Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Pittsburgh toilet, squeaky cheese, city chicken, shampoo banana, and Chevy in the Hole are all phrases that are familiar to Midwesterners but sound foreign to anyone living outside the region. This book explains not only what Midwesterners say but also how and why they say it and covers such topics as: the causes of the Northern cities vowel shift, why the accents in Fargo miss the nasality that's a hallmark of Minnesota speech, and why Chicagoans talk more like people from Buffalo than their next-door neighbors in Wisconsin. Readers from the Midwest will have a better understanding of why they talk the way they do, and readers who are not from the Midwest will know exactly what to say the next time someone ends a sentence with eh?.
Synopsis
"A dictionary wrapped in some serious dialectology inside a gift book trailing a serious whiff of Relevance" --The New York Times
In this book on Midwestern accents, and sayings, Edward McClelland explains what Midwesterners say and how and why they say it. He examines the causes of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, explains the nasality of Minnesota speech, and details why Chicagoans talk more like people from Buffalo than their next-door neighbors in Wisconsin. He provides humorous definitions of jargon from the region, including:
-squeaky cheese -city chicken -shampoo banana -the Pittsburgh toilet -FIB -bubbler -Chevy in the Hole -jagoff
The book also includes detailed glossaries of slang from Buffalo, the Great Lakes, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Wisconsin slang and sayings.
This delightful romp through the region is the perfect gift for Midwesterners, and the perfect book for anyone wanting to learn more about the region's dialects.
Synopsis
"A dictionary wrapped in some serious dialectology inside a gift book trailing a serious whiff of Relevance."―The New York Times
In this book on Midwestern accents and sayings, Edward McClelland (Folktales and Legends of the Midwest) explains what Midwesterners say and how and why they say it. He examines such mysteries as the causes of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, explains the nasality of Minnesota speech, and details why Chicagoans talk more like people from Buffalo than their next-door neighbors in Wisconsin. He also provides humorous definitions of jargon from the region, including:
- squeaky cheese
- city chicken
- shampoo banana
- the Pittsburgh toilet
- Yinzers and Cheeseheads
- FIB
- bubbler
- Chevy in the Hole
- jagoff.
How to Speak Midwestern includes detailed glossaries of slang and sayings from Buffalo, the Great Lakes, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Wisconsin.
This delightful romp through the region's dialects is the perfect gift for Midwesterners and the perfect book for anyone wanting to learn more about the region's diverse, idiosyncratic ways of communicating.