1. In
What it means everywhere else: You live in a city.
What it means on Long Island: If you live in Long Island, you’re a poser. If you live on Long Island, you’re a local.
2. NYC
What it means everywhere else: The Big Apple; one of the most exciting cities in the world.
What it means on Long Island: It’s just The City here. And no Long Islander really goes unless they really have to or if there’s something particularly dope going on. But it’s there when you want it.
3. Piano Man
What it means everywhere else: That guy playing piano when you walk into Nordstrom.
What it means on Long Island: The man, the legend, the Long Islander himself, Mr. Billy Joel.
4. North
What it means everywhere else: A direction.
What it means on Long Island: North Shore, where all the rich people breed.
5. South
What it means everywhere else: Another direction.
What it means on Long Island: South Shore, where all the cool kids surf and breed.
6. Hamptons
What it means everywhere else: A posh New York beach for rich people and celebrities.
What it means on Long Island: The most overrated beach ever. Really, it’s exactly the same as the rest of the beaches on Long Island, just with a snootier demographic.
7. The End
What it means everywhere else: The finality of something.
What it means on Long Island: The Eastern End of Long Island and the best place to get tipsy.
8. Gatsby
What it means everywhere else: Jay Gatsby, the most popular self-made millionaire and party-thrower in all of literature.
What it means on Long Island: Jay Gatsby, the self-made millionaire and resident of Long Island, as evidenced by his characteristically decadent mansion.
9. Howard Stern
What it means everywhere else: The radio personality who called himself The King Of All Media but you can’t ever seem to think of as anyone other than Fart Man.
What it means on Long Island: Hometown hero; also, Fart Man.
10. Ralph
What it means everywhere else: What your best friend did in the trashcan at prom after sneaking six too many peach schnapps.
What it means on Long Island: The world’s best Italian ice, hands down, no exceptions.
11. Accent
What it means everywhere else: The way Long Islanders change all their o sounds to heavy aw sounds.
What it means on Long Island: What every single Lawn-Guy-Lander will swear they don’t have.
12. Boat
What it means everywhere else: What you hope your friend’s parents will offer to let you use for your next birthday party.
What it means on Long Island: What you hang out on all summer when you’re a Long Islander.
13. Fire
What it means everywhere else: What helped the cavemen no longer be underdogs.
What it means on Long Island: The quaint beach town of Fire Island, the barrier islands of Long Island, which basically means it’s an island of an island.
14. Wagon
What it means everywhere else: The bright red mode of transportation for small children.
What it means on Long Island: Radio Flyer wagons, an iconic piece and crucial member of families on Fire Island.
15. Sweet 16
What it means everywhere else: Pizza, friends, balloons, a cake, and maybe even a DJ to celebrate turning 16.
What it means on Long Island: Think of a wedding, add a lot more fuschia and pastels, big hair, ice sculptures, and maybe even a unicorn to celebrate turning 16.
16. Bagels
What it means everywhere else: The round breakfast bread.
What it means on Long Island: The only bread product that really matters, scientifically proven to be a million times better when you get them on Long Island.
17. Pizza
What it means everywhere else: The most perfect food ever created.
What it means on Long Island: The actual most perfect food ever created. If you love pizza in Iowa, prepare to file for a marriage license to it when you try it on Long Island.
18. Coffee
What it means everywhere else: A hot cup of caffeine you have every morning that helps take you from the brink of a coma to the realm of the living again.
What it means on Long Island: Iced coffee. Why stop at one? Every beverage should be iced coffee. Twitching? What twitching?
19. Trust Fund
What it means everywhere else: What those ridiculous people on reality shows like The Hills have.
What it means on Long Island: What everyone from the North Shore has.
20. Seagulls
What it means everywhere else: Birds that you find mainly around beaches.
What it means on Long Island: Kamikazee, stealth sandwich and Fudgie Wudgie stealers.
21. Adventure
What it means everywhere else: What you hope to pencil in some time for, maybe a road trip sometime between Christmas and your 84th birthday.
What it means on Long Island: Adventureland, the place that all Long Island childhoods are made up of.
22. Lacrosse
What it means everywhere else: Some sort of a sport with some kind of stick with a net on it.
What it means on Long Island: Lacrosse is to Long Island as football is to Texas.
23. Ducks
What it means everywhere else: Birds that quack and, when animated, refuse to wear pants.
What it means on Long Island: Long Island’s heritage, as marked by the giant duck building.
24. Wine
What it means everywhere else: The bottle of red that you assume came from Sedona.
What it means on Long Island: The bottle of red that should have come from the wine country of Long Island.
25. Attitude
What it means everywhere else: What that one girl you couldn’t stand in high school had a lot of.
What it means on Long Island: What you’re born with as a Long Islander.
26. Rail Road
What it means everywhere else: The tracks on which trains run.
What it means on Long Island: The Long Island Rail Road, otherwise known as the LIRR, which you’ll always be approximately 14 minutes early for.
27. Diners
What it means everywhere else: The place you go to when you’re in the mood for breakfast for dinner.
What it means on Long Island: The place you go to when you’re in the mood for breakfast for dinner or breakfast for breakfast or lunch for lunch.
28. Amityville
What it means everywhere else: Amityville Horror, the horror movie that first made you wonder why anyone would stay in a house that has a bathtub that bathes you in blood.
What it means on Long Island: Knowing where to find the real Amityville Horror house, despite the changed address and the fact that yes, people live there.
29. Medium
What it means everywhere else: The t-shirt size they always run out of first.
What it means on Long Island: The Long Island Medium, the big-haired “psychic” who you try to convince all of your out-of-towner friends is not representative of Long Island until you realize you have an aunt or three just like her.
30. Hero
What it means everywhere else: A person who saves the day, often in tights and a cape or with a fire hose.
What it means on Long Island: The only sandwich that matters. It’s not a sub. It’s not a grinder. It’s a hero and it’s awesome.
31. Iced Tea
What it means everywhere else: What you had to drink with lunch.
What it means on Long Island: The official drink of Long Island that you should only plan on having for lunch if you don’t plan on making responsible decisions. You’re welcome, America.
What other words mean something different on Long Island? Tell us in the comments below!
