I was talking with 2 colleagues today from the south side of Chicago, and they were going crazy with the lingo. For example, apparently gangway is a very common term, meaning a narrow pathway to the back door. I've heard of gangway, but I have seen it mean a temporary path of planks, one of the definitions in Dictionary.com. I hadn't seen it used that way, have you?

I've not heard it used that way, but it makes sense. One of its definition is "passageway between seating areas as in an auditorium or passenger vehicle or between areas of shelves of goods as in stores" (WordNet) It doesn't take much to extend that to the meaning you give.

I always thought it referred to the hanging ladder or stairway at the side of a ship.

It also was the call used to make people stand aside so you could get through a crowd.

quote:

gangway

I only remember it being used as Gangway!, meaning "Get out of the way!" I thought it was a nautical term related somehow to gangplank.

Here's the etymology from the OED online:

quote:

Old English gangweg, < gang n.1 + weg way n.1; compare German (dialect) gangweg, Old Norse gangvegr, Swedish gångväg.

Gang n. 1 means "Action or mode of going; way, passage," and way n.1 means road or path.

I wonder if that use is so regional that it's only used that way on the south side of Chicago. Strange.

Apparently, though, there is quite a different language & culture on Chicago's south side, compared to the rest of Chicago. I wasn't raised in the Chicago area, but many of my friends and colleagues are from the south side of Chicago. I remember when I was on the faculty at Loyola, we were going to give a gift to someone who was leaving. I wanted to buy a gift, but I was voted down because...as was explained to me..."People on the south side prefer money to gifts." I kid you not! We collected money and gave that as our gift.