A woman who grew up in south central Minnesota grew up using the phrase too yet, which can have various meanings at the end of a sentence, usually with some negative sense. An article by Peter Veltman in American Speech suggests that the tag too yet...
Scobolotch is a term used in Wisconsin for the mayfly that may derived from a Native American language. Variants include scobblotcher and skoplotch. This short-lived insect goes by many other names, including Green Bay fly and Canadian soldier. This...
If you complain that something went down your Sunday throat you mean that it went into your windpipe. Saying that something goes down your Sunday throat may derive from the fact that just as Sunday is a special day of the week in some religions...
Kirby in Deer River, Minnesota, an agriculture science and Future Farmers of America advisor, asks whether ruminate as in pondering comes from the cud-chewing done by ruminants. The image fits, but the figurative language is older than modern farm...
An Alabama woman says her Minnesota-born husband has never heard an expression she’s used all her life. The phrase is “smell the patching,” as in “If he’s not careful, he’s going to smell the patching.” The...
Uff-da! is an exclamation of disgust or annoyance. In Norwegian, it means roughly the same as Yiddish Oy vey!, and is now common in areas of the U.S. settled by Norwegians, particularly Wisconsin and Minnesota. This is part of a complete...
