Detroit slang?

[gazhekwe]

Bogue is older, I remember it from the 70s. Did it come from bogart, as in, Don't bogart that joint? Or vice versa, maybe.

[jcole]

I think it was from 'bogus' rather than bogart.

[Detroitnerd]

I don't know about Detroit slang, but we had some slang when I was growing up in Dearborn that I've never heard anywhere else: "Sueders" and "cakes."

[jcole]

I don't know about Detroit slang, but we had some slang when I was growing up in Dearborn that I've never heard anywhere else: "Sueders" and "cakes."

I'm assuming that's the same as 'soshes and frats'?

[Detroitnerd]

I'm assuming that's the same as 'soshes and frats'?

Similar. The sueders were the burnouts, named for the black, suede Kinney boots they wore -- the black GASS [[Great American Shoe Store) boots.

Cakes were the kids from the west side of Dearborn, the sons and daughters of Ford executives. I guess they were originally called "cake-eaters" [[as in "let them eat cake"), but it got shortened to "cakes."

[hamtown mike]

Michigan left: a uturn + a right= a left.

[gnome]

What's a 'shinnie' self? Am I missing some new Detroit slang here, or did you just mean to say 'shiny'?
I know we shinnie up trees but I didn't know we had to be bright to do it

naw, I was just doing a little word-play on my pal Ravine. See, I noticed from the times of some of his posts that he had not had much sleep; so, I used a variation on the idiom "bright and shiny" to shennie in an ancient nod to the sheenie men. Sheenie being a Detroit idiom - and sometimes ethnic slur - denoting a rag-picker or itinerant trash hauler.

Back when we had alleys, the sheenie men patroled those alleys to collect metal and rags for to sell.

Now we call them scrappers.

I know, not real funny, more of an inside joke. Explaining semi-lame jokes is a bit tedious, sorry.

[Detroitnerd]

My mom always used to call the rag men "sheeny men," but I've since discovered that some people consider the term very offensive. The way my mom said it was always meant affectionately, as it was a fond childhood memory for her.

[rb336]

people in michigan have a funny way of using "anymore." i can't think of an example right now, but it's not the standard "there are no Harmony Houses anymore" use

[Hermod]

people in michigan have a funny way of using "anymore." i can't think of an example right now, but it's not the standard "there are no Harmony Houses anymore" use

Yes, we called them "sheenies".

[13074Glenfield]

This is not a slang word, but one thing that comes to mind is the way we turn place names into possessives. For example, you work at Ford's or Chrysler's, not Ford or Chrysler. And when I lived in Detroit, we used to shop for groceries at Chatham's. I never thought about it when I lived in Detroit, but I still do that and my wife [[who is not from Detroit) thinks I'm crazy. I found an old newspaper article here a few weeks ago about a car crash in the 30s on Airport Rd. The article said the crash was near "Ford's." I showed it to my wife to prove I was not crazy. Now she thinks we're all crazy. ;-)

[gnome]

Glenfield, this too used to drive me crazy until it finally dawned on me that the reason we do that is because we used to work for people not companies. When you worked for Mr. Ford you worked at Ford's just as when you shopped at Hudson's or Kern's or Kressge's.

The proof to that, is you've never heard anyone, even the most uneducated, as ever working at GM's. GM is a company, Ford is a family. A vestigular remnant is instead of shopping at Kressge's we now shop at KMarts. That is a bit weird, but understandable when given the culture in these here parts.

So when the wife tells you you're a hayseed, you can inform her you are simply expressing your collective birthright.

[blackmath]

If you call every kind of pop - no matter if it's coca-cola, 7up, etc "coke", you just might be a hayseed.

Gnome, I've also heard people say "I work at Chrysler's/Ford's" my whole life, so this possessive idiom is found across the drink as well.

[xphillipjrx]

Detroit is the only place where a liquor store is called a party store.

[Corn.Bot]

Michigan left: a uturn + a right= a left.

AKA, at least on the east side, as 'polack turns.' Not politically correct anymore but I can see where one might consider the phrase to be derisive, if not tongue-in-cheek.

[checkraisej]

Cockpucher. One of my favs.

[Leroy Hoard]

From the old security alarm ads on channel 62 showing a house being robbed:

"Hey man, I get the dog."

[GMF]

This all great guys. Thanks a lot. Keep them coming if you guys can think of more.

[FoxyScholar10]

My mom always used to call the rag men "sheeny men," but I've since discovered that some people consider the term very offensive. The way my mom said it was always meant affectionately, as it was a fond childhood memory for her.

What are rag men?

Offense to some but a term of affection by another? Seems oxymoronic.

[Detroitnerd]

I just mean to say that, even though it's technically a slur, she didn't know it, and never meant anything malicious or derogatory.

[FoxyScholar10]

I just mean to say that, even though it's technically a slur, she didn't know it, and never meant anything malicious or derogatory.

So she was using a word but didn't know what it meant, or at some point she found out that it was an offensive term but kept using it? Ok.We are products of our environments....

Sigh....

[Detroitnerd]

So she was using a word but didn't know what it meant, or at some point she found out that it was an offensive term but kept using it? Ok.We are products of our environments....

Sigh....

No, she never knew it was considered pejorative. I only found out later, here, online.

[Corn.Bot]

No, she never knew it was considered pejorative. I only found out later, here, online.

Same for me: I knew "sheeny men" as the guys who drove their [[horse-drawn) carts up and down the alleys when I was a child. I found out in my early 50s - easily 4 decades since I last saw a sheeny man - that the term was considered a slur. I was informed in no uncertain terms by someone who took major offense that "sheeny" was a slur against Jews and I should watch my rude mouth.

I would never knowingly insult anyone, but really: I still don't get the connection because my memories are of old black men whose religious preferences were not obvious, at least not to me.

[Hermod]

Glenfield, this too used to drive me crazy until it finally dawned on me that the reason we do that is because we used to work for people not companies. When you worked for Mr. Ford you worked at Ford's just as when you shopped at Hudson's or Kern's or Kressge's.

The proof to that, is you've never heard anyone, even the most uneducated, as ever working at GM's. GM is a company, Ford is a family. A vestigular remnant is instead of shopping at Kressge's we now shop at KMarts. That is a bit weird, but understandable when given the culture in these here parts.

So when the wife tells you you're a hayseed, you can inform her you are simply expressing your collective birthright.

Federal Department Stores: Did you work for Mr. Federal at "Federal's"?

For some reason, it was always Federal's.

[Hermod]

What are rag men?

Offense to some but a term of affection by another? Seems oxymoronic.

When I was a kid in northeast Detroit back in the 40s and 50s, there was an old black man with a one horse cart that used to go up and down the alleys on the day before trash pickup. He was referred to as the "sheeny" or "sheeny man".

In those days, you had to segregate your trash. Garbage was wrapped in newspapers and put in the garbage can. Trash was metal, glass, wood, fabric, etc which was put in the trash can. Different trucks pickup up on different days.

At any rate, the sheeny would root through your trash can to see if there was anything he could salvage for sale. He was a nice old guy and always cleaned up after himself, so no one got up set by his picking through the trash in the alley.

I was 2-1/2 when we moved there in late 1941 and 15 when we left in June 1954. I have racked my memory, and that is the only black face I can ever remember seeing in our neighborhood [[Harper-Hayes-Seven Mile)