Slang of the Day

Newburyport Youngster Slang of the Day
Bubbtown- the less desirable parts of Newburyport
Bubba- One who lives in the less than desirable parts of town.
Wiggy- A more precise term for a bubbtown resident.
Ya’ Bubba- What you say to get the attention of a Bubba.
Yeat – My interpretation is :a friendly go away or up yours attitude.  Lets debate this.  What is your definition?
I go to the Tech – That is Whittier Vo-Tech.
Some of these terms may also have been used in referencing individuals of other towns.  I.E. Seabrook, NH.
General Slang
The Mall – Sometimes the Mall you shop at, but sometimes the Bartlet Mall (Frog Pond).  However it was not pronounced Mall, but Mal like Malcolm.

15 Responses to Slang of the Day

  1. I must of grew up in the wrong Newburyport or a later part in life but I remember a Bubba was some one who lived in Seabrook. NH.most of my relatives are from there..and YEAT was a word all the BYFIELDERS used…but I could be wrong…

    D.A.KUSE September 23, 2008 at 2:28 pm Reply
  2. I was wrong I guess the word bubba meant the poor people and yeat did come from Newburyport,,the word WEE is a slang word form Byfield

    D.A.KUSE September 23, 2008 at 8:05 pm Reply
  3. I grew up on Walnut St and my recollection of Bubba, aside from Seabrook, was yes poorer, but that would not be a true meaning. It was also that kid who always got into trouble, or who thought he was tougher than you. He also lived in a bad part of town. I walked down Cashman Park as a 10 year old and had a few negative encounters with them. You minded your own business, however they insisted on terrorizing you! There were many meanings for the term I guess. If you were a Bubba you would never consider yourself as one obviously. You would tend to lean toward Seabrook to put that title on someone. Certain last names tended to be in the Bubba catagory and lived in the so called Bubbtown area. Maybe they only existed in the young , shelter minds of some kids who lived in other parts of town. – A sort of early class warfare perhaps?

    Shawn G Mod September 23, 2008 at 8:38 pm Reply
  4. Bubba Town is Seabrook always was always will be. Newburyport has Joppy (Joppa Flats), there were south enders and north enders. Those of us that had the priveledge to grow up in the Cashman Park area had the good life. had a place to go to every day we were not stuck in our yard or bored we always had fun. I do not remember ever picking on anyone or causing trouble. Most day we would sit on the wall and watch traffic all day long. I grew up there lived in that area 30yrs was 2yrs old when we moved there.

    dmeaton September 24, 2008 at 10:27 pm Reply
  5. I’m sure we can all agree there were tougher parts of town, like in every town. Over the years those parts change for the better and some for the worst. There wasn’t much down Cashman park in the late 70’s and early 80’s. It was a park in disrepair. When a part of town falls apart and your parents don’t want you down there anymore it has changed for the worst. During your time it may have been different. Things can change in a few years, it’s just a part of a revolving cycle. You got to experience the good part Cashman Park had to offer. A few years later I lived the down cycle of a once great park. Later in the late 80’s during the urban renewal the park was cleaned up, new kids playground was added and the pier was reconstructed.

    Shawn G Mod September 24, 2008 at 10:50 pm Reply
  6. Yeat …As in “Yeat the bun” was definately used quite common in the Lime/School street area for many years . I believe the true history of the term may never be known , but it does date back quite a ways . Having grown up in the area and seen it carved in benches , trees …written with chaulk in the street …not to mention hearing it practically every day for 25+ years . A lot of the locals that can tell more about it have long since moved away due to “re-developement” . Some say it was for the better ( and are probably right ) , but I like to remember Newburyport how I saw it as a kid growing up in the South End . By the time I left town I didn’t know anyone anymore…

    jfrost November 27, 2008 at 1:52 pm Reply
  7. i grew up in byfield 72 -78 and yes the word yeat did come from the byfield’ers . another word we used was juice {hot lookin woman } ya b-field slang . wee means hello or goodbye but i dont know how it came to be . i moved to nbpt after living at adventure land on scotland road after they widen the highway and took our house make rt 95 . are you the jack f that know jp kimble , rooster janvrin , howie
    p fitchjerold?

    g travis December 15, 2008 at 9:58 pm Reply
  8. g travis ,
    Are you refering to the Jack F. that lived on Plum Is. ?

    jfrost December 19, 2008 at 6:39 pm Reply
  9. i heard yeat used on a regular basis in newburyport i grew up in the northend, i lived in nbpt for 20+ years. i always thought people from seabrook were called brookers, or bubbas.

    1988 February 20, 2009 at 12:45 am Reply
  10. Hey, YEAT…You EAT…

    p.j. nichypor May 26, 2009 at 11:36 pm Reply
  11. What the hell is a “Pock-a-book”???

    p.j. nichypor June 5, 2009 at 1:32 am Reply
  12. “creamed” meant to be badly beaten in an after school fight. ie; “I’m going to cream you”… To”take” someone was to beat the tar out of them after school. ie’ ” Think you can take him”??? To “creamate” was to “cream” someone more severely than usual. ie; ” I will creamate you, after school”…. To “pez” was a funtion performed while standing at a urinal in the boys’ “basement”, at school. ie; “What, are you taking a pez”??? Boy’s or girls’ “basement” refered to either genders’ rest room , regardless of what floor or level it was on… A ” looey” was a grosser than usual by-product of chest congestion. Usually brought on from having started smoking in grammer school… ie; “So and so just hocked up a looey”.. To “hock’ or “hawk” was to take wit-out permission. ie; ” I just went to Kresge’s and hocked this pinky ball”… A “pinky” or the more proper”pinky ball” refered to a small, tennisball sized, in-expensive pink colored, hollow play ball most often the practical choice of sphere for a game of “outs”… ie; ” Don’t be a Dubber, use the pinky instead of that superball for this game of outs”… “Outs”, was/is a two person version of baseball in which the pitcher, with his back to the fielder, slams the pinky onto the edge of the front steps or a curb. The ball, depending on the ammount of velocity, angle, english, etc. involved, will be propelled back in the direction of the fielder. Said fielder will attempt to stop the travel of the pinky by catching it on the fly or on one or more bounces. The resulting action of catching or letting the ball fly right past you, making you a”Dubber”, is then vehemently argued by the two “outs” players until #1, a mutual decision is made and agreed upon as to wether the ball was a hit or an “OUT”. #2. A car comes down the street and parks in front of the steps indicating that, like it or not, the game of “outs” is now over. #3. One of the two players has had enough and “creams” the other player who is easily “taken ” by the bigger and tougher of the two… “Dubber”, one who is so irritating as to “pez” one off by doing something so doinkish as to be a complete embarrisment to the other individual or group. ie; Don’t be such a dubber”… “Gay”, happy… “Tonic”, refered to a carbonated beverage such as Fresca, Mr. Frosty, Old Kerry, Moxie, Orange Crush, etc.. At the time , a deposit of two cents was charged on top of the going rate of ten cents for a 10 to 12 once “tonic”. An empty “tonic” bottle was much prized in my day. As it would, when combined with five other “tonic “bottles, buy a nice cold full “tonic” when turned in at the corner store. Bottles were actually made to be “re-used”. Once sold, a “tonic” would be drunk and the empty returned to the corner store wher eit was originally purchased. At this stage, the purchaser was given two cents, the deposit, originaly built into the original purchase price,(thus the 12 cents instead or just 10 cents). There was such a thing as a ten cent “tonic” if you had only a dime. All you needed to do was to hand over the dime and remain in the store while drinking the beverage. The empty never actualy left the store, thus cancelling out the need for a deposit of two cents being assesed the buyer/consumer… “Tin” foil, just aluminum foil being called “tin” foil… “Ash can”, this one could refer to a standard sized, all stamped metel barrel of sorts with a “pleat” like pattern forming the circumferance. Usually accompanied with a tght fitting lid that could also double as a toy shield in a childrens sword fight. Or as an honest -to-God metal shield that could serve as a defensive device in the event that one was about to get “creamed”. Or, it could be a medium sized metalic “fire work” that was known to be impervious to liquids and may or may not have been ideal for flushing down a toilet in the boys’ “basement” at school so as to damage and/or render useless any and all pipes it may have cause to suddenly and with a very loud report, expand beyond said pipe’s structural integrety… To “numb” something. The action of throwing or “hucking’ an object at an other object so as to cause alarm by the recipient of the ” numbing” object. ie;, Lets go “numb” some cars from behind the wall at Hale Park… Enough for now.

    p.j. nichypor June 5, 2009 at 2:40 am Reply
  13. Mucka=Big

    Chanson February 21, 2010 at 9:48 am Reply
  14. For p.j. nichypor – a ‘pock-a-book’ is another word for a purse. I still call it a ‘pock-a-book’ to this day, but all my friends call it a purse here in the southwest. Definitely a New England term.

    Karon August 26, 2013 at 10:52 pm Reply
  15. Pingback: NBPTMA.com – History Your Way Newburyport Ma Circa 1940-1990 :Current History My Yeat Ride- YEAT! - NBPTMA.com - History Your Way Newburyport Ma Circa 1940-1990 :Current History

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 2 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here

Hand Tubs / Firemen Musters/

Built: 1878 Manufacture: Button Cylinders: 10 Reg #: 650 Fire Department: Newburyport, Ma Class: A Neptune 8 – is owned by the Neptune Veteran Firemen’s Association of  Newburyport Ma. ————————————————————————————————————- Ould Newbury Protection #1 -This pump’s hometown is Newbury, Ma. Built: 1865 Manufacture: J Cylinders: 10 Reg #: ?? Fire Department: Newbury, Ma Class: A […]

Social Media