Yesterday, after the HH and I ran errands together, we decided to stop off at the General Store to grab a quick bite to eat. And after much deliberation, we ended up ordering a salami and cheese sub to share. After the guy behind the counter handed us our sub {the subs come wrapped in a sheet of food service wax paper and are held together with a rubber band} we paid, and then walked around back to the picnic tables outside.
On the picnic table was a container with a bunch of rubber bands sitting in it. Thinking nothing of it, I slipped the rubber band off our sub and tossed it in the container.
And then I saw the word “Elastics” on the side of the container. đ
ELASTICS!? I shouted to the HH.
Who calls rubber bands elastics?
And well, apparently my husband for one {although I have never once heard him refer to a rubber band as an elastic before}. And then we started talking about all the other phrases we’ve heard people here on the East coast use…
- Bubblers – Drinking Fountains
- Parlor – Living Room
- Pocketbook – Purse
- Chest of Drawers – Dresser
- Carriage – Shopping Cart
And so on….
And then well, I just had to take a picture of the container of elastics and ASK YOU about it.
So what do you call them? Elastics or Rubber Bands?
Curious minds want to know. đ
~Mavis
Mary says
I call them rubber bands, but an older woman I knew called them gum bands (must be a PA thing).
Wynne says
I’m from PA too and say “rubber bands,” unless it’s a hair tie. Maybe “elastics” is a Northeast or ME thing?
There’s an online dictionary of American Regional English run by the University of Wisconsin … it needs a login and maybe subscription but they’ve shared 100 free regional definitions: https://www.daredictionary.com/page/100sampleentries
I’m off to look up “antigodlin.” ?
Psuchica212345 says
Yep…rubber bands. Soda is pop (& no not from Pittsburgh…North Central PA…Tioga county).
It is fun to learn what folks call common things!
Laura Z says
I call those rubber bands but the things that you use in your hair, “hair elastics.” Have you taken the NYT dialect quiz? It’s fascinating!
Robin in WI says
Rubber bands. Wisconsin folks also say bubbler. Not sure how accurate regional slang words are; I’ve heard words attributed to WI that I’ve never said or heard anyone else say. I also repeatedly read that “Hey” marks one as a Wisconsinite, but it’s used everywhere, globally — just pay attention to TV, movies, social media, etc.
Cindy Goller says
Hi Robin, I live in WI, too. I belive it’s the “Ope!” when inadvertently doing something impolite is what marks one as a Wisconsinite!
Leslie says
Never heard anyone call them elastics. I actually may have heard elastic band though. Normally rubber band.
When growing up, my mother always did refer to the ‘chest of drawers.’
Like someone else said, I’m from St. Louis so I say ‘soda’ not pop. My mother used terms “front room” and “family room.”
she also called rednecks “hoosiers.” (are those words ok to say still?) My father was from Indiana and he knew that st. Louisans weren’t using “hoosier” to refer to him.
Renee K says
From New England Elastics.
A chest of drawers with clothing in it is a bureau.
Julie says
I’m from England and a bureau is where we keep our papers, pens, rubber bands (lol) etc and a chest of drawers is for clothes
Lynne says
I’m with Laura. Elastics are the coated things that I use in my hair, and the other things that hold newspapers and subs together are rubber bands. That said, if I saw that container, I think I’d know what they meant.
Kristen says
Rubber bands.
I grew up in SE Wisconsin and we also call drinking fountains Bubblers. Why?!
Debra S McCrary says
Louisiana:
We call them rubber bands. We refer to a shopping cart as a “buggy”.
Lynda McCrimmon says
Rubber bands. (I just learned a new trick: put a rubber band around a lid that is hard to open. You get a way better grip. I rarely have to get help from the hubby using this method; it really works!)
Katie says
I’ve never heard anyone call them elastics! They’re definitely rubber bands. I was born in southern Louisiana and have spent the second half of my life in Texas.
Cindi says
Rubber bands. Elastics go in your hair. But I’m from the south and we call a dresser a chest of drawers. Or a chiffarobe.
Laura Z says
My grandma (from Mobile) had chifforobes in which she hung suits and church dresses. I use dresser and chest of drawers interchangeably.
Lana says
Rubber bands! Here in SC some call a chest of drawers a Chester Draws. I saw this in the classified ads 27 ago when we moved here and could not even think of what it was! My old great aunties from PA, who are all dead now, called the elastic in underwear gum.
Jules says
Rubber bands in the PNW. Elastics to me means the wonderful stuff that helps your waistband stretch when you eat too much đ
Phillis Patmor says
Here in KY a chifforobe was common in closet-less houses in the 50’s used for hanging clothes, suits, dresses. My daughter-in-law had a shrunk when they were living in Germany. It had drawers, hangers, & shelves. We call a tallish sort of chest with drawers a chest of drawers and a chest with a mirror a dresser, usually wider. And my grandmother called a chest of drawers chester drawers.
Dawn says
From Massachusetts and we always called them elastics
Lisa R says
I’m from New England and they are elastics. I’ve never heard them called a rubber band where I live. Also the chest of drawers is a bureau.
Heidi P says
I’ve only heard them referred to as “rubber bands”. I do say “soda” for having a cola or pop. I think that term varies by region. I was born and raised in the PNW but did live in NY for a time back in the 80’s. I heard many different terms while back east. I had a friend from PA that referred to people as “Uins”? “You’ns”? No idea how to spell it.
Sue says
MN calls them rubber bands.
Yma P. says
Gum bands.
Melinda says
I’m from Virginia…they’re rubber bands. Elastics are the hair ties that you would use for a pony tail.
From your other list…
Drinking Fountains
Living Room
Purse (thought my DC and NY born grandmothers called them pocketbooks)
Dresser
Shopping Cart (NY grandma called it a buggy)
Mel says
I’m from Maryland, and it’s exactly the same for me, except it’s my relatives from North Carolina instead of New York/D.C.!
debbie in alaska says
elastics — though since leaving new england I call them rubber bands. other words I don’t hear much since leaving NE: bureau. water fountain. soda. package store. pricey. wicked. grinders. clickers. rotaries.
debbie in alaska says
Also sneakers!
Jill says
Transplant to NC (31 wonderful years)from NY (blech) and NE (7 yrsâŚ.ok)
*âMake a pictureâ (take a picture)
*âHeyâ (hi, hello)
âDinnerâ (sometimes lunch or supper)
*âBuggyâ (shopping cart)
*âFixin toâ (going to)
*âGo withâ (go with you)
*âCapâ (hat)
*âTobogganâ (hat)
*âWhelpâ (welt sp)
*âvehicleâ (car/truck)
*âfuelâ (gasoline)
*âdipâ (chewing tobacco)
Can you tell I married a southerner?! Love him!!
Jill says
Forgot
*âRestroomâ (bathroom)
*tennis shoesâ(sneakers)
AND RUBBER BANDS!!
Sandy says
My grandmother kept her pocketbook near the divan in the front room.
(Purse by the couch in the livingroom.)
I grew up about 40 miles south of Chicago. We called them rubber bands. Soda was also called pop.
Jenny says
My elderly-ish neighbor who grew up in Chicago (Northwest side) calls the living room her âFronchâ room! We were talking about that, and she got it from her Mom, of course. She thought it might have had some connections to the word âFrenchâ, which meant fancy to them! Lol! But then she asked her elderly sister where Fronch room came from, and SHE said it just meant FRONT room! Hilarious! My Chicago-born husband calls the âTHE-aterâ (as I pronounce it) the âthe AY-terâ.
Meg says
My Chicago father said âthe-AY-terâ too.
My St Louisian mother called the thing at the store a âbasket.â She ALWAYS called it the grocery store, not supermarket or market, no matter the size of the store. Chicagoans say pop, but I say soda because of my momâs roots above.
Also:
Rubber bands
Drinking fountain (occasionally water fountain)
Bathroom in a home, restroom in a school or public building
Cut the grass, rarely mow the lawn
Take the garbage out, rarely take the trash out
Gym shoes, rarely tennis shoes or sneakers
Pancakes, never flapjacks or any such thing
Sausage over pepperoni on pizza and NEVER put ketchup on a hot dog (Chicago dog is mustard, relish, diced white onion, pickle spear, tomato slices and a couple of hot peppers).
Jeanine says
I grew up with âclose the doorâ, whereas my husband says âshut the doorâ.
Cathy Lielausis says
I’ve never heard rubber bands called elastics. I thought elastics were the covered hair bands.
Victoria says
Rubber bands! And we call the things for your hair, “hair thingies”, though maybe that’s just my family…?
In the Midwest your groceries get put into a bag that goes into your cart, but when I lived in AL, it was a sack that goes into your buggy.
Debi says
I am a Michigander. Those living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are called Yoopers. The Toppers call those living in the lower peninsula as trolls.
Rubber bands is what I know that as.
Soda – we call soda, pop or name/type of pop. A friend from Boston called soda/pop “tonic”.
My grandmother used the term pocketbook for purse.
Bureaus here are called dresser, dresser drawers or chest dresser.
LindaT says
Iâm from Maine, living in Ohio via Germany and PA. Definitely elastics. I grew up loving devil dogs an Whoopi pies, which in PA they called âgobsâ I still have a hard time not saying supper for dinner, and dinner for lunch. I taught college and once I said â Iâm right straight outâ in class, and everyone looked at me like âWhat?â I meant that I was very busy. Iâm sure youâll hear that too, Mavis. Downeasters have a lot of unique sayings. Ayuh.
Linda Harper says
That is one I learned when we moved south. How about a poke (bag)? Or commode (toilet)?
Sue says
The only slang *poke* meaning I know of is the one I learned from reading Lonesome Dove. *blush*
Nancy D says
This is interesting to me! I think weâve become more the same (slang and accents) since tv and radio and now internet. I call them rubber bands. Other terms Iâve come across with friends and family are:
-Glove box/jockey box/glove compartment
-Pickup vs truck
-saying half-ten vs 10:30
-camper vs trailer
-odor vs smell (used for good scent)
-canning food vs jarring food
and the list goes onâŚ
đ
Bonnie says
Here in Georgia, we always said dashboard or dash for glove compartment. Coke could’ve been any kind of soda. Supper was the meal about 6 o’clock. Chester drawers was where the britches are put. Lol. If you are going to do something, you are “fixing” to do it….love all these comparisons. It’s hilarious! Bye y’all.
Pam T says
My favorite from Texas. What kind of coke do you want? Dr. Pepper.
Kari says
That is similar to my husbandâs family calling all denim jeans âLeviâs.â That one still gets me.
Dianne says
My MIL called rubber bands “elastics”, pocketbook for purse, (as a lot of older generations called them) chest of drawers, for a high dresser with drawers, chesterfield (couch). She was born and raised in North Eastern Ontario, Canada. I think a lot of those terms used are “English” UK terms.
Teri says
Rubber bands. Elastics are what you tie your hair into a ponytail or pigtales with.
PJ Cartier says
Growing up in southern Quebec, a stone’s throw north of the Vermont border, we called them a dresser, dresser drawers or chest of drawers, sometimes a bureau and occasionally used the term chiffonier, pronounced ‘SHIFF-on-eer’. A standalone closet in which clothes were hung from a rod was a wardrobe or a clothes closet. My grandmother had a chiffarobe in her bedroom – a standalone tall piece of furniture with 2 doors, each hinged on the side and closing to the center, that opened up to display one side with drawers and a top shelf [handbag and jewelry box lived there], while the other half was a closet with a hanging rod so she could hang her dresses, etc. A tall mirror hung on the inside of the ‘closet’ door so that she had a dressing mirror when she opened that door. It was a highly functional piece of furniture in an old house that offered only cupboard-sized closets as built-ins.
Other items:
Rubber bands usually, though I remember Mom saying Elastics.
Drinking Fountains. Today is the first time I have ever heard the term ‘Bubblers’.
Living Room [or front room if the front door opened into or next to the living room. In the old days it would have been referred to as the front parlor and the living room could be a separate room, meaning that a house could have BOTH a front room and a living room.]
Purse = a woman’s handbag. Pocketbook = a man’s wallet or a woman’s small clutch purse or a wallet that went into her handbag.
Chest of Drawers â Dresser. See above.
Shopping buggy.
Soft drink instead of Soda/pop
When I married and moved to western Canada there was a whole new set of phrases to learn. What fun to see how the comments that others have made here!
Hanna McCown says
So fun. Growing up they were elastic bands. I call them one or the other depending on where my head is at the time. I grew up partly in England and partly in Canada.
charwelsh says
Southwestern PA native here. Rubber bands/elastics are gum bands. A group of people is you âuns. And a dishcloth is a dishrag. We also have such a distinct regional âaccentâ. LOL
Heidi P says
“You’uns”!!! Finally someone has heard/used that term. Must be a PA term.
Vicki in Birmingham says
This is my first time to hear them called elastics. For me, elastic is that white stuff they put in some kinds of clothes waist bands to keep them from falling off!
In the sunny South, they are rubber bands.
lynne says
those are rubber bands…elastics are the ones that i use in my hair :-)….kinda like the never ending “soda” or “pop” debate! LynneinMN
Lori says
Rubber bands and I grew up in N J.
Kathleen W says
In Missouri we call them rubber bands. Elastics are hair dealies. đ
Annette says
So where do you keep your milk? I keep mine in the icebox. Seems to be an “inherited” term, rather than which part of the country you live in.
Sue Cuthbert says
Always Elastic Bands in England . although rubber bands if you are younger maybe. I now need to ask my children!
Sue at My Quiet Life in Suffolk
Stacey says
Growing up in my part of Vermont they have always been rubber bands. Elastics are the covered rubber bands you use in your hair. And when I have carried one, it’s a pocketbook.
Joely says
I’m a native New Englander…I call them elastic bands.
ANN meyer says
I grew up in Maine and still say elastics. A dresser is a bureau. I order jimmies on my ice cream. I occasionally call my purse a pocketbook. Sometime I Get wicked ti-yud.
My last name is Meyer and whenever I order takeout the name on the receipt says âMaya.â
dee says
To totally mess with your head in Ireland we call them elastic bands
Barbara says
Until my Dad came along all my paternal relatives were born in Maine. So a lot of the phrases we use came straight from Downeast. We always called then elastics. The parlor was the room in the house where the deceased rested before the burial. The family would âreceive guestsâ in that room. We call soda âtonicâ and it usually was Moxie. Shopping carts were called wagons. Now that I moved to Maine from Washington all those familiar words are back in my vocabulary.
JulieP says
We call them Laggy Bands which makes me think my mum called them elastic bands! Norfolk U.K. but we are quite special with our colloquialisms . We call a purse/pocketbook a handbag, shopping carts are trolleys, chests of drawers are what they are and lounge or living room for us. The English language is a funny old thing! All the same but different
Carolina Cooper says
What caught my eye, was not the word “elastics” on the cup, but the very idea that the store would put something out to collect the used rubber bands. A perfect example of the informal Maine motto: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Mainers are frugal folks, yes they are, and were recycling long before it was fashionable!
Cindy Miller says
My husband and I both grew up on the mid coast of Maine. We both spent time “away” and have both returned to the mid coast. We both say rubber bands.
Jennie Bryant says
I’m from Maine and came here because I just called a rubber band an elastic (like, um, always) and he commented and said it must be a regional thing. (He’s from Alabama.)