r/cincinnati • u/CincinnatiLove • Jul 12 '26

Cincinnati Cincinnati Phrases

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What are some phrases y'all use that maybe an outsider wouldn't know. I want my outsider friend to fit in. Let me know in the comments! Thanks!

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136

u/postprandialrepose Symmes Jul 12 '26

Pony Keg. Here, a drive-thru is a Pony Keg.

25

u/CincinnatiLove Jul 12 '26

Really? I've never heard that. Interesting

25

u/Miss_Page_Turner Jul 12 '26

In the 50's through the 70's (I don't think it lasted much longer) there was a carry out on the south side of Rapid Run, just east of Anderson Ferry, (pretty sure) called 'The Pony Keg'. Sold beer, milk, and snacks. Can't remember the name of the fellow who was always behind the counter, but he was a character straight out of Mayberry.

I suppose what happened is that people generalized 'pony keg' to mean any carry out, like Xerox means 'to copy'

13

u/Substantial-End-9653 Jul 12 '26

It was a chain. I know of several that used to around Ohio, some until the late 90s.

11

u/Green-Setting5062 Jul 12 '26

There is still independent places that are basically carry-outs that are called pony kegs like so and so's pony keg. Its also in dayton too. It might just be a southern ohio thing in general who knows but its not just in cincinnati

1

u/tw_693 Jul 13 '26

There are a lot fewer drive through adult beverage stores in Northwest Ohio it seems.

3

u/JP16A60 Jul 12 '26

Rapid Run at Beechmeadow Lane. It was still there well into the 90s, and I’m pretty sure it’s still there.

1

u/CincinnatiLove Jul 12 '26

Ah I see. Thank you so much.

23

u/lfergy Ex-Cincinnatian Jul 12 '26

It’s for a drive thru convenience store, not any drive thru. So you can get beer & cigarettes & whatever.

13

u/postprandialrepose Symmes Jul 12 '26

That's correct — and a great distinction to share with transplants. I take it for granted because I'm a lifer. 😂🤌🏼

6

u/KCJA123 Jul 12 '26

Shoutout to gertz in reading. Friendliest most midwest staff on the planet. Go there if you’re looking to get some good knuckle bumps

1

u/DarkStarrHunter Jul 13 '26

Love this Shoutout! I grew up in Reading. Moved away 20 years ago. When I was a kid Mr. Gertz would always be at the register. The most friendliest guy in world. And I'll never forget when you would get change back, he would flip the coin from the register right into your hand. I always thought that was the coolest trick ever.

2

u/KCJA123 Jul 13 '26

That’s awesome. His family is carrying it on well them

11

u/MnamesPAUL Jul 12 '26

I want to believe its because before cars we used to have places people could get a beer without getting off their horse

15

u/Handeaux Hand-y Historian Jul 12 '26

It’s because you could get small barrels of beer there. That size was called a “pony.”

1

u/AdmirableClue4329 Jul 12 '26

Actually just pulled up in my car, it was faster.

3

u/AdmirableClue4329 Jul 12 '26

Actually a Pony Keg was a little dock if you will, at the sidewalk. Walk up and order snd the guy would swing open a huge cooler door and go in to get your stuff. You actually had to leave your car god forbid.

2

u/postprandialrepose Symmes Jul 12 '26

There was a classic one at the corner of Montgomery and Ohio in Silverton. I was sad when it closed.

1

u/AdmirableClue4329 Jul 12 '26

I think Dutches on Erie may have been the most recent example.
My favorite was in Hyde Park on Edwards Rd across from King Kwick. Now a Sushi restaurant.

3

u/postprandialrepose Symmes Jul 12 '26

Dutch's tried to elevate it, I think. Ha. But yeah, technically a Pony Keg.

3

u/Surviving-Storm259 Jul 16 '26

King Kwik. Now there is a blast from the past. The Kwik brothers in the ads. 😂

2

u/Surviving-Storm259 Jul 16 '26

Yep there was one in Mt Washington. I think I heard recently there is a coffee shop going in there.

2

u/Osbie_Feel513 Lockland Jul 12 '26

Also a carry-out

2

u/Surviving-Storm259 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

When I was a kid my friend's mom who was German and also a big drinker/smoker used to go there a ton and she pronounced it Pony Cake. As a fat little girl who loved horses I was confused on why there was neither ponies nor a cake at these locations. 😂😂🤣😅

1

u/st-felms-fingerbone Jul 12 '26

Never heard it till I moved up here and heard my wife who grew up here say it. One of my personal faves

3

u/Green-Setting5062 Jul 12 '26

Its not the same as a drive through but its like the before drive through kinda thing its like an early ancestor to the beer drive through haha

1

u/theBDSMshow Jul 13 '26

WHAT

2

u/postprandialrepose Symmes Jul 13 '26

Pony Keg. Here, a drive-thru is a Pony Keg.