michiganese
Dave, a good friend of mine is a bowyer in Ishpeming, he explained it to me once but if I remeber its a depression era holdover for those outside the UP. Just playing around, I take it good naturedly when I'm in Lansing or Kalamazoo and they make fun of our Canadian accent, 'specially when we're "out and about" - usually I get taken for a Yooper. I love going to Michigan, tons of bowhunting and traditional archery enthusiats.
Did find this though, and from my talks with him it looks accurate enuf...
Well, ya, eh. If youse gonna spend ANY time in the U.P., youse gonna need to copy yourself this UNOFFICIAL YOOPANESE GLOSSARY:
quote:
APPLEKNOCKER: 1. A person from downstate. 2. Anyone from outside the Upper Peninsula.
BAKERY: Baked goods, rather than a place where things are baked. "Go store an get me some bakery, eh?"
BIKE RIDING: In Yoopanese, it's not always aufficient to say "biking," "skiing," or "snowmobiling." Instead, substitute the phrase "bike riding," also "snowmachine riding," or even "ski riding."
BORROW ME: Loan something to me. "Borrow me da keys to da snowmachine."
BOUGHTEN: Auxiliary verb form of buy. "I had boughten da snowmachine on special."
CAMP: 1. Not a primitive tent site, but the name used for any seasonal home. 2. What would be called a cottage by the more high-falutin'.
CHIT: Dung.
CHOUK: A hat. Also chook, chukka, or choukka.
CROMER: Another hat, this one is a flapped hunting cap apparently named after the Wisconsin company that manufactures them.
CUDIGHI: A type of hot Italian sausage, served in sandwiches. The name, if not the sausage itself, may be unique to the U.P. Also spelled gudlighi.
DA AREA: The generic term for whatever part of the U.P. the speaker happen to be in. Can encompass a neighborhood, city, county, or even the whole U.P.
GO CAMP: To go to one's summer residence. See also go Marquette, go Green Bay, or go Shopko.
HEIKKI LUUNTA: The Finnish snow god; thus the supreme deity of the Upper Peninsula.
HOLY WAH: Exclamation. "Holy wah, Toivo! Da Beer's all gone!"
ICE SPUD: Long metal device used to smash a hole in the ice for ice fishing. Not to be confused with winter potatoes.
LAKE EFFECT: From meteorology. Snow created by winds blowing over Lake Superior, as in "We got ten inches of dat lake effect last night."
LAKER: A lake trout. Not to be confused with a professional basketball team from Los Angeles.
NIPS: Socks.
NOSEEUMS: 1. Tiny, obnoxious biting flies. 2. Competition with mosquitoes for the title of U.P. state bird.
ON SPECIAL: On sale. See boughten.
PANK: Compound verb formed from "spank" and "pack." Descriptive term for what you do to snow with the flat side of a shovel or soles of a boot to get it to stay where you want it. "Pank dat snow bank down, eh?"
PASTY, pl. PASTIES: Cornish meat pie often confused by tourists with library paste, "pastry", or bangles used by strippers.
SHACKING: Grabbing on to the back fender of a car, truck or bus and sliding along on the snow and ice coating on streets and roads. A favorite pastime of young Yoopers.
SMELTIN: The process of catching numerous tiny fish by dipping a big net in a small stream. Do not confuse with the process of steel production.
SNOWSCOOP: N: A device, apparently invented in the U.P., for removing snow from roofs, driveways, porches, or any other large, outdoor surface. V: The process of such removal, as in "I gotta snowscoop out da neighbor's driveway."
SPIN A DOUGHNUT: To put one's car into a 360-degree power slide on ice-slick parking lot surfaces. Another favorite pastime of young Yoopers.
ST. URHO: A legendary Finnish pseudo-saint who supposedly drove the grasshoppers out of the Finnish Vineyards.
SWAMPERS: Waterproof winter boots. Sometimes also referred to as Sorrels—a brand name of boot.
TREE-WHEELER: A three-wheeled all terrain vehicle, not to be confused with a device for removing logs from a forest.
UNTHAW: To thaw out something that was frozen, as in "We got to get dat turkey out an unthaw it quick."
YA, EH: Favorite Yooper interjection.
YOOPER: An inhabitant of the Upper Peninsula or any speaker of Yoopanese. Also called Uper.
YOUSE: Plural of you. "Hey, youse, da beer'll never unthaw on da snowmachine."
