Monday, August 24, 2009

Learning to Speak Bostonese

I had this conversation this morning in a Shaw's supermarket:

Me: Can I buy a Charlie Card here?

Clerk: A Jolly Cahd?

Me: No, a Chcharrrlie Card.

Clerk: Oh, a Chahlie Cahd!

Me: ???

OK, time to go watch the Kingston trio now:

7 comments:

Gerry said...

So I followed the link, and then looked at the FAQ, and didn't find an answer to the one question I have: is the card actually named after the character in the song?

Barry said...

I guess nobody warned you that Harvard is actually one syllable (Hahvd).
Now watch out for regular coffee and milk shakes.

Jeffrey Shallit said...

Gerry:

Yes, it is.

Anonymous said...

Why would a name be chosen which is so likely to be misunderstood?

paul01 said...

Q. Could I have half a dozen dougnuts?

A. We only have fo-wah

Q. You men petit fours?

A. No I mean fo-wah. One. Two. Three. Fo-wah.

This conversation actually took a whole lot longer than indicated!

Blake Stacey said...

I like this bit in the Wikipedia article about "Charlie on the MTA":

The song goes on to say that Charlie's wife is able to hand him a sandwich every day (but not, for some reason, a nickel) "as the train comes rumbling through."

Ah, Wikipedian humour.

Anonymous said...

Overheard in Brighton Dunkin Donuts:
"Coffee-five sugahs, extra, extra, extra light."