Well, not exactly. Although I do think that's a big phrase locally, to "pitch a fit."

No, I'm referring to a note I got a while ago from Roy Flinchbaugh of York, responding to my post on using "pitch" to mean "throw away."

Roy writes:

This Grand Canyon might not be in York County, but at least it's in Pennsylvania!

Joan, Joan. Shame on you for taking the word of a Baltimore guy about the word "pitch." It is no more York County than the Grand Canyon. My Random House Unabridged Dictionary lists "pitch" meaning "throw or toss" in both transitive and intransitive verb forms. So to "pitch something" meaning to "throw something away" is perfectly acceptable English. Perhaps that is not what is spoken in Baltimore.

And again, in my defense, I must say that when I call something a Yorkism, I in no way mean that it's only done here. I mean that it's done by a lot of the people here - it's something from the great pool of language that all of us Yorkers have all gone down to drink from.

(Anyone get that reference? Maybe some of the folks from our Book Buzz blog would...)

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My newest staffer, Matt, moved up here from Baltimore this year ... so he finds Yorkisms all the time.

So many of them go right past me - they're just the way I've always said things, so I don't even notice.

But the one he pointed out to me recently was to "pitch" something instead of throwing it away. "I keep thinking, is there a batter somewhere?" he said.

Commenter Joe also wrote in recently about two other Yorkisms - referring to a place by what used to be there, and finishing sentences with "then."

Wonder what I have to say on those topics? Check out these previous posts:
What it used to be

Some relatives of doing something "then":
Read this quick!
Awhile
Read this once

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Here's a Yorkism that, for some reason, has cropped up a lot in conversations I've heard lately.

It's especially appropriate for summer - you know, time for road trips. Windows down, stereo up, maybe playing your favorite song.

But what happens when you ask a Yorker how to get somewhere?

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Wow, I've become a forum for debate! I'm actually pretty stoked about this!

I had been pretty willing to go along with Beau's claim that "redd up" was Pittsburgh-ese.

But, Jo made a good point:

Nope, we're not quit finished with redd-up. I was born in Juniata Co.--45 mins. n. of H'burg--and learned to speak Pennsyltuckian back then as a child. Today, I'm as old as dirt so it's been a while. Now, considering that PA was settled from east to west, considering that PBS & others give the Scotch-Irish the credit for some of our colloquialisms, how can Pittsburgers make such a claim as Beau has done when civilization reached Pittsburg last? Sorry, P'burgers, you guys came too late in the game for that claim to be credible.

Now I'm swayed again back to the eastern Pennsylvania side of things. But, c'mon, keep duking it out, because as you can see, I'm pretty much a sponge and I'll go along with anything till a better point comes along!

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I got a few more suggestions for names of grandparents.

Marie Elena suggested Gram and Pop.
Mary reminded me of Omah and Opah... I shouldn't have forgotten that one, my nephew has an "Oma" and an "Opa"! Their family has a very German heritage, so that's no surprise, I guess.

Adriane also reminded me of Mimi, and they also had a Poppop... She also hinted at a fun story about my husabnd. In their family, they had a special name for her and my husband's paternal grandmother. If I get the story right... Hubby had a hard time with "Grammy" so he turned it into "Bambi." That one translated down the line; until her death last year, even her great-grandkids called her Bambi.

Am I missing any others?

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So, I had been asking what you call your grandparents.

So far, I've had a few responses. Here's what I have so far:

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Possibly an authoritative source on redding up's origins comes to us from commenter Beau:

Interestingly, I found a Pittsburgh winery that makes a Redd-Up Redd wine, adding even more credence to the claim that this hails from that area. And, look, there's a Redd Up Pittsburgh T-shirt.

And, if you want a real authoritative source, how can you get more credible than PBS?

All right, I promise I'm done talking about redding up for a while.

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This is a completely gratuitous picture of George Clooney in a suit, just because we happen to mention suits in this post and because he's immensely hot. Like Harrison Ford. This blog's author admits she might have a "thing" for old guys. (Don't tell Hubby.)

Remember my challenge on how to say certain words if you're a Yorker?

Things like suite, milk, irons, wash, clothes, water, roof and Roots (the auction/flea market in Lancaster County) all take on a different tone if you're from around here.

Even our grocery store - Weis - has a debate about its pronunciation. (Wee-s? Why-s? The inexplicable need to drop a T on the end and make it Whys-t?) Oh, and what about Utz chips? (Uuutz or Uhtz?)

Well, once again, Jo came through for me, proving that I'm not crazy and we really are different.

And, commenter Bonnie weighed in with her thoughts ... another hole-in-one!

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It being father's day, I'm honoring Hubby's wish for a peaceful day at home. We might go check out the "York's Greatest Yard Sale" (I still have a hard time not calling it the "World's Greatest Yard Sale") but other than that, no big plans.

Today's festivities, though, and some recent blog comments got me wondering... how many names do Yorkers have for grandfathers - or any grandparents, really?

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I didn't want to miss giving some recognition to the winner of last week's pronunciation contest on how we might say "recipe."

New commenter Bonnie gets it right in one. What did she say?

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