While Pittsburgh is known for being a steel town, even though it isn’t one anymore, another one of the things it’s known for is its lexicon. In spite of the increasing globalization of American cities — and Pittsburgh has not been immune — it has held onto Pittsburghese with a vengeance.
Out-of-towners and suburbanites, who grew up accent-free and without the same colloquial vocabulary, like to move into the city and, while not adopting the local way of speaking, still like to call themselves yinzers. "Yinz" is the Pittsburgh version of “y’all," and so someone who might say "yinz" is dubbed a "yinzer." For example, he might say, “Hey, what time are yinz leaving for the Steeler game?”
There’s a whole vocabulary here, along with an accent that’s rooted in English Cockney that traces back to when the British regular army occupied this region before 1776. As the British regulars intermingled with the locals, married, and had families of their own, that Cockney dialect became embedded in the Pittsburgh accent, and it still refuses to leave.
But Pittsburghese is more than an accent or a vocabulary; it’s mostly an attitude. I’ve written this before, but in Pittsburgh it’s a capital offense to be phony. When a Pittsburgher meets you, he or she gives you about 20 seconds to prove you’re not faking it.
Another capital offense, with few exceptions, is to think more of yourself than you deserve. Narcissistic tendencies, if you will. The only exceptions are mostly granted to those who have won a Super Bowl with the Steelers, a Stanley Cup with the Penguins, or a World Series with the Pirates (there are still a few of these people among us).
The most common way Pittsburghers have of cutting others down to size is to mispronounce their names – usually to their face.
But it’s not just mispronouncing; it’s just as often using a variation. One sure way to encounter this in a group of true Pittsburghers is to insist on using your formal name. Introduce yourself as Robert to the group, and before long, you’re going to be called Bob, Rob, Bobby, Robby, and if they really like you, Roberto. The one thing they won’t call you is Robert. When they do this, it doesn’t mean they don’t like you. They may love you, but they will refuse to let you tell them what to say or how to say it.
I remember when I coached Little League, one of the other teams’ coaches’ last name was (let’s say for the sake of discussion) Mingrone. The correct pronunciation of his name was exactly how it was spelled. But after one of the other coaches saw Mingrone totally humiliate his son on the field one day, to the point that the kid was in tears, this other coach decided that from then on, he’d call the offender by his last name, not his first, and that his last name would now become “Mingroney.”
This example is hardly a one-off. It’s quite common, actually, and it’s a Pittsburgher’s way of reminding you that none of us is all that special.
The targets of such equalizing name mispronunciations are often teachers, principals, certain judges, certain politicians, an unpopular coach or player, a coworker, or your boss.
Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who now coaches the North Carolina Tar Heels, is still mostly known in Pittsburgh as “Belichack.” Bob Nutting, the current owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, is often referred to as “Nuttin.”
A recent mayor, whose actual name is Bill Peduto, was most commonly known as “Mayor Bike Lane” for his propensity to create traffic chaos and gridlock by inserting new bike lanes throughout the city. But more subtly, more than a few Pittsburghers just called him “Peditto.”
One of the city’s more beloved mayors, Sophie Mazloff, who entered the office as a Jewish grandmother, is remembered for her mastery of this Pittsburgh tradition. She once called Bruce Springsteen “Bruce Bedspring.” She called the rock band The Who “The How.” She called the Grateful Dead the “Dreadful Dead,” and to her, “Deadheads” were better known as “Deadenders.” In the craft of mispronunciation, she was a true artist. How she could mispronounce a name and make a point at the same time is pure legend.
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While much of this may sound petty, it’s not that at all. It’s just a local culture that tends to cut everyone down to size to create a certain egalitarianism. No one is immune. No one is the exception. No one is above the 'mispronunciation.'
And not all of it is negative. It's like that example of “Robert” just before. If Pittsburghers really like you, they’re going to put that “y” at the end of your name pretty quickly: Jimmy, Jenny, Paddy, Mikey, Sammy, Judy, Becky, Danny, Annie, Jackie, or Cassie.
Live in Pittsburgh long enough, and it will happen to you. Just know that when it does, it’s no accident. They’re not mistaken. They’re just letting you know to leave your pretense at the door.
