“Kennywood’s Open”

Submitted by Fuzzy_Baseball9006 t3_1231w3y in pittsburgh

Is this still a phrase people know? Or am I just becoming an old, 31 year old yinzer? I said it to my 10 year old godson, and he looked at me very confused. It was one of those stupid sayings my friends and I said a lot as kids.

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UniquePtrBigEndian t1_jdssqof wrote

I still say it, but I’m also around your age… maybe this is old 🥲

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pittgirl12 t1_jdtuubp wrote

As a non-native what does this mean?

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ScareJessica2Death t1_jdssno5 wrote

Funny you mentioned that.

Today I was out doing yard work and my Kennywood was opened apparently all day.

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LegendOfVinnyT t1_jdtad1p wrote

Eat'n Park is doing their part to keep it alive, one men's room door at a time.

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Longjumping-Bid7705 t1_jdsx43f wrote

You have to be the one to teach it to him and he will teach his friends! Keep it alive yo

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bangarangrufiOO t1_jdtakpv wrote

One of my 9th grade boys told me my Kennywood was open during 1st period just last week. I zipped it up, then had to explain to the very sweet girl in the back row what it meant.

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Llamacka t1_jdsu4un wrote

Am 30 so say it too no clue on the lil iggles though

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fahqhall t1_jdtgmcz wrote

Before my daughter was born, my wife and I were living in Arizona, and I said to someone, "hey man. Kennywood is open"

Then we both just looked at each other for a while until I remembered that most of Arizona has never heard of kennywood.

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dandyrubich t1_jdtmdf4 wrote

Still remember the day I learned the phrase when I was 6 years old and my uncle told me at my cousin's birthday that Kennywood was open and I ran over to my mom excited and told her and she said sorry bud but that just means your zipper is down, it's February the actual Kennywood isn't open. Such disappointment and confusion all at once 😂

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Fearless_Nature_9989 t1_jdt3mza wrote

Left Pitt unfortunately a long time ago. I will come back hopefully some day. I am in Florida and I still say it. People probably think I am crazy but it's my inside joke and I am keeping it to myself

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Zealousideal-Bug1967 t1_jdsv1ng wrote

I’m about your age. I know the phrase but I have only heard people my parents or grandparents age actually use it.

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Fuzzy_Baseball9006 OP t1_jdt2get wrote

Shit, apparently I’m closer in mentality to someone in their 50s+ than a 30 year old.

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wildmusings88 t1_jdt3now wrote

My friends and I had a good laugh about this recently. The youngest of us is 30. 😀

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AhPshaw t1_jdt9nz9 wrote

Appalling lack of education for the younguns these days lol.

No, "Kennywood's Open" has been and shall remain a cherished form of embarrassing someone without actually saying it.

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twistedevil t1_jdt2ror wrote

I still say it, but I'm about 10 years older than you. Not sure about the kids.

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[deleted] t1_jdteqkf wrote

I definitely say it but most people seem to know what it means. I’m 43. I’ve been living here for 12 years.

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Fuzzy_Baseball9006 OP t1_jdtghez wrote

Love that a transplant has incorporated it. Good on you.

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angry_eccentric t1_jdtprfu wrote

I'm a transplant, moved here 15 years ago, which is around the time my yinzer friends shared it with me. (they also had to explain what a gumband is). one of my favorite pittsburgh phrases! i use it when i can and share it with people who don't live in pittsburgh if they'll think it's funny (which they almost always do).

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Well_gr34t t1_jdtf032 wrote

I didn't learn this phrase until my classmates in grade school told me after a class in which I presented....I didn't get it until they explained what it meant

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Knightpnthr t1_jdtj8m7 wrote

Gen X here and I still say it.

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No_Stress_8938 t1_jdt57fs wrote

Damn. I missed the opportunity the other day when I noticed someone’s fly down. I’m 50 btw. I forgot all about the phrase

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Ok_Parfait4491 t1_jdt7syz wrote

i’m 18 and i’ve said it before. my Gen Z friends have no idea what i’m talking about

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whel_sar t1_jdtfeet wrote

i feel like i learned this phrase around that age and i’m 25. the important thing is now he knows and will hopefully pass it on :)

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doug_thethug t1_jdtgnz1 wrote

Also 25, learned it 10-12 years ago from my sister who is now 45

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momsrock41 t1_jdtwgeb wrote

I'm 43, live about 45 mins from Kennywood, but our school had school picnics there. I said, "Kennywoods open!" to my 14 year old and he had no clue. I had to explain it to him. My husband, same age as me, grew up in West Mifflin but went to a Catholic school (I always tease he never experienced the real world because he didn't go to public school.) he also had no clue what this meant and said he never heard it before? I was so confused? I thought everyone around here knew what it meant.

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Fuzzy_Baseball9006 OP t1_jdv4p01 wrote

How interesting! Glad you got to open their minds to some good, ol’ local vernacular

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AV8ORA330 t1_jduqn6q wrote

65 years old and have been using as long as I can remember…classic pittsburgh saying. To be clear, it isn’t your Kennywood is open. It’s just “Kennywood is open”. Anyone knowing the phrase will immediately understand.

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anonymous_agama t1_jdv989x wrote

I was having a beer with my neighbor this weekend and she told me this story about it. She was going into a big meeting with new clients for an investing firm, just her and her boss meeting them.

Right as the others walk in she leans in and whispers to her boss, “Kennywood’s open”

He apparently doesn’t know the meaning so as the room is filled up by the visiting clients he looks strangely at her and replies loudly “what do you mean Kennywood’s open, it’s December!”

Everyone else apparently knew what it meant.

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Dr_Isaly_von_Yinzer t1_jdybfhw wrote

I have a great story about this.

I was living in Orlando working for Disney. This was right after college.

I was out one night with a bunch of my friends and we ran into a group of young attorneys at a conference who were all from Pittsburgh of all places.

My friends call me over to talk to these guys and they start asking me all kinds of questions about Pittsburgh, and make me prove that I am a true Yinzer.

It’s mostly landmark stuff and a few sports questions, but it ends with a guy saying, “OK, this will settle it once and for all. If you can answer this question right, I’ll know you are truly a Yinzer and I’ll pick up everyone’s tab.”

He then asks me, “What does it mean if I tell you, ‘Kennywood’s open?’”

My friends all look at each other quizzically because nobody has any idea what the hell we are talking about.

I reflexively look down at my pants and say, “I hope it doesn’t mean that I’m about to be really embarrassed.”

BOOM! That was it!

The group of attorneys burst into laughter, and that was it. I was definitely a true Yinzer and we were officially all friends! We shared a bunch of beers for the rest of the night, and they paid for everything. Really, their law firm, I’m sure, paid for everything. Still, that was a good cheap night.

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DrMantisToboggan2112 t1_jdthj3g wrote

28 year old here.

I learned this phrase literally last year from Reddit - none of my family or friends my age or younger use it and I’d highly wager none of them know what it means either 🤷‍♂️ My mom might know but she’s 59

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Fuzzy_Baseball9006 OP t1_jdthr1p wrote

Damn it, Mantis. I’d think you’d have known for years, given your monster dong.

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pigzit t1_jdu3ruf wrote

I’m 19, lived here the last 10 years, I don’t think I’ve heard this one! What’s the context/meaning?

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DryIce677 t1_jdtfwye wrote

I am 22. I have not heard this phrase since someone said it to me in elementary school.

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James19991 t1_jdtmitw wrote

I'm your age and I learned about it when I was somewhere between 10 and 13, so I guess it's time for him to learn it as well.

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Austruck t1_jdtt988 wrote

Came here for CMU in 1979 and I still say it. I'm gonna be 62, ya whippersnappers. :D

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mjw217 t1_jdtxl37 wrote

I’ve lived in southwestern Pennsylvania my whole life, Scott Township/Wash,PA/Swissvale, and I’ve always known what it means. Of course I’m 66, old enough to be yinz mom or grandma!

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AxsDeny t1_jdu49fu wrote

I said this to my out of state in-laws about 10-15 years ago and they still say it in Tennessee. I love the out of context usage. 😂

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hrad34 t1_jdur8gu wrote

I only lived in Pittsburgh for a few years and I know this one!

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AWrenchAndTwoNuts t1_jduyvgh wrote

I said it to a guy in an airport bar in Atlanta once without thinking.

He gave me a blank stare and the bartender explained it to him.

Apparently yinzer gets around.

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Jenerco t1_jdvaq75 wrote

I’m a transplant and learned about this phrase last year and love it

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icookfood42 t1_jdvnxdc wrote

I've lived down in Louisville for 10 years and still say it without thinking twice. Then I have to clarify.

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duhlane t1_jdvrnfm wrote

I’m 24 and i still say this. Especially to my Ohio born husband who gets annoyed anytime I say it haha

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OutrageForSale t1_jdvs833 wrote

The problem might be that kids (my kids at least) rarely wear pants with a zipper. I’m walking around in the same pair of jeans or dockers all week. They’re wearing shorts or these stretchy nice sweatpants things with no zipper.

The times they are a changin.

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mikeyHustle t1_jdtn7dd wrote

I mean, the kid's 10. I'm pretty sure that's around when I first heard it, like 5th grade. That and "XYZ." But the kid who told me was as flabbergasted as you that I hadn't heard it, so who the hell knows.

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Impressive-Ladder290 t1_jdtwmn4 wrote

I haven’t heard it for a while. It means that your fly is open

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UselessLezbian t1_jdutytw wrote

I say it! I'm 30. But same boat as you. I work as a nanny to kids 13, 11, 9, and 6. None of them have ever heard it. I just assumed its because they're in Peters? But maybe it is just dying out.

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dmcd0415 t1_jduw20v wrote

Fun fact about this phrase; nobody knows how or when it got started. Not even Rick Sebak who has researched the topic.

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willard_swag t1_jdv1vah wrote

I’m a transplant and my 31 year old yinzer roommate still says it

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moosedenied t1_jdv5dlm wrote

My brother-in-law's fly is down 90% of the time. At this point I just nudge him and say "Kennywood" and he'll be like "ope" and fix er up.

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Goof04-02FromPA t1_jdxe174 wrote

If you're from within 75 miles of Pittsburgh, you should have herd or used the word Yinzer by the time your 1st Steelers game was on the Radio (WDVE) or local TV station.

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hostile_flamingo t1_jdy0on5 wrote

Late 30s, I say it.

Asked my 10 year old if he knew what it meant, he said no, then stared at me confusedly while I tried to explain...because he never wears pants other than sweatpants.

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ymayhew t1_jdyfn5z wrote

Mid 30s here. I def know what it means but haven’t said it in years. The only people I really see with their zippers down are strangers so I just pretend I didn’t see it 🫣

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swooshty t1_jdsuhno wrote

I have known of this saying for ages but never heard anyone say it unironically

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alienscape t1_jdt36gd wrote

I heard it often in elementary school and that was the late 80s. Can't remember the last time I've heard it but it's probably been decades.

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zip222 t1_jdtjq1b wrote

Sounds like a teaching opportunity to me

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richdoe t1_jdu2rnf wrote

I picked that up while living and going to college in the burgh.

Sadly, after finishing school I moved back to Youngstown, but the phrase stuck with me. Almost no one up here has any idea wtf I'm talking about when I say it. So I guess slowly but surely I'm spreading it northward.

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Avocado_Amnesia t1_jdu7ivp wrote

Right around your age and I definitely grew up with the phrase and still hear people use it fairly often, but I suspect things may be different for gen Z.

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Axel_22_ t1_jdv87qi wrote

We had a kennywood window sticker on our sliding glass door, no idea where it is now, but the phrase hasn’t passed me.

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Beebajazz t1_jdvzvo0 wrote

I remember being ten years old and supremely confused when people said that to me....

Nah, Im sure it's still a relevant phrase, and your nephew is simply clueless, and likely embarrassed.

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js_kwfb t1_je4kmjo wrote

My favorite thing about this phrase is when I see a YouTube video or tweet of an out of towner visiting the actual park for the first time, and showing that they bought a shirt from the park's gift shop that says the phrase on it without having a clue what it actually means

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ffffff00000066ff33 t1_jdw2ajb wrote

As an adult - most of the rides at “kennywood” are broken and in need of maintenance. The park is ok though.

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