home

Boston Talk to English Translation Quiz

Can you translate these phrases written by a New Englander into English?
These phrases are not necessarily exclusive to Boston
Quiz by
WolfCam
Featured Quiz
Rate:
Last updated: May 26, 2020
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
More quiz info >>
First submittedApril 16, 2020
Times taken55,945
Average score78.6%
Rating4.59
Quiz and answer stats >>
Shared scores >>
4:00
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
1. A wicked nor'easter over the bridge
The devil
A crazy European
A blizzard on Cape Cod
Someone from New York living in Boston
2. Jimmies on the Hoodsie
Leaves changing color
Ice cream with sprinkles
Rowers on the Charles River
A flurry in summer
3. Take the Pike not the T
Go with your gut
Live in the city not the country
Drive, don't take the train
Care for yourself before helping others
4. A Fluffernutter
A Vermonter
Someone who makes no sense
A peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich
A soft-shelled lobster
5. American Chop Suey
Something which is done better in Boston than anywhere else
A Chinese restaurant
A pasta dish with beef and tomatoes
Modern art
6. The B's are at the Gahden
There are a lot of Bostonians in the Common
The Boston Bruins have a game tonight
There are whales off of Cape Cod
Winter is over
7. A frickin' chowdahead
A police officer
A great white shark
An idiot
A fisherman
8. Tonic and Grindas
Wine and beer
Women and men
Soda and sandwiches
Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard
9. Give me Foddy for Dunks
Be quiet
Do me a favor
I'm paying for the food
I need money for coffee
10. P-Town
Providence
Plymouth
Provincetown
Portland
11. Leaf-Peepahs
People who hike the Appalachian Trail
Sudden thunderstorms
Cardinals (sometimes also robins)
Tourists who ogle fall foliage
12. Going on a Packie Run
Running the Boston Marathon
Going to a football game
Buying Beer
Vacationing on the Cape
13. Candlepin in the Hub
Having a conversation with drinks
Going bowling in Boston
Setting a lobster trap
A three-point shot in basketball
14. Bang a u'ey
Get arrested
Hit a home run
Go on a date
Turn around
Save Your Stats
Your Next Quiz
Total United States Immigration by Country
Name the countries that sent the most people to the United States since 1820.
State Superlatives - Not Alaska
Alaska ranks #1 in a lot of categories. For each category, guess the state that ranks #2.
Capital Cities - Sudden Death
Click capital cities. Click nothing but capital cities. Clicking any other city will instantly end the quiz!
Marvel Superheroes - Sudden Death
Click all the superheroes that come from Marvel comics while avoiding the ones that don't.
57 Comments
IsleAuHaulte
+19
Level 92
Apr 17, 2020
People from Boston are the leaf peepers.

It's people cruising around the countryside looking at the fall colors. Not many people cruise around the packed city of Boston to look at canvases of foliage.

JWC1202
+1
Level 76
Apr 19, 2020
Yeah, pretty much. Anyone who goes to rural New England for foliage season may be a leaf peeper, but especially if you're from Boston and New York, and only venture west of Cambridge once every October.
halpie
+5
Level 81
Sep 18, 2020
New York is west of Cambridge...
samiamco
+3
Level 67
Apr 21, 2020
Having gone to college and then lived for 11 yeahs in Bahstun, I can also confirm that leaf peeping is specifically about viewing fall foliage. However, I have never heard locals referred to as leaf peepers – only tourists (and not necessarily from New York).

Great quiz! Probably my easiest 100% yet!

HinesBrothers
+12
Level 78
Apr 17, 2020
I love how you worded the title. Essentially you are saying that Bostoners don't speak in English.
MuchoMacho
+19
Level 86
Apr 17, 2020
/r/thatsthejoke
nonono
+2
Level 91
Apr 20, 2020
Is it really a joke?
samiamco
+2
Level 67
Apr 21, 2020
/r/whoosh
Rockton
+13
Level 15
May 28, 2020
r/ihavereddit
Baxtergrad
+7
Level 51
Jan 2, 2021
r/idonthavereddit
TravelingMama
+11
Level 72
Apr 17, 2020
This was harder for me than the British and Australian idiom quizzes. Apparently I will need a translation book if I ever visit Boston.
JWC1202
+10
Level 76
Apr 19, 2020
You won't run across too many people here who speak quite this extreme a version unless you ride the T (MBTA public transit). I am convinced that strength of accent is one of the hiring criteria to operate a bus or subway

!

samiamco
+6
Level 67
Apr 21, 2020
… or go to the North End, or Southie, or Cambridge, or Dorchester, or the North Shore, or… ;-)
WolfCam
+29
Level 67
Apr 18, 2020
Fun Fact: The majority of Bostonians speak only in Patriots references and Mark Wahlberg quotes.
roleybob
+5
Level 73
Apr 19, 2020
#12 sounds racists - I've just looked up the US meaning and apparently it means a package store over there but in the UK it is a derogatory way to refer to a Pakistani, or a corner shop run by a South Asian
WolfCam
+7
Level 67
Apr 19, 2020
I just looked it up, and while they are pronounced the same, the slur you are referring to is spelled differently than I've spelled it here.
roleybob
+3
Level 73
Apr 25, 2020
Yes it is spelled differently, and I'm not suggesting that you intended any offence, but it does sound racist to my ear.

I guess it's due to different cultures having their own parlance and I'm not saying that it necessarily should be changed, just making you aware in case you want to consider changing it

RuthlessCosmo
+1
Level 78
Mar 28, 2026
There are plenty of racists in Boston, but this isn't how they would express that.

On a related note, a college classmate from Maine once said to me, when we were at a get-together at someone else's house that we hadn't been exactly invited to, that he enjoyed "paddy crashing." It took me a few seconds to realize that he wasn't talking about beating up Irishmen.

EcceHomo
+11
Level 86
Aug 25, 2020
It isn't racist unless you want it to be. Keep it in, it's not racist.
IsleAuHaulte
+11
Level 92
Apr 20, 2020
I'm wondering how much his friend wants to go to the booze store if he wants $40 for coffee.
saween
+1
Level 49
Apr 11, 2026
That is an unfortunate coincidence. "Packie" is short for "package store," and many people do still use the long form. Then againI don't really hear this term all too much nowadays.
akp713
+5
Level 89
Apr 20, 2020
Grew up in Boston, but left 14 years ago, so I'm glad I still got 100% after all these years.
Brollface
+2
Level 66
May 26, 2020
so they do actually talk like this?
threeyearslater
+8
Level 37
May 26, 2020
Yes and no. A lot of these are either combinations of local slang words, or brands turned into generics. For example, "over the bridge" doesn't mean "Cape Cod" regardless of context. It might be used in a conversation that is already in some way about the Cape, as in "Yeah, Charlie moved over the bridge after he retired." "Wicked" in this context would mean "serious," though I've rarely heard people combine with the the already serious "nor'easter," a nationally used name for the weather phenomenon. "Jimmies" are a word for sprinkles in New England. "Hoodsie" comes from Hood Ice Cream, an ice cream company based in Boston (like Atlantans use "coke" to mean "soda," even when not Coca Cola). AFAIK, "Take the pike not the T" is a not a universal way to say "drive, don't take the train" regardless of route. It is a combo of "take the Massachusetts Turnpike (since it is an option for your route)" and "don't take the 'T,'" which is the name of Boston's train system.
communisteggplant
+8
Level 74
Apr 21, 2020
Two things: 1) leaf peepahs view foliage in the fall. Nothing to do with New Yorkahs in New England. 2) If yah gonna have a picture of a bridge at the top due to the first question, can it at least be the Sagamore or Bourne Bridges (the two that go to the Cape) and not the Zakim over the Chahles?
Quizmaster
+9
Level ∞
Apr 21, 2020
Your suggestions have been adopted due to correct phrasing and pronunciation.
mightythor
+6
Level 68
May 26, 2020
TIL American chop suey isn't found outside of Boston.
Highlander29
+3
Level 78
May 26, 2020
Not sure if I should be proud or disappointed after getting 12 right. I think it was watching COPS back in the 90s where I learned I should pahk the cah outside the apahtment.
EytanMelech
+2
Level 66
May 26, 2020
10/14, only because some of the stuff said is still used by many people in Philly, also I had a teacher from Boston. I still love how people get mad at me for using the word "Jimmies".
MasterKenobi
+3
Level 65
May 26, 2020
12/14, not bad for a Southerner! This was almost like a foreign language to me...
skiesboy
+4
Level 66
May 26, 2020
I impressed myself with 9/14. Really not bad for a Zimbabwean. There were some things that I got because it was close to slang I know, there were some that I should have got P-town, and there were a whole load of lucky guesses.
AayushD
+3
Level 77
May 26, 2020
Wow I was terrible at that lol. Luckily I'm not from New England so that's nice
determinedtobeatthis
+3
Level 68
May 26, 2020
What a fun idea for a quiz. It would be fun to do more of these for different regions. (I can't make one, though. I'm from Oregon, and we don't seem to have a lot of local slang/accents.)
Walacama
+3
Level 83
May 27, 2020
I was surprised about grinders as that is usually western Massachusetts and Connecticut. Try this quiz for sandwich names in different regions.

https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/172295/names-for-submarines-sandwiches-in-the-us

HighFidelity
+6
Level 59
May 27, 2020
No Aussie is going to get "bang a u'ey" wrong.
Jezilly
+2
Level 80
May 28, 2020
Haha yep.
FNSpiderMan
+2
Level 73
Jul 16, 2021
My mom says "u'ey" too and she's from Chicago. Must be more universal than we think.
SMFlex
+1
Level 54
Nov 28, 2023
I say it from Minnesota. And so do a lot of people I know.
RuthlessCosmo
+1
Level 78
Mar 28, 2026
To make that phrase Boston-specific the answer should end with the additional words "without regard to oncoming traffic." Boston drivers aren't called Massh*les for nothing.
AbiA
+1
Level 88
Feb 19, 2024
"u'ey" is also quite common in the UK
Jezilly
+4
Level 80
May 28, 2020
12/14. Been to Boston only once but as an Aussie it actually was similar enough logic wise to translate it as our slang is equally as hard to understand.
mightythor
+5
Level 68
May 28, 2020
Here is one for Pittsburgh.
SpencerGT
+3
Level 68
Apr 21, 2021
I was looking for this.
GeoPhilia
+2
Level 57
Aug 24, 2020
I didn't understood the quiz, can someone explain me? Maybe I am too eastern to understand...
partdavid
+2
Level 74
Jul 25, 2023
These are idioms used in the Boston area; the quiz is asking for their equivalent in plain (more widely-spoken) English.
Tastymeatpie
+2
Level 84
Nov 5, 2020
I say 'do a u-ey' as well and I'm from England - never knew it was a Bostonism
Hawke
+1
Level 85
Jun 6, 2021
Well... I'm definitely a Floridian. I got 5/14, and they were practically all guesses.
FyreSt0rm
+1
Level 55
Dec 21, 2021
Don't live near there, but ski where they do, and I've heard most of this in the lift line. Only missed p-town.
rabble
+1
Level 68
May 13, 2023
I hope globalization doesn't end things like this. What a fun heritage these people have worked to create. Hope it remains that way.
nromero02
+2
Level 68
Aug 17, 2023
From Connecticut, so a lot of these are the same. But it helps to have some friends from Mass too
SnapDrake
+1
Level 55
Oct 18, 2024
clearly just because i live in new england doesnt mean i know bostonian slang, i knew most or none of these

but then again, some of them are kind of easy to get from context clues

7/14

keloke
+1
Level 62
Jan 11, 2026
Brit here and no idea how I got 13/14. Apart from P-town, because I've visited once, the rest were more or less guesses.
michaelngwa
+1
Level 62
Mar 28, 2026
U'ey isn't really a Boston thing, I think it's just a thing, people from lots of places say that
jpearson535
+1
Level 73
Mar 28, 2026
I grew up in Boston and all of this seems pretty normal--I still call the liquor store a packie even though I'm a thousand miles away from Boston now.
Remster
+1
Level 81
Mar 28, 2026
I recommend you leave that one behind if you ever move to the UK.
Butrose
+1
Level 35
Mar 29, 2026
I've lived in Boston my whole life and not a single time has anyone said any of these things. they're So American it hurts! the Lincolnshire Dialect is so much broader than all of these statements
French2010
+2
Level 96
Mar 29, 2026
Left Boston 50 years ago. Still got 100% on this. That's the advantage of learning a language when you are young.
Copyright H Brothers Inc, 2008–2026
Contact Us | Go To Top | View Desktop Site | Site Map