1. Popsicles
What it means everywhere else: Sugary frozen treats you keep in your freezer if you have kids.
What it means in Birmingham: Gourmet and absolutely delicious treats from Steel City Pops that pass the adult taste bud test.
2. Doodles
What it means everywhere else: Drawings or scribbles that you do for fun.
What it means in Birmingham: Super tasty frozen treats that keep you going during a Birmingham summer.
3. Good People
What it means everywhere else: Genuinely kind and caring people with strong moral compasses.
What it means in Birmingham: A delicious local microbrewery, Good People Brewing Company.
4. Dreamland
What it means everywhere else: The magical place in your head that you travel to while you’re sleeping.
What it means in Birmingham: The magical place that you travel to at least once a week to get your mouth-watering BBQ fix.
5. Grape Soda
What it means everywhere else: Something you haven’t had since you were a child, because your taste buds have matured.
What it means in Birmingham: Grapico every day forever for life!
6. 280
What it means everywhere else: A number.
What it means in Birmingham: A number that fills you with a heavy dread and extreme anxiety.
7. Rivalry
What it means everywhere else: A competition between two or more people in an attempt to best each other.
What it means in Birmingham: Auburn or Alabama—one must always choose.
8. Half Moon
What it means everywhere else: When half of the moon is visible from Earth, and the other half is shrouded in darkness.
What it means in Birmingham: Half-moon cookies from Full Moon Bar-B-Que AKA the most delicious cookies on Earth.
9. Full Moon
What it means everywhere else: The day of the month when the moon is completely visible from Earth.
What it means in Birmingham: The backside of Vulcan that moons everyone in Homewood. (Also, a BBQ joint that makes great cookies.)
10. Over The Mountain
What it means everywhere else: Something on the other side of a mountain.
What it means in Birmingham: Where all the fancy ritzy Birmingham residents live, south of the Red Mountain.
11. Bacon Grease
What it means everywhere else: The grease that comes off of bacon when you cook it.
What it means in Birmingham: An essential ingredient in every dish if you want it to taste good.
12. Mess
What it means everywhere else: Something disorderly or dirty that needs to be cleaned up.
What it means in Birmingham: A whole bunch of something.
13. The Met
What it means everywhere else: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY.
What it means in Birmingham: A minor league baseball field otherwise known as the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
14. Dinner
What it means everywhere else: The last meal of the day, usually served in the very late afternoon or evening.
What it means in Birmingham: The meal that’s served after breakfast but before supper.
15. Gang Green
What it means everywhere else: The way the horrifying and life-threatening condition gangrene is pronounced.
What it means in Birmingham: A school spirit group at University of Alabama at Birmingham that cheers on the Blazers.
16. Crimson Tide
What it means everywhere else: A time of the month that you used to get out of gym class very often in high school.
What it means in Birmingham: The Alabama Crimson Tide football team. Roll tide!
17. Tornado
What it means everywhere else: A scary destructive wind funnel.
What it means in Birmingham: Just another day that ends in Y in Birmingham.
18. Tea
What it means everywhere else: A beverage made from various kinds of tea leaves and hot water.
What it means in Birmingham: A giant jug of super sweet, icy cold deliciousness that everyone drinks more than water.
19. Lady Liberty
What it means everywhere else: The statue on Liberty Island in the New York harbor.
What it means in Birmingham: The replica in Liberty Park that everyone from Birmingham thinks is the real deal as a kid.
20. Y’all
What it means everywhere else: An abbreviated way of saying “you all” that people from the South sometimes use.
What it means in Birmingham: What you call anyone and everyone, sometimes even when you’re only addressing one person.
21. Railroad
What it means everywhere else: A set of tracks along which trains run.
What it means in Birmingham: A super pretty park with tons of events for all ages.
22. The Summit
What it means everywhere else: The very top point of a mountain.
What it means in Birmingham: A massive (like literally, million square foot) shopping mall with some fancy stores and many restaurants.
23. Dale
What it means everywhere else: The goofy half of the Chip ‘n’ Dale duo.
What it means in Birmingham: Dale’s Seasoning, the thing you would absolutely never cook without.
24. Zydeco
What it means everywhere else: A musical style that came from Louisiana and French Creole speakers.
What it means in Birmingham: A night you totally don’t remember, but will never forget.
25. Festivals
What it means everywhere else: Events that celebrate something that’s culturally important to a community.
What it means in Birmingham: Things that happen almost every other day for varying levels of actual importance but equal levels of fun.
26. Summer
What it means everywhere else: The warmest season of the year, where you swim and plan backyard BBQs and hang out outside during the long days.
What it means in Birmingham: A blisteringly hot and swampy season where you spend more money running your air conditioning unit than you do on rent.
27. Five Points
What it means everywhere else: The number of points on a star or a list of five reasons for something.
What it means in Birmingham: A creepy but totally cool statue that nervous busybodies are convinced has some deeper Satanic meaning.
28. Vegetables
What it means everywhere else: An essential healthy food group of edible plants.
What it means in Birmingham: The things you sometimes eat on the side (covered in bacon grease) at a meat-and-three.
29. Ham
What it means everywhere else: Meat from a pig.
What it means in Birmingham: Short for Birmingham, also sometimes called B’ham.
What other words mean something completely different in Birmingham? Tell us in the comments below!
