G-H
Gahbidge
In the good ol' days, residents of many Boston suburbs divided their waste into two piles: rubbish (or trash) and gahbidge. The former was the "dry" stuff and would be taken to the town dump. The latter was "wet" (coffee grinds, waste vegetables, and other food remains) and would be picked up by a local pig farmer to feed to his animals.
Gahkablahka
Traffic tie-up caused by people looking at an accident on the other side of the road (or sometimes at excessively enthusiastic human billboards). Only in Boston could you get "gawker" and "blocker" to rhyme. Coined by long-time WEEI traffic reporter Kevin O'Keefe, who also came up with "stall 'n' crawl," "cram 'n' jam" and "snail trail."
Ghouls
A game of tag. At the beginning of the game, you set the ghouls (i.e. "The big rawk by the cahport is gools"). Then, if someone is chasing you, and you jump on or are touching the rock, no one can touch you or catch you.
John Lawler and Josh Wolk
Ghoulsticka
Taunt for players who stick too close to the ghoul in a game of ghouls.
John Lawler
Green Death
Haffenreffer Private Stock Malt Liquor (refers primarily to the 16 oz. bottles).
Michael Howell
Grinda
A sub or spuckie. Annette Leonard reports that in Saugus, it is specifically a toasted sub.
Guy
Greeting between young men not acquainted with each other, as in this pizza-pahluh exchange: "Whaddle it be, guy? Slice o 'roni and a tonic." The term can only be used between peers or from a superior to a subordinate. If a teenager calls a middle-aged man "guy," he's being deliberately offensive.
Lisa Gordon and Alan Miles
Hair wall
The townie look of the '80's with bangs sprayed vertically while the rest of the hair is pulled tightly back in a "Banana Clip" which creates "Gladiator Head."
Lisa Gordon
Also see: Quinzee claw.
Here ya go
When a waiter or waitress states the obvious - what they say when they put food in front of you.
Laura McAvoy
Hoodsie
1. A small cup of ice cream, the kind that comes with a flat wooden spoon (from H.P. Hood, the dairy that sells them). KC Black reports: "Part of their charm was on finishing them you'd suck and then fold the wooden spoon risking splintahs from the folded wood." To which Dee Burton adds: "The lid had a brown-tone picture of a movie star covered by a thin layer of protector paper that you peeled off. Sure wish I'd kept those covers. Police used to give us free Hoodsies and free movies on the morning of July 4, in the days when fireworks were legal in Mass. (that's how far back I go!).''
2. Certain teen-aged girls, who, like the ice cream, are "short and sweet and good to eat." Jo Ann Kendricken recounts: "Growing up in Roslindale (scooping went on here and in W. Roxbury as well as Hyde Park), I was a hoodsie, and now when I tell people that, they automatically call me a 'Rozzie chick/rat' and say, 'So, you are a tough girl, aren't you? Better not mess with you!' For the record, I have never been in a fight, but it's nice to know that no one will mess witcha!'
Hub
What Boston is: The Hub of the Universe. First coined by writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, who actually referred to the State House as the hub of the solar system; for many years, a plaque in the sidewalk in front of Filene's downtown commemorated the exact center of the universe. Actually, pretty much the only people who use the word anymore are headline writers looking for a short synonym for "Boston,'' as in the aprocryphal Globe headline:
Human billboards
People who collect in standouts at rotaries or on overpasses with campaign signs, sometimes causing gahkablahkas. The candidate's the one who doesn't have a sign in his hand.
