Originally Chicago (1937), now widespread. & v., political influence or power, to exercise such power. Three-way chili adds a cheese topping to the chili. More watery than most chilis, it is traditionally served as a sauce for spaghetti. Eventually, use of the name became restricted to the state of Ohio.Ĭanadian soldier, n., a mayfly, so called from the belief that they invade in swarms from the north (Ohio).Ĭarry-in, n., a potluck meal (Ill., Ind., & Ohio).Ĭathole, n., a deep place in a river (Mich.).Ĭincinnati chili, n., a style of chili invented in the 1920s by Athanas Kiradjieff, founder of the Empress Chili parlor in Cincinnati. In the 1820s, settlers throughout the Ohio River valley began referring to themselves as buckeyes. & Mich.).īuckeye, n., nickname for a resident of Ohio, the “Buckeye State.” The name is from the American horse chestnut ( Æsculus glabra), called a buckeye because it is said to resemble a stag’s eye. Also basement barn.īelling, n., a noisy celebration for newlyweds, a shivaree (primarily Ind., but also western Penn., W.Va., Ohio, & Mich.).īerm, n., the shoulder of a road (Penn., W.Va., Ohio, & Ind.).īooya, n., a meat and vegetable stew (Mich., Wis., & Minn.).īrush cut, n., a crew cut hairstyle (N.Y. The following is a selection of terms used in the region.īaga, n., clipping of rutabaga, (Mich., Wis., & Minn.).īank barn, n., a barn built into the side of a hill, allowing access on two levels (Penn., Ohio, Ind., Md., Va.). While the accent of the Midwest is difficult to distinguish from standard American English, like any region it has a distinctive vocabulary. This particular vowel shift is found elsewhere in the United States, but it is most prominent in Illinois. So they pronounce their state as /ell-annoy/ and the drink /melk/ instead of /milk/. Residents of Illinois also shift the short e sound before the consonant l. The short u, in turn, takes the /ou/ sound, buses becomes /bosses/. Since the short i was bumped out of its position by the short a, it has to go somewhere. Cot is pronounced /cat/ and pop is /pap/. The short o takes the place vacated by the short a. This shift in the short a occurs in Philadelphia speech as well, but only before specific consonant sounds. The name Ann is indistinguishable from Ian. Bad is pronounced /biy-ud/ and cat is pronounced /kiy-ut/. In the Northern Cities Shift, the short a sound is raised and fronted so that it becomes a short i, and then becomes a diphthong, dropping and backing to its standard sound. But if one spends any significant time in the region, one can begin to identify the shift. Some people only display the shift with specific vowels, opting for the standard pronunciation for the others. Now, not everyone in the region displays the shift many opt for “normal” American pronunciation. The shift is a distinctive pronunciation of short vowel sounds that was first identified by linguist William Labov and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973. The shift is evident is a swath of territory stretching from the Hudson River valley in New York, across northern Ohio and Indiana, to Chicago and Detroit, encompassing the rust-belt cities of the northern Midwest. It is one of the more distinctive pronunciation patterns in American speech. But there is one very distinctive feature of the accent of the region. It is just that in this case there is not much to distinguish it from what is considered “standard” American speech. Of course they do have one all people speak with a distinct dialect. As such, it is often difficult to categorize and people from the region are often not recognized as having a distinct dialect at all. The dialect of the inland north, or the Great Lakes region, has the distinction of being “normal” American speech.
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