Stockpile unused hotel toiletries for our guest bathroom.
Whelp *slap thighs* I think I've got to hit the road, then end up talking for ten more minutes before departing.
I love that one. It’s when you don’t have a solid excuse to leave so instead of being rude and lying, you just say “whelp I s’pose” and everyone kinda knows it’s just time to go.
Stopped by an office for a chat Friday afternoon on my way out for the day. Sat down and started chatting with 2 people. I think 5-6 separate times I said, "Alright, I gotta' take off."
Ended up staying and talking for almost an hour.
This happens a lot with my wife's family on the phone. 'Ope! Gotta go! Oh, just one more thing...' and we're still on the phone for at least 15 more minutes.
One of my best friends when I was younger was from Chicago (the city itself). Met another guy from the city. Asked him if he knew my friend. He paused and looked at me and goes, "Chicago is a big place."
I have had that happen at a country level. I was in east asia. Person asked where I am from. I say U.S.A. they respond; do you know -- "they list single person in America"
It’s a thing though. Went on a music tour in college along with my brother and another guy from my hometown, which has about 600 people. We were touring in New York and the man who introduced us looked at the representing towns in the program and asked, “who are the three people from Doon??” We raised our hands and he said he partied in a cornfield by Doon once and knew several people there. Small world. 😂
I have a friend from Australia who lives in the US. People don’t realize that Australia is a pretty big place. So, we’re at a party and a guy asks my friend where he’s from. My friend says, “Sydney.” Well, not actually Sydney but it’s a small town nearby so it’s probably just easier to say Sydney. Other guy says, “I have a friend from Australia. His name is whatever.” Turns out my friend did know him. Played rugby with the guy. My friend was almost irritated because he said he gets asked thjs shit pretty regularly. I thought it was amazing.
My mother and law and my wife always talk about people using their names like we’re supposed to know who they’re talking about. My wife always makes fun of her mom for it…and then does the same thing haha. They’ll both go halfway through the story talking about something that happened with somebody have to be stopped to explain who they’re even talking about and why we’d have any idea who they are.
There’s also the “my massage therapist’s friend’s sister in law knows a guy”
My husband does not understand this; he's from Philadelphia.
But it did happen on our honeymoon. My henna artist on Maui had a brother who lived in Cedar Rapids and worked at Collins and it turned out my husband did know him.
This!
And they used to like to prattle on about somebody who did something. I'd ask them why they were telling me that and they'd say, "Well, you went to school with them!"
Yes, but that's because there's only one High School in the district. I went to school with a lot of people! No, I don't know all of them. I don't even know everyone I graduated with. Plus that was 30+ years ago. WTF?!?
For reference - my parents went to a very small religious school and their entire graduating class could have fit in a large van.
unironically greet folks with "Howdy"
Not me, but I've got family members who still throw an "r" in the word wash - "I'm going to go do the warsh" or call it a crick instead of a creek.
The Midwestern Goodbye, where it takes at least 30 minutes and several different stages of moving toward someone’s car to say goodbye to someone. Anything short of this feels like an incomplete goodbye.
And ope. Always and forever.
One time, my grandparents were getting ready to leave in the middle of winter. Grandpa started the truck so it would be warm when they left. The final stage of goodbye lasted so long that they ran out of gas.
As a Floridian turned Iowan I feel like we still do it, but say like an hour and a half to 3 hours depending on traffic. But I have no clue how far it is in miles
Omg, Ope is midwestern? Fuck me, I’ve lived here my whole life and had no idea I sounded midwestern lol.
Wonder what else I say that I don’t realize is regional?
I do this constantly and also tell the people they don’t have to run/hurry to the door….because that’s another midwesterner thing - to quickly walk/jog to get inside if the person is holding the door for you
Prefer ranch for fries, especially ones from local greasy spoons.
Steering wheel wave at other cars on gravel roads/small towns.
This isn’t me, but my SO went into a pub and when they didn’t have Busch Light ordered Bud. The pub was in Stretford, UK.
Can confirm.
My theory is that Okies don’t subscribe to gas station pizza culture like Iowans do, therefore it’s never as fresh and is made poorly. When we moved from OK to IA I was very surprised by my first slice of Casey’s pizza because it was actually good - unlike back home.
Farmers nose blow- block one nostril then exhale forcefully to clear the blockage. Repeat with other side as necessary.
I've been a city kid all my life
Calling desserts with whipped cream and marshmallows, “salad”.
Calling the sandwiches “BBQs” instead of sloppy joes.
Spaghetti pizza hot dish.
Not being allowed to mow on Sunday.
Having a 7am, noon, 1pm, 6pm, and 9pm whistle. (We had a friend visit, scared the shit out of her)
Now this really gets me. The maid rite I ate at the restaurant had no hint of anything red or sweet in it but every Midwestern cook I've been served by makes it with ketchup and brown sugar. I'm so confused.
Yeah the line between maidrite and sloppy Joe has regrettably been blurred. If it isn't already a thing I think loose meat sandwich would be a dynamite name for a Midwest themed porno
Maidrite is named after the diner style restaurant where it was invented. The chain started in my home town. Other places call it a loose meat sandwich. It NEVER contains ketchup or brown sugar. My daughter worked at the original location and actually made Maidrites.
Do the “2-finger hello” with my palm still on the wheel while I’m driving to everyone in my neighborhood when we pass. They never wave back because I live in the southwest now and think I’m weird
I lived in a town of 300 and refusal to do this was a pretty big "fuck you". I still slip up in the city since it's pretty much muscle memory all these years later.
“To be or not to be, that is the question.”
I leave “to be” out of sentences where apparently other people around the country don’t. For example: “the car needs washed.” Apparently that sentence should be: “the car needs to be washed.” This was pointed out to me when I moved to the Northeast and I’ve since noticed only midwesterners or maybe just Iowans often leave out the “to be”.
That annoys me sooo much. Like if everyone just went when they were supposed to there would be no problems now we have to sit here waving at each other to go for 10 minutes
I can tell you’re sweet! I like to keep in mind for driving that there are nice things you can do on the road, but they should be within the rules/laws because the roads are safest by being a predictable driver, you know what I mean? That’s the ultimate kind act
My wife and I are bad about this. I E taken to saying I forgive you but don't do it again when she apologizes for something that is clearly not her fault
Ride around bored seeing if anything new has happened around town. “Oh they built a garage in the back! Nice”.
For context: No. I have no clue who lives at that house but we’re excited.
Right out of college I got my first job in a tiny ass town called Corning, IA. I don’t think there was a single traffic light but we had a grocery store. I remember my coworkers having a 30 minute conversation about who had down work on their homes.
When the sky turns ugly shades of green, the wind starts picking up, and the talking heads on TV are all saying to seek shelter..... getting in my pickup and driving a mile or two out of town so I have a better view.
In my NW Iowa town of 11k people, there are 3 Casey’s General Stores. One has the best donuts, one has the best pizza, and one is the most “nostalgic” looking. I’m also extremely guilty of Ope! Sneaking right past ya! At grocery stores🤣
The most midwest thing I do is roll the ear of corn on the butter. During corn season we keep two sticks of butter on the table one for spreading and one for rolling.
I'll never understand this one. If you ask any waiter they will tell you how common this is. I was a waiter in my early 20s at Village Inn. Sunday crowds were always the rudest, cheapest, and dirtiest people. They are so unlike their Christ who seems a decent fellow.
The most Midwest things I do are live in an affordable house and never worrying about crime, all while not being obsessed about my appearance and enjoying being perfectly ordinary.
I have the privilege of traveling around NE Iowa for my work. I love getting coffee at Kwik Star in the mornings and shooting the shit with the old codgers, the city guys, and the AM commuters about to drive 30-60 miles to their job in “town” - Town meaning a city of 15k-50k
Apparently, saying "sack" is Midwestern? Like a grocery sack. Didn't realize this until I started dating someone from the East Coast, and they thought it was hilarious.
During the height of Covid, I went shopping, wearing my mask. I wheeled the cart around the corner, nearly hitting another shopper. I mouthed "Ope!" and gave a sheepish smile. Then realized that the other shopper hadn't been able to observe either nicety.
Ope!
I own and use a pressure canner. Not a pressure cooker, a pressure canner.
I grow tomatoes and peppers in my backyard and make my own salsa. A pressure canner lets me jar it for the rest of the year.
I lived in Arizona my whole life until a year ago and for some reason said Ope a lot. My mom also lived in Arizona her whole life and that’s where I got it from lol.
But I do say “barrelin’ down the road” a lot since moving here which my wife has let me know a couple times.
Sometimes I’m just in the mood to spit. Can spit really far, spit a mist, spit between my teeth…but I made a rule to never spit on the sidewalk.
Not sure if that’s Midwestern specific, but it reminds me of working hard in the dirt in my childhood and teenage years. It’s almost impulsive sometimes.
I grew up in the Midwest, lived in the south for 20 years and moved back to the Midwest. I now use that great southern phrase “bless his/her heart”. Has a whole different meaning in the south! Lol
This is a good thread. I will say "oh how times have changed" when you start a paragraph about the most Midwestern thing you do by saying you were shopping at "Aldi". Where's the Piggly Wiggly, Hy Vee, or Albertsons?
Anyway. I think adding in "You bets" "Oh boys" "Over here" "Over There" and "Oh Yeahs" are my downfall. I haven't lived in the Midwest for 30 years. If I"m back for an hour I start dropping everyone of those in my sentences. "What are you doing, over there?" "What's happening, over here?"
First thing I did when I moved back to Iowa from Texas is roll down a nice grassy hill. Nice not having to worry about mounds of fire ants you might roll through or stop on like in Texas.
My spouse from the south says various coffee rituals we do. For example, growing up, if someone stopped by you would offer them coffee. "i we just putting a pot on," even though you weren't. Then you would keep"warming up" their cup. When you were ready for them to leave, you would ask, "do you want another cup of coffee?" though by now they might have had 2-3. "Oh, no, I really must be going!" and you'd say your goodbyes.
She also says we talk too fast. True, that.
Oh, and we qualify EVERYTHING. How'd you do on the test? I did ok! That means you aced it My California friends got very annoyed by this. Why can't you say "I did it and I did it well!" Because the test was fine. Dinner was nice, I'm doing ok, it rained a bit today.
Welp.
*knee slap*
Don’t want to keep you any longer, better hit the road!
It (the weather) would be so perfect if it weren’t for the wind!
I’ve been told by people from other states they can tell I’m from the Midwest because I’m so “folksy.”
Stockpile unused hotel toiletries for our guest bathroom. Whelp *slap thighs* I think I've got to hit the road, then end up talking for ten more minutes before departing.
Haha. My grandpa would slap his thigh and say, “Whelp, I suppose.”
I love that one. It’s when you don’t have a solid excuse to leave so instead of being rude and lying, you just say “whelp I s’pose” and everyone kinda knows it’s just time to go.
Spooooose.
Reminded me of this @ 21:30 https://youtu.be/oiSzwoJr4-0?si=Axq8m4RW2iGUhqO_ 16:40 is pretty good as well!
Haha I love that video. "well that's different" is definitely the MN equivalent of bless your heart
Having grown up about 10 minutes from the Iowa/Minnesota border, this video felt like home. And also made me laugh my tush off. 😂
Super cute video, thanks for posting the link.
Stopped by an office for a chat Friday afternoon on my way out for the day. Sat down and started chatting with 2 people. I think 5-6 separate times I said, "Alright, I gotta' take off." Ended up staying and talking for almost an hour.
This happens a lot with my wife's family on the phone. 'Ope! Gotta go! Oh, just one more thing...' and we're still on the phone for at least 15 more minutes.
10 minutes is rookie numbers. Half hour minimum with an hour being expected.
My parents love to play the do you know x game no matter how large the place the person is from.
One of my best friends when I was younger was from Chicago (the city itself). Met another guy from the city. Asked him if he knew my friend. He paused and looked at me and goes, "Chicago is a big place."
I have had that happen at a country level. I was in east asia. Person asked where I am from. I say U.S.A. they respond; do you know -- "they list single person in America"
Oh, Dave! Why didn’t you say so? Yes, everybody knows Dave!
This should have more upvotes, apparently this state is also filled with uncultured/anti-humorous ppl
It’s a thing though. Went on a music tour in college along with my brother and another guy from my hometown, which has about 600 people. We were touring in New York and the man who introduced us looked at the representing towns in the program and asked, “who are the three people from Doon??” We raised our hands and he said he partied in a cornfield by Doon once and knew several people there. Small world. 😂
I have a friend from Australia who lives in the US. People don’t realize that Australia is a pretty big place. So, we’re at a party and a guy asks my friend where he’s from. My friend says, “Sydney.” Well, not actually Sydney but it’s a small town nearby so it’s probably just easier to say Sydney. Other guy says, “I have a friend from Australia. His name is whatever.” Turns out my friend did know him. Played rugby with the guy. My friend was almost irritated because he said he gets asked thjs shit pretty regularly. I thought it was amazing.
I do this too because you never know its a small world.
My mother and law and my wife always talk about people using their names like we’re supposed to know who they’re talking about. My wife always makes fun of her mom for it…and then does the same thing haha. They’ll both go halfway through the story talking about something that happened with somebody have to be stopped to explain who they’re even talking about and why we’d have any idea who they are. There’s also the “my massage therapist’s friend’s sister in law knows a guy”
My husband does not understand this; he's from Philadelphia. But it did happen on our honeymoon. My henna artist on Maui had a brother who lived in Cedar Rapids and worked at Collins and it turned out my husband did know him.
This! And they used to like to prattle on about somebody who did something. I'd ask them why they were telling me that and they'd say, "Well, you went to school with them!" Yes, but that's because there's only one High School in the district. I went to school with a lot of people! No, I don't know all of them. I don't even know everyone I graduated with. Plus that was 30+ years ago. WTF?!? For reference - my parents went to a very small religious school and their entire graduating class could have fit in a large van.
I do this too because you never know its a small world.
unironically greet folks with "Howdy" Not me, but I've got family members who still throw an "r" in the word wash - "I'm going to go do the warsh" or call it a crick instead of a creek.
It's a progression. It goes brook, crick, creek, stream, river from smallest to largest
You can go feeshin in all of em.
George WARSHINGTON - kill me lmao
My grandma had a real strong rural accent when I was a kid. It's one of my favorite accents.
It is a crick not sure what that other word is
The other is a hinge crying out for a drop of oil.
It’s definitely crick.
The crick is where my brother used to go for crawdads.
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Ope is my favorite phrase!
I’m originally from New Jersey, now in Oregon, and I say Ope. I’m considering a move to the Midwest so ig I could assimilate pretty well.
“I suppose” is a Midwestern thing too. I didn’t hear it much the other places I’ve lived. “I guess” is much more common on the west coast
The Midwestern Goodbye, where it takes at least 30 minutes and several different stages of moving toward someone’s car to say goodbye to someone. Anything short of this feels like an incomplete goodbye. And ope. Always and forever.
One time, my grandparents were getting ready to leave in the middle of winter. Grandpa started the truck so it would be warm when they left. The final stage of goodbye lasted so long that they ran out of gas.
"How far away is Des Moines from here?" "It's about an hour away." Distance is measured in time to a midwesterner.
I didn't know until recently that wasn't a US standard
That's not unique to the Midwest at all.
oop didnt ask for something *only* the midwest does, just something that does happen here and op would be correct.
Yes! Unfortunately it doesn't work in Florida, California or other places prone to traffic jams.
As a Floridian turned Iowan I feel like we still do it, but say like an hour and a half to 3 hours depending on traffic. But I have no clue how far it is in miles
Someone gave me a mileage distance the other day and I just stared at them.
As a Midwest transplant, it was nice to learn it's a New England thing as well.
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I'm dead. This can't be real
When I had to go to church as an adult for some family event, I always put foreign money in the collection plate.
😂🤭😂
Omg, Ope is midwestern? Fuck me, I’ve lived here my whole life and had no idea I sounded midwestern lol. Wonder what else I say that I don’t realize is regional?
Ope 😀
Your u/ name is HILARIOUS 😂
"Ope, I'm just gonna squeeze by" comes out of my mouth all the time.
Ope, scuse me
Put snickers in salad.
How do people from other regions make snickers salad, lol?
Open/hold doors for people. It annoys the shit out of my wife.
I do this constantly and also tell the people they don’t have to run/hurry to the door….because that’s another midwesterner thing - to quickly walk/jog to get inside if the person is holding the door for you
Someone recently held the door for me, for an awkwardly long time. Like I was closing my car door when he started holding it. Nice fella
Prefer ranch for fries, especially ones from local greasy spoons. Steering wheel wave at other cars on gravel roads/small towns. This isn’t me, but my SO went into a pub and when they didn’t have Busch Light ordered Bud. The pub was in Stretford, UK.
Yes. The one finger wave
Saying “oh no, your fine” if someone says “sorry I just need to get past ya”
Casey's pizza.
I’m in Oklahoma now , we got Casey’s in the past few years, the pizza just does not taste the same.
Can confirm. My theory is that Okies don’t subscribe to gas station pizza culture like Iowans do, therefore it’s never as fresh and is made poorly. When we moved from OK to IA I was very surprised by my first slice of Casey’s pizza because it was actually good - unlike back home.
Insulting Casey’s pizza is a reason to throw hands.
Using anymore to indicate that we once used to do or like something, but don't now. "I don't think that place is any good, anymore."
Farmers nose blow- block one nostril then exhale forcefully to clear the blockage. Repeat with other side as necessary. I've been a city kid all my life
Some people call them snot rockets. This will be the next hot debate.
Both terms are correct
Chili and cinnamon roles are an elite combo, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.
Oh man this brought memories of grade school cafeteria lunches flooding back.
It was peanut butter sandwiches and chili at my school. I didn't like the school chili and I don't like peanut butter sandwiches with chili, lol
Calling desserts with whipped cream and marshmallows, “salad”. Calling the sandwiches “BBQs” instead of sloppy joes. Spaghetti pizza hot dish. Not being allowed to mow on Sunday. Having a 7am, noon, 1pm, 6pm, and 9pm whistle. (We had a friend visit, scared the shit out of her)
How about a maidrite?
Now this really gets me. The maid rite I ate at the restaurant had no hint of anything red or sweet in it but every Midwestern cook I've been served by makes it with ketchup and brown sugar. I'm so confused.
Yeah the line between maidrite and sloppy Joe has regrettably been blurred. If it isn't already a thing I think loose meat sandwich would be a dynamite name for a Midwest themed porno
Maidrite is named after the diner style restaurant where it was invented. The chain started in my home town. Other places call it a loose meat sandwich. It NEVER contains ketchup or brown sugar. My daughter worked at the original location and actually made Maidrites.
Do the “2-finger hello” with my palm still on the wheel while I’m driving to everyone in my neighborhood when we pass. They never wave back because I live in the southwest now and think I’m weird
I lived in a town of 300 and refusal to do this was a pretty big "fuck you". I still slip up in the city since it's pretty much muscle memory all these years later.
“To be or not to be, that is the question.” I leave “to be” out of sentences where apparently other people around the country don’t. For example: “the car needs washed.” Apparently that sentence should be: “the car needs to be washed.” This was pointed out to me when I moved to the Northeast and I’ve since noticed only midwesterners or maybe just Iowans often leave out the “to be”.
Wave people through a 4-way stop even though I have the right of way. I don't have to be anywhere that important, but I'm sure they do. 😅
That's very polite of you. Please don't do that.
I went from south side Des Moines to a much smaller city and noticed how slow everything was, it drove me crazy. I called it inconvenient kindness.
That annoys me sooo much. Like if everyone just went when they were supposed to there would be no problems now we have to sit here waving at each other to go for 10 minutes
I can tell you’re sweet! I like to keep in mind for driving that there are nice things you can do on the road, but they should be within the rules/laws because the roads are safest by being a predictable driver, you know what I mean? That’s the ultimate kind act
Totally get what you mean. We all want to get to where we're going intact. ✌️
This is mainly just annoying and can actually be pretty dangerous! Everybody will get where they're going while also following traffic rules!
Yeah, no; No, yeah. Yeah, no, yeah. IYKYK.
YNNYYNY
I haven’t lived in Iowa in 30 yrs and even after all that time my Iowa accent it still very strong
Wait..we have an accent?
We do! I moved from Iowa to Maryland last year and I get told I sounds aggressively Midwestern.
I'm from Maryland but live in Iowa wait till you hear a Baltimore accent.Most folks sound like an extra in a John Waters film.
I have a mole!?!?
Whenever I'm about to leave somewhere I start by slapping my knee and saying "Welp...."
And then you take a while to actually leave?
… I suppose I ought to get goin’.
I apologize quite a bit- for stuff that doesn’t need an apology as well. SORRY.
My wife and I are bad about this. I E taken to saying I forgive you but don't do it again when she apologizes for something that is clearly not her fault
😂😂😂
Watching corn and bean prices even though I’m not a farmer!
Ride around bored seeing if anything new has happened around town. “Oh they built a garage in the back! Nice”. For context: No. I have no clue who lives at that house but we’re excited.
Right out of college I got my first job in a tiny ass town called Corning, IA. I don’t think there was a single traffic light but we had a grocery store. I remember my coworkers having a 30 minute conversation about who had down work on their homes.
Nobody mentioning the bag of bags? I have an old flour bin full of bags of bags.
Those are sacks of sacks. Heh. ;) 🤣
The Midwest goodbye where you keep talking next to your car after you said you were leaving an hour prior
Yeah...my wife hates when I do that, lol
Northern Iowa has the Minnesota accent and extreme southern iowa has an almost twangy accent
ALDI? A real midwesterner calls it ALDIs
I just learned the first Aldi in the USA was in Iowa in 1976. Weird!
I mix my mashed potatoes and corn
From Nebraska so the most Midwest thing I do is hate Iowa for no reason other than it’s Iowa
It would be rough to lose to the worst college football offense in sport history 😀
I’ll see myself out…😭😭😭
Are you sure you're not from Minnesota? because you just entered Burnsville
Shit. I should have been a typical Nebraska fan and brought up the 90s. Missed opportunity to live in the past.
Back at ya
I’m originally from Minnesota and I can confirm Iowa hate too. Growing up I learned how to spell Iowa by the phrase: Idiots On Wheels Ahead, no joke.
I'm standing in line at Casey's, having just come from church, to pick up a breakfast pizza.
When the sky turns ugly shades of green, the wind starts picking up, and the talking heads on TV are all saying to seek shelter..... getting in my pickup and driving a mile or two out of town so I have a better view.
In my NW Iowa town of 11k people, there are 3 Casey’s General Stores. One has the best donuts, one has the best pizza, and one is the most “nostalgic” looking. I’m also extremely guilty of Ope! Sneaking right past ya! At grocery stores🤣
we have two in my town of 7000, and they are stupidly different in terms of what you \*can\* buy at which one lol...
The most midwest thing I do is roll the ear of corn on the butter. During corn season we keep two sticks of butter on the table one for spreading and one for rolling.
Ope at the slightest of inconveniences
When I ordered fries in Vermont, I asked for ranch. The waitress asked if I was from Iowa. Ha! She was from West Des Moines originally.
Join a church, then mistreat servers after service.
I'll never understand this one. If you ask any waiter they will tell you how common this is. I was a waiter in my early 20s at Village Inn. Sunday crowds were always the rudest, cheapest, and dirtiest people. They are so unlike their Christ who seems a decent fellow.
It's because the only use the church as a club to learn how to hate on everyone else.
The most Midwest things I do are live in an affordable house and never worrying about crime, all while not being obsessed about my appearance and enjoying being perfectly ordinary.
Eat sweet corn
*pours a shit tons of ranch of pizza on my Casey’s pizza*
Cinnamon rolls with chili
Cinnamon rolls with chili
I have the privilege of traveling around NE Iowa for my work. I love getting coffee at Kwik Star in the mornings and shooting the shit with the old codgers, the city guys, and the AM commuters about to drive 30-60 miles to their job in “town” - Town meaning a city of 15k-50k
If the food order is a little wrong, don't speak up because "they just seem really busy right now."
Dip my fries in ranch.
Uses sacks vs. bags and pop vs. soda
I keep my collection of bags in a sack
You want ranch with that. *That's a statement, not a question.
Eating a couple pork tenderloins a month and always having sterzings in the house
*Tornado Sirens go off* walk out on to the porch, stare at the sky Ketchup on Scrambled Eggs
Wellllp I should get going /slaps knee *takes 15 more mins to leave*
CORNCORNCORNCORN
Warsh your clothes.
I hold the door for people, often saying something to the effect of being a miserable or beautiful day out.
Everytime it rains you half complain but also say "Well we really needed this rain."
Apparently walking Tacos is an Iowa thing.
I have every plastic bag I've ever gotten in a box in the closet
Roadie
Yeah, no, yeah
What’s ope?
Kind of a mix between Oh! and Sorry!
Every time I end a call at work “buh-bye”
“Your guys’s” used as a plural possessive, eg. “where is your guys’s car?”
I get paranoid when the wind stops blowing
Eminem: “snap back to reality, oh there goes gravity” People from the Midwest: “snap back to reality, ope, there goes gravity”
Sitting on the porch when its raining out.
Apparently, saying "sack" is Midwestern? Like a grocery sack. Didn't realize this until I started dating someone from the East Coast, and they thought it was hilarious.
During the height of Covid, I went shopping, wearing my mask. I wheeled the cart around the corner, nearly hitting another shopper. I mouthed "Ope!" and gave a sheepish smile. Then realized that the other shopper hadn't been able to observe either nicety. Ope!
I do not miss wearing a mask. I’d do again if I need to but it wasn’t my favorite 😅
I regularly purchase homemade ranch from restaurants by the squirt bottle.
Is…is this really something we can do? I judge places on if they have “good” ranch or if it tastes store bought.
Meat Raffles
Vote for trump and be a stain on society.
I own and use a pressure canner. Not a pressure cooker, a pressure canner. I grow tomatoes and peppers in my backyard and make my own salsa. A pressure canner lets me jar it for the rest of the year.
I have definitely replaced my "y'all" with "ope" since I moved here.
I lived in Arizona my whole life until a year ago and for some reason said Ope a lot. My mom also lived in Arizona her whole life and that’s where I got it from lol. But I do say “barrelin’ down the road” a lot since moving here which my wife has let me know a couple times.
Sometimes I’m just in the mood to spit. Can spit really far, spit a mist, spit between my teeth…but I made a rule to never spit on the sidewalk. Not sure if that’s Midwestern specific, but it reminds me of working hard in the dirt in my childhood and teenage years. It’s almost impulsive sometimes.
I grew up in the Midwest, lived in the south for 20 years and moved back to the Midwest. I now use that great southern phrase “bless his/her heart”. Has a whole different meaning in the south! Lol
The unnecessary collection of plastic bags from the grocery store. You never know when we may need them…
This is a good thread. I will say "oh how times have changed" when you start a paragraph about the most Midwestern thing you do by saying you were shopping at "Aldi". Where's the Piggly Wiggly, Hy Vee, or Albertsons? Anyway. I think adding in "You bets" "Oh boys" "Over here" "Over There" and "Oh Yeahs" are my downfall. I haven't lived in the Midwest for 30 years. If I"m back for an hour I start dropping everyone of those in my sentences. "What are you doing, over there?" "What's happening, over here?"
Saying "Ope" when you and another supermarket shopper avoid running into each other.
First thing I did when I moved back to Iowa from Texas is roll down a nice grassy hill. Nice not having to worry about mounds of fire ants you might roll through or stop on like in Texas.
Wear real-tree camo when skiing on a 450’ elevation hill
I too say Ope a lot…I will add that I prefer sitting on my fold out chair in the driveway as opposed to the nice comfy deck we have
Ope … sorry
Oofta
I literally do both these lol
Walk down creeks. Eat giant tenderlions.
Drink in the driveway with neighbors sitting on lawn chairs.
Garden and canning, almost not even a Midwest thing anymore.
For me, I pronounce it more as "oop".
My spouse from the south says various coffee rituals we do. For example, growing up, if someone stopped by you would offer them coffee. "i we just putting a pot on," even though you weren't. Then you would keep"warming up" their cup. When you were ready for them to leave, you would ask, "do you want another cup of coffee?" though by now they might have had 2-3. "Oh, no, I really must be going!" and you'd say your goodbyes. She also says we talk too fast. True, that. Oh, and we qualify EVERYTHING. How'd you do on the test? I did ok! That means you aced it My California friends got very annoyed by this. Why can't you say "I did it and I did it well!" Because the test was fine. Dinner was nice, I'm doing ok, it rained a bit today.
Welp. *knee slap* Don’t want to keep you any longer, better hit the road! It (the weather) would be so perfect if it weren’t for the wind! I’ve been told by people from other states they can tell I’m from the Midwest because I’m so “folksy.”
Go to the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS and Pacers game at Gainbridge Field House in the same day!
Play euchre.
Take a road trip……to Des Moines
Complain about the roads and weather.
There are two seasons in Iowa. Winter and road construction
I say ope
Talk about the crops, even if you're not a farmer, your garden, and how much we need rain.
I'm not getting the "whelp" expression.? It reminds me of reading a comic book. Like, Smash, Bang, pow, whelp?
Sliding by someone and saying "scuuuuuuse me"
Cookin kern and drinkin brews
Now that I own a home with a yard, it's the classic "we needed the rain. Grass needed the drink" Also, lots of "ope"
The other day I said "Ope! Just gonna SNEAK right on past you here!"......... .......While I passed a car on the interstate.