An e-mail we recently received from a friend began “There’s a new restaurant in Freemont, want to try it out?”
“Freemont”? Really? You left California almost a decade ago, lived in the neighborhood adjacent to Fremont for half that time, and still you’re stuck with that extra ‘e’?
It brought to mind one of our favorite words-we-rarely-get-to-use, shibboleth:
a custom, principle, or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of people
The word comes from a Bible story, in which the men of Gilead used a neighboring tribe’s inability to pronounce the “sh” sound as a means of identifying them:
Gilead then cut Ephraim off from the fords of the Jordan, and whenever Ephraimite fugitives said, ‘Let me cross,’ the men of Gilead would ask, ‘Are you an Ephraimite?’ If he said, ‘No,’ they then said, ‘Very well, say “Shibboleth“.’ If anyone said, “Sibboleth“, because he could not pronounce it, then they would seize him and kill him by the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell on this occasion. – Judges 12:5-6
The term has grown from referring to tests of ethnicity through pronunciational prowess to include tests of class (how do hold that teacup?), region (do you “take the cah to bah”?), and even political leaning (do you assume we ought to have “freedom of choice” or “right to life”?).
Which all got us to thinking about local shibboleths. We used to look at friends funny when they said “the 5” instead of “I-5”, until we realized that the people who were saying “the 5” had been here longer than we had. We certainly never said “the 95” or “the 91” when we group in in Connecticut. What do you say?
Are there are other local shibboleths, things people do or say that mark them as a native or foreigner to Wallingford or Seattle? Gas Works vs Gasworks? Greenlake vs Green Lake? Owning an umbrella or a poncho?
When I first got stationed here, I lived on “al-kee” (Alki). I still say “the 5.” I have heard a very painful one from a couple people: Walling-FORD. As I write this, I see an advertisement on Wallyhood that reminds me I pronounce the letter “g” in Pagliacci Pizza only because my own last name (which is eerily similar) has been mispronounced for four generations.
Most natives I know say “the Eastside” even when they refer to a specific city therein. In other words, instead of saying “She lives in Kirkland” it’s “She lives on the Eastside.” I’ve noticed that this applies for almost every place on the Eastside except for Mercer Island.
You can also spot the local who confidently says “Pullyllup” and “Sequim”.
I’ve noticed that natives pronounce height (ending with a ‘th’), instead of (with a ‘t’).
Also, they pronounce some things that end with ‘ag’ instead of , as in ag or agriculture.
The first one drives me crazy because it’s just plain wrong – there’s no second ‘h’ in height!
So…
What’s the new restaurant in Fremont?
What versions of The Pike Place Market are used by those who grew up here and those newly arrived? I’ve heard “The Market”. “Pike’s Place”, “Pike Market” and several more.
Old timers might refer to the Mercer Island bridge as “the Bridge” or “the old Bridge”. Now the “old Bridge” is the new bridge (after the storm of 1990) so it probably just means the person is out of touch. Guess that would be me.
“The 5” is a California-ism. I never heard it here before the late 90’s. (I’m third generation Seattle on one side, fourth generation on the other)
I surprised that it might be ingrained in some enough to be considered native. If it is, it must be a reflection of the high proportion of non-natives and their relative lack of mixing with the Seattle born.
So how about burningman vs. Burning Man?
I was just thinking about this yesterday, as I was driving on 405 N. to Kirkland. Everyone says ‘4 0 5’, 0 as in the letter 0, not four zero five.
Been here since 1957. I-5 it is! and Puget Sound– NOT the Puget Sound.
Drives me bats!
Actually, it’s just The Sound.
Bartell’s, Boeing’s, Hood’s Canal, Nordstrom’s and the SeATTLE Center…as well as, “The” Puget Sound. I often hear all of these. My uncle corrected me on Bartell’s, Boeing’s, Hood’s Canal, and Nordstrom’s. Pronouncing it “The SeATTLE Center” (with the accent on the last syllable) and adding “The” to Puget Sound, definitely reveals you as a newcomer.
I’m third generation, as well. The “New Bridge” is actually The Evergreen Point Bridge. It’s never called that. I hear “520” from those who are not native.
I never heard, EVER, I-5 referred to as “The Five”. HUH?
We used to call it “The Freeway”. Like that “The Sound” remark.
Substituting “O” (Oh) for zero always grates on me. However, I never heard anyone say “four zero five”.
I say “take I-5” or “take 5” but I don’t think I would say take “the 5,” it just sounds awkward.
I lived in Seattle all my life and I still don’t understand when people say “WaRshington.” Where is the R in there? Then again, there isn’t an R on the end of “idea” but that doesn’t stop some people from putting 1 there.
Like bb said, “The 5” is a carry-over from CA, but specifically Southern CA (and just Southern; in Northern CA we say 85 or 101, without a “the.”) I say “the 5,” though, unfortunately – my college years down there put it in my vocab, I guess.
One thing that helps you tell is whether people can pronounce the Native American names right – Puyallup (sp?) especially. I still can’t get it right.
Something I noticed when I moved here is whether people say “on _____ Hill” or “in.” Like, if you live in Queen Anne neighborhood, natives seem to say you live “on Queen Anne.” And they’re referring the the neighborhood, not the hill – like they still say it even if you’re in lower QA.
You can tell if someone’s NOT from Wally when they stop at the intersection coming down East from Ballard or Phinney on 46th into Wally, right before Stone Way… and you’re waiting at the stop sign going West? Oh, that’s annoying. You want to just go, because they’re letting you, but they are holding up the cars behind them – and technically they have the right of way, and you kind of want them to learn, and you want to act superior in a way, kind of like in the Shibboleth story?
OK, I’m 6th generation….arriving in ’57 does not make you a native unless “arriving” means the year of your birth! It’s always been “the Market” or “Pike Place Market”. I went there many times as a little kid with my granny way before it was a tourist attraction and she would barter with the vendors. It is “Puget Sound” or “the Sound”. We boaters moor our vessels at “Shilshole” or “Elliott Bay” on “the Sound”. Totally a city person, I rarely go to “the Eastside” or just “Eastsie” and and use “the Evergreen or the I-90 Bridge”. Yes, it has always been “I-5” or “the Freeway”. Hey, before there was any I-5 we drove Highway 99 (or just “99”) all the way north and south…that’s all there was and it took hours to get up to Camano and Bellingham! There were a number of Popcorn Wagons along 99 in the indust rial section leaving Tacoma and we always got some to entertain ourselves while we played the Alphabet Game finding words from the billboards all along the highway. Natives have always said “the Mountain is out” when Rainier is visible and fondly remember “R-A-A-A-I-N-I-E-R B-E-E-E-R” and the “Running of the Rainiers” and our Dads listening to Leo Lassen (sp?) announcing the Rainiers’ games on the radio. Wallingford natives still refer to “Latona Elementary or Grade School” and remember the fabulous smell in the AM of chocolate chip cookies baking at Grandma’s Cookies and bread at the Orowheat Company. The Food Giant is what we still call it under our breath, not QFC! Enough of this for now!
Woo hoo — who knew this would be such a hot topic of conversation? I’m not a native, but have lived here since 1970 (or maybe that was 1907) — much longer than I lived where “I grew up”. BB is correct that “the 5” is totally a California thing. It is definitely I-5, or maybe just “5”.
Not sure where WallingFORD came from, it is definitely Wallingfurd. I’m not such a purist on Bartell’s, but Boeing’s drive me nuts.
And finally, I do have fond memories of when Sandy Bradley’s Potluck broadcast on KUOW from Murphy’s (when they were in the location of the current Starbuck’s), in “Wallingford, the Gateway to Ballard”!
Capitol Hill, please. Not CapitAl Hill.
Geoduck. Nordstrom’s always drives me nuts too, but I know a lot of natives who say it that way, including my mom.
I’ve lived in Seattle for almost 30 years, and it still takes an intense effort of will for me to pronounce “Puyallup” correctly.
On the other hand, every episode of “Mind Your Manners With Billy Quan” is firmly cemented into my memory. So, I feel comfortably Washingtonian.
Whoops, just noticed that some of the characters I used in my comment above did not show up, I’m guessing b/c they look like code. So what came up didn’t really make sense. Not that it matters much, but what I meant to write was:
I’ve noticed that natives pronounce height, “high-th” ending with a ‘th’, instead of “hight” (with a ‘t’).
Also, they pronounce some things that end with ‘ag’ as “egg” instead of “agg”, as in ag or agriculture.
The first one drives me crazy because it’s just plain wrong – there’s no second ‘h’ in height!
PJG got it right. It was always I-5, the Market, the Sound and it is still Food Giant, but very dressed up. I like the Wallyhood website but please refer to my neighborhood as Wallingfurd or -ford not Wally. That was the guy who hung out at Andy’s Tavern before it was Murphy’s.
As I recall only people from the southend- West Seattle, Renton, Auburn called it Boeings and many of them worked there.
Also if you know who Gertrude, Ketchikan Dan were you might be from Seattle.
But, a thank you to all you new people who lovingly restore the Wallingford bungalows and other old houses in the area. It is a pleasure to walk in the neighborhood again.
Wow! This really brought out the comments! The only folks I hear calling it “THE” I-5 are the Californians who have moved here. In LA they call everything The (fill in the blank). As for “Boeing’s” and Nordstrom’s, the only people I hear that from are the ones that have been here since forever and remember when Boeing was owned by the Boeing Family.(so it was Boeing’s company). And Nordstrom still is. I’ve lived here forever and I always call it WallingFORD, because WallingFERD seems to me like lazy speech. But the TRUE natives still have their Charge card that says “Nordtrom Best”.
Well, actually, Nordstrom’s was just a good shoe store once and Best’s a rather upscale contemporary apparel store next to it, Jay Jacobs was on the corner and the lovely ice cream place across from Frederick’s on the other, the Peppermill was down the street and Magnin’s up the street and there was no such thing as Starbuck’s…and Pioneer Square was Skid Row and the sadnesses there then haunt the city still…I don’t think the true natives ever had a charge card. But the rest of us who have come and come and come, whether in the 1850’s or the 1950’s or the new century, have done a pretty miserable job of taking care of the Sound, the rivers, the forests, the fish and the wildlife. It’s hard, but it’s the truth.
Well, as a non-native, going on 15 years here, the thing that drives me the most nuts is locals pronouncing the “Bumbershoot” festival as “Bumper-shoot” and then infecting new transplants.
I guess I must have accidentally developed an immunity to this disease because the year I moved here, there happened to be a great-big umbrella on the poster, making the pronunciation fairly obvious to me.
Anyway for those who weren’t sure, Bumbershoot is NOT a mysteriously pronounced word of Native-American origin, one must hear first to get right. (Which is admittedly a risk with music festivals around here, like the Puyallup). It’s an American word from the Victorian era. “Bumber” is a variation of “Umbr” which means shade, and “shoot” means “chute” like parachute.
Sorry for the diatribe, but the dentist wants me to stop grinding my teeth and this is part of my 12 step plan….
Real Greenlakers never mention ‘the 5’ OR ‘I-5’. Freeways are so 20th Century.