Speak like a Bostonian by abbreviating streets and "banging a youie", or making a U-Turn. RELATED LINKS Return to Boston City Guide

Boston, more than most major American cities, has retained a distinctive dialect, and while there's no need to go around saying "Pahk the cah in Hahvid Yahd," it does help to learn a thing or two about local slang, contractions and abbreviations. Knowing the proper pronunciation of place names in particular will come in handy when asking for directions. For example:

— The first syllable of Copley Square rhymes with "cop," not "cope."

— Massachusetts Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue and Dorchester Avenue are invariably shortened to "Mass Ave.," "Comm Ave." and "Dot Ave."

— Other common abbreviations include "JP" for Jamaica Plain, "Eastie" for East Boston, "Rozzie" for Roslindale and "Southie" for South Boston (not to be confused with the South End, which is an entirely different neighborhood).

— Worcester is pronounced "Wista," Gloucester sounds like "Glahsta," and Faneuil (as in Faneuil Hall) sounds something like "fan-yul."

— Other useful terms include "bang a youie" (for making a U-turn), "wicked," (an all-purpose adverb meaning "extremely"), "rotary" (for the city's ubiquitous traffic circles), and "packie" (short for package store, the place where you can buy "beah").