OT-HAVE a catch / PLAY catch?

Submitted by Blue Vet on August 12th, 2022 at 6:11 AM

I've always said "play catch" but realized after I moved to New York that lots of people say "have a catch."

From the Midwest, I thought the difference might be regional, "having a catch" a phrase used by people in the East—or at least by writers influenced by Eastern usage. For instance, there's a national report—often meaning reported by writers in the Northeast—about Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. having a catch before the Field of Dreams game.

Do you say "have a catch" or "play catch"? Has anyone else noticed a regional difference?

HighBeta

August 12th, 2022 at 9:43 AM ^

Play catch, born/raised in NYC. Don't recall hearing it differently until I spent time outside the five boroughs in downstate then upstate NYS.

Soda. First heard "pop" in Florida and the Midwest.

BTW? Our local game was stickball. If you can hit a Spaulding with a skinny broom handle then hitting a baseball with a regular bat is easy and a softball seems as big as a basketball.

And? Ringolevio...

Last? Let's not quibble about "youse" versus "y'all".

😁👍

Edit/Add: while piling on New Yorkers, please keep in mind that "NY" has got very many personalities, completely diiferent from each other; some are more abrasive or wonderful than others. Like Cali, Illinois, Nevada, Michigan, Florida, etc.

Joined: 10/20/2019

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HighBeta

August 12th, 2022 at 10:47 AM ^

Yep. Couldn't tell you about current, retro, etc. The key thing you need to understand is that NYC has hundreds of what are called "neighborhoods", each with their own distinct mannerisms, rituals, expressions, etc. So. Brighton Beach is a world apart from the Upper East Side, Hells Kitchen, Staten Island, etc. 

Perfect NYC joke: polite tourist walks up to a NYC local and asks, "Excuse me, sir, can you tell me how to get to the Grand Central train station or should I just go fuck myself". 

(See Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel ... 😁)

Joined: 10/20/2019

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Blue Vet

August 12th, 2022 at 12:41 PM ^

Yep on the observation. LOL on the joke. Still laughing.

As for your earlier comment about piling on New Yorkers, that's one thing I learned living in MANY places around the country (Nebraska, Missouri, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, plus at least two months straight working in Oregon, Kentucky, Florida, Indiana, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Montana) is that MANY people assume their way of talking & acting & thinking is not only the best way, it's the "right" way and people who talk or act or think differently are idiots. 

So for anyone here who's convinced that New Yorkers are idiots, be assured that there's some New Yorker who thinks you and I are idiots. 

 

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Wendyk5

August 12th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^

I moved from Chicago to NY when I was a kid and had to change some of my vernacular. No more "pop" (it was now soda). No one said "you guys," which i said all the time. No more "gym shoes" (they were now sneakers). I've never heard "have a catch." My husband and son, and daughter who played softball, always played catch, but we're back in Chicago. 

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HAIL 2 VICTORS

August 12th, 2022 at 9:57 AM ^

"Let's go have a catch" is something Father Glab would have said to me as I was wearing my altar boy uniform and we were preparing wine for mass.

 

I also want to play bags (Chicago) and will never want to corn-hole (Kansas) with you.

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Vasav

August 12th, 2022 at 12:02 PM ^

I was raised East Coast, and remember michiganders giving me shit for saying "have a catch"

either way - KG Sr more had  a drop than a catch, right? Big Leaguers - they get old just like us!

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Duke of Zhou

August 12th, 2022 at 2:02 PM ^

The only correct way to say it is "play catch." FOD said "have a catch" and that is why the report said the Griffeys had a catch. It was a reference to the film. 

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