10 Crazy Signs You Were Born and Raised in Michigan! #6 Is Very True!
If you are living your whole life in Michigan, the facts below won’t surprise you at all. These facts or signs already became one of the trademarks of Michigan and its locals.
For people who plans to visit or live in Michigan, don’t be surprised if you came across any of this signs!
1. You know what euchre is and how to pronounce it!
2. You grew up with German, Polish, or Norwegian influence.
Maybe you still eat sauerkraut regularly or your family makes a traditional Norwegian meal of lutefisk and lefse every year on Christmas Eve.
3. You make all company names possessive for no reason. You call Meijer “Meijer’s” and Kroger “Kroger’s.”
4. You measure distance in time instead of miles.
When someone asks you how far away something is, you’re likely to tell them how long it’ll take them to get there as opposed to how many miles away it actually is.
5. You love going “Up North.”
Going Up North literally just means heading north a couple hours, and yet this is what defines Michigan summers for many of us. It could mean going camping at one of the state parks or going over the bridge into Yooper territory.
6. You have nicknames for other Michigan natives.
“Yooper,” “Troll,” “Fudgies,” and “Townies,” are all ways to identify others native to the Mitten state, and everyone knows what you’re talking about when you use these terms.
7. You have a Chicago accent.
You clip all your hard consonants, pronounce your A’s with a hard, nasally sound, and drop the G’s in verbs with the notable exception of “tornado warning.” T’s are pronounced like D’s when in the middle of a word and not supported by another consonant — think of how we say “ciddy” instead of “city” or “liddle” instead of “little.”
8. You know what a “Michigan left turn” is.
You know a “Michigan left turn” is when you turn right onto a street followed by an immediate U-turn at the next crossover and don’t really understand why out-of-state drivers find the whole thing so confusing.
9. You have loyalty to certain local brands and foods.
You drink Vernors when you’re sick, prefer coney dogs to chili dogs, wonder why you can’t find Blue Moon ice cream anywhere else in the country, and likely have a family member who still side-eyes foreign cars.
10. You have a slightly different vocabulary than the rest of the country.
You call shopping carts “buggys,” say “kiddy corner” instead of caddy/catty corner, and tell people you’re going to the “party store” instead of the convenience store.
The hilarious thing about Michigan’s unique phrases is that you never realize just how unique they are until you go out of state and find someone genuinely confused about what you just said.
My favorite is Euchre. Live that game. It is amazing how many different rules people have for the game. All of these signs are fitting. I’ve been here 43 years.
I actually hated Vernors when I first moved here … now it’s okay. Especially in floats :).
When I moved here from Missouri, I was super confused by some of these things lol now I feel like I fit right in. Except for the sauerkraut that will never happen…
When I say pop, people always turn around and say “your from Michigan.” Love this! I’m going to share it.
Truth about most of these. Yes I go to Krogers and Meijers and love pop.
This was funny to read. I have seen these written about Boston, too, and I always chuckle.
Well, I’m a southern girl, so I can’t say I have heard any of these expressions. I did enjoy reading them.
Haha that’s too cute! I love these “you know you’re ____ when…” Michigan sounds a little like how we speak in Ontario!
Never been to Michigan but I’ve heard quite a lot about it and it sounds great. Would love to visit at some point!
This is informative and funny at the same time. I even tried to pronounce “liddle” just like what you would have said it yourself. I enjoyed reading your post, and I felt your pride in being born and raised in Michigan.
I am not from Michigan, but this is fun to know. I would love to visit this place one day.
I grew up in Chicago, and I notice that people from Indiana, Michigan, evan Iowa have a little bit of the Chicago sound.
Ah I do know some michiganderz. I’ll forward them the list for a good chuckle
Woot woot! I love this post, made me laugh! I’m from Lansing, Michigan! 😉
This is so interesting. I love the different words from the states for a soft drink like soda, pop, coke. I love learning these quirky little things about different places.