You Know You're in the Midwest when...

[Carol in Cal.]

The Miracle Whip vs. Real Mayo debate gets really heated.

[SquirrellyMama]

Yes, it did! I don't like Jello in the first place, and I had never seen it with . . . stuff in it. I don't know what was worse, having to eat some of it, or restraining myself from asking why she called it salad.

 

It has celery. Doesn't that make it a salad? :001_smile: I can't stand the stuff either :ack2:

[GWOB]

...You've ever heard the phrase "Oof-dah". (Or however you spell it)

[Marie in Oh]

the ceramic geese wear clothes.

[GWOB]

the ceramic geese wear clothes.

 

Aww Geez! Don't-cha-know they would get cold without those clothes? You betcha.

[Annie G]

How about at the grocery store you're asked if you want a "sack" for your groceries?

 

Oh my gosh. We'd moved from Atlanta to Illinois a month before my daughter started first grade. When she started school, she brought home a worksheet that had a picture of a bag with four dashes under it. We couldn't figure out what she was supposed to write! She ended up crossing one dash off and wrote bag. Of course she got it wrong.

[catz]

It snows at your house on May 1st and you regret putting away the winter coats and boots!

 

For the record, I hate jello, miracle whip, and most hotdishes. Especially if their main ingredients came from a can!

[Tammyla]

You keep encouraging your children to look at possibly the last snowfall of the year at least a dozen times...They don't care btw.

 

:iagree: What is up with the geese???

 

This is still a very strange thing for me. All those little raincoats and hats or the pumpkin one:001_huh:.

 

Order a soda here and they have no idea what you're asking for. I'm finally at ease with calling it pop, but it still sounds funny to me.

 

Flip flops can be worn if the snow is melting with shorts and a sweatshirt; no one will look at you twice:lol:.

 

the ceramic geese wear clothes.

Edited May 2, 2011 by Tammyla

[FaithManor]

DH and I saw an episode of "Whose Line is it Anyway" when they played "scenes from a hat" and the scene was, unlikely things to compare your girlfriend to (or at least that was the gist of it). Greg Kroops said this, "I like my women like I like my trucks - RAM tough!"

 

We spit ice tea across the room and snorted because seriously, though funny, it's kind of true here in Michigan!!!! :D

 

Faith

[SquirrellyMama]

Order a soda here and they have no idea what you're asking for. I'm finally at ease with calling it pop, but it still sounds funny to me.

 

When we first moved to Iowa from Southern Illinois my mom went in the grocery store and asked for soda. They took her to the baking soda :001_smile: I still don't say pop. Can't.do.it.

 

Kelly

[BlsdMama]

When we first moved to Iowa from Southern Illinois my mom went in the grocery store and asked for soda. They took her to the baking soda :001_smile: I still don't say pop. Can't.do.it.

 

Kelly

 

I humbly suggest Iowa is actually where the split between soda and pop IS... And can be the topic of a great debate.

 

 

The Miracle Whip vs. Real Mayo debate gets really heated.

 

 

ACK! This is MY house. Sigh.

 

 

Having grown up in Iowa all of my life, spent 3.5 years in sunny SoCal, and I'm on my second year in the PNW, what I really want to know is this:

 

WHY IS IT SO HUMID IN THE MIDWEST?!?! We aren't near major bodies of water. I had a friend from the south let me know it couldn't possibly be incredibly humid there because we're not by the ocean. Oh my goodness. I had to dig up online weather graphs to prove it. :D

[tearose]

Maybe just in WI, but every kind of sausage is a "brat." I was taken aback seeing Italian sausage labeled as "Italian brats" for the first time.

[BarbecueMom]

WHY IS IT SO HUMID IN THE MIDWEST?!?! We aren't near major bodies of water. I had a friend from the south let me know it couldn't possibly be incredibly humid there because we're not by the ocean. Oh my goodness. I had to dig up online weather graphs to prove it. :D

 

I think the Mississippi River gets upgraded to the "Gulf of St. Louis" every spring. :glare:

[Susan in TN]

...when you can discuss the fine art of Lefse making with the checkout lady at Walmart.

 

...when CoolWhip is considered a household staple - for the CoolWhip itself and the handy tubs that have a thousand uses.

 

...when people completely understand why the First Lady planted rhubarb in the White House garden and wonder how previous administrations survived without it.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Also, when Illinois has an s at the end, but Missouri has an A at the end.

 

 

Only if you're not from Illinois (without an 's' at the end.) Oh, and we don't put an "r" in our wash. ;) That's a rural/St. Louis thing.

[dirty ethel rackham]

And sport peppers. Don't forget the sport peppers.

 

Jewel went out of business here, but I saw some open in Chicago, so maybe it's just a Chicago store now.

 

But it is a dominant thing in Chicago - at least the 'burbs. Almost every suburb has a Jewel to compete with the Dominick's \. The pluralizing of Jewel into Jewels seems to be south-sider thing.

[saraha]

Aww Geez! Don't-cha-know they would get cold without those clothes? You betcha.

 

 

Ha! I was hoping there was someone else that says this out there besides me. My college friends about teased that out of me!

[BarbecueMom]

Only if you're not from Illinois (without an 's' at the end.) Oh, and we don't put an "r" in our wash. ;) That's a rural/St. Louis thing.

 

My mom grew up in east central Illinois, and does that silly "warsh" thing. Last time her "warsher" broke, we told her that extra "r" isn't a factory-authorized part and probably voided the warranty.

 

Some politicians here shoot two versions of campaign ads - one saying "Missour-ee" and the other "Missour-ah". They air in different parts of the state. :lol:

[mommaduck]

I think the Mississippi River gets upgraded to the "Gulf of St. Louis" every spring. :glare:

 

so true!

[ChemMommy]

You know you're from the Midwest, and the upper midwest at that, when the first day of your SUMMER vacation was postponed by SNOW.

 

Yep, we aren't leaving until tomorrow just to give the snow more time to melt.

 

Oh, and yes, we are pulling out the winter coats, which we've eschewed from the last month, to take on our SUMMER vacation.

[K&Rs Mom]

The Miracle Whip vs. Real Mayo debate gets really heated.

 

Yep: I'm on the Miracle Whip side, dh on the Mayo side. I do the shopping, so guess what's in the fridge.... ;)

 

the ceramic geese wear clothes.

 

My kids almost pooled their money for a goose-statue last summer. They had all kinds of plans for making clothes for it. :tongue_smilie:

 

My mom grew up in east central Illinois, and does that silly "warsh" thing. Last time her "warsher" broke, we told her that extra "r" isn't a factory-authorized part and probably voided the warranty.

 

:lol:

[mommaduck]

You know you're in the midwest if going to the Home of the Thrown Rolls is a MUST.

[AuntieM]

You know you're in the midwest if going to the Home of the Thrown Rolls is a MUST.

 

We have pics of each of our kids making the first catch at about age 2!:lol:

[Jayson]

you're from chicago when you know what is giardiniera and pronounce it correctly

[Donna A.]

When we first moved to Iowa from Southern Illinois my mom went in the grocery store and asked for soda. They took her to the baking soda :001_smile: I still don't say pop. Can't.do.it.

 

Kelly

 

:lol: I thought they only had pop in the Chicago area, but apparently in Iowa, too? In downstate Illinois, we grew up on sodey. :D I grew up a mere 3 hours from Chicago, but when I moved up there, everyone told me I had a southern accent. Spent 4 years up there, moved back to Springfield, and everyone told me I had a northern accent. :smilielol5:

 

Then when hubby and I moved to west TX, *everything* was coke. Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew... it's all coke. :tongue_smilie:

[Donna A.]

But it is a dominant thing in Chicago - at least the 'burbs. Almost every suburb has a Jewel to compete with the Dominick's \. The pluralizing of Jewel into Jewels seems to be south-sider thing.

 

Yes, one must realize that downstate Illinois and Chicagoland are light worlds apart. We could start a whole new thread about that! :laugh:

 

Then there's the north side/south side thing....

[Donna A.]

My mom grew up in east central Illinois, and does that silly "warsh" thing. Last time her "warsher" broke, we told her that extra "r" isn't a factory-authorized part and probably voided the warranty.

 

Some politicians here shoot two versions of campaign ads - one saying "Missour-ee" and the other "Missour-ah". They air in different parts of the state. :lol:

 

Ahhh, another Illinois-to-Missouri gal. :D My predominantly German family all on both sides all grew up in small town central IL as well, and they warshed their clothes in the zink and then dried 'em with a tile.

 

Being on the south side of KCMO now, I've heard both the Missour-ah and Missour-ee politicians. :tongue_smilie:

[elegantlion]

When you see people purposely setting fire to their land. Beautiful!

:lol::lol:

 

And you live in the midwest if you know at least one person that has had the fire dept out to help gain control of that controlled burn.

 

 

 

You know you're in the midwest if going to the Home of the Thrown Rolls is a MUST.

 

Yup, I'd try that in my house, but the dog would be the best catcher.

 

 

I also wonder if it's a mid-west thing that everyone you know has a relative named Bill. Most of my friends have a Uncle Bill.

[MrsBasil]

 

 

I also wonder if it's a mid-west thing that everyone you know has a relative named Bill. Most of my friends have a Uncle Bill.

 

My cousins do. :lol: We all have a Grandpa Bill too. I named my son after his grandpa, great grandpa, great-great-great grandpa(and it just keeps going further back), but we picked a different nickname.

[SquirrellyMama]

:lol: I thought they only had pop in the Chicago area, but apparently in Iowa, too? In downstate Illinois, we grew up on sodey. :D I grew up a mere 3 hours from Chicago, but when I moved up there, everyone told me I had a southern accent. Spent 4 years up there, moved back to Springfield, and everyone told me I had a northern accent. :smilielol5:

 

Then when hubby and I moved to west TX, *everything* was coke. Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew... it's all coke. :tongue_smilie:

 

My grandma in Pocahontas, IL called it sodey. My dh laughs at my family's "southern accent". I have lived in Iowa since I was 11 so I have an Iowan accent :001_smile: My mom still says warsh and former (farmer). She hasn't lived in IL for 25 years but she grew up there.

 

Yes, one must realize that downstate Illinois and Chicagoland are light worlds apart. We could start a whole new thread about that!

 

Very true. When I went to college I told everyone I was originally from IL. Everyone always assumes Chicago. We were from down by St. Louis.

 

Kelly

[LauraGB]

When you stop to ask directions and it sounds a lot like this:

"Well, take this road all the way down, hang a left at Polanski's farm, head over the hill and it's the first place after the creek." And after you've traveled about 6 miles and all you see is farms and hills and creeks, you stop to ask again and get pretty much the same answer. All total, your destination is in fact about 20 miles from your starting point.

[Parrothead]

I humbly suggest Iowa is actually where the split between soda and pop IS... And can be the topic of a great debate.

 

I have to beg to differ. :D The area of western PA where my grandmother lives any cola beverage is called pop. I've never heard pop for a cola beverage east of Pittsburgh. It seems to stretch all the way to western MT, but not as far south as AZ.

 

 

 

ACK! This is MY house. Sigh.

 

 

Having grown up in Iowa all of my life, spent 3.5 years in sunny SoCal, and I'm on my second year in the PNW, what I really want to know is this:

 

WHY IS IT SO HUMID IN THE MIDWEST?!?! We aren't near major bodies of water. I had a friend from the south let me know it couldn't possibly be incredibly humid there because we're not by the ocean. Oh my goodness. I had to dig up online weather graphs to prove it. :D

When we lived in MT I could not believe how people complained about the humidity. Having spent so many years of my life on the southern coastal area I suffered from humidity. We were there for 3 years. I never did figure that out.

 

 

 

 

And someone mentioned hotdishes. It took me the longest time to figure out what a hotdish is. I think it was because it depended on who I was talking to. Some women called all casserole type meals "hotdishes." Others called all casserole type meals "goulash." I was very disappointed when served white goulash covered with cheese.

[SquirrellyMama]

I humbly suggest Iowa is actually where the split between soda and pop IS... And can be the topic of a great debate.

 

I have to beg to differ. :D The area of western PA where my grandmother lives any cola beverage is called pop. I've never heard pop for a cola beverage east of Pittsburgh. It seems to stretch all the way to western MT, but not as far south as AZ.

 

If anyone is interested in knowing where people say pop vs soda vs coke you can look on this map.

 

http://www.popvssoda.com/

 

Kelly

[Parrothead]

If anyone is interested in knowing where people say pop vs soda vs coke you can look on this map.

 

http://www.popvssoda.com/

 

Kelly

Oh, that is cool. Thanks for posting it. I can see where I lived in SC and the small area missed coke. For us in that tiny area it was always soda.

 

It is a wonder I'm not severely confused. In my lifetime I've gone from

pop to

pop to

soda to

pop to

soda to

soda where it should have been coke (twice) to

soda to

pop to

soda to

soda

[AnitaMcC]

Oh my gosh. We'd moved from Atlanta to Illinois a month before my daughter started first grade. When she started school, she brought home a worksheet that had a picture of a bag with four dashes under it. We couldn't figure out what she was supposed to write! She ended up crossing one dash off and wrote bag. Of course she got it wrong.

 

In our burb of Chicago, I don't think I have ever heard "sack" said at the store. But in NY I heard it often with family. Or what about the shopping cart? I say "cart"... in NY it is "wagon".

 

But then again, my MIL is Scottish so I don't know if it is a Scottish thing or New Yorker thing - LOL. But the other members of family use same words so I am guessing NYer words.

[Magdalene]

When it's the beginning of May and you're putting on a sweater.

[AnitaMcC]

:lol: I thought they only had pop in the Chicago area, but apparently in Iowa, too? In downstate Illinois, we grew up on sodey. :D I grew up a mere 3 hours from Chicago, but when I moved up there, everyone told me I had a southern accent. Spent 4 years up there, moved back to Springfield, and everyone told me I had a northern accent. :smilielol5:

 

Then when hubby and I moved to west TX, *everything* was coke. Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew... it's all coke. :tongue_smilie:

 

I say soda and am in Chicago area. But then again, I grew up mostly in Indianapolis and northern IL (WI only 10 minutes away). My relatives in Indy are very "southernish". So I think I have a mix of language and accents.

[AnitaMcC]

Yes, one must realize that downstate Illinois and Chicagoland are light worlds apart. We could start a whole new thread about that! :laugh:

 

Then there's the north side/south side thing....

 

 

So true!!!!!!! I find it hilarious at times. LOL.

[AnitaMcC]

Oh my gosh. We'd moved from Atlanta to Illinois a month before my daughter started first grade. When she started school, she brought home a worksheet that had a picture of a bag with four dashes under it. We couldn't figure out what she was supposed to write! She ended up crossing one dash off and wrote bag. Of course she got it wrong.

 

 

Reminds me of my nephews and niece when they were little.

 

I asked youngest nephew to get me a wash cloth and he had no.idea.what.I.was.saying. :confused: LOL. He only heard rag before.

 

My kids only knew drinking cups as cups. They were so confused when someone asked for a glass.

 

One time my MIL asked for a saucer (for her tea cup). We all looked at her confused-LOL.

[mommaduck]

 

WHY IS IT SO HUMID IN THE MIDWEST?!?! We aren't near major bodies of water. I had a friend from the south let me know it couldn't possibly be incredibly humid there because we're not by the ocean. Oh my goodness. I had to dig up online weather graphs to prove it. :D

 

Because of the Muddy Mississip.

[mommaduck]

Yes, one must realize that downstate Illinois and Chicagoland are light worlds apart. We could start a whole new thread about that! :laugh:

 

Then there's the north side/south side thing....

 

Illinois should really be two states...Illinois and Southern Illinois. Yes, Chicagoland is like it's own area as well.

 

 

On phrases...Goodness, I remember that before we moved to IL, I would use words like glass and wash cloth. Always was that way in my parent's home (and my stepdad was FROM IL). But we move to IL, live there, married there, and I say cup and rag also now. My sisters say "buggy" for a cart (here you can't say "buggy", because it means a horse is attached to it.

[Sandy in Indy]

You know you're in the Midwest...when it's May and the furnace is still running and there's a frost warning...and next week it will probably be 80 degrees.

 

Ugh. I need some time with no furnace and no air conditioner running!

[Lovin Learnin]

can you say......

 

 

"White Castle"

 

Or in my area, "Sliders!"

[bairnmama]

Then when hubby and I moved to west TX, *everything* was coke. Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew... it's all coke. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anything carbonated will always and forever be a coke to me! I grew up where they turn the traffic lights off at 5 pm )and don't even bother turning them on on Sunday), kids are reminded by the princpal to go home at lunch and take the gun out of the truck before they come back to school, and you can send a friend to the bank with only a written note to withdraw money from your account.... and they'll do it!

 

I just can.not get used to hearing soda or pop! :tongue_smilie:

[LAS in LA]

You know you're in the Mid-west when . . .

 

. . . the other shoppers at the IGA don't ask your 4-yr-old if he likes tractors. They ask him if he likes red tractors or green tractors.

 

[Great thread. We lived in central IL for 3 years before moving last year; this brought back fun memories.]

[lakotajm]

:iagree: What is up with the geese???'tain't decent for 'm to be nekkid, dontcha know!;) Oh, don't forget the plywood cutouts that look like Ma and Pa bending over!

 

Order a soda here and they have no idea what you're asking for. I'm finally at ease with calling it pop, but it still sounds funny to me. Actually, it depends how far south in the Midwest you go. If you called it pop around here, they'd know you wuz a yank! Around here, it is called "sodee". We live in a border area. It gets called the Lower Midwest and the Upper South. I just call it hillbilly heaven.:D

 

 

Lakota explains the indecent geese and pop mystery. (I got no explanation for that nasty jello.)

[lakotajm]

You know you're in the midwest if going to the Home of the Thrown Rolls is a MUST.

Actually, your grammar is too good. It is the home of "throwed rolls". Drives me nuts every time I go by the billboards!:tongue_smilie:

Lakota

[Amy in KS]

You learned to drive a truck in a pasture at 11 so you would be prepared to get your real license at 14 (farm license in KS).

 

Evening teenage fun involved hanging around said pastures with bonfires and beverages.

 

You've had peanuts in your Coke.

 

You walked along railroad tracks and ice skated with tennis shoes on frozen creeks.

 

You shot pop cans with pellet guns for fun.

 

You spent most of your life not realizing that the river you grew up next to (that you know as the ar-KANSAS river) is actually pronounced the Arkansas River by the rest of the world...

[mommaduck]

Actually, your grammar is too good. It is the home of "throwed rolls". Drives me nuts every time I go by the billboards!:tongue_smilie:

Lakota

 

Well, I wanted to say "tossed" rolls. To be honest though, it should be "pitched" rolls. They really do pitch them across that dining room!

 

 

You learn to drive by driving the golf cart around the farm (or the tractor...or the mower...etc). You know that rock piles are social events for teens (usually involving drinking).

Edited May 5, 2011 by mommaduck

[Donna A.]

You spend weekends hanging out on the "square".