As much as we may hate to admit it, Midwesterners, we have an accent. Yep, you betcha. Though perhaps not as pronounced as our neighbors to the south, east or west, the Midwestern accent contains some trademark slang words and a couple classic mispronunciations.
Why does the Midwest have no accent?
The classic Midwestern accent is exclusively a result of that shift. Some examples: the vowel sound in the word “bag,” before the Shift, was pronounced with the tongue fairly low in the mouth. After the Shift, that vowel sound was, as linguists say, raised: the tongue begins much higher in the mouth.
What is Midwest accent called?
North-Central American English (in the United States, also known as the Upper Midwestern or North-Central dialect and stereotypically recognized as a Minnesota or Wisconsin accent) is an American English dialect native to the Upper Midwestern United States, an area that somewhat overlaps with speakers of the separate
What states have a Midwest accent?
The accent is mostly associated with Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and parts of Illinois. It also has some strong similarities with the English spoken in a few major metropolitan areas of Texas — including Austin — and central Florida.
Where is the Midwestern accent?
The Midwestern accent can be found in 12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. It’s called the Midwestern US because colonization began from the east coast of the United States.
What words do Midwesterners say weird?
14 Midwestern Sayings That The Rest Of America Can’t Understand
- “If I had my druthers…”
- “Oh, for cute!” or “Oh, for fun!”
- “For cryin’ out loud.”
- “That makes as much sense as government cheese.”
- “He’s schnookered!”
- “The Frozen Chosen.”
- “Duck Duck Gray Duck”
- “He’s got the holler tail.”
How can you tell if someone is in the Midwest?
19 Signs You’re From the Midwest
- It’s pop, not soda.
- Cell phone towers are disguised in odd ways.
- We swim in lakes, no oceans.
- You scream “padiddle” when a car with a headlight out passes you.
- When you refer to the humidity as “it’s a jungle out there”
- Sun dried ladybugs smell.
- A snow day resulted in going outside to play.
Do Kansas have accents?
There are three accents in Kansas. The Westernmost portion has a Western accent: basically the same as the entire Western US. It is 100% cot-caught merged. The Easternmost portion has a Midland accent.
What is Midwest slang?
“Ope” is a word said in the Midwest that takes the place of “sorry.” Midwesterners might say “ope” when they’ve made a mistake. FOX. “Ope” is a word you say when you’ve made a minor mistake or when you’ve done something on accident such as bumping into someone, taking the place of “sorry,” “pardon me,” or “excuse me.”
What is an Upper Midwest accent?
The Upper Midwest accent focuses on Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota, but it carries some similarities to Canadian dialects as well as dialects of the northern portions of states such as New York and Maine.
Why is the Minnesota accent so weird?
Many linguists attribute Minnesotans’ unusual single-tone pronunciation of long “a”s and “o”s to the influence of Scandinavian settlers, as those sounds are common in languages of that region.
What is the Chicago accent?
What we call a “Chicago accent” is actually called the Inland North American dialect. This encompasses the major cities around the Great Lakes. The dialect used to be considered the standard American accent until the region experienced a vowel shift, now called the North Cities Vowel Shift.
What is the most neutral American accent?
General American
The idea that there is one accent that is the most neutrally American has been around for a long time, and it is usually called “General American.” The term was coined in 1925 by the descriptive linguist George Philip Krapp as a way to describe the accent he thought was becoming the norm in the United States.
Does Ohio have an accent?
In broad terms, Ohio has three distinct accents — Midland, Inland North, and Southern — but experts allow plenty of room for variations that are unique even down to your town, according to Kathryn Campbell-Kibler, an Ohio State University linguistics professor who specializes in Ohio accents.
Are Midwesterners friendly?
Yes, that Midwestern friendliness is a signature characteristic of folks from the middle part of the country. Meet someone from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, or even the Dakotas and you’ll be greeted warmly and genuinely.
Do Midwesterners say pop or soda?
Soda is the preferred term in the Northeast, most of Florida, California, and pockets in the Midwest around Milwaukee and St. Louis. Pop is what people say in most of the Midwest and West. And coke, even if it’s not Coca-Cola brand, is what people call it in the South.
What is Midwestern culture?
The Midwest has a rep for friendly people, cheap land, and a stress-free lifestyle that differs dramatically from other US regions. Many people are flocking to the Midwest because of its affordable cost of living, open spaces, and relaxed pace of life.
What is a Midwest goodbye?
1 The “welp” The beginning of every good ol’ Midwestern goodbye starts with the stand and welp. This means you know you have to leave, but you’re not getting out of there anytime soon. The welp only functions as a signal for others that you must begin the process of leaving.
What are characteristics of Midwesterners?
Author, John Hart describes Midwesterners as possessing the following characteristics:
- Self-Assured not conflicted with self-doubts of own righteousness.
- Technological consistent want of new and better machines.
- Competent faith in perpetual progress through technology and respect for hard work.
What does ope mean Midwest?
Recently, thanks to the internet, folks from Wisconsin and the rest of the Midwest have slowly begun to gain awareness of just how often they say and hear the expression “ope.” It’s said after bumping into someone, dropping something, or as an alert of someone needing to get around or “sneak right past ya.”
Does Wisconsin have an accent?
Yes, most people from Wisconsin have accents. You may not notice it because everyone else around you speaks that way; the majority of people consider inhabitants of the area they’re from as speaking “normally” and those from other regions as having an accent.
