dogs, cats, and fish, but the list doesn’t end there. More often than not, pets also includes goats, chickens, and horses too.
Flickr/Ian Barbour
What it means everywhere else: A stinky pile of cow poo.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The best fertilizer in the world for our backyard vegetable gardens.
Flickr/Aurelien Guichard
What it means everywhere else: The city nearest to where you live.
What it means in small town Connecticut: New York City, the biggest and best place to escape from our small towns.
Flickr/Roman Boed
What it means everywhere else: An underground subway system.
What it means in small town Connecticut: Metro North, an above ground train that takes you out of Connecticut and into the city.
Flickr/Jimmy Emerson, DVM
What it means everywhere else: A territory in Canada.
What it means in small town Connecticut: University of Connecticut, the place that either yourself or one of your friends attended or plans to attend college.
Flickr/John Blyberg
What it means everywhere else: Of or relating to magic.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The aquarium and seaport in Mystic, Connecticut.
Flickr/jeffreyw
What it means everywhere else: A tool or machine used for grinding something.
What it means in small town Connecticut: It’s the sandwich that you order at the town deli. Even though Connecticut is where the original Subway was founded, it’s not a sub, it’s a grinder.
Flickr/slack12
What it means everywhere else: Vibrations that travel through the air and can be heard when they reach your ear.
What it means in small town Connecticut: The Long Island Sound, a great place to go fishing or watch the sunset.
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