How Well Do You Know Midwest Slang?

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
How Well Do You Know Midwest Slang?
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About This Quiz

The Midwest is one the least politically predictable parts of the United States. It's a blend of different communities, some of them extremely diverse and others more monochrome. In the Midwest, some of America's most important cities swim in a sea of corn. The Midwest has some of the most economically vibrant parts of the nation, with cities like Chicago and Cleveland where the opportunities just keep growing. It's also tragically home to many of the towns most ravaged by the economic downturns of the last generation, as the industrial manufacturing base that once provided the economic engine of the region was outsourced to the Far East and elsewhere. On the upside, new technologies like renewable energy and the rise of the internet have brought new jobs and businesses to the region.

Despite the variety of people within the region, there are some slang terms that cover several Midwestern states, or perhaps even all of them. They're sometimes used in other parts of the USA, but many are specific to the Midwest alone. That means you'll need to know them if you want to travel or even move there and make yourself understood. It's time to check your Midwestern slang knowledge. Let's get started!

What do Midwesterners say should be knee high by the Fourth of July?
Corn
People
Knees
New houses
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Corn should be knee high by the Fourth of July so that you can harvest it on time. Plus, it looks good in the barbecue pictures!

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What do Midwesterners call a tiny freshwater lobster?
Lobsterette
Teeny fishie
Shelly-fish
Crawdads
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Crawdads are freshwater crayfish. They look like sea lobsters but they are much smaller. They are just as yummy, though.

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How do Midwesterners say "tough luck"?
Baddest fate!
Tough tomatoes!
Foul fortune!
Sigh, sigh.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Tough tomatoes are bad luck because tomatoes shouldn't be tough. It means you picked them before they were ripe, which is a shame.

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What do Midwesterners call the living room?
Great room
Front room
Drawing room
Big room
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's a term that will be understood in most of the USA. However, "front room" is mostly only used in the Midwest.

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What do Midwesterners call a casserole?
Casserolly
Hotdish
Cassoulet
Pot
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hotdish is a kind of casserole that has a mushroom cream sauce. You can vary the other ingredients according to what you prefer. One of the classics uses tater tots.

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What do Midwesterners call a traffic signal?
Greenlight
Lighttastic
Stop/go light
Haltlight.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's a light that tells you when to stop, and when to go. Thus, it's a stoplight or a golight!

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What do Midwesterners call a game played at summer barbecues?
Soccer
Cornhole
Skip rope
Jumping jacks
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Cornhole is a bit like boules mixed with hackeysack. It's a summer game played on a lawn at parties in the region.

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What do Midwesterners call the bathroom?
Restroom
Washer
Ladies'
Powder room
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A restroom is a gender-neutral and entirely G-rated way of saying you need a bathroom. It will also be understood across the rest of the USA.

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What do Midwesterners call a harmless little insect that lights up?
Firebug
Lightning bug
Fireflies
Stormbug
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A lightning bug is actually the same thing as a firefly. However, in the Midwest, it has this even more awesome name. Fortunately, it's just pretty and doesn't bite.

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What do Midwesterners say to indicate that someone is very drunk?
Bladdered
Schnookered
Sauced
Legless
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If you're schnookered, you're very drunk. This is reminiscent of how, in snooker, you are possibly unable to function if you are in fact snookered.

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What do Midwesterners call a yard sale?
Rummage sale
Estate sale
Curbside sale
Sidewalk sale
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A rummage sale is what you do when you're thinning out the useless things in your house. It's a great way to get rid of stuff you don't need and remember that your trash may be somebody's treasure!

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What do Midwesterners call it when you win enough meat to feed your family for some time?
Meat prize
Meat raffle
Meat win
Meat-eor
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This is a tradition from local farmers' markets and fairs. It's not very common these days, which is a shame.

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What do Midwesterners call a vacuum cleaner?
Sweeper
Sucker
Duster
Hoover
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A sweeper is a vacuum cleaner. It's really a fancy modern broom, hence the origin of the name.

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What do Midwesterners call a carbonated beverage?
Fizz
Soda
Coke
Pop
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Pop doesn't just mean Coke, Sprite or any specific drink. It's the generic term for any fizzy or soft drink in the region.

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What do Midwesterners say when they see a car with a missing headlight?
Hurrah!
Uh-oh!
Padiddle!
Light's out!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This nonsense word is part of a local superstition. You're supposed to say it while you pat the roof of the car. Last one to do this is in trouble

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How do Midwesterners say, "Put that away"?
Shove that!
Put that up!
Be leaving that.
Ditch it!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's similar to "put up or shut up". If you put something up, you've put it away - which ironically means you probably had to put it down too!

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What do Midwesterners call literally everyone?
Y'all
Guysies
Peeps
You guys
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This is a gender-neutral expression that people all over the US understand. It's most common in the Midwest, however.

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What do Midwesterners call a chocolatey-peanutty rice cereal snack?
Puppy chow
Nosh
Nibble
Crumbs
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Puppy chow is not dog food. It's a regional snack involving rice, peanut butter, chocolate and a lot of deliciousness.

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How do Midwesterners pronounce caramel?
CAR-a-mel
Car-A-mel
CAR-mel
Car-MEL
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Caramel has only two syllables in the Midwest, with the first being emphasized. It tastes the same however you say it, of course!

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What do Midwesterners call a pointless prediction that won't be accurate?
Prophecy
Forecast
Dummy
Nonsense
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A forecast usually just means the weather. In Indiana in particular, it means a prophecy that is not going to come true.

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What do Midwesterners call a delicious Polish donut?
Beignet
Paczki
Polnut
Potter
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This delicious snack or dessert is basically the same as a donut. However, its name shows the Midwest's strong Eastern European cultural legacy.

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What do Midwesterners say to indicate they've made a mistake?
Ope!
Oy!
Ding!
Duh!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This is a contraction of "oops". It's what a Midwesterner says to indicate that they realize they have screwed up!

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What do Midwesterners call a traditional hotdog with chili, mustard, and onion?
Coney dog
Doggone
Big dog
Standard dog
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A coney can mean a rabbit or an island off New York City. It also means a particular kind of hotdog!

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What do Midwesterners call a big inter-state road?
Motorway
Expressway
Highway
Freeway
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's an interstate, a highway, or a freeway elsewhere in the USA. But in the Midwest, it's an expressway!

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What do Midwesterners call a pastry filled with meat?
Pasty
Meatie
Pastrification
Pie
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the UK, a pasty is the same thing as it is in the Midwest. It isn't the rather cheeky thing that a New Yorker might think it means!

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What do Midwesterners call the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street?
Devil's strip
Sidegrass
Grassacre
Grass line
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The devil's strip is named because it belongs to no one. One of the things that makes froniter life work - which the Midwest once was - is knowing who owns what, so you don't fight over it and someone takes care of it. Hence, unclaimed land is a place bad things happen.

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What do Midwesterners call shoes that you wear for sporting purposes?
Shoesies
Gym shoes
Sneakers
Heels
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Gym shoes are the shoes you wear at the gym. Of course, these days you might wear them almost anywhere.

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What do Midwesterners call the game "duck, duck, goose"?
Duck, duck, chicken.
Duck, duck, more duck.
Duck, duck, gray duck.
Duck, lion, wombat!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This is mainly a Minnesota term. It's a more literal translation of the original Swedish name of the game.

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What do Midwesterners call a public water dispenser?
Fizzer
Fountain
Tap
Bubbler
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A bubbler is just a water fountain, anyplace else. In the Midwest, it has a much more fun name!

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What do Midwesterners say to express surprise?
Uff da!
Huzzah!
Whoa!
Wow!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It comes from a Norwegian expression meaning "goodness me!" This is most common in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

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What do Midwesterners say to indicate that something is very adorable?
Oh, for cute!
Cutie-patootie!
Cutest-est!
Cuterama!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Oh, for cute" is similar in construction to a variety of other Midwest sayings. For example, if something is very fun, you might say "Oh, for fun!"

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How does a Midwesterner ask you if you have already had a meal?
Y'all eat?
You nosh?
Jeet?
You hungry?
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Just say "did you eat" quickly enough and eventually you will get to "jeet?" If a Midwesterner is trying to feed you, this is what they'll say.

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What do Midwesterners call an elastic cord used to tie back hair?
Scrunchie
Tieback
Hair binder
Rope
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A hair binder is the same thing as a hair tie. It's just a slightly more descriptive way of saying the same thing!

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What do Midwesterners mean if they say someone has "the holler tail"?
They're sick.
They're dying.
They're a liar.
They're ugly.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There's an old superstition in the area that cows that were sick literally had hollow tails. Hence, a holler tail is what you have if you're not well.

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What do Midwesterners say to invite you someplace?
Come with?
Wanna come?
Let's go!
Come with me!
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Leaving out a few keywords is a regional idiosyncrasy. Don't worry if you don't remember the missing word after a while; people will understand you.

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