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The Baltimore Shout
The residents of Baltimore have a curious habit. Perhaps it is not confined to our residents. But I have never heard those from elsewhere mention it before. So in my mind it remains a curiosity confined to our fair locale. Please do share with me in the comments it this is a common habit in your city as well. Maybe I will write a book one day on the sociological implications.The practice which I speak of is what I refer to as The Baltimore Shout. People utilizing the Baltimore Shout have entire conversations over great distances as if they were standing next to each other having a conversation. They may be a full city block apart. But the ensuing conversation takes place ignoring this distance as if it doesn’t exist.
For example a woman will spot her friend Wanda a block down the street and she begins, shouting at the top of her lungs:
“Hey Wanda hon! How have you been!? How are Bill and the kids?”Wanda then responds with her own shouts,
“Cassie, girl, it’s been AGES. I am great and so are the kids. Little Ricky made the football team! That’s my boy. I guess you haven’t heard. I kicked Bill to the curb that cheating jackass crossed me for the very last time.”
Shouting back, still a full block away,
“Good for you Wanda. He was a no-good-son-of-a-bitch anyway. You deserve better! That is great news about Little Ricky. My Leslie just made honor-roll. Were going up to the outlets this weekend to do some shopping to celebrate. Hey Wanda, you want to come? You should come with us!”
The shouted conversation will continue like this as if Wanda and Cassie are standing together having a private chat.
Except, of course, they are not. In addition these interactions can take place anytime day or not. Just because it is midnight certainly is no reason to not talk to your friend a block away. That would be rude.The young men’s conversations often consist of grunts and growls that only they seem to understand. Usually starting with the shouted “Yo!”
Yeah, that’s my Baltimore.
Pics courtesy of: Iguna Jo and Windy Pizza via Creative Commons Free
October 24, 2009 / Alice Wessendorf / 5
“You will find me if you want me in the garden… Dean Man’s Bones
That’s awesome! Of course I’ve seen this behavior before, but I always assumed it was just a fluke of circumstance – perhaps, a random connection being made by two compatibly-aberrant conversationalists.
But maybe they were just from Baltimore!
I want to point out that I am aware of and sick of my overuse of “awesome.” I tried to substitute “delightful” and no dice. I’m beginning to despair of ever finding a better go-to word for things that are, on the face of them, awesome.
I bet they WERE transplanted Baltimoreans! I tell you the practice is as about as common as cornflakes here (just made that phrase up…impressive huh?). In fact it was warmish here last night so we had the bedroom windows open and a Baltimore Shout took place just a bit after midnight. Unfortunately it was guys so I couldn’t quite make out what the convo was about.
Yeah that whole awesome word thing is a problem. Really nothing else will do sometimes. So I say use it liberally.
My husband is quite fond of “remarkable!”, “astonishing!”, “splendid!” and “super!” (European influences there). I have found that they do work quite well sometimes so you might want to give them a try,
“Splendid” is a good one. I uses that descriptively, but for sheer reaction purposes I find it carries too much connotation of “this accords perfectly with my overall scheme!” I believe you’re right – if it’s the right word to use, and you find yourself frequently confronted with things best described as awesome, count yourself lucky on that account and don’t stint on applying the right word.
“common as cornflakes” – like it! In fact, I actually have cornflakes in the house right now! Shoot – no, that was the last bowl, yesterday. But that doesn’t undermine the saying.
When awesome starts getting tedious I tend to use the word wicked, or it’s abbreviated form: Wick.
We have convos like that here, but I think you have to be drunk to have one.
Wick..now that is a new one for me. Fun. I am going to have to give it a try.
Yeah no drinking needed to have a Baltimore Shout. Sober or tipsy it is all the same. Something in the water maybe.