It's official -- NJ is a strange place...

[jhlurie]

The Midnight Society: NJ's Tristate Area Historical Society of the Strange and Unusual

To make this marginally food related, there is also a Dining Out section!

[201]

Hast thou never heardest of yon publication "Weird New Jersey"?

Side note: Hadn't been to the site in a while and I notice they now have a little Flash intro with a theme song (of sorts). However, the pronunciation of Jersey in the song sounds more like "Jerzay" than "Jerzee". Any ideas where that pronunciation comes from? Also... who the HELL says "Joisey"?!? Has anyone ever heard someone from Jersey actually use that pronunciation? To make this food-related, I like to discuss these topics while dining at Wondee's in Hackensack.

[ngatti]

Hast thou never heardest of yon publication "Weird New Jersey"?

Side note: Hadn't been to the site in a while and I notice they now have a little Flash intro with a theme song (of sorts).  However, the pronunciation of Jersey in the song sounds more like "Jerzay" than "Jerzee".  Any ideas where that pronunciation comes from?  Also... who the HELL says "Joisey"?!?  Has anyone ever heard someone from Jersey actually use that pronunciation?  To make this food-related, I like to discuss these topics while dining at Wondee's in Hackensack.

My father pronounced it that way. But then again, we're from Brooklyn.

Noick

[201]

I've never heard any of my friends from Brooklyn say it that way. They're all from Bensonhurst and Sheep's Head Bay. Maybe it's an ultra-regional thing?

[jhlurie]

Even odder, on that list of "Strange NJ Food Places", I've been to SIX of them. Sheesh! So maybe I didn't need the website (although the ones I haven't been to actually seem more interesting than the ones I have).

And that theme song on the other site? Is weird.

[ngatti]

I've never heard any of my friends from Brooklyn say it that way.  They're all from Bensonhurst and Sheep's Head Bay.  Maybe it's an ultra-regional thing?

It's a generational thing. Before the age of TV and even radio. My great uncles and uncles pronounced it that way. My dad would say "Terlet" for toilet and "earl" for oil.

Nick

[tommy]

My father pronounced it that way.  But then again, we're from Brooklyn.

Noick

i was just about to suggest that the "jersey" accent that you hear/hear about in the media and whatnot more closely resembles that of people who live in staten island, long island, brooklyn and queens.

on a related note, my brother in law is from queens. i'm, however, from straight parents.

[jhlurie]

My dad would say "Terlet" for toilet and "earl" for oil.

Ah, "Bunker-speak".

My Dad was from the Bronx. Some of the stuff which pops up in his conversation is quite odd too.

[201]

It's a generational thing.  Before the age of TV and even radio.  My great uncles and uncles pronounced it that way.  My dad would say "Terlet" for toilet and "earl" for oil.

Nick

You're probably right. Homogenized television across the states has probably cut down on quite a bit of regional dialects. Quite a bit of them still persist though.

People from Hawthorne, NJ generally pronounce their town's name as "HawRthorne", despite all my efforts to persuade them otherwise.

[tommy]

People from Hawthorne, NJ generally pronounce their town's name as "HawRthorne", despite all my efforts to persuade them otherwise. 

i love "datar."

[pnapoli]

My dad would say "Terlet" for toilet

My dad, too, and he grew up in Jersey City.

[ngatti]

My dad, too, and he grew up in Jersey City. 

I think that everyone in Joisey can trace at least some of their ancestry back to Brooklyn. Well...everyone who's cool.

Nick