Gimme a Burger and Make it All the Way Deluxe

Hey there, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Kelly Morse from Norfolk, Virginia.

Hi Kelly, what’s going on?

So I’m from the Pacific Northwest and have lived in several parts of the United States and moved to Norfolk, which is in the Mid-Atlantic, a few years ago.

And there’s a really great restaurant here called Dumars, home of the original waffle cone maker.

And we started eating there when we moved here.

So they have a little paper menu.

And on the menu, when you have the option to order cheeseburgers or hamburgers or barbecue sandwiches, there’s a little list of all of the additional condiments you can get, like pickles, mayonnaise, onions, lettuce, ketchup.

It’s all listed out.

So when we first started going there, we would say, okay, we’d like a cheeseburger.

And can I please get everything on the condiments list, basically, or start listing off all the condiments.

And then the servers would say, oh, all the way deluxe.

So after a while, now when we go to Dumars, we say, can I have a cheeseburger all the way deluxe?

Or can I have a barbecue sandwich all the way deluxe?

And the server knows what we mean.

And I recently started realizing I went to another place to get a hot dog called P. Frank’s.

It’s also a local institution here in Norfolk.

You know, again, there was this big list of condiments.

And when I was like, OK, can I please get this?

And then the server said, oh, all the way to Deluxe.

I said, yeah, all the way to Deluxe.

But I’ve never heard that anywhere else except for Norfolk.

And at first I thought it was just Dumars.

And then slowly I realized, oh, if I say this in Norfolk at different eateries, it seems like people know what I want.

But I’ve never heard this phrase before anywhere else in the U.S.

All right.

Martha, we have to send her the field reporter kit with the badge and the hat and the secret handshake and the booklet.

Because, like, this is the best field report I’ve heard in a really long time.

I mean, we get some fantastic field reports.

But, like, Kelly, this is perfect.

This is so good.

It is new to me.

Martha, is this new to you?

It’s completely new to me.

And what I’m envisioning is you have different family members who are control groups.

So some of you ask for halfway deluxe.

Some of you ask for a quarter way deluxe.

Some of you ask for just all the way.

And some of you ask just for deluxe.

Seriously.

I’m expecting spreadsheets, graph paper, the whole thing, photographs.

Well, it sounds like it’d be a fun assignment.

Just go everywhere.

Lots of cheeseburgers.

But I wonder.

So we’re going to get a lot of calls from Norfolk.

People are going to tell us.

But I wonder if other places say all the way deluxe to mean the works are loaded or supreme or everything on it or all dressed, as they might say in Canada.

Yeah, and it feels very much like it’s centered around Dumars because Dumars has been in operation since like 1918.

Oh, yeah, that would have a lot of influence, wouldn’t it?

Yeah, it’s a really special local institution.

So, yeah, I was like, well, is it people who have worked at Dumars and then now they’re working in other places?

And that’s what’s happening?

Or is it regional?

Good theory.

Solid theory.

You know, Kelly, let me ask you, like, deluxe for you, does deluxe automatically mean everything on it if you ask for deluxe somewhere else in the country?

Yeah, I would think so.

It does.

Everything.

Because I think, you know, in other parts of the country, like I found in the Midwest, like they can be real stingy with the condiments and there’s like no mayo on the burgers.

And I’m like, I want my mayo.

And like you have to if you say I want everything, you still might have to say plus mayo.

And, you know, like I’m very firm pro mayo on my hamburger.

And so but this way, when you’re saying all the way deluxe, it means you really want like every single one of those line items.

You want the tomatoes.

You want the onions.

You want the mayo.

You want the mustard.

Like some places don’t put mustard on their burgers.

Like I want it all.

And I feel like in other places I’ve lived, you still have to have like a little caveat.

But be like, no, really.

I really do want that mustard.

I really do want that mayo.

You’re confirming that there is a reason to say all the way deluxe.

Like for you, deluxe doesn’t just mean a few more toppings.

You’re saying sweep the counter onto it.

Yes, exactly.

All right, Kelly, this is perfect.

We’re going to throw this out.

Does anyone else anywhere in the country say all the way deluxe to mean everything on it or the works or loaded?

Or is it only in Norfolk, Virginia or thereabouts?

Let us know, 877-929-9673 or email us, words@waywordradio.org.

And Kelly, this was a great call.

Martha and I are going to go have lunch now.

Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Bye-bye.

Take care.

Bye.