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Originally Posted by Maki
One of the best-known regionalisms in Wisconsin is "bubbler," meaning drinking fountain. It comes from the commercial name of a fountain the Wisconsin-based Kohler Co. used to make decades ago.
One that puzzled me for a long time is "gangway," which describes the walkway between houses in some cities in the Midwest. When I was a kid it always conjured images of gangs lurking in the shadows. It's an old English term that refers to temporary walkways like the gangplank on a ship, according to Mirriam-Webster, but how was that adapted to a sidewalk along a house that connects the backyard with the street?
I was in Germany recently and think I found an answer. At every exit ramp on the autobahn, there's a sign with the word "ausgang." "Gang" is "course" in German. So in areas with high concentrations of German immigrants, the term may have come naturally.
Speaking of German, it's a fact that many parts of the country were bilingual (English-German) well into the 20th century. Pennsylvania, for instance, printed its official documents in German until 1950.
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BTW there are German word "Fussgang" and " Gangweg "
I had heard that that the reason for " Gang way!" was that it was related to the command to pull up the gangway onto the ship prior to departure. So, if you needed to return to the ship, do it before the gangway was lifted up, the command being " Gangway......UP"
Maybe someone in the Navy or Merchant Marine can confirm this.