Things Locals Know

I would never presume to call myself a Bostonian. However, after living here for two years, I would venture to call myself a local at this point. As a local, there are things that I've learned about Boston/Massachusetts that I might not notice as a tourist/visitor. 

For example, anyone who visits here will quickly learn that the public transportation system is referred to as the T. The full name is the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA), but everyone calls it the T. The T is made up of several differently colored lines (red, blue, orange, silver, and green). The green line (the one we primarily use) is also broken down into letters (B, C, D, and E). When referring to different lines, locals don't really shorten the names of the lines...despite the fact that MBTA is shortened to T. We don't say, "Hey, I'll be home soon. I'm on the green." We go ahead and say "I'm on the green line." That extends to the lettered lines, too (i.e. "Hey, it'll take a million years for me to get home. I'm on the B line." The B line is reallllly slow).

On a similar note, although both trains and buses are part of the T, if you say, "I'll take the T," you mean that you're taking the train, not the bus. If you're taking the bus, you usually say the number of the bus you plan to take (i.e. "I'll take the 86 bus."). Small little quirks, but they're pretty universal in Boston, I've found. I also found that it sounded really odd when I saw an instagram caption of a visitor to Boston that said he was "on the green." I literally had to notice that the picture was taken on a train to figure out what "on the green" meant. 

Another little local quirk that we caught onto really quickly was that Commonwealth Avenue (a major thoroughfare) is always called Comm. Ave. Always. Unless you are not from here. Or haven't been here longer than a day. It's not "Commonwealth Avenue" or "Commonwealth." It's Comm. Ave. Similarly, Massachusetts Avenue is "Mass. Ave." and Harvard Avenue is "Harvard Ave." (but not "Harv. Ave." Don't be ridiculous.)

Incidentally, almost anything with "Massachusetts" in its name is shortened to "Mass. ___." "Mass. Gen." is short for Massachusetts General Hospital (also called MGH), and the Massachusetts Turnpike is the "Mass pike." Boston, Massachusetts is "Boston, Mass." Any of the University of Massachusetts campuses are referred to as "U. Mass. Amherst/Boston/Lowell." A glaring exception: MIT. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is just MIT. Like, universally. Globally, and whatnot.

In the same vein of shortening names, Boston University is BU, and Boston College is BC. I don't even remember the last time I heard anyone actually use the full name of either school. People just don't.

Dunkin Donuts is on every street corner here. It's a New England-based chain, so they love it here. Boston isn't really into chains unless they began here (or nearby). They DON'T do Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, to New Englanders, is the beast. The sign of the end times. Target, however, is acceptable. Don't question us on this. 

It's expected that, if you live here, you are a Red Sox fan, a Bruins fan (that's hockey, folks), a Celtics fan, and a Patriots fan (we're not really Patriots fans, but we keep that to ourselves.). You're generally expected to know when games are, too. We bluff a lot.

September 1st is a day to stay off the streets. Literally. It's an across-Boston move-in/move-out day (of apartments), and it's NUTS. People will actually move all of their possessions out of the apartment and onto the sidewalk, as the next tenant moves his or her stuff in. The sidewalks are full of stuff, and man, if it's yours, you better guard it...BECAUSE it's also common knowledge that if something is left on the sidewalk and isn't locked up, it's fair game. We are proud owners of a sidewalk lamp and sidewalk bookshelf. Quality stuff, too. Not even kidding and not even ashamed.

You must know how to parallel park- or figure it out really quickly. Otherwise, you will not park, and you'll be driving your car around for the rest of eternity.

Pedestrians have the right-of-way...unless the cars want it...and sort of vice versa. Jaywalking is not really a thing here, so if you're a pedestrian and think you can make it across without a light, go for it. It's expected. You can even do it in front of policemen. They do it, too. We figured this out early on. You can tell who's from out of town, according to when they cross the street. 

These are just a few of my observations. There are probably a bunch of others that I just don't even recognize any more. Anybody that has visited Boston: are there any others I'm leaving out?