Dahntahn Yinzerville
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
To start, the Pittsburgh people refer to the regional culture they enjoy as being ‘Yinzer.’ The local accent, which pronounces the word ‘downtown’ as ‘Dahntahn’ and says ‘aht’ when they want to say ‘at,’ uses a contraction for ‘you all’ that sounds like ‘y’inz.’ Use it in place of ‘y’all.’
There’s a cultural conceit and marketing gimmick built in here, therefore, centering around ‘Yinz.’ It’s common for people in the Pittsburgh Metro to describe themselves as ‘Yinzers,’ although you already figured out they’re ‘from here’ due to a Steelers jersey, worn with shorts in January. There’s a strain of masculinity here which likes to project that they don’t feel cold, as they’re far too tough for that.
That’s the explanation for the title of this post, ‘Dahntahn Yinzerville.’
After passing under the 1922 vintage ‘David McCullough 16th street bridge’ on the waterfront trail, I was definitively ‘Dahntahn.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s another patch of tall buildings about five to six miles to the east in Oakland, where CMU and Pitt’s campuses are found, but most of the businesses hereabouts enjoy horizontal setups rather than vertical ones.
Density ain’t what it used to be.
Another interesting wrinkle to Yinzer talk involves the supposition of a past tense variant for the word while using a verb in present tense. It’s not ‘the car needs to be washed,’ rather it’s ‘the car needs warsh.’
Fascinating.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Before plunging into the urban core, in pursuance of acquiring the T light rail at Wood Street Station, a few last wave arounds of the camera occurred. This one looks across the Allegheny towards its northern shoreline.
It was time to begin the last steps of this scuttle, and ‘the final paht of this scuttle needs walk.’
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 
Leave a comment