What states do you consider to be part of the Midwest?

^^ i mean, just the midwest's

u_u

waht is the mesabi range a range of

holes, now

tru

I really do think being a Chicagoan has a great deal to do with my conception of the Midwest. In some ways, the states that I consider "Midwestern" are ones that don't feel that far away, and that I've been to more than a couple of times. So Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and (obviously) Illinois all fit -- and as I said earlier, I'd be willing to accept Missouri, too (especially since St. Louis is only 4.5 hours away, and I've visited there no fewer than four times).

Whereas the Dakotas and Nebraska and Kansas just feel instinctively wrong to me -- but maybe that's because I've never been to North Dakota or Kansas, and have only been to South Dakota and Nebraska on a big family road-trip vacation to Yellowstone and back when I was nine years old.

Oh wait, my band played a show in Omaha once. But still, that's like 7 or 8 hours away.

Like Iowa, Kansas is quintessentially Midwest to me. We're not in Kansas anymore etc etc.

a graphical delineation needs to be made for the boundaries of 1) the cultural midwest 2) the environmental midwest and 3) the political/economic midwest. then, using GIS spatial analyst tools, the boundaries of these three concurrent regions can be extrapolated and a generalized midwestern boundary that accounts for all geographic aspects of the region can be decided upon. and it won't include kentucky

Kansas is Middle America to me, but not Midwest.

oh brother

or pennsylvania

have you met a person from kansas?? if you ask them the question:

"are you from the midwest?" they will answer YES

yes^^^ same with Nebraska

i mean i realize we all love to have our own personal definitions of the Midwest, and that's fine, too

if you wanna be rong

jaymc where does "Middle America" end and the Midwest begin?

at the edges of a John Cougar Mellencamp video

Missouri is 100% midwest, no contest

― Mr. Que, Thursday, October 22, 2009 8:48 AM (26 minutes ago)

y'all ever been to Springfield? (3rd largest city in MO)

cuz i have and it is way more Southern than Midwestern.

Quick wiki browse: Sits in the Ozarks, Confederate stronghold from 1861-1865, site of the first recorded shoot-out, birthplace/terminus of "SOUTHERN" intercontinental Route 66, etc.

iiiijjjj, you been to Springfield right?

jaymc where does "Middle America" end and the Midwest begin?

The Midwest is part of Middle America.

i dunno there's burbs up here that are pretty "southern" imo

Isn't the Midwest meant to be neutral, "accentless", Mom's Apple Pie America? If so, no way the Dakotas are in it, that's witch country.

lol

just because MO has a "southern" city doesn't mean it is not, as a whole, "midwestern" imo

yep, I canvassed for Obama there and I would say that based on the lay of the land, including plenty of creeks and hollows, the per-capita frequency of churches and Waffle Houses, not to mention the physical size of the numerous churches, that it felt distinctly more southern than midwestern to me at least. all this could be said about Branson and the Ozarks in general too. also, I drove past Roy Blunt on I-44.

accentless lol

i have been to Springfield twice. seemed Midwestern to me.

PARRk THE CARRR

i thought that was for the Bahstin accent.

Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd.

BRRATS

Dialect Survey Maps and Results

http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/maps.html

Delaware and Maryland are mid-Atlantic.

Also, Laurel, can I get that porkchop and rice casserole recipe? Thx.

xp

I'll ask about it, J. Or check at home and try to remember to bring it to work.

btw most chicagoans don't speak with a "chicago" accent. accentless as in 95% of midwesterners sound like your typical CNN newscaster, hollywood actor, etc.

that is not actually true in mn

that's 4% right there.

yeah that's not true of 95% of northern ohioans, michigan people, or wisconsin, etc. people i have met either.

95% accentless. 1% Chicago accent. 4% hockey accent.

btw most chicagoans don't speak with a "chicago" accent. accentless as in 95% of midwesterners sound like your typical CNN newscaster, hollywood actor, etc.

― hope this helps (Granny Dainger), Thursday, October 22, 2009 12:50 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Could have fooled me on that. Unless they are transplants. Pretty much everybody I know has one.

Missouri is 100% midwest, no contest

definitely. If Kansas and Illinois are Midwest, but Missouri isn't, then is Missouri the extended middle finger of the south?

That's cause you socialize exclusively at the Pipefitters Union hall, Bill.

Yeah, even people who aren't running around talking about "da Bears" still say "Oh my Gaaaahd" and "Chicaaaahgo." I am mostly aware of this because of the extent to which I've started doing it myself, which kind of bums me out.

i've heard buffalo lumped in as a midwestern city which is totally ??? except for the accent.

― harbl, Wednesday, October 21, 2009 9:56 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this seems right to me + i grew up in buffalo and live here now. it's the rust belt imo.

% of people in Chicago with "Chicago" accent=% of people in NYC with "New York" accent. I've come across thousands of people born and raised in the area and only a handful have had that thick "hey dere my friend whaddaya say we get some brats and watch da bears" accent. Wish it was more prevalent tbh, cause it's pretty hilarious.

It is totally hilarious.

lol

I listen the Steve Dahl Show podcasts, right, and he plays voicemails from listeners. I'd say 1 out of 20 have a Chicago accent. Which he of course then usually mocks, awesomely.

I'm probably don't pick up on the more subtle versions of the accent, though.

Hello there, my friend. What do you say we purchase some bratwursts, and then watch the Chicago Bears football game?