Pittsburghese and Beyond: 25 Words and Phrases Unique to Pittsburgh

The Language of the Steel City

“Yinz goin’ dahntahn to watch dem Stillers?” is the sentence Pittsburghers use to explain Pittsburghese to outsiders, and it packs in most of what makes the dialect distinctive: a plural “you” generally traced to Scots-Irish settlers, a vowel that turns “down” into “dahn,” and an accent that makes “Steelers” sound like “Stillers.”

This guide covers 25 words and phrases locals actually use: what each one means, where it comes from when linguists have traced it, and which ones are truly Pittsburgh and which are just local shorthand. Whether you’re talking sports, giving directions, or swapping stories in one of Pittsburgh’s oldest bars, these expressions are part of how the city sounds.

What Is Pittsburghese?

Pittsburghese, also called Pittsburgh English or Western Pennsylvania English, is the dialect spoken in and around Pittsburgh. Most of it is not confined to the city: many of its words and sounds are heard across western Pennsylvania and into neighboring Ohio and West Virginia. Carnegie Mellon linguist Barbara Johnstone, author of Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect (Oxford University Press, 2013), traces words like “yinz” to the area’s first English-speaking settlers, who came from Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England.

Later immigrants from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech lands and elsewhere mostly adopted that speech rather than replacing it. The Heinz History Center makes the point in its guide Pittsburghese: From Ahrn to Yinz: the children of those families learned English in the street and picked up the local version.

Yinzer Meaning: What Is a Yinzer?

“Yinz” is the Pittsburgh plural of “you,” roughly “you all” or “you folks.” A “Yinzer” is a person who says it, and by extension a stereotype of the Pittsburgh native: working-class, Steelers-loving, proud of the city’s accent. Johnstone says “yinz” has been used since the 18th century to address more than one person. Starting around the 1950s, she found, people became aware of the word and began to talk about it, and today it is used in ways its first speakers never would have, including “Yinzer” and “Yinzburgh.”

Whether “Yinzer” is a compliment depends on who says it. Some Pittsburghers wear it as a badge; others hear it as an insult.

Pittsburgh Slang Words and Phrases: The List

The first ten are dialect proper: vocabulary and pronunciation you will hear in everyday speech.

1. Yinz

The plural “you,” as in “Yinz goin’ dahntahn later?” Variants include “yunz,” “you’uns” and “yins.” It is generally traced to Scots-Irish speech, where “you ones” was a way of addressing more than one person. Other regions have their own plural “you,” such as “y’all” in the South, which is part of why linguists find these words interesting.

2. Jagoff

A jerk or an annoying person. It comes from the dialect verb “jag,” meaning to prick or tease, which the Dictionary of American Regional English records as a chiefly Pennsylvania term. The Heinz History Center notes that Pittsburghers still argue over whether “jagoff” can be said in polite company, so treat it as mild but not polite.

3. Nebby

Nosy. “Neb” is an old word for nose or beak, and “nebby” and “neb out” (to mind your own business) came with the Scots-Irish settlers. If someone’s “gettin’ nebby,” they are sticking their nose in your business. The Heinz History Center lists “nebby” among the words the Scots-Irish brought in the 1700s.

4. Redd Up

To tidy or clean up a room, as in “We gotta redd up the house before company comes.” It is also heard in other parts of Pennsylvania and beyond, but Pittsburgh is where it survives most visibly; the city has even used it on public signs. The Heinz History Center credits the Scots-Irish settlers, and linguists connect the verb to older Scots and Scandinavian words for clearing up.

5. Stillers

How many locals say “Steelers.” In western Pennsylvania the vowels in “steel” and “still” can sound almost the same before an “l,” which is why “steel” may come out like “still.” The History Center’s guide jokes that Pittsburghers cheer for two teams on Sundays: “the Stillers and whoever plays the Browns.” For how the team came to be, read Art Rooney and the founding of the Steelers.

6. Slippy

Slippery. “Be careful, the sidewalk’s slippy.” Linguists trace it to Scots-Irish English.

7. Gumband

A rubber band. “Hand me a gumband to hold this together.” The Dictionary of American Regional English records it as a regional term, and it is one of the words most associated with Pittsburgh speech.

8. Dahn

“Down,” pronounced with an “ah” sound. This is the sound that gives Pittsburgh “dahntahn,” “hahs” (house) and “aht” (out). Linguists call it monophthongization of the “ow” vowel, and a 2002 study by Johnstone and colleagues titled “‘Dahntahn’ Pittsburgh” examined how the sound came to signal local identity. It is one of the few features of the dialect found almost only around Pittsburgh. It does not happen at the end of a word, so “how” and “now” stay the same.

9. Sweeper

A vacuum cleaner, from the old carpet sweeper. “I gotta run the sweeper.” The word is also used in parts of Ohio and Indiana, so it is shared rather than uniquely Pittsburgh.

10. Crick

“Creek.” “We’re goin’ fishin’ dahn at the crick.” It is common well beyond Pittsburgh, but it is part of the local sound.

Pittsburgh Foods & Cultural Icons

Items 11 through 18 are not dialect words in the linguist’s sense. They are the local food terms you will hear in Pittsburgh conversation.

11. Primanti’s

Short for Primanti Bros., home of the sandwich stuffed with fries and coleslaw. The full story of the sandwich and its place in the city’s food scene is in Primanti Brothers: the rise of the sandwich.

12. Jumbo

Bologna. “Pick up a pound of jumbo from the deli.” The Dictionary of American Regional English records it as a western Pennsylvania term.

13. Chipped Ham

Paper-thin shaved chopped ham, the base of a classic Pittsburgh sandwich. The name started as a local brand name and became the generic word. For the history, see our article on chipped ham in Pittsburgh.

14. City Chicken

Cubes of pork or veal on a small skewer, breaded and fried or baked. There is no chicken in it. The earliest Pittsburgh reference found is a 1932 Post-Gazette recipe column, which shows the dish was already familiar here in the Depression years; the name appears earlier in Ohio, in 1926.

15. Pop

Soda. “Grab me a pop from the fridge.” The word is used well beyond Pittsburgh.

16. Potato Patch

The fry stand at Kennywood Park, known for fresh-cut fries with cheese and other toppings. Kennywood is also the source of a famous Pittsburgh idiom: “Kennywood’s open” means your fly is down. See Kennywood Park’s history.

17. Dippy Egg

A fried egg with a runny yolk, cooked for dipping toast. “Dippy” here means suitable for dipping, a sense the Dictionary of American Regional English also records for gravy and coffee.

18. Pierogi

Stuffed dumplings, usually filled with potato, cheese or sauerkraut, brought by Polish and other Eastern European immigrants. They turn up at church festivals and sporting events across the region. For a neighborhood where that heritage lives, see the story of Polish Hill.

Neighborhoods & Landmarks

19. The Point

Locals’ name for Point State Park, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio. It is also where the French and British contested the forks of the Ohio; for that history see the Fort Pitt Block House.

20. The Strip

Short for the Strip District, the long produce, fish and wholesale district along the Allegheny. Read about its transformation over the years.

21. The Mon

The Monongahela River, which lined the Steel Valley’s mills. See the Steel Valley story and Pittsburgh’s riverboats.

22. Three Rivers

The Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. The name also lives on in Three Rivers Stadium, longtime home of the Steelers and Pirates; see Three Rivers Stadium.

23. Carrick, Bloomfield, Polish Hill

Three neighborhoods with distinct immigrant histories. Polish Hill is covered in our Polish Hill article and Bloomfield’s Italian heritage in Little Italy Days. Neighborhood names get clipped too: “Squill” is reported in some dialect surveys as local shorthand for Squirrel Hill, though it is not general usage; see Squirrel Hill’s history.

Sports & Historical References

24. The Immaculate Reception

The most famous play in Steelers history. On December 23, 1972, at Three Rivers Stadium, rookie running back Franco Harris caught a deflected pass and ran it in for a touchdown that gave Pittsburgh a 13–7 playoff win over the Oakland Raiders. The Pro Football Hall of Fame tells the story of the play in detail; for the era, see the Steelers’ 1970s dynasty.

25. Steel Curtain

The nickname for the Steelers’ 1970s defense, first applied to the front four of Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Ernie Holmes and Dwight White. According to Steelers accounts, the name came from a 1971 contest run by Pittsburgh radio station WTAE and won by a ninth-grader, Gregory Kronz. It plays on the Cold War phrase “Iron Curtain” and on the city’s steel identity.

More Pittsburgh Sayings and Grammar

• N’at: “And that,” meaning “and so on,” as in “We went to the game n’at.” Linguists connect it to Scottish speech.
• Kennywood’s open: A tactful way to tell someone their fly is unzipped.
• “The car needs washed”: Dropping “to be” after “needs” is a Scots-Irish pattern, especially common in southwestern Pennsylvania.
• Ahrn: Iron. Before an “r,” the vowel is flattened, which is why “iron” comes out as “ahrn.” The History Center named its guide From Ahrn to Yinz after the sound.

How Pittsburghese Became a Brand

Pittsburghers did not always talk about how they talked. Johnstone says Pittsburghese words and phrases now appear on T-shirts, bumper stickers and dolls, and she wanted to know why. Her answer is a chain of coincidences: a Pittsburgh linguist willing to talk to newspapers in the 1960s, the city’s hilly geography, and the 1980s steel collapse, which left a generation of immigrants’ grandchildren out of work as personal computing arrived. The loss of the mills is told in the rise and fall of Pittsburgh’s steel industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does “yinz” mean? It is the Pittsburgh way of saying “you all,” a plural “you” generally traced to Scots-Irish settlers.

What is a Yinzer? A person who says “yinz,” and by extension a proud Pittsburgh native. The word can be affectionate or mocking depending on who says it.

What does “jagoff” mean? A jerk or an annoying person. It comes from the dialect verb “jag,” and the Heinz History Center notes that locals still debate whether it is polite.

Is Pittsburghese a real dialect? Yes. Linguists classify it as Western Pennsylvania English, and Barbara Johnstone of Carnegie Mellon has studied it for decades.

Do people really say “dahntahn”? Some do. The “ah” vowel is a real feature of the dialect, though not every Pittsburgher uses it, and research suggests older men use the accent most.

Speaking Pittsburgh

Pittsburghese is a living record of who settled here and how the city sees itself. A Scots-Irish plural from the 18th century, a deli meat named for a local brand, a football nickname from a 1971 radio contest: they all show up in the same sentence. For more on the city behind the words, see From Fort Duquesne to Tech Hub: a timeline of Pittsburgh’s history.

Sources and further reading: Carnegie Mellon’s announcement of Barbara Johnstone’s Speaking Pittsburghese and the Heinz History Center’s guide to Pittsburghese.