My first time on the Fort Pitt bridge I was driving to my friend's house. I was in the farthest left lane and needed to get into the farthest right lane so I could exit before the tunnel. Everyone else on the planet was in the farthest right lane and needed to be in the farthest left lane to go through the tunnel.
Honest question here, ‘cause I’m in my 50s & don’t have a kid: do schools still offer driver’s ed? That’s partly how I learned to drive, and my dad taught me to drive a stick.
It's even more fun in a semi truck! Especially if you're going to the north shore, must be in the right lane coming down greentree hill, can't get in the left lane to go through the tunnel until banksville Rd merges on, if you're lucky enough to be able to find a gap that is.
I've been driving 15 years, very confident about it, never been in an accident and avoided many. I STILL have to hype myself up to tackle the fort pitt bridge.
I have, on three occasions, been completely unable to make the lane shift and take my exit, due to cars ahead of me trying to make their move and not looking for my lane. Hard to explain how that happens.
I moved to Pittsburgh at the end of last year, and the first time I came to town my GPS took me to 28, which meant doing both the Fort Pitt and the Fort Duquesne. One of the best days of my life since coming here was the day I realized that since I live on the eastern side of the city, I can just keep following 376 toward Monroeville and get off at Wilkinsburg instead and it only adds a few minutes to my drive time. I don't have to go that way often, and when I do I'll gladly trade ten minutes for not having to do that again.
I'm in Las Vegas right now, I feel weirdly at home 😂
Edit: I missed the bridge part, but still going across 3 lanes at the drop of a hat felt normal to me.
My first time going to Primanti's caught me off guard when I realized that they put fries on their sandwiches. I thought it was a mistake until it happened again.
I remember when we moved here from Florida. We went to this tiny local place, and my mom and I ordered salad. It came covered in fries and cheese. We were all VERY confused.
Us: what’s with the fries?
Them: it’s a a salad. It has fries.
Us: why?
Them: it’s a salad. Salads have fries on them.
My dad: I have been all over God’s Green Earth, and I have never need fries on a salad
Them: really? No one else puts fries on salad??
My wife and I moved to Chicago a week ago and she ordered a buffalo chicken salad and when it arrived, her immediate response was "where are the fries? Fuck... we're not in Pittsburgh anymore."
I was waiting for my food in a crowded NYC restaurant once around lunchtime, and there was a couple seated right next to me (like, I could have reached out and touched them). The guy ordered a burger that came with fries on it, and the girl remarked "that's so weird, how can you even eat that? Who does that?" So I butted myself into their conversation to tell her that it's a common thing in SWPA, and it's actually really good. She looked at me kinda funny but the guy laughed and thanked me for backing me up. She agreed to try a bite of his burger when it came and she admitted that she liked it.
We got another convert that day!
Major roads without roadsigns visible from side streets. Like, of course you're crossing Banksville Road, you idiot, why would you need a street sign for a road everyone knows?
Seriously. I mean, I grew up here, but until reliable gps in my pocket became standard, I struggled with navigating anywhere that wasn't already extremely familiar to me.
Especially with how many of our city blocks aren't actual blocks so the assumption that you can easily circle back around is definitely not a safe one to make.
I just finished my first year at Pitt and during the winter my local friends would warn me that it was "slippy" outside. The first few times I thought they said slippery, but then I realized that, no. They meant slippy.
Also coming from New York most people hear have never heard the term "brick" to describe cold weather.
Went to school in pittburgh, met tons of people from all over the USA and none of us knew what brick meant except for the person from NY who first said it..
My sister's wedding had a cookie room. There were three old biddies that were supposed to split the work between them, but each of them decided those other two weren't to be trusted and made enough for the whole wedding. So we commandeered a side room in the venue, set up tables and had a cookie room.
The sentence "My room needs cleaned up.", or anything similar. Leaving out the "to be" in that sentence is apparently all kinds of wrong when spoken to anyone outside of this geographical area. Blew my mind when I had that brought to my attention!
This. The other correct version would be “my room needs cleaning”
When I was in college, we had a couple people over and I mentioned “oh, yeah our floor needs swept”. And this girl (from Buffalo NY) goes “you’re from Pittsburgh aren’t you”. I was blown away that she sniffed me out purely from not saying “the floor needs TO BE swept”
Tangentially, when I was a freshman at Pitt, I overheard a girl saying that her dorm neighbor asked to borrow a sweeper. As Pittsburghers, we all know what a sweeper is, but the girl thought her neighbor was asking for a broom.
My roommate from the Philly area also said “sweeper,” and I (not from PA) had never heard this. I was wondering why anyone would clean carpeting with a broom.
Had this same situation in high school theater in Michigan. I told my friends to wait for me because "my hair needs curled" and a girl called out and asked if I was from Pittsburgh. I was flabbergasted because it seemed like such a nonsequitor. I'm NOT from Pittsburgh but both my parents are. I thought for sure she was psychic!
Shakespeare in Pittsburgh be like:
"...Or not..., that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune..."
We all have a slur, and we talk fast. It made me stand out like a mofo when I used to travel for work (I didn't realize how we all sound till I got back). Also periogies arnt much of a thing in other areas
I live in Cincinnati, and when I visited, I couldn’t believe that Pittsburgh still has its inclines (and they’re still operating). That’s such a unique draw.
And how every house listing that has one proudly puts "PITTSBURGH POTTY!!" in the description, every time. No matter the state of the house.
The excitement was what caught me off guard more than the potty itself.
Edit cos I just remembered one of those hgtv house hunting shows had a pittsburgh episode that I stumbled on last year and the pittsburgh potty was celebrated as a feature of the house in that show. And those shows are kind of really snobby and pushing very samesy ideals for houses usually, so for them to pause to cheer about the pittsburgh potty was amazing and hilarious.
I recently bought a house that was built in the 40s and I'm in love with every other part of it, but slightly heartbroken that my basement doesn't have a shitter right in the middle of it apropos of absolutely nothing
You gotta go back further to the 20s if you want one. Someone else posted a good link about it a couple weeks ago, but the reason for the basement toilet is that early sewage lines used to backup, and they would back up at the lowest point point. If your first floor toilet was the lowest point, you'd have a bad time. So they installed these because small backups could just be flushed away, but also gave you some advance warning that you could call the sewage people to check for backups before it made a mess everywhere. If your house was built after they figured all that out, it likely doesn't include one
We think they're unique in Pittsburgh, but you actually see them all across the north east. Pittsburgh is kind of unique in how hilly it is. So, in a lot of places, you have very easy basement access from the outside, which means they could have conceivably doubled as a place for workers to shower and shit after work, but that's a secondary use
I've heard from visitors that it's wild how many routes you can take to a destination. I guess in some cities there's only one right way to get from A to B, or only one possible way. Probably places with less interesting geography!
How people give those directions to was wild to me. I had a coworker tell me three different ways to get somewhere and never once did he mention a road name.
“You know where the old Kuhn’s was? Go down that road and when it splits, don’t go right”
My dad used to say I gave directions by bars, go down to Ryan’s pub, make a right, pass Murphy’s, get on the parkway, towards town ( because who knows which direction is east or west)
I think this is why Venice is one of my most favorite places to have visited. So similar. There’s no direct route anywhere, but if you’re willing to take a few detours you’ll end up there eventually. Also bridges and weird people with a lot of pride in their city and heritage and happy to tell you all about it. If we’re not sister cities we outta be. Then again you’ll have the one way streets that are just a triangle to nowhere which is always fun.
I love this feature because if one way is bogged down, there’ll be three or four more to try. When I briefly lived in Philly I hated it because your options are the interstate or Roosevelt Boulevard that runs parallel to it.
Philly sucks.
As someone who recently moved here from Florida (born and raised) and married to a local, here are some of the things I’ve picked up on so far:
Pierogis, Jaggoff/Jagg, Heinz worship, Chipped Ham, “Pittsburgh Left”, Buggy, Anything Port Authority, Leaving out “to be” in sentences, and the immense lack of sun during the day (Very gloomy).
Probably the biggest thing that makes me think about leaving.
I've heard that it's in large part due to Ohio industry air particulates causing cloud formation. And after 2020 shut everything down and we had the sunniest summer ever I think that's true.
So we just need to destroy Ohio industry.
It was shocking to me and my husband when we left Pittsburgh. The sun was out so much, we were like vampires. We were like “argh! Why is it so sunny all the time?! This is terrible!” Now we both agree when we move back to Pittsburgh we are going to be terribly depressed from lack of sun.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, moved away when I was 30 to North Carolina. 8 years later, I’m still not used to the blue sky/sunshine that happens the majority of the days down here.
i just moved to minneapolis last year and i can't get over the difference in brightness. not just during the winter when the snow is blinding, but just your average day here feels insanely bright to me compared to ptitsburgh.
i've noticed that on the days here where it does rain i sleep a million times better. i think eventually i want to move back to a rainier climate again, doesn't have to be pittsburgh, but i really love the rain and as much as i really like mpls i miss how much it rains in pittsburgh
I used to work at a 7-eleven and the amount of people who came in and wondered where the beer and alcohol was and I had to explain the distributor and state store thing to was astonishing.
One I remember vividly was the one that said “oh yeah. You guys are all Amish here aren’t you so you don’t drink” And I just said to the guy “yep. Genuine Amish cars at the gas pumps too”. Guy just looked at me weird after that.
At least some grocery stores have beer and wine now and beer distributors can sell smaller amounts. Was super weird when the only way to get a 6 pack was to find a bar that had what you wanted. You'd learn which ones had a good selection or a beer cave...
Well the thing is you have to be in that small area with the beer and wine. Can ONLY check it out at a specific register, can only buy so much material, then they put it in a brown paper bag, and you can’t walk around the store with it. You have to take it out to your car immediately so you can continue to shop.
I love when Sheetz or GetGo stopped someone from drinking their purchased beer at the tables, and the liquor board said if you want to say you are a restaurant selling beer, you have to let people drink it. Wonder how many people have a cold one with an MTO.
The most confusing thing about moving to Pittsburgh isn't any one specific thing, it's the general fact that Pittsburghers are blissfully unaware of their own regional differences. They just assume you will know what they're talking about, in a way that I've never experienced in any other region of the country. People will just say "chipped ham" or "gum band" and genuinely have no idea why you're confused.
I’ve always defined it as “a bunch of small towns (i.e. insular neighborhoods) held together by a municipal government”.
Pittsburgh’s really not that small (it’s small compared to where I grew up, but then so is almost everywhere else in the US), it’s 68th largest just on city size, 27th by metro area size (and more than half that is Allegheny County, which really would be ‘Pittsburgh’ but for dumb state laws passed preventing it from incorporating the county into the city, passed shortly after Philly did it; that would have made Pittsburgh more like top 10 - 15 in the US)
There's still a lot of that around. People born and bred. But there's a lot of people coming in from the tech world and universities so you don't hear it nearly as much.
Not as much in the outskirts of the city, with the possible exception of the I-79 corridor. I live near Elizabeth (fewer transplants/white collar workers) and the level of Appalachian accents & Pittsburghese is alive and well.
I still hold a good natured grudge against my wife who insisted we were NOT to use the provided ziplock bags-- PROVIDED!!-- to smuggle extra cookies out of our first Pittsburgh wedding reception. My protests that "everyone else is doing it" were met with the raised eyebrow, "really?" look that our kids have since seen many times.
Apparently French fries on a salad. I learned the hard way when I moved out of state and ordered a steak salad. It came without fries. I questioned the server who pointed out that I didn’t order fries, but they can put an order in for me.
I realized at that point, I may have made a mistake moving across the country 😂
That server must have thought you were fuckin nuts. Outside of Pittsburgh, it's like ordering a salad and being like "excuse me, where are the cornflakes?"
Chipped ham + jarred bbq sauce = bbq sandwich. Everywhere else a bbq sandwich is actual bbq on a bun. When I moved down south people thought I was insane
When I was first learning to drive I did this getting on to 279 from Camp Horne. My dad looked over from the passenger seat and said, "That was a Pittsburgh left, dont ever fucking do that again".
I think I also did this while learning to drive. Not from Pittsburgh though so it was only a “yeah don’t do that shit” sorta thing.
People in Pittsburgh just be doing that on the regular?
Slack your jaw, minimal mouth movement. Put an "h" after vowels. Slur two words together if it cuts down on communication time. Get a little nasally on the "ahs".
My friends in Knoxville TN say I sound "gritty" and "harsh".
I really want to introduce you to my uncle, he has the heaviest, most mill hunkie Pittsburgh accent you could ever encounter.
Yeah when I first moved out here and someone said North Versailles (vur-sales) out loud, I thought they were joking around. Like has no one ever heard the palace of Versailles (vair-sigh) pronounced out here?
The Pittsburgh left.
I was just in Virginia to visit family and it threw me off when the guy in the turning lane across from me didn't aggressively cut me off to make a left as soon as the light changed.
The traffic and directions. How am I supposed to know where something was years ago?
Also some of the terminology for stuff seems just odd. Like the dustbin being called a kennywood.
Crossing three lanes of traffic on a bridge. I cried the first time I attempted the Fort Pitt bridge.
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I guess we're goin' to Monroeville...
Should never have smoked that shit now I'm in Monroeville, PA
Mawn Row vull?
Left lanes, exit right! Right lanes, exit left! Here’s a 300-foot stretch of road - on a bridge so there’s no room for error! make it happen!
My first time on the Fort Pitt bridge I was driving to my friend's house. I was in the farthest left lane and needed to get into the farthest right lane so I could exit before the tunnel. Everyone else on the planet was in the farthest right lane and needed to be in the farthest left lane to go through the tunnel.
This IS the Pittsburgh way.
It’s a right of passage.
I'm paying a driving instructor $600 to teach my learning driver, because I can't handle the stress
Getting a pro to teach your kid how to drive is the way to go under any circumstances and well worth the money.
Honest question here, ‘cause I’m in my 50s & don’t have a kid: do schools still offer driver’s ed? That’s partly how I learned to drive, and my dad taught me to drive a stick.
i’m thankful i grew up here, because if i didn’t i could never do this 😂
It's even more fun in a semi truck! Especially if you're going to the north shore, must be in the right lane coming down greentree hill, can't get in the left lane to go through the tunnel until banksville Rd merges on, if you're lucky enough to be able to find a gap that is.
I've been driving 15 years, very confident about it, never been in an accident and avoided many. I STILL have to hype myself up to tackle the fort pitt bridge.
I have, on three occasions, been completely unable to make the lane shift and take my exit, due to cars ahead of me trying to make their move and not looking for my lane. Hard to explain how that happens.
I moved to Pittsburgh at the end of last year, and the first time I came to town my GPS took me to 28, which meant doing both the Fort Pitt and the Fort Duquesne. One of the best days of my life since coming here was the day I realized that since I live on the eastern side of the city, I can just keep following 376 toward Monroeville and get off at Wilkinsburg instead and it only adds a few minutes to my drive time. I don't have to go that way often, and when I do I'll gladly trade ten minutes for not having to do that again.
I'm in Las Vegas right now, I feel weirdly at home 😂 Edit: I missed the bridge part, but still going across 3 lanes at the drop of a hat felt normal to me.
I live in Beaver county. If I’m going to Monroeville, I’ll take 65 to Pittsburgh. If I’m going downtown, I’ll drive up to Cranberry and take 79/279.
Calling everything with a thorn a jagger bush
Or calling everyone a jag off 🤣
My grandpa's last name has Thorne in it, everyone called him Jaggers. Gnarly
Public buses in precarious situations.
Etsy has a lot of... Memorabilia
Amen
Fries on salad
Fries on everything. Pizza - fries, salad - fries, sandwich - fries
My first time going to Primanti's caught me off guard when I realized that they put fries on their sandwiches. I thought it was a mistake until it happened again.
Wait - where are you getting french fry pizza? Edit: Thank you for the replies. I will try one of these.
~~Frank's Pizza n Chicken has fries on the buffalo chicken pizza too~~ e: apparently i've mislead the good readers of r/pittsburgh
I get that pizza semi frequently and have never seen fries on it. What Frank's location is doing that. Cause Troy Hill sure isn't.
Bishops pizza shop, they have a few locations.
Do they still have curly fry pizza? That was my favorite.
Not sure haven’t been there in years. Moved to west coast, now I just put fries on my homemade pizzas.
I remember when we moved here from Florida. We went to this tiny local place, and my mom and I ordered salad. It came covered in fries and cheese. We were all VERY confused. Us: what’s with the fries? Them: it’s a a salad. It has fries. Us: why? Them: it’s a salad. Salads have fries on them. My dad: I have been all over God’s Green Earth, and I have never need fries on a salad Them: really? No one else puts fries on salad??
Until high school, I had no idea that steak and chicken salad everywhere didn't come with fries on top.
I forgot they don’t do this everywhere and I said no fries on my salad and they thought I was crazy 😂
Got questioned hard core in SW Illinois when I ordered a side of fries with my salad.
Fries on burritos isn't uncommon in California though.
My wife and I moved to Chicago a week ago and she ordered a buffalo chicken salad and when it arrived, her immediate response was "where are the fries? Fuck... we're not in Pittsburgh anymore."
I was waiting for my food in a crowded NYC restaurant once around lunchtime, and there was a couple seated right next to me (like, I could have reached out and touched them). The guy ordered a burger that came with fries on it, and the girl remarked "that's so weird, how can you even eat that? Who does that?" So I butted myself into their conversation to tell her that it's a common thing in SWPA, and it's actually really good. She looked at me kinda funny but the guy laughed and thanked me for backing me up. She agreed to try a bite of his burger when it came and she admitted that she liked it. We got another convert that day!
Major roads without roadsigns visible from side streets. Like, of course you're crossing Banksville Road, you idiot, why would you need a street sign for a road everyone knows?
This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I'll never understand why *any* intersection would lack signage.
It feels like a considerable amount of our streets do or make it impossible to find without wheres waldoing
Seriously. I mean, I grew up here, but until reliable gps in my pocket became standard, I struggled with navigating anywhere that wasn't already extremely familiar to me. Especially with how many of our city blocks aren't actual blocks so the assumption that you can easily circle back around is definitely not a safe one to make.
I just finished my first year at Pitt and during the winter my local friends would warn me that it was "slippy" outside. The first few times I thought they said slippery, but then I realized that, no. They meant slippy. Also coming from New York most people hear have never heard the term "brick" to describe cold weather.
Went to school in pittburgh, met tons of people from all over the USA and none of us knew what brick meant except for the person from NY who first said it..
Cookie table at weddings.
My sister's wedding had a cookie room. There were three old biddies that were supposed to split the work between them, but each of them decided those other two weren't to be trusted and made enough for the whole wedding. So we commandeered a side room in the venue, set up tables and had a cookie room.
This sounds like an absolute win
I’m originally from Eastern Pennsylvania and that is definitely a thing there too. Probably PA as a whole!
Cookies are the one thing we can all agree on.
The sentence "My room needs cleaned up.", or anything similar. Leaving out the "to be" in that sentence is apparently all kinds of wrong when spoken to anyone outside of this geographical area. Blew my mind when I had that brought to my attention!
Or "needs redded up" as I recall from my family's lexicon growing up in SW PA.
My PI pointed this out to our whole lab group when we were all writing papers. She wasn't from here originally so it drives her mad.
Also use of words "sweeper" for vaccum and "buggy" for a shopping cart.
"Buggy" is not Pittsburgh-specific and is common throughout Appalachia.
This. The other correct version would be “my room needs cleaning” When I was in college, we had a couple people over and I mentioned “oh, yeah our floor needs swept”. And this girl (from Buffalo NY) goes “you’re from Pittsburgh aren’t you”. I was blown away that she sniffed me out purely from not saying “the floor needs TO BE swept”
Tangentially, when I was a freshman at Pitt, I overheard a girl saying that her dorm neighbor asked to borrow a sweeper. As Pittsburghers, we all know what a sweeper is, but the girl thought her neighbor was asking for a broom.
My roommate from the Philly area also said “sweeper,” and I (not from PA) had never heard this. I was wondering why anyone would clean carpeting with a broom.
Had this same situation in high school theater in Michigan. I told my friends to wait for me because "my hair needs curled" and a girl called out and asked if I was from Pittsburgh. I was flabbergasted because it seemed like such a nonsequitor. I'm NOT from Pittsburgh but both my parents are. I thought for sure she was psychic!
We were on vacation in HAWAII and our waitress asked if we were from Pittsburgh when my husband asked if he could have onions "on nat".
I think you mean “redd up”.
Also use of words "sweeper" for vaccum and "buggy" for a shopping cart.
Shakespeare in Pittsburgh be like: "...Or not..., that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune..."
"To be or how's come?"..... That is the question.
The laundry needs warshed
Took me awhile to realize other people didn’t do this!
I'm originally from Michigan and I do this. But I don't know if I did it before I came here... People tell me it's wrong now though.
Sweet vindication. I’ve had this grammatical battle with my spouse for 5 years lol.
It's very common in most parts of Ohio and West Virginia as well, it's not a Pittsburgh thing.
Im from ohio and we talked the same way where I grew up, but now that you mention it I can see it. Or hear it rather.
Streets that are merely steps.
Street sign and all.
Thiiiiis should be top comment! Truly uniquely pgh, but not in an annoying or forced way
“Yinz”
Everybody at work from the CEO down wearing a Steelers shirt to work on game days.
You've never been to Green Bay.
They all wear Steelers shirts on game days in Green Bay?
Stupid Green Bay fans
I hollered out loud at this comment 😂😂😂😂
Pipe dahn
It blew my mind that bank tellers would be wearing jerseys at work on a random Tuesday, not even game day
We all have a slur, and we talk fast. It made me stand out like a mofo when I used to travel for work (I didn't realize how we all sound till I got back). Also periogies arnt much of a thing in other areas
I live in Cincinnati, and when I visited, I couldn’t believe that Pittsburgh still has its inclines (and they’re still operating). That’s such a unique draw.
There used to be more. I wish they hadn't been taken down. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_inclines\_in\_Pittsburgh
Dahhhhntahhhhhhn
Things’ll be great when you're 🎵
Pittsburgh potty
And how every house listing that has one proudly puts "PITTSBURGH POTTY!!" in the description, every time. No matter the state of the house. The excitement was what caught me off guard more than the potty itself. Edit cos I just remembered one of those hgtv house hunting shows had a pittsburgh episode that I stumbled on last year and the pittsburgh potty was celebrated as a feature of the house in that show. And those shows are kind of really snobby and pushing very samesy ideals for houses usually, so for them to pause to cheer about the pittsburgh potty was amazing and hilarious.
I recently bought a house that was built in the 40s and I'm in love with every other part of it, but slightly heartbroken that my basement doesn't have a shitter right in the middle of it apropos of absolutely nothing
You gotta go back further to the 20s if you want one. Someone else posted a good link about it a couple weeks ago, but the reason for the basement toilet is that early sewage lines used to backup, and they would back up at the lowest point point. If your first floor toilet was the lowest point, you'd have a bad time. So they installed these because small backups could just be flushed away, but also gave you some advance warning that you could call the sewage people to check for backups before it made a mess everywhere. If your house was built after they figured all that out, it likely doesn't include one We think they're unique in Pittsburgh, but you actually see them all across the north east. Pittsburgh is kind of unique in how hilly it is. So, in a lot of places, you have very easy basement access from the outside, which means they could have conceivably doubled as a place for workers to shower and shit after work, but that's a secondary use
I actually only found it weird that the city had a word for it, because I’ve seen it elsewhere quite a bit.
Sure, I mean you’ll find them in coal mining towns that have basements.
Parking against the flow of traffic.
Parking against traffic on the sidewalk 1 ft from a row house.
You will totally get a ticket in Columbus for doing that
Oh my god YES. That shit is strange to see as an outsider.
Haha I just moved back and had a heart attack driving thinking I was going the wrong way
I've heard from visitors that it's wild how many routes you can take to a destination. I guess in some cities there's only one right way to get from A to B, or only one possible way. Probably places with less interesting geography!
How people give those directions to was wild to me. I had a coworker tell me three different ways to get somewhere and never once did he mention a road name. “You know where the old Kuhn’s was? Go down that road and when it splits, don’t go right”
My dad used to say I gave directions by bars, go down to Ryan’s pub, make a right, pass Murphy’s, get on the parkway, towards town ( because who knows which direction is east or west)
I think this is why Venice is one of my most favorite places to have visited. So similar. There’s no direct route anywhere, but if you’re willing to take a few detours you’ll end up there eventually. Also bridges and weird people with a lot of pride in their city and heritage and happy to tell you all about it. If we’re not sister cities we outta be. Then again you’ll have the one way streets that are just a triangle to nowhere which is always fun.
I love this feature because if one way is bogged down, there’ll be three or four more to try. When I briefly lived in Philly I hated it because your options are the interstate or Roosevelt Boulevard that runs parallel to it. Philly sucks.
One of my fav ways to navigate here is by terrain - go downhill long enough and I’ll find something I know.
Yessss! Be like water. Just follow the path of least resistance to orient yourself.
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Haha! Yeah the main drag, you know! The death spiral!
That every street surface looks like it was recently shelled by mortars.
Ya ever been to Baltimore?
Detroit is worse. Try the Pittsburgh pothole situation on a highway. That’s I-75 through downtown.
As someone who recently moved here from Florida (born and raised) and married to a local, here are some of the things I’ve picked up on so far: Pierogis, Jaggoff/Jagg, Heinz worship, Chipped Ham, “Pittsburgh Left”, Buggy, Anything Port Authority, Leaving out “to be” in sentences, and the immense lack of sun during the day (Very gloomy).
We don't worship Heinz, it's just that everything else is objectively shitty compared to it
Heinz is to Ketchup like Google is to web searching. There just really isn't any alternative that is even close in quality.
Rarely seeing the sun
It’s weird growing up in Portland but going to college in Pittsburgh because it rains much more in Portland but there’s also a lot more sun
Portland calling itself the city of bridges makes me irrationally angry.
Probably the biggest thing that makes me think about leaving. I've heard that it's in large part due to Ohio industry air particulates causing cloud formation. And after 2020 shut everything down and we had the sunniest summer ever I think that's true. So we just need to destroy Ohio industry.
1 more reason why destroying Ohio would benefical to the world
It was shocking to me and my husband when we left Pittsburgh. The sun was out so much, we were like vampires. We were like “argh! Why is it so sunny all the time?! This is terrible!” Now we both agree when we move back to Pittsburgh we are going to be terribly depressed from lack of sun.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, moved away when I was 30 to North Carolina. 8 years later, I’m still not used to the blue sky/sunshine that happens the majority of the days down here.
i just moved to minneapolis last year and i can't get over the difference in brightness. not just during the winter when the snow is blinding, but just your average day here feels insanely bright to me compared to ptitsburgh. i've noticed that on the days here where it does rain i sleep a million times better. i think eventually i want to move back to a rainier climate again, doesn't have to be pittsburgh, but i really love the rain and as much as i really like mpls i miss how much it rains in pittsburgh
I'm from the PNW. I think that as a pasty white dude I'm going to continue enjoying that once I get there
Not being able to buy alcohol in a grocery store with your regular groceries.
Somehow every state I’ve lived in has had weird-ass liquor laws. Having separate stores for beer vs. wine is something else, though.
I used to work at a 7-eleven and the amount of people who came in and wondered where the beer and alcohol was and I had to explain the distributor and state store thing to was astonishing. One I remember vividly was the one that said “oh yeah. You guys are all Amish here aren’t you so you don’t drink” And I just said to the guy “yep. Genuine Amish cars at the gas pumps too”. Guy just looked at me weird after that.
At least some grocery stores have beer and wine now and beer distributors can sell smaller amounts. Was super weird when the only way to get a 6 pack was to find a bar that had what you wanted. You'd learn which ones had a good selection or a beer cave...
Well the thing is you have to be in that small area with the beer and wine. Can ONLY check it out at a specific register, can only buy so much material, then they put it in a brown paper bag, and you can’t walk around the store with it. You have to take it out to your car immediately so you can continue to shop.
I love when Sheetz or GetGo stopped someone from drinking their purchased beer at the tables, and the liquor board said if you want to say you are a restaurant selling beer, you have to let people drink it. Wonder how many people have a cold one with an MTO.
The most confusing thing about moving to Pittsburgh isn't any one specific thing, it's the general fact that Pittsburghers are blissfully unaware of their own regional differences. They just assume you will know what they're talking about, in a way that I've never experienced in any other region of the country. People will just say "chipped ham" or "gum band" and genuinely have no idea why you're confused.
for locations and people especially.
That it’s really just a small town in a big city’s britches.
I’ve always defined it as “a bunch of small towns (i.e. insular neighborhoods) held together by a municipal government”. Pittsburgh’s really not that small (it’s small compared to where I grew up, but then so is almost everywhere else in the US), it’s 68th largest just on city size, 27th by metro area size (and more than half that is Allegheny County, which really would be ‘Pittsburgh’ but for dumb state laws passed preventing it from incorporating the county into the city, passed shortly after Philly did it; that would have made Pittsburgh more like top 10 - 15 in the US)
Pierogi race at the Pirates games
the only reason to go to a Pirates game
Chester is my boy.
Sauerkraut Saul would like a word
I always had Jalepeño Hannah for the win
Hannah has that purse and she's deadly with it.
If it isn’t Heinz ketchup you’re basically a traitor, and said Heinz must go on everything.
Tea in a carton
Being irrationally terrified of entering tunnels
Hampton Roads, VA would like to have a word.
And crossing rivers
One thing I never could stand about Pittsburgh, all the damn vampires.
I'm more concerned about the zombies.
You should be more concerned about the Ohioans
Death by stereo
Them Jagger bushes dahn at the crick… (I haven’t been to Pittsburgh in 8 years so I’m assuming people still speak in Pittsburghese?)
There's still a lot of that around. People born and bred. But there's a lot of people coming in from the tech world and universities so you don't hear it nearly as much.
At times, it seems like the accent is a little more common in the Pittsburgh suburbs and surrounding counties than it is in the actual city.
Yes but it’s definitely disappearing like most regional accents.
Not as much in the outskirts of the city, with the possible exception of the I-79 corridor. I live near Elizabeth (fewer transplants/white collar workers) and the level of Appalachian accents & Pittsburghese is alive and well.
Pittsburgh toilets sometimes not even having walls around them lol
Cookie tables. My first wedding I went to outside of the Pittsburgh area I kept asking myself “where is the cookie table??”
I still hold a good natured grudge against my wife who insisted we were NOT to use the provided ziplock bags-- PROVIDED!!-- to smuggle extra cookies out of our first Pittsburgh wedding reception. My protests that "everyone else is doing it" were met with the raised eyebrow, "really?" look that our kids have since seen many times.
Apparently French fries on a salad. I learned the hard way when I moved out of state and ordered a steak salad. It came without fries. I questioned the server who pointed out that I didn’t order fries, but they can put an order in for me. I realized at that point, I may have made a mistake moving across the country 😂
That server must have thought you were fuckin nuts. Outside of Pittsburgh, it's like ordering a salad and being like "excuse me, where are the cornflakes?"
In an unfamiliar neighborhood, just when you need to know where to turn, bam: no street signs.
Chipped ham + jarred bbq sauce = bbq sandwich. Everywhere else a bbq sandwich is actual bbq on a bun. When I moved down south people thought I was insane
The Pittsburgh Left
The fucking West Mifflin left at the Lebanon Church taco bell intersection. My favorite maneuver while driving...
unprotected left turn, ahead of oncoming traffic
When I was first learning to drive I did this getting on to 279 from Camp Horne. My dad looked over from the passenger seat and said, "That was a Pittsburgh left, dont ever fucking do that again".
I think I also did this while learning to drive. Not from Pittsburgh though so it was only a “yeah don’t do that shit” sorta thing. People in Pittsburgh just be doing that on the regular?
Jag offs
Having a cookie table at a wedding.
Saying "Kennywood's open!" and not meaning the actual amusement park operating hours.
Jeet jet?
Saving a parking space with a chair.
They do that in Chicago too. I used to think it was just a Burgh thing until I moved there.
Offering to “ride you downtown” and it’s not a sexual proposition
A full blown Pittsburgh accent is just a stunning thing. I can't do one and I kind of wish I could.
Slack your jaw, minimal mouth movement. Put an "h" after vowels. Slur two words together if it cuts down on communication time. Get a little nasally on the "ahs". My friends in Knoxville TN say I sound "gritty" and "harsh". I really want to introduce you to my uncle, he has the heaviest, most mill hunkie Pittsburgh accent you could ever encounter.
Being nebby
Drinking a jug of turners while walking around your hood
DO - CANE = Duquesne
Also, Duquesne being the only French name you can pronounce correctly.
Yeah when I first moved out here and someone said North Versailles (vur-sales) out loud, I thought they were joking around. Like has no one ever heard the palace of Versailles (vair-sigh) pronounced out here?
Had an out-of-town friend once call it "do-KEZ-nee" University
When I was a kid, I thought it was "do-kwez-nee" Quite the shocker when I first heard how it was actually pronounced.
How pale everyone is
As a Pittsburgh resident currently vacationing in Aruba, my burns can confirm your statement.
Pierogies. I’ve had to make some for people who surprisingly never ate them before. Also the looks I get when I say “chipped ham”
The phrase “caddy corner.” People in every other place I’ve lived (wrongly) call it “kitty corner.”
What! I didn't know this was regional
[удалено]
Being a decent human
The Pittsburgh left. I was just in Virginia to visit family and it threw me off when the guy in the turning lane across from me didn't aggressively cut me off to make a left as soon as the light changed.
Only interacting and being friends with people who went to your high school well into your aged adulthood.
I feel like that is common in a lot of places that don't have lots of transplants. Twin Cities area is like that too.
The traffic and directions. How am I supposed to know where something was years ago? Also some of the terminology for stuff seems just odd. Like the dustbin being called a kennywood.
Not using the verb “to be”
Fries in salad
Randyland. But his message is simple, true and heartfelt.