Recently, I’ve come across one word that I’d never heard of before – as it was local to the area around Standish, Cumberland, Maine and I also heard a Passaic (New Jersey) word that was buried deep in my memory, which I recognized when I read it on a FB group post.

That made me wonder how many others might know of vocabulary words specific to a location where they lived because I don’t think I’ve ever read a blog post on this topic.

First – for the two words I know.

There is a legend around the area of Standish, Maine about one Samuel Tarbox and his wife (name lost to time) who both froze to death in a late winter snowstorm in March 1819.

I followed up with more research and believe it was probably Jeremiah Tarbox, not Samuel, who died in that storm, but it doesn’t change the creation of the unique word – tarboxer. Apparently, locals began calling a a really bad snowstorm a “tarboxer,” recognizing that two neighbors froze to death in that 1819 storm.

I don’t know if that word is still used in the Cumberland County, Maine area or not.

The second word lost in my memory is shalali, which I think is strictly a Passaic word. I’ve seen the explanation of the word’s origin as sha – ved ice lolli pop or SHA-Lolli, which became shalali.

What is a shalali? It is indeed shaved flavored ice. Back in the day, it was purchased from street vendors or small luncheonettes – I bought mine at Evelyn’s Luncheonette at the corner of Harrison Street and Central Avenue.

Here is the building today:

The long arrow in the bottom left is on Central Avenue and the two arrows pointing to the building in the upper right indicate where Evelyn’s was, back in the 1950s and 1960s. It’s hard to see from this view, but the front door hasn’t been modified in all these years – it still opens on an angle so that it’s hard to tell if the address is on Central Avenue or Harrison Street.

Evelyn’s sold some candy and served breakfast and lunch, but they also stocked greeting cards, which was where my Nana bought individual cards for birthdays, etc.

The big treat for kids, though, were the shalalis, which seem to only have been a Passaic thing. The shaved ice had liquid squirted into the paper cone on top of the ice. I remember lemon ice, but I think cherry flavoring was also an option.

I don’t remember the price, either, but since there were lots of choices for penny candy and gum and candy bars were only a nickel, I think shalalis were probably between 5 and10 cents.

Evelyn didn’t have an ad in the yellow pages, but she was listed in the white pages in the 1959 and 1961 telephone books (both of which I own) at 355 Harrison Street. Her phone number was PR9-9760. Passaic phones were either the Prescott (PR) exchange or the Gregory (GR) exchange.

Shalalis were delicious, but the ice melted quickly and the very sticky flavoring would either drip down the side of the paper cone or through the pointed end on the bottom.

That leads me to the question posed in this article.

Are there any vocabulary words unique to the neighborhood where you grew up?

Please share your experience!