The Only NJ Glossary: 50 Terms You Need to Know
The way people talk about New Jersey is not the way people from here talk about New Jersey.
Out-of-staters will say “the Jersey Shore” without specifying which shore town, mispronounce Newark (it’s Newerk, one long syllable, not Noo-Ark), and think Wawa is nothing more than a gas station.
What follows is a field guide to the terms that mean something specific here and nothing at all anywhere else. Organized by what they’re actually about, not alphabetically, because alphabetical order tells you nothing about how these things fit together.
The Food
Pork Roll (or Taylor Ham) A processed pork product roughly the shape and diameter of a hockey puck, sliced thin, fried on a flat top, and served on a hard roll with egg and cheese. Salt, pepper, and ketchup on top (order it SPK). What you call it depends on where you live. Everything south of Route 195 calls it pork roll. Everything north of it calls it Taylor ham. The debate is real, well-worn, and never going to end.
Sub (or Hoagie) The long sandwich on a torpedo roll. Called a sub in most of North Jersey and a hoagie in the Philadelphia-influenced south. Never a grinder. That’s a New England thing. Never a hero. That’s Manhattan.
Disco Fries French fries with brown gravy and melted mozzarella. Invented sometime after last call at a Jersey diner. Best consumed at 2 a.m.
The Ripper A deep-fried hot dog with a split, cracked skin, invented at Rutt’s Hut in Clifton in 1928. Ordered plain, or “in and out,” or “cremated,” depending on how burnt you want it. Comes with their signature yellow relish, which is essentially the reason to go.
Italian Hot Dog Newark’s contribution to sandwich culture. A deep-fried dog served on pizza bread with peppers, onions, and fried potatoes. Jimmy Buff’s is where the original recipe survived. Almost nobody outside New Jersey has heard of this sandwich.
Sloppy Joe Not the ground beef cafeteria sandwich. In New Jersey a Sloppy Joe is a triple-decker deli sandwich with two kinds of cold cut, Swiss cheese, coleslaw, and Russian dressing, on thin-sliced rye. Town Hall Deli in South Orange claims to have invented it in the 1930s. They’re probably right.
Fat Sandwiches The Grease Trucks at Rutgers University in New Brunswick invented the fat sandwich in the 1970s: a long roll piled with cheesesteak, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, french fries, and whatever else could be stacked before structural collapse. The Fat Cat, the Fat Darrell, the Fat Knight – each truck had its own signature combinations. Rutgers students ate them after midnight. The original trucks closed in 2012, but the sandwich survived at restaurants across the state and on the Rutgers campus.
Tomato Pie Trenton-style pizza. Sauce goes on top of the cheese instead of underneath. DeLorenzo’s and Papa’s are the two originators still standing. Older than most American pizza traditions.
Jersey Tomatoes A whole category of pride. The soil in South Jersey and the length of the growing season produce tomatoes that people from other states admit are noticeably better. Farm stands from Route 9 down through Salem County sell them by the basket from July through September.
Jersey Fresh The state’s produce branding program, launched in 1984 to promote New Jersey agriculture. The green Jersey Fresh sticker or sign on tomatoes, corn, peaches, and blueberries at farm stands and supermarkets is the state’s way of saying grown here. It works because the produce actually is that good.
Jimmies Sprinkles. Do not call them sprinkles.
Salt Water Taffy Invented in Atlantic City in the 1880s. The name has nothing to do with saltwater. According to legend, a flood soaked a candy stand and the owner sarcastically started calling his taffy “salt water taffy.” The joke stuck for a hundred and forty years.
Boardwalk Fries Cut thick, served in a paper bucket, drenched in malt vinegar. Curley’s Fries in Wildwood is the reference point. It’s one of the foods that defines New Jersey.
Frozen Custard Not ice cream. Denser, richer, with egg yolks and a slower churn. Kohr Bros. has been serving it on the boardwalk since 1919. The flavors are simple. Vanilla, chocolate, orange. That’s the point.
Water Ice Italian ice, but only in South Jersey do we call it water ice. Pronounced “wooder ice” in Camden and Gloucester counties. Rita’s built a national chain on it.
Wawa The convenience store chain that runs South and Central Jersey the way Dunkin’ runs New England. Founded in Pennsylvania, but Jersey people will fight anyone who tries to claim it. Order sandwiches at the touch screen. Coffee is a few bucks and better than it has any right to be.
The Roads
Jughandle The exit ramp you use to make a left turn from the right lane on a divided highway. Signs read ALL TURNS FROM RIGHT LANE. There are more of them in New Jersey than in any other state, by a lot. If you don’t understand them, you’ll miss your turn.
Traffic Circle The Airport Circle in Pennsauken, built in 1925, was the first highway traffic circle in the United States. New Jersey used to be full of them. Most got torn down in the 1990s because the right-of-way rules were confusing and dangerous, but a handful are still hanging on.
The Parkway The Garden State Parkway. Runs the length of the state, north to south, hugging the coast. No trucks. This is the road you take down the shore.
The Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike. Runs the length of the state, north to south, cutting through the industrial middle. Trucks everywhere. This is the road you take to get somewhere fast.
“What Exit?” Because both the Parkway and the Turnpike organize the state by exit number, telling someone your exit is a shortcut for telling them where you live. Exit 82 means Toms River. Exit 14 means Newark. The joke that everyone asks each other “what exit” is only slightly exaggerated.
Full-Service New Jersey is the last state in America that requires an attendant to pump your gas. It’s the law. Stay in the car.
The Skyway The Pulaski Skyway, the three-and-a-half-mile elevated highway between Newark and Jersey City. Opened in 1932. Rusts beautifully. Appears in the opening credits of The Sopranos.
The GWB, the Holland, the Lincoln The George Washington Bridge, the Holland Tunnel, the Lincoln Tunnel. Your three main options for getting to Manhattan. Every commuter has an opinion on which is worst at any given hour.
Rest Stops The New Jersey Turnpike (and Garden State Parkway) names its rest stops after famous New Jerseyans. Vince Lombardi, Molly Pitcher, Joyce Kilmer, Grover Cleveland, Walt Whitman, Clara Barton, Thomas Edison, Alexander Hamilton, James Fenimore Cooper. No other state does this. If somebody tells you to meet them at Molly Pitcher, they mean the rest area.
The Places
Down the Shore Not “at the beach.” Not “to the beach.” Not “on the shore.” Down the shore. The phrase covers any of the Jersey shore towns from Sandy Hook to Cape May. Where specifically you’re going is a separate conversation.
The Shore A specific stretch of coast, understood contextually. When someone says they’re going to the shore, ask which one. LBI, Point Pleasant, Asbury Park, Belmar, Seaside, Wildwood, Cape May. They are not interchangeable.
The Pines (or the Pine Barrens) The 1.1-million-acre forest that occupies most of South Jersey. Home to the Jersey Devil, cranberry bogs, ghost towns, and old growth cedar swamps. Locals from the Pines are called Pineys.
The Meadowlands The wetlands complex in northern New Jersey where MetLife Stadium and the American Dream Mall sit. Also, according to persistent rumor, where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. The actual meadowlands stretch across parts of Bergen, Hudson, Essex, and Union counties.
Central Jersey It exists. The state officially recognized it in 2023. The argument about whether it exists is a Jersey pastime that predates the recognition and will outlive it.
The Cape Cape May, not Cape Cod. Victorian bed-and-breakfasts, ferry to Delaware, and one of the oldest resort towns in America.
LBI Long Beach Island. Eighteen miles of barrier island between Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic. Devoted, almost cult-like following. If you know, you know.
The Ironbound The Portuguese and Brazilian neighborhood in Newark, named for the railroad tracks that surround it. Best rodizio in the state and probably in the country outside of Brazil.
Down Neck The older, local name for the Ironbound. Comes from the neighborhood’s position “down the neck” of a peninsula formed by the Passaic River. Longtime residents still call it Down Neck even as “Ironbound” has taken over in tourism guides and real estate listings.
The Rock The Prudential Center in Newark, home of the New Jersey Devils since 2007, when they moved from the Meadowlands. Also hosts Seton Hall basketball and a heavy concert calendar. Nobody calls it the Prudential Center. It’s the Rock.
The Boardwalk Wildwood, Ocean City, Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant, Atlantic City. Not one thing but many. Each has its own personality, its own food, its own crowd.
Beach Tags Most Jersey shore towns charge for beach access from Memorial Day through Labor Day. You buy a beach tag (or a badge, depending on the town) at a booth or online and clip it to your bathing suit. Prices, rules, and enforcement vary from town to town. It shocks out-of-staters every single summer. Only a few Jersey beaches are free, and locals know exactly which ones.
Clinton Road A ten-mile stretch of road in West Milford that has more legends attached to it than any road in America. Ghost cars, demonic activity, wolves, unmarked graves. Take the drive at your own risk.
The People
Bennie A term for a summer tourist to the North Jersey shore, believed to be an acronym for the towns they come from: Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark, and New York. Whether it’s affectionate or hostile depends entirely on the person saying it.
Shoobie The South Jersey equivalent of a bennie. A day-tripper to the shore, so named because they historically brought their lunch in shoeboxes. Usually said with slightly less venom than “bennie.”
Piney Someone who lives in the Pine Barrens. Historically slandered by early twentieth century sociologists who wrote them up as inbred degenerates, currently reclaimed with pride. The word has real cultural weight in South Jersey.
Jersey Girl A specific archetype. Strong, opinionated, doesn’t take anything from anybody, and doesn’t need you to open her door for her. This shirt sums it up. Bruce Springsteen wrote a song about her.
Jersey Boy Sometimes a reference to Springsteen, sometimes a reference to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, sometimes both. Depends on context.
The Boss Bruce Springsteen. Just the Boss. No first name required.
Weather and Wildlife
Nor’easter A specific kind of Atlantic storm that hits the shore hard in fall and winter. Not a hurricane, but capable of doing hurricane damage. Superstorm Sandy in 2012 is the reference point for anyone under forty.
Greenhead A biting fly that emerges from the salt marshes in late July and August. If you’ve been to LBI or Cape May in high summer, you’ve met them. They bite hard, they draw blood, and they can ruin an afternoon at the beach.
The Jersey Devil The winged creature said to haunt the Pine Barrens. Born, according to legend, in 1735 to Mother Leeds as her thirteenth child. Also the name of the NHL team in Newark.
The Things People Actually Say
“Watch the tram car, please.” The endlessly looping announcement broadcast from the Wildwood boardwalk tram car all summer long. If you’ve spent any time in Wildwood, this phrase lives in your head rent-free.
“On line” People from Jersey (and New York) wait “on line” for something. People from the rest of the country wait “in line.” Nobody has ever explained why. The line is definitely on the ground, so we might actually be right.
“Youse” (or “Youse Guys”) The Jersey and New York second-person plural. Where the South has “y’all” and Pittsburgh has “yinz,” parts of North Jersey have “youse” or “youse guys.” It’s not universal, but you’ll hear it especially in older, working-class neighborhoods across places like Hudson and Essex counties. If you hear it, you’re probably home.
What to Do With This
If you’re from here, none of this needs explaining. If you’re not, don’t try to rush it. The surest way to out yourself in New Jersey is to try too hard. The rest comes eventually, usually somewhere between the Parkway and the shore.
