Playwriting - Part 7D - Creating Unique Dialogue, Using Regionalisms

In a way, this post is similar to Finding Speech Patterns. Another key element of speech is regionalisms. If all of your characters are from one region, they will probably all know the regionalisms that are used there. However, if your characters are from different regions, they are probably going to use different regionalisms.

Of course, with the Internet, some of this has calmed down to where it isn't a huge deal about knowing different slang, but much of it still exists. Then, if your play is set in a time before people had consistant access to the Internet, this will be extremely important.

The main thing that people probably know is the coke/soda/pop debate. I know that when I was in high school and went to a national youth gathering for the church of which I was a member, that it was a major conversation point. "What do you call it?" If people were from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Albama, or Georgia, then tended to call "it" Coke. If people were from Illinois or Indiana, they tended to call "it" Pop. If people were from Michigan or Wisconsin, they tended to call "it" soda. Sometimes some of the terms got mixed up. This could depend on where people's parents grew up and if they moved to another state.

Apparently, in Massachusetts, a liquor store is called a "packy." However, down in Southwest Louisiana, a liquor store is just a liquor store. As somebody who had parents that didn't grow up in Louisiana, but then moved the family there, I didn't understand many Louisiana phrases at first and there are some that I've still had to learn as an adult. I didn't understand what it was to "waste a drink," "make groceries," or "save the dishes." I know what they all mean now, but I didn't and it's likely that people who don't live in Louisiana don't know what those phrases mean, either.

However, when using regionalisms in your play, don't go to lengths to explain them unless that is a necessary part of the dialogue for your characters. If they aren't understood, researching them is the dramaturg's job.

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