bay state lexicon
Tuesday, September 4, 2012 at 06:58PM
Bulkie
A bulkie (not "bulkie roll" as outlanders might say, and pronounced bull-key) is a large white bread roll (not a hard roll) with a somewhat crispy crust and a somewhat chewy inside. They come plain or with poppy seeds. (See flossing.) Some people use them for sandwiches, but in Worcester they are most often bought on Sunday mornings on Water Street (the old Jewish commercial district) and are always eaten with cream cheese--real cream cheese also from Water Street, not the Philadelphia brand.
Bubbler
What some people call a water fountain. We pronounce it "bub-la" or "bub-a-la,"depending on our verbal sophistication. The water in the bubbler at Elm Park is wicked cold. DARE notes that the word has also been heard in Appleton and Madison, Wisconsin, and in Canton and Cincinnati, Ohio.
words
Reader Comments (2)
Hey! I grew up drinking from bubblers in Cedar Grove, Sheboygan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In my freshman year at Marquette I quickly began drinking from fountains. During my MFA years at Montana I began to drink from water fountains, that is, when I wasn't drinking directly from brown or green bottles. To save me, my beloved Peggy introduced me to stemware in a partially successful attempt to bring a little class to my sorry ass.
Similarly, we all begin going to movies. Then, during our undergrad years, we begin to see films, By the time we're in post-grad studies we attend the cinema.
I'm glad this was a piece of bread and not a medical-school example of a damaged liver. (I wasn't sure at first!)