lord_whimsy ([info]lord_whimsy) wrote,
@ 2007-08-16 23:07:00
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Entry tags:artsy tartsy

A LITTLE BIT OF JERSEY SEASIDE VERNACULAR


I've always enjoyed the aesthetics of the seafood restaurants found along the Jersey Shore. Here is a fun little example found in Stone Harbor. It's probably been a family-run business for a few generations, and so has a little bit of fantasy, showmanship and good old hucksterism that such establishments must embrace in order to become cherished local landmarks. A McDonalds or other such franchise could never give the same sense of place.





"The nerve! How dare they impose standards--I'm on vacation, dammit!" (Fat shoobie waddles off with screaming kids in tow)





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[info]brendakey
2007-08-17 06:30 am UTC (link)
That has real character.What is the food like?

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[info]trickseybird
2007-08-17 06:32 am UTC (link)
*grins* what's a shoobie?

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[info]wordtravelsfast
2007-08-17 07:09 pm UTC (link)
shoobie is a term southern new jersey natives call out-of-town folks who invade the jersey shore and beaches all summer. I believe the term is derived from "shoo bee" as if you were waving a buzzing bee away.

I also have heard the term "bennie" (not sure of the correct spelling) used in a similar fashion by some of northern/central new jersey friends in the same fashion. However, I have no idea what the derivative of that term is.

apologies in advance for attending to the response...but as a transplanted southern new jersey girl, I felt qualified to answer!!

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[info]lord_whimsy
2007-08-18 05:06 am UTC (link)
Actually, the etymology of "shoobie" came from the ancient habit of beachgoers from Philly bringing their food in shoeboxes.

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[info]wordtravelsfast
2007-08-18 02:24 pm UTC (link)
hmm, my Grandmother in Margate told me the "shoo bee" story...but now I seem to recall the shoebox story as well. perhaps my Grandmother Truman thought the shooing of a bee was more fun a story for the wee child I was when she told me!!

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[info]mperrotti76
2008-07-22 11:12 pm UTC (link)
True.

Also, Benny has one of 2 possible meanings:

1. Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newatk, New York (acronym)
or
2. Benny, as in the anti-semetic "Benny Jew" in reference to all the urban jews who would summer in Lakewood and Asbury Park.

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[info]freddster
2007-08-17 08:55 am UTC (link)
"No tank tops" HAHAHAHAHAHHA

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[info]karinmollberg
2007-08-17 09:41 am UTC (link)
Great! Makes me recall these authentic lines from a rebuilt western town in Australia:

Western town Sheriff: "My dear ladies, you are under arrest!"
Ladies in string tops and shorts: "Arrest? But why? We have not done wrong, Sheriff!"
Stern Sheriff: "You are wandering about town in your underwear. You are under arrest!"

The "ladies" actually go to jail and there have to dress properly for the day, then are set free.

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[info]snowy_owlet
2007-08-17 02:12 pm UTC (link)
Next time you're in Chicago, you should finagle a trip to Gulliver's on Howard St.: the food is okay, but the decor is jaw-dropping. I'm not sure there's any visible wall or ceiling left---it's all lamps, figureheads, and tchotchkes.

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[info]resonantfish
2007-08-17 06:39 pm UTC (link)
I'll be heading to Sea Isle City / Stone Harbor in early September for the annual family vacation. I look forward to photographing similar things.

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[info]lord_whimsy
2007-08-17 11:04 pm UTC (link)
Be sure to visit the inlet--the plovers are nesting at the moment, and the skimmers are gorgeous.

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