Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

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Before all the yogurt joints, restaurants and bars with great big windows, there were the native people of Somerville, or “Summahville,” as we pronounce it.  A lot of us are still here raising our third-, fourth-, fifth-generation kids. Those of us who grew up on the streets of Somerville in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s had our own way of talking (before we went to school and learnt to talk right!). You know what I’m sayin’? Bordering cities may have had similar phrases, sayings and styles of language, but we “stahted” it!

I was goofing around on Facebook and asked this question: If someone asked you to describe “how to talk Somerville,” what would you say?  Of course we had to go old school and dig up some phrases and sayings we used when we were kids. Needless to say, the first thing that came to mind was “wicked,” as in “wicked cool,” and “wicked ——-!”   Remember, this is “sposta” be in good fun!

First of all, the next town over is “Meffa,” not “Medford.” When we are planning on an activity past noontime, it’s “this affta.” If we don’t like something someone has just told us, we will say “gedouddaheah!” (“Get out of here”). If you are frightened at something you may be “a-scared.” Years ago, and some still do it, we may not wave with our hands, but just give a simple tilting up of the head (a nod) as a greeting. We went “ova” our friend’s house and then we went “up the square.” Believe it or not, some people still call it “David Square!”  The “r” in Charlestown is also silent.

If you told me something astounding, I may say “for real?”  If we didn’t know a young lady’s name, we would call her ”girlie.” We ate “suppah,” not dinner, and we sat in the “parlah,” not the living room. We would never say “you fellows,” but we would say “yous guys.” I can’t explain this next one, but when I say “three for five,” a lot of you will know what I am talking about. If a stranger is staring at you in an uncomfortable manner, you might say,  “What are you looking at?” If he is also from Somerville, he will say, ”Nothing much!” We would never say, ”I beg to differ.” We would say ”noffanuttin” (“not for nothing”).

“Let’s go to Tello’s or Chess King” meant you needed a new Members’ Only jacket. “You hittin’ Studley’s for Plunkett?” meant “Are you going down Studley’s nightclub to see singer/guitarist Jimmy Plunkett,” who used to pack the joint weekly with his sing-a-long drinking ditties. We also had a habit of adding an expletive in between syllables. If you were upset at me, I would be “JIMMY DEL  @#$%^&* PONTE!”  A mad person may tell you to “GET OFF THE TELE-@#$%^&* PHONE!” Get it? Good. While playing hide and seek in my neighborhood, we would say “Ollie Ollie Entry!” If we wanted you to come out to play, we would go to your house and “call for you.” We would stand in front of your house and say, “HI YO, CHARLIE!”  If you found yourself in some kind of trouble when you were a kid, you might blurt out something like this: “My father knows Howie!”

If someone asks for directions in Somerville today, you might say, “Go past where the old fire station was,” or “Keep going where Bradlees used to be,” or, perhaps, “Turn left where Friendly’s was.”  We also still may find ourselves talking like we were still those kids growing up in East Somerville, Winter Hill, North Street, Union Square or Powder House Park. When these things come out of my mouth, I just smile and enjoy the memory.

So we welcome all the newcomers to Somerville with open ahms … I mean “arms.” And to those of you who moved out of Somerville, hop on 93, bang a left at Dunkies, and visit the old neighborhood … will ya?