Cakie: was a coal region shortcut for the old Shendo Catlick High School that closed in 1968 as part of the transformation of the Immaculate Heart Academy into Cardinal Brennan.

call for: is when you stand outside someone's house and yell for them to come out (to play, visit, etc.). 

"Where was ya? I was calling for ya for twunny minutes!"

cam-ra: like turdy-five millimeters or 120's.

Cappy: the better coal region towns had their own theaters. Lansford had the palace (image on right). The Capitol Theatre in Shenandoah was called, "The Cappy".

 "I seen Beatlemania at the Cappy."

"yeah well I seen Meet Me In St. Louis at the Palace"

card party: The place to be to play bingo. its a Catholic Church institution where old ladies went to gamble and (sometimes) cheat each other at cards and bunco (a dice game).  Old Ladies loved to bring home more prizes (see Chinese Auction). One of the games played was Haasy or Hawzey. See also Children's Card Party.

carload of rock: Something worthless; often used when getting stiffed for payment. Years ago, if the miner never showed up to pay his tick bill, the storekeeper would say he got a "carload of rock" from the miner. In coal mining, sometimes miners had to fill their mine cars with rock before getting at the coal. Obviously, a mine car full of rock is virtually worthless compared to a car full of coal.

catlick: the short way of saying Catholic. 

"I ain't goin' ta no Catlick school. I'm goin' ta Pantha Valley, da frick."

CCD'ers: The public school kids that used to come to the Catholic school one afternoon a week to get the fire and brimstone of Catholicism drilled into them after they've spent the last week in their heathen ways at the public school. CCD stands for "Confraternity of Christian Doctrine" These kids were good for blaming things on, e.g., "Did you carve that four letter word into your desktop??" "No, s'ter, it musta been one a dem CCD kids." The nuns always believed it, too. I don't think they liked the CCD kids much. 😂🤣

cemmies: was the short cut for cemeteries.

"Let's go chippy chasin' at the cemmie"

chances: raffle tickets.Every town had those 1 or 2 people always selling chances or raffle tickets. 😂🤣

Charlie Chaplin: term used when your left and right shoes are on the wrong feet 

"Hey, switch yer shoes. They're on Charlie Chaplin"

Check Weighman: weighed the coal and determined what the miner earned. The miner was paid by the ton of coal he extracted. However, a ton was never really a ton, because it was presumed that a large percentage of it was actually slate, bone and rock. The checkweighman never properly examined the coal to see what percentage of it was actually anthracite, but the miner was docked the same every time, regardless, oftentimes by as much as 33%.

Chendo: shortcut way of saying Shendo or shenandoah

"Im driving ta chendo ta-morrow"

Children's card party: A fund-raising event (see card party) where kids were sent out into the streets to sell chances, competing grade against grade, with big posters with thermometers or whatever where we colored in up to the dollar amount each class brought in.

Chilly Willy: Old-fashioned ice cream vendor. Sells out of his truck from Panther Valley to Tamaqua to Mahanoy City.

chimblee or chimlee or chimilee: chimney.

"Da chimblee is blocked and needs a'cleanin'

Chinese apple: pomegranate; the red fruit with the edible red seeds.

Chinese auction: A church/school auction performed by placing a number in a cup associated with a particular item. The auctioneer calls the numbers picked for each item. If he called your number, you were the lucky winner. The items were to be purchased and donated to the church or school by the parishioners to raise money. Actually, most of the items consisted of junk laying around people's houses. They thought they were doing more good by donating them to the church then throwing the item in the garbage. You ended up throwing that particular item away, or better yet, donating it to a Chinese auction.

chinkies: small firecrackers. A little bigger than a "lady finger" and smaller than a "M-80". So called because the paper wrapping appeared to be Chinese newspaper. Admittedly not a very politically correct word. It was also a common coal region nick name including my own Uncle. 

Chippy bombin: Tossing firecrackers under the cars parked in the local make out spot. The really brave ones would creep up to the car and listen carefully to make sure the timing was exactly right for the blast.

chippy chasin': looking in the cemmies or other isolated areas for parkers (dates parking to "make out").

churched: Churched is when a priest prays over a new mother and she is excused from attending holy mass for up to one year. After a baby is born, the mother is either churched at home or at the baby's christening (within 1-3 weeks after birth). Possibly an old eastern European custom. Another custom was the mother did not leave the home until the child was baptized.

chuz know chuz want?: "Do you (pl.) know what you want?"

ciggie: cigarette. 

"Yo, can I bum a ciggie from ya?"

cin-cins: Real name is "Sen-Sens". Small, square shaped candy that came in a purple package and had a strange perfume aroma. They had sort of a licorice flavor and turned your whole mouth black.

Cipko Brothers: 2 brothers who were born in Lansford to Slovakian immigrants. In 1999, they had their own Cipko Brothers Fan Club started by some fans. The brothers took the same mining & factory jobs & lived in the same house. As devout Catholic the Cipko brothers led frugal lives. Thanks to shrewd investments the brothers amassed a fortune estimated at $300 million. Cipko brothers first notable donation was in 1994--$75,000 to Marian HS. It's been said the Cipkos donated over $6 million to Catholic schools, churches, & organizations throughout the Dioceses of Allentown & Scranton plus the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Local recipients included St. Joseph's Regional Academy Jim Thorpe, SS. Peter & Paul's in Lehighton, St. Michael's in Lansford, & St. Jerome's in Tamaqua to list a few. The Cipkos donated to animal shelters, veterans groups, & local cancer society. They paid to restore the Carbon County courthouse clock, Palmerton's town hall clock, helped to restore the #9 Mine & Museum. Lansford received money for Christmas decorations, a gazebo in Kennedy Park, & a drug-sniffing dog named Ajax. The Cipkos donated a 20 acre parcel of land for the Berlinsville Boy Scouts. In 2003 the Cipko Brothers were given the Humanitarian Award for donating 5,000 sweaters for children Bosnia. 

Clachan: is a small settlement of clustered homes inhabited by renters who were usually members of the same extended family. Coal Region Clachans were EVERYWHERE!.  There were no stores, schools or churches. Just the houses and the agricultural lands, which were held under the Rundale system, where absentee landlords took most of what was produced as rent, leaving the tenants with tiny, poor-quality plots for growing their own food. 

Clamtown: south of Tamaqua. Consists of about fifteen houses and one bar. This little town has been around over 100+ years.

Clicker: is the early TV remote controls were called clickers. Back then remote TV controllers were mechanical in nature and made a clicking noise when channels were changed. They clicked as you turned the dial. Parents used kids as afree labor to find and retrieve the clicker for their old man.

"Hand me the clicker, willya son? I don't wanna get up off dis couch!"

close da light: turn off the light of PA Dutch origin

"hey dere, close da light"

CMP: Chocolate, Marshmallow, and crushed Peanut sundae. Very popular ice cream sundae in the coal region, served at various ice cream parlors in the area. Usually served with vanilla ice cream, but chocolate also works. CMP sundae is often unheard of outside the coal region.

"Let's drive da Heislers for CMPs"

coalbank: a hill made of coal or coal effluvium. 

"Let's go down ton da field and watch da races upda coalbank."

coal candy: hard chunks of black licorice. Many times sold in a black miniature coal bucket, complete with a little hammer.

Coal Cracker: a person from the Coal Region

coal hole: can be a coal mine that is often abandoned. When kids came in really dirty, parents would say:

"yiz look like yiz were playin' in a coal hole!" 

It can be often referred to as a small independent "indypindy" or "bootleg" illegal shaft or mine dug by locals on land they don't own or lease.

Coal and Iron Police: was a private police force, first established in Schuylkill County, PA, in 1865, by the Pinkerton Detective Agency (See the Eye That Never Sleeps). They were also known as the C&I or Yellowdogs. In the late 1800s or early 1900s, Slovak miners started calling them Cossacks. The Coal Operators used them to brutally suppress strikes, undermine union organizing and intimidate the miners. In 1897, they fired into a crowd of peacefully marching strikers at Lattimer Mine, killing 19 and injuring 32 others, in what became known as the Lattimer massacre. Their brutality was depicted in Dos Passos‘ U.S.A. trilogy and in Sherlock Holmes‘ novel, The Valley of Fear.

cob corn: is corn on the cob. 

"Dey was servin' bleenies and cob corn out da Manilla Grove picnic yesterday."

FUN FACT: Manilla Grove was the Amusement Park once located in Coaldale. 

Col-dale: can be pronouced "kul-dale" referes to the coal mining town of Coaldale. FUN FACT: Manilla Grove was the Amusement Park once located in Coaldale. 

Coleriane (also called Coalrain): now called Junedale. In Carbon County, between Weatherly and Kelayres, south of Harleigh and north of Lansford.

co-loil: coal oil. Used in the old days as oil in lamps.

colliery: usually pronounced "call-ree", but proper pronunciation is "call-yer-ee". This is a coal mine and its buildings. (see also Coll'ry)

Coll’ry: is also a coal mine, similair to the above pronounciation with a different spelling. The word colliery included all associated buildings and structures (e.g., headframe, mine shaft, breaker, stable). The correct spelling is “colliery,” and the correct pronunciation is “call-yer-ee.” However, according to CoalSpeak, the “official” coal region dictionary, the Schuylkill pronunciation is “call-ree.”

combailer: pronounced "come-BAIL-er". This is a big huge boulder, one that takes heavy equipment to move. Usually left over as result of some kind of mining excavation. A popular pastime for kids was to roll large boulders down the slate banks or strippin holes.

 "Don't go down the strippin holes, a combailer may fall on you."

Company House or Company Home: In the old days, a home owned by the coal mining company.  A Company town that owned everything from the worker's homes, stores, tools, etc

da Coney: There were a number of restaraunts throughout pennsylvania called Coney Island. Pottsville had 2 Coney Islands, Shamokin, Hazleton, Panther Valley area, Allentown for example all had a Coney Island. Many restaraunts had that classy silver, stainless steel, bar counter look. Some only instituted cheese in the late 70's. An "up" is a hot dog; a "down" is a hamburger. Ask for a blowie, a hamburger with the works. Don't forget to have a Big Ben's Red Cream Soda. All Coneys are famous for after midnight partygoers.

conniption: is a funny word, often spouted by parents who were in a fit of rage, hysteria, or anxiety, usually over their kids behavior. 

"Awright, awready! I'm comin' down!! Don't have a conniption!"

"Matt, im having a conniption fit that you brought a cap gun into church and fired it"

contack: is a common way of saying contact lens. 

"One of my contacks just fell out, da frick!"

Contract miner: was a skilled miner who worked with explosives and tools to extract coal from a breast. He usually hired one or more laborers to help him shovel up the coal and load it into wagons, carts or buggies. Contract miners were paid by the amount of coal that they extracted, and then paid their laborers a fraction of that amount.

core-deen: accordion. Also known as a "Stomach Steinway".

"He plays the coredeen real good, yo!" 

cornin(g): throwing corn at houses/people/cars; takes place as part of mischiefing. 

"Dem bastards corned my car!"

corpse house: funeral home or mortuary. This term seems to be quite common in the Wilkes-Barre/Scanton area, not as much in the Panther Valley area. 

DID YOU KNOW: In the days before funeral homes, the body of the deceased was laid out in its own house for viewing. When people were to pay their respects to the family, they would say "I'm going to the corpse house". The name carried over to funeral homes. See also parlor.

couple, coupla: some number from 2 to approximately 6 -- anywhere else it means 2, and only 2. It can also mean a couple, more than two, tree, fore or more depending how the person does math. In terms of alcohol, its a minimum of tree beers. 

"We kin go down da bush fer a couple, two, tree beers."

crack the window: open the window slightly (a crack)

"Crack da window son, your gas is awful"

Cribben: structure made of railroad ties that supports a railroad bed above it. The bed is usually made of coal dirt, with railroad tracks crossing the top of it. The ties hold the dirt in place, forming sort of a crib. Sort of a retaining wall made of railroad ties. A well-known cribben exists at the base of the Vulcan in Mockanoy City.

crick: a small stream of running water (creek). 

"I fell in da Pantha Valley Shit Crick"

cripes or holy cripes: expression of alarm, surprise, or disgust. Used instead of saying "Christ" which would be taking the Lord's name in vain. See example in gotchies.

crows: refers to a cigarette. Cigarettes also came to be known as "crows"

cruisin': driving around in a car, usually at night, repeating a standard loop through the middle of town (like Main Street in Lansford or Tamaqua or Independence Street in Shamokin). Cruisin' is an extremely popular pastime in many Coal Region towns. 

cubby hole also called coobie hole: is a a small space used to store or hide things. Probably derived from "cupboard", as a small cupboard. Pronounced "coopie hole" in Schuylkill Haven.  See also kootch

"Hey Mattchew, go check the attic coobie hole for da christmas decorations"

Cú Chulainn: is an Irish demigod often read to coal region children. It is sometimes referred to as Culann‘s Hound. This Irish mythological demigod appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle. It is also the name of the prized coal region gamecock. The mythological Cú Chulainn was originally named Setanta. He got his new name as a child, after killing Culann’s guard dog in self-defense and offering to take its place until a replacement could be found. He trained as a warrior in Scotland, under the mystical female warrior Scathach. As a youth, he performed superhuman feats, similar to those of Achilles. At 17, he single-handedly defeated an entire army. He was the champion of the Irish Kingdom of Ulster and unmatched as a killing machine. He had love affairs with warrior queens and fairies. But he was ultimately defeated at the age of 27, by another hero, Lugaid mac Con Roi, through sorcery and treachery.

Culm Heap: the waste pile found near mines and collieries. They were composed of slate, ash, clay and soil, along with fine bits of coal, and could grow as large as a hill. They smelled like rotten eggs from the hydrogen sulfide gas they emitted. Children often scavenged them, looking for usable grains of coal they could bring home for their family’s stove. The C&I arrested or harassed anyone who tried to take any. Sometimes the mounds shifted or collapsed, killing the children. They also caught fire and sometimes exploded, emitting a pale blue flame that was visible at night.

Cup-mont: a shortened way of saying the town of Kulpmont.

"Yer driving to Cup-mont?"

cump-nee: is when you have friends over da house but can also be used interechangeably as your place of employment. 

"My cumpnee should be here at tree turdy." 

"My dad works at the ice cumpnee"

cupalin: is pronounced as "coop-a-leen" This is a hat of stretchy fabric worn during winter. This word is primarily used by those of Italian heritage, possibly deriving from "Cupacin". The Cupacin were monks that wore a small head covering. See also dinky.

cuppa: cup of whatever you want to drink, usually coffee.

 "I'll have a cuppa coffee."

cure what ails ya: is a term to help you feel better, even if you're not actually sick.

 "Here, take a shot a'dis whiskey. This'll cure what ails ya!"

cut or cuts: used when ordering pizza by the slice. One slice is a "cut".

 "I'll take tree cuts of pepperoni, and two cuts wit mushrooms."

CYO: Catholic Youth Organization. This was THE organization for Athletics and players. Most Catholic elementary schools in the region played sports and the coal region was dominated by basketball.