Regional slang terms across America that people actually use, and what they mean
With a total area of over 3.8 million square miles, the United States is a massive country with many regional differences. Cuisine and culture are two that easily come to mind, but variations in conversational slang are just as prevalent.
Regional slang connects people and can form a unique social identity. As Penn State Professor James Lantolf explains, slang develops out of geographic isolation and cultural exchange. This fascinating phenomenon can be immediately apparent to an outsider who visits an area. So what are some of the most common? PeopleWin covers 10 popular regional sayings found in the U.S. today.
1. California: ‘Hella’
All California residents will tell you that “hella” is a result of the dialect from the San Francisco Bay Area. Its prominence arose in the late 1970s. UC Berkeley linguist Geoff Nunberg believes it transferred from Black English, likely originating in the Oakland area…