Hand Language

Could this be the reason Michiganders talk with their hands so frequently?

Thank you Mike Ridley - musician, comedian and friend.

Comparing Annual Word Lists (Michigan Edition)

A topic of mention on many blogs and websites recently has been the publication of Lake Superior State University's 2011 Banished Words List. For those who do not know, Lake Superior State University is located in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan.

Interestingly, a magazine with offices located in Detroit, Michigan also published a list of taboo words. The December issue of Hour Detroit Magazine includes an article titled 40 Different Words and Phrases Not to Use.

I thought it might be fun to compare LSSU's list with that of Hour Detroit's.

LSSU's list includes 14 words and phrases and Hour Detroit's list includes 40.

The only no-no word that the two lists share is back story. Following is the back story commentary from each list.

Hour Detroit - "BACK STORY. What’s wrong with background?"

LSSU - BACK STORY
"This should be on the list of words that don't need to exist because a perfectly good word has been used for years. In this case, the word is 'history,' or, for those who must be weaned, 'story.'" Jeff Williams, Sherwood, Ariz.

Here are a few more of the words and phrases from each list.

LSSU

Wow factor

Epic

BFF

Viral

I'm just sayin'

Hour Detroit

End result

Begs the question

Icon, iconic

Male nurse

Trust me

Skill set

For the full lists and descriptions please click on the above links.

Click here for a post about Lake Superior State's 2010 Banished Words List and here for the 2010 Filipino Word of the Year.

Image from Rob Balder's PartiallyClips via Language Log.

Michigan Unique Words and Phrases

Words and phrases unique to Michigan residents from MICHIGANNATIVE.COM

"Beeyemites": refers to residents of the city of Birmingham which is abbreviated "B'ham."

"Big BEEverr": pronouncing this major thoroughfare through the city of Troy almost always draws snickers from out-of-towners. It was originally named in the 1800's after a nearby beaver pond, long since paved over. Sadly enough, the fact that it is Exit 69 on I-75, and the old location for the Playboy Club, perpetuates its urban legend factor.

"The Bridge": Everywhere except for the towns of Port Huron or Detroit, "The Bridge" refers to The "Mackinaw" Bridge.

"Bulletproof Snow": A common occurrence at Michigan ski resorts, the continuous melting and refreezing of snow on the runs results in "bulletproof snow."

"A Cole One": a beer. Or several.

"Doorwall:" Sliding glass door.

"Euchre": a card game which is popular in Michigan and seemingly, no where else.

"Geez-o-pete!": Related: "Geez-Louise!" A Michigan expletive for polite company, having something to do with Jesus and St. Peter.

"Glovebox": US equivalent: glove compartment.

"A Good One": a good day. Proper Michigan etiquette is to say "have a good one!" to the checkout clerk when leaving the store.

"Hourlies": hourly factory workers, usually automotive.

"How'zit goin'?" In other parts of the world, the equivalent of "what's up?" or "how are you?"

"The Joe": Our energy-saving name for Detroit's Joe Louis Arena (thanks to DJ Clutch)

"Michigan Left": A right turn onto a boulevard followed by an immediate u-turn at the next available crossover. This keeps traffic from backing up at intersections with boulevards.

"Parking Deck": Alternate form: "parking ramp". Known elsewhere as a parking garage.

"The Plant": any factory (again, usually automotive).

"The Ren Cen": Detroit's Renaissance Center, which 1) hasn't ever been called by its full name, ever, and 2) didn't spark the "renaissance" that Detroiters had hoped for, and 3) wouldn't fit in as a place to hold a Renaissance Festival.

"SecretariahState": US equivalent: Department of Motor Vehicles.

"The Soo": Refers to the small Upper Peninsula town Sault Sainte Marie that weathermen across the nation love to refer to. Pronounced "soo saint marie".

"The Thumb": the thumb-shaped area of the Lower Peninsula "mitten".

"Up North": common for anywhere in the state north of the middle of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

"The Windsor Ballet": Term used by Detroiters to say they're going to Canadian strip clubs in nearby Windsor. "Where ya'ff to, honey?" "Oh, the boss wants us to take a client out to the ballet. In, uhh, Windsor."

Dialect as Identity Exhibited by Yooper We-Type Solidarity

There are many ways an individual's dialect can be used as a form of identity. People who speak the Upper Peninsula or "Yooper" dialect are able to use their dialect as a form of identity by choosing not to switch to a more common dialect for their audience in an effort to make those who don't speak the dialect feel left out. This has been called a We-type solidarity because it gives the impression that speakers of the dialect think they are better than others and contributes to the us-them distinction that can make people from lower Michigan feel like outsiders. This can also be viewed as a form of retaliation because often people from lower Michigan make speakers of the Upper Peninsula dialect feel like lesser people by teasing them about the way they talk.

A perfect example of the Yooper We-type solidarity can be found in my previous post of the Yooper Map of Michigan.
http://walkinthewords.blogspot.com/2008/06/yooper-map-of-michigan.html

Possessive Company Names in Michigan

Michigan's history of possessive company names all began in the early 1900's with the Ford Motor Company. The Ford Motor Company was owned by Henry Ford and therefore the factory was known all over Michigan as Ford's Factory. If a person was asked where he or she worked the response would be, "I work at Ford's." Too keep things simple, in written communication the apostrophe was dropped, thus Ford Motor Company became Fords.



One thing always leads to another, hence Meijer became Meijers, Kroger became Krogers, and oddly, K-Mart became K-Marts (though we all know there is no K-Mart family, it is the Kresge family, so technically it should be K's-Mart).

The Yooper Map of Michigan

The Michigan Accent

After much serious analysis of the Yooper dialect in the past, I thought it would be fun to take a humorous look at what michigannative.com considers to be the Michigan accent.

"aeh Narbor": Ann Arbor. Home of the Michigan Wolverines.
"Ashfault": Asphalt.
"Bob-lo": Bois Blanc. The name shared by several Michigan islands (and a former amusement park).
"Char-LOTT": Charlotte, a Michigan village close to Lansing.
Related: Durand, MI, pronounced "DUrand", Saline, pronounced "SuhLEEN", its neighbor "MYlun" (spelled Milan), and of course, Lake Orion, pronounced "OReeyun."
"COMF-terbul": Comfortable.
"Cranz": Crayons.
"Crick": Creek, in some parts of the state, they say "crick".
"Davenport": Sofa.
"Deerburn": Dearborn, home of Ford Moder Company.
"Di'TROI'": Detroit. You can always tell a non-native because they'll say "DEEtroit". "Drownded": Drowned. "
Related: "drownding".
"EeeevsTraaaf": Eavestrough.
"FI-yerr": Fire. Say it in two full syllables.
"FREVer": Forever.
"Frigerraider": Refrigerator.
"Graage": Garage. Ahhh, shuddup an' go parrk yer cahrr in the friggin' graage. (another one from Tim)
"Gran Blank": Grand Blanc, a suburb of Flint.
"Grrarapids": Grand Rapids
"GROSHries": Groceries.
"Haahkee": Hockey.
"Hunnerd": Hundred. Alternate pronunciation: "hundrid".
"I-munna": I'm going to.
"Kiddycorner": Kitty-corner. Elsewhere in the US: "catty-corner".
"KI-nuh": Kind of. I dunno, I kinuh like Vernor's.
"LayKEERie": Lake Erie.
"Lie-berry": Library.
"liVONEya": Livonia. Perhaps the fladdes' ciddy in Michigin.
"Melk": Milk.
"Michiganderr": Michigan native.
"Muskeeda": Mosquito. The State Bird of Michigan.
"NAWzeeus": Nauseous.
"Night-meer": Nightmare.
"Er": Or. Ya know, it wuz like watchin' X-Files er somethin'.
"Pah-neeack": Pontiac.
"Pahp": Pop. "Soda", in other parts of the world.
"Pellow": Pillow.
"Port Urine": Port Huron.
"Pronounce-eation": Pronunciation.
"Reeelatur": Realtor. This one sent in by Joe in KalamazOOOOOO.
"Samwich": Sandwich.
"Sherbert": Sherbet. Is this unique to Michigan? Another one from Kalamazoo Joe.
"Stold": Stole. "
"Sump'n": Something.
"Tempachur": Temperature.
"Tuh": To. It's hardta get inta the habita sayin' teeeoooo.
"Terr": Tour.
"U-sta": Used to. My deead u-sta work at th' Tek-Cenner in Warn. (submitted by Hari)
"Vanella": Vanilla.
"WEEK-en": Weekend. "
"Winzerr": Windsor, Ontario.

Yoopers Identify with Sisu

Now that I am in Northern Michigan for a good part of the summer, I thought I would return to one of my favorite topics which is the dialect spoken in the Upper Peninsula by "Yoopers."
An aspect of this dialect that I have not previously mentioned is its use as a form of identity.

Though the Upper Peninsula dialect may be similar to those found in Canada and Wisconsin, Michigan as a state has a unique geography that enables it to have these two distinct dialectical regions in one state with a fairly definitive dividing line, the Great Lakes.

The Upper Peninsula dialect has not blended with the Lower Michigan dialect into one homogenous “Michigan accent” because of the way speakers use dialect variation as a symbol of identity. There is a growing belief in the field of dialectology that, in addition to region and social class, a speaker’s attitudes and the identity they want to project also have a great influence on their speech behavior.

The Upper Peninsula residents’ self-identity is based on their ethnic and cultural backgrounds and is embodied by the Finnish word sisu. Sisu has no exact translation but denotes a strong sense of pride and determination that is part of the Finnish culture in the Upper Peninsula. Residents of the Upper Peninsula are determined to have their own identity because they are proud of it. The dialect acts as a verbal marker of this identity.

Gotta Love Dem Yoopers

One of the first papers I wrote while working on my MA (and one of my favorite subjects still) was about the dialect of English used in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This dialect has been called Yooper Talk, Yoopanese and Yooponics based on the the word Yooper.

Yooper has become such a commonplace term for the residents of the Upper Peninsula that it has even gained mention in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. The definition is listed as “A native or inhabitant of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The etymology is from UP, which is the abbreviation for Upper Peninsula.

The dialect has also been called Finglish because of the strong Finnish influence on the phonology, grammar and vocabulary of the dialect in the Upper Peninsula. While speakers of the dialect follow rules that vary from those of Standard American English, they follow these rules because they are rules that are based on the original language that helped form the dialect. In sum, this does not mean that these people have poor grammar, are using sloppy, lazy speech or are any less intelligent than those who speak what is considered Standard American English.

Following is an example of pronunciations in the U.P dialect that differ from Standard American English: dese, dem, dose and da instead of these, them, those and the
both pronounced as bot with a soft t

The Finnish influence is shown here by the lack of the “th” sound. The Finnish language does not have this sound and this results in the use of the “d” sound in place of the English “th” sound and the use of the soft t sound at the end of words that end in th.

As I previously mentioned, this is one of my favorite subjects so check back for more about the U.P. and Yoopers in the near future.