I was gonna answer with that because I forgot there was a name for it, but it's Ding Dong Ditch 'round here.
I rarely if ever did the thing because the yards were big enough running away and hiding was a problem, but I knew people that did.
I grew up in the Midwest U.S. and called it ding dong ditch. I mentioned it to an Irish friend, who said he called it knick knack. As for the America/U.S. thing, since making friends on the internet with people from other parts of North and South America, I try to make an effort to be specific. I don't always, particularly if it's more awkward than I want to deal with at the moment. I will often refer to people from the U.S. as U.S. Americans. If I'm trying to communicate in a language other than English, I'll use the term I'm taught. So I'll call myself amerika-jin in Japanese and americana in Portuguese. (Would that be capitalized? Because of the types of places I'm most likely to use the language, I'm most familiar with Brazilian chatroom Portuguese.)
I've also heard it referred to as 'ding-dong-dash' and also 'fuck this lets go chuck rocks at squirrels'
hey hi hello, totally hijacking this thread briefly to get on board with two memes: one, the regional dialect meme, which is a bit more english-speaker oriented, and then another, which seems to be all about accents in general (both borrowed from this website: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/regional-dialect-meme) Intro + Regional Dialect Spoiler: length Say these words: Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught Now answer these questions: What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house? What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball? What is the bubbly carbonated drink called? What do you call gym shoes? What do you say to address a group of people? What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs? What do you call your grandparents? What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket? What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining? What is the thing you change the TV channel with? http://vocaroo.com/i/s0uGglR28M9t Worldwide Accent Project Spoiler: length See above those clouds, near where the blue sky appears to fold? Some say it is the entrance to the floating isles where pirates still rule the air and dragons choose to live. Only the most skilled pilots can sail their craft close enough to even glimpse the light coming from within. You can’t find those who know the way; they find you. Rather, you four lazy tourists must learn from your books and be ready, so that you may not miss an opportunity to travel to that mysterious place. It would be an adventure that you would never forget. Now, I think that’s enough with this pleasurable story telling http://vocaroo.com/i/s14QkPHNDYsS
A thing: pronouncing "crooked" as "crookit," rhyming with "lookit" or "book it". eta: for that matter, "lookit" itself, "look at" smushed into one word with the 'a' unstressed. Also a complete sentence, with implied subject "this/that".
Grew up in Ontario, Canada; it's ding dong ditch to me, I think? That's what sounds most familiar to me, anyways. Does anyone else use the phrase "not fussed over / not fussed about" to mean "does not particularly care for"? Does anyone else use it while still using the word 'fussy' generally to otherwise mean 'very particular about'? Matesprit's mom was visiting recently, and we realized that there's at least a Cape Breton regionalism to that phrase that isn't known in the Seattle area.
I'm used to "not fussed" as "not bothered." Fussing over is like mother henning, worrying about well-being and details that suggest less that perfect well-being.
Hm. Well, the exact phrasing if I'm remembering right was "she's not fussed for the vegetarian place".
Midwest U.S. I might use fussy to mean picky or particular, but I would not use any form of 'to be fussed'. It's familiar to me, but in that funny way where you heard it a number of times from someone who speaks a different dialect than you do. Of my acquaintances, I strongly suspect the Brits.
I just encountered the word "bubbler" today. I knew what it means, but I've never actually heard it I used :P
What does everyone call mobile phones? - It's just a cell phone in my house, but I've definitely heard people used other terms or the brand name. Also, does everyone call it an escalator? - Just esculator for me. Originally from Chicago. I'm mostly curious bear i know that elevators are called litfs, I think? ETA: Holy typos, Batman. This is what I get for insomnia blogging
A bubbler is an... aerator, I guess is the word? Something you put in a tank (usually a fishtank, but there are large-scale bubblers for aeration tanks in water treatment plants too) that puts air into the water for whatever reason you might have. Cell phone most commonly, though "mobile" happens too.
Re: fussed, I say 'fussy' to mean either whiny (babies, pets) or particular about things, tell people to stop fussing with whatever when I mean 'messing with it in intent to fix', and 'not fussed' to mean not bothered. I'll also call my dog a fussbudget if he's being particularly whiny. (Now fuss has ceased to mean anything because I typed it too much lol) I've never encountered that usage of not fussed. For cell phones I rarely call it anything but a phone, seeing as how practically no one has a home phone any more. You already know I do this. :P Also apparently 'yeet' is becoming a meme now as a sound effect for throwing, and that confuses me every time I see it because I think it's 'did you eat'. (Any question word ending with a d - did, could, would - that is followed by 'you' gets mashed into the next word together as a sort of j sound with the question word mostly invoiced and assumed in my accent. This results on the classic word 'jeetyet' which is pronounced basically like that but is actually 'did you eat yet'.)
