5 Things We Say In Michigan That Make Others Say ‘Huh’?

When I was young, I was bummed. Bummed because Michiganders didn't seem to have an accent. You could hear a great accent in the south, y'all. Da Noo Yorkiz (New Yorkers) have a great one, too. And over dere (there) in Minnesota is a real good one, too.

So why not Michigan?

Well, hold it, now. Once I got a little older and moved to New England, I realized we Michiganders do indeed have a Midwestern accent. I also realized we say a few things that some from other parts of the country just don't get. Here are a few:

Making Things Possessive

"My dad works at Ford's!" That's one thing I always heard, growing up. Or, "I'm goin' to pick up a few things at Meijer's!"

Funny how that works.

Who's Pete?

We in Michigan, instead of saying "holy Mackerel" or "holy Toledo", (though we say those, too), like to say "Geez-o-Pete"! Or, in the spirit of the previous point, "Geez-o-Pete's"!

MichiganNative.com calls it "a Michigan expletive for polite company, having something to do with Jesus and St. Peter." Expletive?! Whoops.

Might just want to err on the safe said and say "Geez-Louise". Guess we know, now, who Peter is - and Geez.

Got Melk?

This one seems to be some sort of Midwest-ism, or maybe it's an exclusively a Michigan thing: Saying "melk" for milk.

Where at?!

We Michiganders do, sometimes, have an affinity to break that old grammar rule: No prepositions at the end of sentences. Our favorite seems to be "at".

"Where at?" or "Where do you work at?"

Pop, Not Soda

When I lived in New England, this is the one that got me the funniest looks. "Where's the pop machine?" Those Rhode Islanders would cock their head sideways, "You mean the soda machine?"

Right, yeah. That's it. SODA machine.

What are your favorite "Michiganisms"?

BONUS VIDEO - People from Illinois Explain Michigan Accents