Pennsylvania

Erin Potts Pennsylvania I grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which is sometimes referred to as Pennsylvania Dutch country. There are large communities of Amish, Mennonites and from an outsider’s point of view we Lancaster County residents speak differently and eat a wide variety of foods not common in most households. I on the other hand would tend to disagree with the general public. We actually pronounce the words correctly and cook a delicious meal. "Dutch" is a misnomer, which came primarily from Germany and the German-speaking areas of Switzerland. The word may have come from the word Deutsch, which is how you pronounce German in Germany. Many of the words and phrases would be quite recognizable to tourists from Germany. Some people also make the mistake of using the terms Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch interchangeably. Although my family has lived here in Lancaster all their lives my ancestors came over from Germany. However, the language that we use today is not what our ancestors spoke. Although we still have that little twang it is still not exactly how they spoke back then. I find it funny when people misunderstand me when I am explaining that I am cleaning my house; I start with stating that I am “redding” up my house, they never heard this term before. Words are pronounced differently as well: you'll hear G and J pronounced as "ch" ("You can buy it at the Ghentral Store," or "Chust a minute, now") and W as V ("Ya, and it's fine veather ve're having, ain't'"). Several Pennsylvania Dutch words and phrases have remained in our vocabulary. Growing up this was the way we pronounced words and I had no idea that there was anything wrong about it until I started looking into furthering my education. In a strange way I don’t think I could talk any other way even if I tried, here are some of the ways that I and many people I know talk in Pennsylvania: Rootsh (or ruch) - Not being able to sit still. "Stop ruching around. Doplich (or dobbich) - Clumsy. "You're always falling over things; you're so doplich." Rift - To belch. No idea where this came from. Rett (or redd) - To clean up, or to put away. "Get all those toys rett away." "I need to rett up first, and then we can go." Put it by - Lay it down. Not to be confused with; Put up - To preserve produce, this is also referred to as canning, although the product goes in jars. Go figure. Schmecks - Tastes good, although it can refer to a kiss. It wonders me - I wonder. It's all – There is no more available. Take into consideration that most of us were taught to speak this way. My favorite Pennsylvania dish is the Potpie. (Yes, it is spelled as either one word or two.) If you order a pot pie, you generally expect a pie with meat, gravy and vegetables in it. In Lancaster County, you'll be served a dish made up of flat, doughy, square noodles with chicken and gravy, with either potatoes or vegetables thrown in. It is similar to chicken and dumplings. I was always told that the name confusion originated from the Pennsylvania Dutch name for the square noodles, which is "bot boi" and sounds a lot like the English "pot pie". I can remember my grandmother and mother rolling out the dough and hanging it in strips until they dried before they would cut then into squares to put into the pot of boiling chicken broth. It is and always will be a great memory that I share with my mom and grandmother. I hope to pass that on to my daughter in the future. A Fasnacht, sometimes spelled Fastnacht or Fastnacht, is a fatty doughnut treat served traditionally on Fastnacht Day (Tuesday), the day before Lent starts. Fasnachts were made as a way to empty the pantry of lard, sugar, fat, and butter, which were traditionally not used during Lent. The Pennsylvania Dutch territory surrounding Lancaster, Pennsylvania, celebrates this custom as well. Most chain supermarkets in the eastern Pennsylvania region offers fasnachts, we eat doughnuts and then the next day we give that one sweet item up, plus we are supposed to have good luck for the coming year. Other vocabulary words we pronounce differently are: Chow chow - (a vegetable relish). Scrapple -(a mixture of meat and cornmeal, served as a breakfast meat), puddin's - (which are actually another meaty sort of thing), schnitz und knepp - (dried apples and dumplings, sometimes with a bit of pork), And of course the popular Shoo fly pie is a concoction of molasses and brown sugar with a layer of crumb on top, similar to coffee cake toppings. I on the other hand don’t like many of the other things I listed there, but a lot of family members and friends love it. One thing I'd like to add is if you do decide to come to Lancaster, and don't want to stand out as a tourist, here's a word of advice. Lancaster is pronounced "LANK is ter," emphasis on the first syllable.