While some might think the Midwest is only butter sculptures, bone-chilling winters and super-nice people (we don’t mind that one), there’s so much more to the middle of the country than meets the eye. In fact, there’s a lot that goes straight to your ear. Here, all the idiosyncratic phrases Midwesterners grew up hearing.
You betcha!
The Minnesota-nice way of agreeing with anything and everything.
Dontcha know
Never a question, always a statement—and used in every other sentence.
Schnookered
Plastered or wasted. But so much nicer, dontcha know.
For cryin' out loud
Because we’re annoyed but always polite.
Tough tomatoes
Again, we’re too nice to say “tough luck.”
Oh, for fun!
Of course we need a condensed phrase to use all the time for commenting on how delightful something is.
Oh, for cute!
Ditto for everything adorable—a puppy, a baby or you shivering in 30-degree weather.
Duck, duck, gray duck
Oh, you play duck, duck, goose?
Stop-and-go light
Wisconsinese for traffic light.
Druthers
If your aunt had “her druthers,” Thanksgiving would be at her house.
Hotdish
And if Thanksgiving isn’t at her house, she’ll bring a hotdish—a casserole with a starch, a meat and a canned or frozen vegetable, all mixed with soup from (you guessed it) a can. Mmm, memories.
Pop
Coke, Pepsi—it’s all pop. Soda’s for coasters.
Uff da
It’s the Scandinavian “oy vey,” and similarly so fun to say.
