A Reddit post making the rounds in a local subreddit recently set out to solve a very Boston problem: how to talk about the region’s roads without immediately outing yourself as an out-of-towner. 

The guide laid down some rules: Drop “the” before highway numbers unless you’re talking about an interstate, and use “route” if it’s not. It’s apparently always “the Pike,” not I-90, and I-93 is also supposedly always “the Expressway.” Skip “Route” for three-digit highways, and use “the Sumner,” “the Callahan,” “the Ted Williams,” and “the Expressway,” for tunnels, never just “the tunnel.”

We asked readers whether the guide got it right. Over 40 readers voted, and the results suggest most think the guide is mostly correct but missing some local nuance: 57% of respondents said they agreed with some points, 30% agreed with the guide outright, and just 6 said it got it wrong.

Among respondents, disagreements weren’t necessarily about the rules themselves, but about geography.

Several readers pointed out that “the Expressway” isn’t a blanket nickname for I-93; it specifically refers to the stretch of highway south of the city. 

North of Boston, some readers said, locals just call it “93.” As one East Boston reader put it, “‘Expressway’ is only used when you are south of Boston; north it’s just ‘93.’” A Dorchester reader made a similar case, describing the road heading south from Chinatown as “the Southeast expressway.”

The tunnels sparked their own mini-debate. While the original guide insisted on “the Ted Williams,” several readers said true locals shorten it further to just “the Ted,” and pointed out the guide left out a few tunnels and bridges of its own, like the Zakim and the Tobin. 

“It’s ‘The Ted’ and ‘The Zakim,’ not ‘Ted Williams Tunnel’ and ‘Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge,’” Heather of Tewksbury wrote, adding that a proper local guide should also cover the “the obvious U-TURN = you-eee!”

Others pushed back on the guide’s central premise. A few readers said they use “the I” before highway numbers regularly, contrary to the post’s advice, and a Watertown reader summed up the mood over the tunnel debate: “The tunnel, based on where you’re coming from, has no name given.”

Below, find a sampling of reader responses, from those who agreed with some rules to those who fiercely defended others.

Responses have been lightly edited for grammar and clarity.

A reader guide to Boston’s very specific road vocabulary

The rules most readers seem to agree on

The Pike is the Pike — mostly

“I-90 is always ‘the Pike,’ never ‘I-90.’ — Kathryn W., New Jersey (formerly of Massachusetts)

“Definitely true that the pike should be called the pike or the Mass pike, although we know what it means if you say 90.” — Kevin J., Halifax

It’s a rotary, not a roundabout

“Driver’s ed back in my day meant we’d go to the ‘rotary.’” — Kathryn W., New Jersey (formerly of Massachusetts)

“Always ‘rotary,’ never ‘roundabout.’  Never ‘freeway,’ always ‘interstate.’” — Bob, Stoughton

“It’s definitely a rotary though.” — Kevin J., Halifax

“No, they are not traffic circles.” — Kathryn W., New Jersey (formerly of Massachusetts)

Use “Mass. Ave.” and “Comm. Ave.”

“I just want to make sure they know that even if you include the ‘Ave’ part, it’s still just ‘Comm. Ave.’ and ‘Mass Ave.’” — April, Jamaica Plain

“It’s Mass. Ave and Comm. Ave.” — Mike, Saugus

But the rules get murkier on the highways

What do you call 93?

“Nobody I know calls 93 the Expressway.” — Tim G., Bedford

“‘Expressway’ is only used when you are south of Boston; north it’s just ‘93.’” — Anonymous, East Boston

“The Expressway is definitely not all of 93!” — Heather, Tewksbury

Some readers still use the older terminology.

“After Chinatown or Southie, I still say the Southeast expressway is Route 128 South, which is I-93 south, which eventually turns into 128 North or I-93 North. I may leave out the ‘I.’ The southeast expressway may have been called the JFK expressway at one point.” — Jean S., Dorchester

Others think “Expressway” has simply fallen out of use.

“I don’t think anyone uses the ‘expressway’ term anymore. Is it even on the street signs (it used to be)? Also, if I recall correctly, it was the JFK Expressway and that only applied to the elevated part through Boston. Southeast Expressway was/is the section of 93 south of Boston.” — Jeff, Lynn

Route 128, I-95, or just 128?

There’s no universal rule.

“North of Boston, it’s definitely not the Expressway; it’s either I-93 or just 93.” — Daniel, Somerville

“Native here who drives all over New England for work, especially MA. Use the ‘I’ in front of the highway number constantly. Also, call the south section of 128 both ‘128’ and ‘95’ together to avoid confusion. Only use ‘128’ alone in its northern section where it splits from ‘95.’” — Bob, Stoughton

“It’s ‘128’ and I’ll die on that hill. Just ‘93’ and ‘Route1.’” — Joe, Watertown

Yes, ‘Route 128’ is a stop on the train.” — Kathryn W., New Jersey (formerly of Massachusetts)

“For folks who don’t live in the city itself and live further out it’s definitely 93 (i.e. take 44 to 495 to 24 to 93). For some reason the single digit routes are still called Routes (i.e. Route 3, Route 1), but multiple digits are usually just their number (in my area, 44 is a toss up, sometimes its bare, sometimes its Route 44).” — Kevin J., Halifax

“You say Route 128 when it’s not clear yet that you’re talking about a road. As compared to other places, you’re more likely to refer to ‘128 South,’ especially if it’s going west or north or is the same road temporarily as ‘Route 3 North’ (in Burlington). The direction ‘Take Route 2 to 128 and then get on Route 3’ is woefully inadequate, because you might end up in Woburn, Chelmsford, or on the Cape depending on whether that’s Route 3 North or Route 3 South or 128 South.” — Daniel, Somerville

And then there are the names.

The Ted. The Zakim. The Tobin.

“‘The Ted’ or ‘Ted Williams’ is correct depending on your conversation and who you’re talking to.” — Anonymous reader, East Boston

“It’s ‘The Ted’ and ‘The Zakim,’ not ‘Ted Williams Tunnel’ and ‘Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge,’ ha! Tobin is ‘The Tobin’ too! Don’t forget bridges.” — Heather, Tewksbury

The tunnels? Just “the tunnels.”

Living out on the South Shore, the tunnels are just the tunnels to us, but that’s probably a ‘I don’t live in the city’ thing.” — Kevin J., Halifax

“The tunnel, based on where you’re coming from, has no name given: i.e. ‘Take the pike to the tunnel, then …’” — Joe, Watertown

Boston road vocabulary isn’t just about highways

Say the street name — or risk sending someone to the wrong place

“Lifelong Bostonian, mostly in the suburbs and only in the suburbs since I got a car. … I always say the street designation. Once some outlanders asked me where ‘Quincy’ is when they meant ‘Quincy Street.’ I thought they meant the city.” — Mike, Saugus

And don’t call everything by its official name

“It’s all about what we used to call roads. It’s Northern Ave Bridge (no offense to Joe Moakley Commercial Street), not Rose Kennedy Greenway. Maybe I just don’t like change. Also, parks in Boston are known by neighborhood names, not the official list at City Hall.” — Kevin C., Brighton

Even pronunciation matters

“To sound like a local, Copley Square is pronounced ‘KAHpley,’ not ‘COPEly!’” — April, Jamaica Plain

You can always tell an outsider

“Sounds about par, I can always tell when TV shows or movies refer our highways as they do in California and it is so obvious. In one ‘Gilmore Girls’ episode, it referred to either ‘that I-95’ or ‘that I-495’ and it sounded so wrong.” — Kevin C., South Dartmouth

Boston.com occasionally interacts with readers by conducting informal polls and surveys. These results should be read as an unscientific gauge of readers’ opinion.

Annie Jonas is a Community writer at Boston.com. She was previously a local editor at Patch and a freelancer at the Financial Times.

Boston Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle pitched an immaculate inning to open Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Royals.

The 23-year-old left-hander threw a called third strike past Nick Loftin, then got Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone swinging in the nine-pitch inning.

Tolle became Boston’s first pitcher to throw an immaculate inning opening a game since Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez at Fenway Park against Seattle on May 18, 2002.

“It was pretty cool. It was a pretty cool feeling,” Tolle said after the Red Sox beat the Royals 4-1 to take the series. “That was the first time, I think in high school I might have had a couple of opportunities at it. That was fun, that was cool.”

A man calling 911 to report the death of one of his dogs at a Boston apartment this week led to his arrest, when officers found several other dogs inside that were emaciated, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that Lester James, 39, told officers that he was breeding dogs, and that two others had recently died: one that was killed and eaten by the dog whose death prompted his 911 call and a puppy who’d been stepped on by his son.

James was arrested at the scene, on Old Colony Avenue, on Monday, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. They said that James ordered held on $5,000 bail at his arraignment on Tuesday.

It wasn’t immediately clear if James had an attorney who could speak to the seven counts of animal cruelty that he’s facing.

Six living dogs were removed from the apartment, prosecutors said. They’ve been recovering at the MSPCA-Angell Animal Medical Center, where Boston Animal Care and Control said they were improving.

Boston police were called to the apartment just before noon on Monday, where James allegedly told officers he’d left his apartment nearly 24 hours before and found his pitbull, named Gwap, dead inside and another with a swollen face.

In the kitchen, officers found an emaciated pitbull chained to a wall, surrounded by feces and urine stains, then discovered Gwap on its side in a cage in another room, covered in dog feces and vomit, prosecutors said.

Another soiled cage in that room had three younger emaciated pitbulls inside, one of which couldn’t put weight on one of its paws, prosecutors said. A different room allegedly had two more emaciated dogs inside, a pitbull and a chihuahua.

Animal control came to remove the dogs, and James told officers that he didn’t know how a broken broomstick had gotten into Gwap’s cage, prosecutors said. He suggested someone had broken inside, but officers didn’t see signs of forced entry.