Bhamwiki:Slang terms
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This page collects local slang terms used (verifiably) in the media. This list will never be comprehensive, but it may someday be useful enough to become a real article:
- B. W. H. P., used on invitations during Prohibition to indicate "bring whisky in hip pocket".
- Bank with Balls/Building with Balls: irreverent description of 1901 Sixth Avenue
- Brooky/Brookie: A resident of Mountain Brook
- Buns of Iron/Buns of Steel or Moon over Homewood: the nude posterior of Vulcan. "Moon Over Homewood" is the name of a 1982 song by former WYDE-AM DJ Jack Voorhies.
- Chicken run or racetrack (See Chicken run) was a well-known reference to the one-block pedestrian circuit around Block 86 with the highest volume of foot traffic in the 1920s and 1930s. During the Great Depression circling the "chicken run" continued as a popular way to while away idle hours.
- The Curve: The Curve, a formerly curved intersection in downtown Homewood straightened in the 1990s.
- Dead Man's Curve: Intersection of I-20 West and I-59 South; also called "Six Flags Over Death" because of the proximity of Forest Hill Cemetery to the junction
- LaLa, Crazy Larry, Leapin' Larry: nicknames for Larry Langford
- Malfunction Junction: Interchange of I-20/59 and I-65 in downtown Birmingham.
- Operation New White People: criticism against Operation New Birmingham, coined by either Gene Edelman or John Rogers
- Shitty Stages: criticism for City Stages
- Strutinate: variant of "scrutinize", coined by Antwon Womack
- Tiny Kingdom: pejorative name for Mountain Brook
- Tank Farm: The Pelham Exit 242 on I-65, recognizable by large gas storage tanks owned by Colonial Pipeline Company.
Forced possessives
- It has been observed that Birminghamians tend to add an apostrophe-s to the names of businesses even when there is no reason for it. (Britling's, Parisian's, Rojo's, etc.). Documented by Bob Carlton (January 31, 2010) "Za Za Trattoria is now Trattoria Centrale." Birmingham News. This is not unique to Birmingham, but is very common here.
- Just today, I saw someone refer to Trilogy Leather as "Trilogy's".
- And today, I saw someone refer to Lloyd Noland Hospital as "Lloyd Nolan's".
See also
- Dynamite Hill
- Scratch Ankle, Buzzard's Roost, Hell's Half Acre, Hell's Delight (disreputable neighborhoods)
- Bhamwiki:Common errors