Pennsylvania

Erin Potts
Pennsylvania
I grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which is sometimes referred to as Pennsylvania Dutch country.   There are large communities of Amish, Mennonites and from an outsider’s point of view we Lancaster County residents speak differently and eat a wide variety of foods not common in most households.   I on the other hand would tend to disagree with the general public.   We actually pronounce the words correctly and cook a delicious meal.
"Dutch" is a misnomer, which came primarily from Germany and the German-speaking areas of Switzerland.   The word may have come from the word Deutsch, which is how you pronounce German in Germany.   Many of the words and phrases would be quite recognizable to tourists from Germany.   Some people also make the mistake of using the terms Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch interchangeably.  
Although my family has lived here in Lancaster all their lives my ancestors came over from Germany.   However, the language that we use today is not what our ancestors spoke.   Although we still have that little twang it is still not exactly how they spoke back then.   I find it funny when people misunderstand me when I am explaining that I am cleaning my house; I start with stating that I am “redding” up my house, they never heard this term before.   Words are pronounced differently as well: you'll hear G and J pronounced as "ch" ("You can buy it at the Ghentral Store," or "Chust a minute, now") and W as V ("Ya, and it's fine veather ve're having, ain't?").   Several Pennsylvania Dutch words and phrases have remained in our vocabulary.   Growing up this was the way we pronounced words and I had no idea that there was anything wrong about it until I started looking into furthering my education.
In a strange way I don’t think I could talk any other way even if I tried, here are some of the ways that I and many people I know talk in Pennsylvania:
Rootsh (or ruch) -   Not being able to sit still.   "Stop ruching around.
Doplich (or...