What visitors should know
Learn the function and geography before imitating pronunciation or identity-marked forms. A term can be Philadelphia-specific, Delaware Valley-wide, suburban, South Jersey-linked, wider American English, or community-specific, and one word or accent feature should never be used to infer race, ethnicity, class, neighborhood, age, education, or local authenticity.
Reviewed words and expressions
boul
In Philadelphia slang, boul is an informal noun for a person, especially a boy or young man. In forms such as young boul, it can also work as a socially meaningful way of referring to or addressing a younger male.
PhiladelphiaCenter City
In Philadelphia, Center City is the standard local name for the city's downtown core, encompassing multiple central neighborhoods rather than one single neighborhood or a separate municipality.
Delaware County / Philadelphia region, PennsylvaniaDelco
In the Philadelphia region, Delco is the familiar shorthand and nickname for Delaware County, Pennsylvania, immediately southwest of Philadelphia.
Philadelphiadown the shore
A Philadelphia-region expression meaning to go to, be at, or spend time at the Jersey Shore.
Philadelphiadrawlin
In informal Philadelphia speech, drawlin means acting out, doing too much, behaving out of character or unreasonably, or doing something others disapprove of. The force can range from playful criticism to a stronger negative judgment depending on speaker and context.
PhiladelphiaGo Birds
Go Birds is a Philadelphia Eagles cheer that also functions as a greeting, acknowledgment, sign-off, or quick signal of shared Eagles fandom in Philadelphia and among Eagles fans elsewhere.
Philadelphiagravy
In some South Philadelphia Italian-American contexts, gravy can refer to a red tomato-based pasta sauce rather than the more general American sense of gravy made from meat juices.
Philadelphiahoagie
A long filled sandwich; in Philadelphia and much of the surrounding Delaware Valley, hoagie is the ordinary local term where other places may say sub, hero, or grinder.
PhiladelphiaIggles
A playful spelling that represents a familiar Philadelphia-area pronunciation of Eagles, especially when referring to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Philadelphiajawn
In Philadelphia English, jawn is a highly flexible informal noun that can refer to a person, place, thing, event, or situation when the intended referent is clear from context.
Philadelphiajeet
An informal written representation of a connected-speech reduction of “did you eat?”, strongly recognizable in Philadelphia accent writing but not unique to Philadelphia.
Philadelphiarowhouse
In Philadelphia, a rowhouse is a house joined to neighboring houses by shared side walls as part of a continuous row; rowhome is a common local variant, and the naming itself is strongly associated with the city's built environment and Mid-Atlantic speech.
PhiladelphiaSEPTA
In Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania civic and transport language, SEPTA means the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the regional public-transit authority and system umbrella serving Philadelphia and the surrounding Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties.
Philadelphiathe Boulevard
In Philadelphia, especially in North and Northeast Philadelphia context, the Boulevard commonly means Roosevelt Boulevard, the major U.S. Route 1 corridor running through the city toward Bucks County.
Philadelphiathe El
In Philadelphia, the El is the everyday nickname for SEPTA's Market-Frankford rapid-transit line, now formally labeled the L in SEPTA Metro wayfinding.
PhiladelphiaThe Linc
The common Philadelphia nickname for Lincoln Financial Field, the home stadium of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Philadelphiathe Main Line
In Greater Philadelphia, the Main Line is the conventional name for a corridor and group of suburbs west and northwest of the city that developed along the Pennsylvania Railroad's historic Main Line, especially communities in and around Lower Merion, Radnor, and farther west toward Paoli depending on context.
Philadelphiathe Northeast
In Philadelphia, the Northeast is the familiar local name for the large northeastern section of the city, covering many distinct neighborhoods and commonly divided into Lower Northeast and Far Northeast areas.
Philadelphiathe Schuylkill
In Philadelphia-area driving and traffic context, the Schuylkill can mean the Schuylkill Expressway, the I-76 corridor connecting Center City and western parts of the region toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Philadelphiawater ice
Water ice is a frozen dessert made from water, sugar or sweetener, and flavoring. In Philadelphia and the surrounding region, water ice is the established local name for the smooth frozen treat commonly called Italian ice elsewhere in the United States.
Philadelphiawooder
Wooder is a conventional informal spelling used to represent a recognizable Philadelphia-area pronunciation of the word water; it labels an accent feature rather than a separate lexical item.
Philadelphia · Irelandyouse
In Philadelphia English, youse is a nonstandard second-person plural pronoun used to address two or more people, making number explicit where Standard English normally uses you for both singular and plural.
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