I am in Minnesota at a conference and found a book about the language of People in Minnesota. If true, it really is a bit different from other states.

"You bet" - means you're not obligated to state a strong opinion; in fact, according to the author, hardly anything in Minnesota warrants a strong opinion.

"That's different" - you have an opinion, but are holding back the details.

"Whatever" - means whatever you want it to mean.

Further instruction says to never accept food until it is offered a third time, and even then do so reluctantly.

Body language - Don't get too close (physically) to people from Minnesota!

Goodbyes - Long goodbyes are legendary. It can take up to an hour to say goodbye!

I think the book you found is "How to speak Minnesotan". As a native Minnesotan, I can tell you those sayings are often heard.

"Yah, you betcha" is another very common phrase you hear in Minnesota. I think it stems from the fact that there are a lot of Norwegians living here, although I am not one.

I would like to know more about regional differences in American English. My mother, for example, who grew up in Milwaukee, calls a water fountain a 'bubbler' and she's told me that no one else calls it that in the US. Do you know of any other regional words like that?

Here in Georgia they call registering your car "getting your tags". I was met with blank stares when I moved here and asked folks where to go to register my car. They also call it a "tag office" instead of the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles).

In the south, the term "cock" used to be widely used to refer to female genitalia although I think this usage has died out considerably. I was stationed in Mississippi as a 19-year-old and a southern good 'ol boy (heterosexual, as I discovered much later) invited me to "go out and chase some cock" with him. Astonished at how out of the closet he was, I declined.

"Tonic" is a term for soft drinks in New England. There's a story I heard of a non-New England fifth grade class preparing for a picnic where each kid was assigned the task of bringing a particular food. When the teacher, who was from New Hampshire I believe, asked "Who's going to bring the tonic?" not only did they not understand her but many believed she was referring to alcohol.

I was born and raised in Connecticut and was taught that those little chocolate things you put on top of an ice cream cone were "shots." The first time an ice cream server elsewhere ask me if I wanted "Jimmies" on my cone, I was clueless. They're also called "sprinkles" (particularly the multi-colored ones) and, I believe, "hundreds & thousands" in the UK, though that may also be an old term. It was the answer to a trivia question that I missed years ago.


There must be websites full of these things somewhere, no?

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"getting your tags"

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Ahhh, TrossL, "getting your tags" in the medical world is what they do in hospitals after someone has died--they tag their feet. I do hope your motor vehicle division doesn't mix that up!

Hundreds and Thousands are still in general use as an ice cream topping or something to go on top of a cake, just like icing.

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"Tonic" is a term for soft drinks in New England.

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I had never heard tonic used this way. Around here it is pop, but I have heard both soda and Coke used too.

If you ask for Coke here, you will get Coca-cola. And if you ask for a soda, you better tell them what flavor ice cream you want in it!

Funny, Morgan. I grew up to "pop", too (in Wisconsin), and "soda" meant the ice cream drink. However, in Chicago almost everyone uses "soda", and for the ice cream drink it is "ice cream soda". Much like (deja vu in another thread??) I grew up to "supper" being the night meal, and "dinner" being the noon meal. Yet, now, of course, everyone (I believe) calls dinner the night meal and lunch the noon meal. I imagine those terms were related to times when agriculture was so important here.