The Pennsylvania Dutch are people who come from German descent and grew up in southeast Pennsylvania in the areas around Lancaster, Reading, Allentown, Lebanon, and York, Pennsylvania, USA. They live mostly in Lancaster, Berks, Lebanon, and York counties, although there are many Pa. Dutch in surrounding counties and areas in Schuylkill and Lehigh counties as well. Some of these people belong to the Mennonite or Old Order Amish religions. The word "Dutch" is taken from "Deutschland" which is the German word for "Germany." Our area is known as the Pa. Dutch Country, the Pa. Amish Country, or the "Heartland" as it is sometimes called locally. It's important to understand that "Amish" and "Mennonite" are religions, while "Pa. Dutch" is a heritage.

The movie "Witness," a 1985 Harrison Ford picture, was filmed here and provides a good sampling of the scenery and lifestyle in the Pa. Dutch Country. A young Amish boy is the only witness to a murder in nearby Philadelphia. Most of the movie is factual and realistic, except the Amish girl falling in love with Harrison Ford. Highly unlikely!

Following are some facts about the Pa. Dutch people and the area where we live. Much of this I recall from my childhood. The culture has been changing, and certainly not all of it applies to every Pennsylvania Dutch household.

• Many of the people who grew up here speak with an accent that is similar to a German accent. W's are pronounced like v's, and v's like w's. A "b" at the end of a word is often pronounced like a "p"; as in "Vorld Vide Vep" (and hence the name "Bop" or "Boppy.") J's are pronounced like ch's as in "now wait chust a minute." Often we append an "ah" to a word; for example the word "no" is pronounced "noah." And often we append the word "once" to a sentence, and place a "t" at the end of it. As in "Jakie, come here onct." Bop can remember his elementary school teachers trying to break the children of the accent. They were successful to SOME degree.
  
  If your computer has a sound card and speakers, be sure to visit the Audio Amos section of Bop's vep paitch. And if you would like to know more about how the Pa. Dutch people talk, chust watch a Lawrence Welk rerun; he was a wirtual Pennsylvania Dutchman.
  
  
• Now you've got to be careful with some of the terminology that is used here. If today is Monday and a Pa. Dutchman tells you that he'll stop by "next Wednesday," he is not referring to two days hence. By "next" Wednesday, he means the Wednesday following, or nine days hence. And lunch time is sometimes called dinner time. The evening meal is supper.
  
  
• We also have a way of restructuring sentences to the format that *WE* believe is gramatically correct. Some examples are "Jakie, go tie the dog loose" and "spread me all over with jelly a piece of butter bread." Two very well-known classics are "outen the lights" (or "make the light out") and "throw the horse over the fence some hay!"
  
  
• The Pa. Dutch love to eat and they are a heavy lot. The women are great cooks of some of the most fattening foods on earth. There is a local saying "A plump wife and a big barn never did any man harm." Some of the favorite foods are scrapple, pig stomach, shoe-fly pie, eggs (eaten with extra salt, pepper, and ketchup), funnel cakes, chow chow, and cup cheese. We also like to eat the salt and residue from the bottom of potato chip bags. And there is a lot of gall bladder surgery being performed in the Dutch country. Click here for some links to delicious Pa. Dutch recipes!
  
  
• Despite a high cholesterol diet, some of the men and woman live to ripe old ages. They are very hard workers and lead a very family-oriented lifestyle. This is especially true of the Amish and Mennonites. But one oddity is that family and guests usually gather and talk at the kitchen table, rather than in a living room or family room.
  
  
• The Pa. Dutch also have their own language which is a German dialect. The language itself is called Pennsylvania Dutch, or simply "talking Dutch" as the locals say.
  
  
• Many of the Amish have the same names, both first and last names. Don't wander into the Amish country and ask where John Zook, Gideon Lapp, or Jakie Stoltzfus lives. They will stare at you like there is something wrong with you and say "that all depends which John Zook you mean." Asking a question like that would be giving away that you didn't grow up here.
  
  
• Arkansas jokes apply here ... almost. Not involving brother and sister, but the Amish religion permits cousins to marry. They do, and they have lots of children, and some of the kids aren't "right." But it's part of the culture and not likely to change.
  
  
• Finally, we are OK with all this local humor. We know that we talk with an accent and it is much of a joke in these parts. Local radio stations feature Pa. Dutch "words of the day" in a humorous way, and most everyone likes to laugh with it.
  
  

You can read much more about the Pa. Dutch, the Amish and Mennonites, and learn about the "Plain People" at the Pa. Dutch Country Welcome Center.