macadam: asphalt pavement. 

"He scraped his knee on the macadam when he fell down."

made off with : stole "Hey, who made off wit that bucket?

mango : green bell pepper. To the rest of the world, a mango is a tropical fruit. In the Coal Region, a mango is a green pepper. I don't know why this is. "Run upda Ack-a-me and get me some mangoes. I'm makin' spaghetti sauce."

Marncarmel, Marntcarmel: Mount Carmel, another Region town, near Ashland

"Dem boys playing Marncarmel on friday?"

Mary D: off 209 between Pottsville and Tamaqua; more specifically, between Newkirk and Brockton

Mauch Chunk, also Upper Chunk and East Chunk: Pronounced Mock-Chunk.  Sometimes called just plain "Chunk". Not a typical patch town. The former name of the town now called "Jim Thorpe". In the mid-1950's, the town was looking to attract industry. It struck a deal with the descendants of Jim Thorpe (the athlete) to have Mr. Thorpe buried in Mauch Chunk. The town agreed to erect a memorial to Jim Thorpe and to change their name from Mauch Chunk. Jim Thorpe did spend part of his youth in Pennsylvania. He played football at Carlisle Indian University. 

"Heyna, yous guys going downda chunk today?"

mays-well: the shortened version of might as well. This was a very popular term used in the coal region. 

"Mays well get some ciggies with dem lott'ry tickets"

McCrorys 5&10: McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. There were many of these stores located throughout the coal region - including one in Lansford. The Lansford store was originally a J.J. Newberry store before local businessman Tom Lux acquired the lease and made it a 5 & 10 in 1988. It was located on West Ridge Street. The Lansford 5 & 10 store began a liquidation sale in late 1995 and closed by the end of January 1996, after its lease expired and was not renewed. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and some stores often included a lunch counter or snack bar.

me: the word typically used when referring to something you own or brought with you. 

"Heyna, that's me hat!"

meat man: a local butcher who sold meat and meat products from the back of a truck equipped with cutting block and refrigerated cases. Every coal region town had their butcher. 

meer or meera: referring to a mirror or the act of mirroring oneself.  Pronounced like the Russian space station.  

"Meer, meer on da wall, who's da pri-ee-ust a'dem all?"

"meera me how I choppa da wood"

melk: as in drinking milk or to obtain milk. 

"Run down da store and get me a quart'a melk."

"Bobby da melk man comes down da hill and delivers on toos-day"

Middleport: located on route 209, 8 miles equidistant from Pottsville to the west & Tamaqua to the east. Also 8 miles equidistant from Orwigsburg to the south and Mahanoy City to the north.

minced ham: a term used often to describe bologna.

"dinna too night is da left ov'r minced ham, so quit ya bitch'n" 

minchia: pronounced "mink-ya". This is an exclamation. It's an Italian word, sometimes vulgar, sometimes meaning "penis". From the Latin "mentula", or "little mint" (menta), a fast-growing sprig. Sometimes combined as "Minchia-Louis" (Loo-ie). What does the "Louis" part mean? 

"Minchia - what was the coach thinking when he called that play?!"

Mischief Night: night before Halloween when kids soap windows, throw corn, throw eggs, throw toilet paper, etc. Very popular coal region activity. Often used by kids to exact revenge on a teacher or neighbor. 

mischiefin(g): the act of soaping windows, etc. that takes place around Halloween. 

"Do yiz wanna go out mischeiffin?"

Mockanoy City, Monnoy City: Mahanoy City. 

"Heyna, friday night dem boyz play Mockanoy City." 

Molly Maguires: also referred to as "Mollies". Some would call them Irish terrorists, others would call them heroes for the working class, yet others would say the Molly Maguires never existed at all. The Mollies threatened and murdered mine bosses and scabs in the Pennsylvania coal fields. They supposedly infiltrated and dominated the WBA (miners’ union, see below). However, the only evidence for such a terrorist conspiracy comes from the testimony of agent provocateur, James McParlan, and his boss, Allan Pinkerton, hired by the coal companies to destroy the WBA. Franklyn Gowen, president of the Reading Railroad, led the legal prosecution, resulting in the conviction of dozens of union activists. Twenty of them were executed on June 21, 1877. According to Irish World (June 30, 1877), the Mollies were “a fiction created in the course of a fierce class battle. . . No where. . . have we found. . . a single authentic document which showed the existence of a group or organization calling itself the MM.” (from Counterpunch, 6/21/07)

mott, motts: is referring to the bug known as a moth or moths that swarm lights usually in the summer 

"Oh no! Da motts got to my good suit and now it's fulla holes!"

mout: refers to your mouth. usually used in conjunction with a misbehaving child or an adult who wont shut up.

"Hey Bobbie, shut yer mout 'er I'll shut it for ya!"

"Youz guys dont shut yer mout when youz start drinkin"

Moxie: a soft drink that was popular in the coal region, probably in the 1940's. Contains Gentian root, and tastes like a cross between root beer or sarsparilla and brown cough syrup. I've heard you can still buy this from Catawissa Bottling Company.

mozhee: a hard candy made of molasses, always home made. No one knows the real spelling or derivation, but everyone says it's spelt "M-O-Zhee-Y" or "M-O-Zhee-Zhee-Y". Q: Where does "zhee" appear in the alphabet? A: Right after "haitch"! See recipe. "Mozhee apples" were candy coated apples on a stick, though I think these were coated with caramel, not mozhee. It just looked like mozhee.

mullygrub: tadpole or can also refer to a child who is upset or misbehaving. Sometimes described as a child who came down with a severe case of the mully grubbies. Can also be pronounced as molly with an 'O" 

"Jonnie has a case of da mully grubbies again"

Mumming: is a type of itinerant play very popular to this day. Kept alive in the Philadephia Mummers Day Parade. Often in coal region towns, musicians and actors, known as mumers, or guisers, would march from house to house at Christmas and other holidays, performing their comical, allegorical plays. Common characters included: Captain Mummer, Beelzebub, the Fool and Dr. Quack. Mumming was popular throughout much of Europe going back to the Middle Ages, and was brought to America by immigrants.

FUN FACT:  It is still performed in some parts of the U.S., including Pennsylvania and can be watched online on New Years. In some countries, including Ireland, mummers wore tall, conical wicker masks. Masks in this shape have a long tradition in Catholicism, like the purple capriotes worn in processions during Spain’s Semana Santa. To learn more about traditional Irish mumming, see Henry Glassie’s All Silver and No Brass.

muskeetas: mosquitos. 

"Close the door! Da motts and muskeetas will get in!"

my story: one's favorite soap opera. 

"I gotta go Ethel, you finish da quilt, my story is comin' on."

my-un: as in referring to belonging to me or posessing ownership. 

"That's not yours, that's my-un."