For 18 years of my life I grew up in a suburb of Chicago, but I have now since then lived in Kentucky and in Florida. In both places that I have lived I have been picked on for every "Midwest" thing I do and say. At this point being from the midwest has defined me and the quirky unusual things I do and say are my favorite things to discuss with people I meet everywhere. Comparing with other people the differences in how I say things and how they say things is always so fun. So I made a list of my favorite quirky ways to tell someone is from the Midwest.
Uses "Ope"
People from the Midwest love saying ope whenever someone bumps into us or we bump into someone else. Ope is a term we prefer to use over oops and it has stuck with us. I catch myself saying ope all day every day and almost laugh now that I realize I do it because I am from the Midwest.
Takes way too long to say goodbye
People from the Midwest including myself are known for taking way too long to say goodbye. Growing up I remember my mom would say "Say goodbye to everyone before we leave" and I would say goodbye and then we would end up standing in the doorway continuing to say goodbye to people. Long goodbyes are in my DNA and I catch myself dragging out goodbyes daily.
It is called Bags not Cornhole
in the Midwest we refer to "Cornhole" as "Bags". I get hated on for this one all the time at college. People in college from Kentucky take their game of cornhole seriously. For me I will always refer to it as bags and nothing would change my mind on that.
Calls shoes gym shoes or tennis shoes
People in the Midwest typically refer to shoes as gym shoes or tennis shoes. I know people from outside Chicago refer to shoes as gym shoes but other people from the midwest call them tennis shoes so it depends on where you are from. Whichever way you say it we still get stares when we call shoes that around people not from the Midwest.
Pop over soda
Everywhere has its own way of pronouncing pop. Some say soda, pop or coke but in the Midwest it is always pop. Of course our Midwest accent comes out when we say pop to people so we always get joked around with it for saying pop.
40 degree weather means short weather
Midwest weather is something else. One day it could be sunny and 75 and the next day it is snowing and 20 degrees. You never know what kind of weather it will be everyday. However, whenever it has been a long cold winter and the temperature gets above 40 degrees everyone from the Midwest is immediately in shorts and t-shirts.
Drawn out A's
The Midwest accent is iconic. If you ever go anywhere whether that be the East, South or West people recognize the Midwestern accent. We are known for our drawn out A's and get joked around with for it all too often.
Saying sorry too often
Midwesterners love saying sorry. We apologize for almost anything we can even when apologizes are not necessary. It is just what we are known for and we will always keep on saying sorry.
Grocery Cart not Buggy
Going away for college I recently discovered not everyone calls a grocery cart just a cart some people call it a buggy. So us calling it a cart is another thing that defines who we are as Midwesterners.
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