Photo provided by Indianapolis Moms

By CASSIDY WHITE
InkFreeNews

INDIANAPOLIS — Recently, WISH-TV’s Daybreak received a visit from a very special group of guests: Indianapolis Moms. The segment focused on how our residents speak and the group offered up an all-inclusive guide on how to speak like a Hoosier.

Gráinne McConnell, who grew up in Northern Ireland, took to the internet to post the aforementioned guide on the Indianapolis Moms’ website. The guide was aptly named, “A Foreigners Guide to Speaking Hoosier.” McConnell lists 10 different words or phrases and gives a brief overview of what they mean, as well as an example of how they are used in our every day conversations.

The list consisted of: Hoosier, Doozy, Ope, “If you don’t like the weather, wait 15 minutes,” “sweep the carpet,” mashed potato and noodle casserole, pitch-in, yeah, catty-corner and browncownee. If you’ve been a Hoosier most your life, chances are you’ve heard all of these repeatedly over the course of your life.

Most notably, McConnell mentions how the use of the word “yeah” can hold several different meanings to a Hoosier depending on how it’s said.

For example, if someone says, “No, yeah,” they mean yes. However, if they say, “Yeah, no,” they mean no. Combining them both, you get “Yeah, no, for sure,” which means definitely yes.

All Indianans are Hoosiers, but what exactly is a Hoosier? “Hoosier” is actually the official name for residents of Indiana. There are many theories as to where the name originated, but despite its unknown origins, it’s still the name you know and love today.

Next up is a midwest favorite, “ope!” This exclamation combines oh and oops, and expresses surprise, especially when apologizing, and is likely the most used word on this list by the vast majority of Hoosiers.

Living in Indiana, the weather has always been pretty fickle. One minute, it may be 60 degrees and sunny, the next, it may 40 degrees and raining cats and dogs. For this, you can tell your neighbors, “If you don’t like the weather, wait 15 minutes.” In Indiana, weather literally changes by the minute, so you never know what your possibilities are for the day.

If you’ve ever vacuumed your living room with family or friends over, chances are you’ve mentioned the need to “sweep the carpet.” Out of state residents may assume you’re going to bring out a broom, but Hoosiers know you’re just doing some normal housekeeping.

Many Hoosier have been to a pitch-in, which is simply a pot luck for Hoosiers And on the topic of pot-lucks, one of your neighbors has certainly offered to bring their favorite mashed potato and noddle casserole dish along. It’s simply, easy to make, fairly cheap for ingredients, and is more than filling enough for an entire group of people.

If you’ve ever given a friend or neighbor directions to a new spot in town, chances are you explained what the building was catty-corner to. For Hoosiers, “catty-corner” is a play off “kitty-corner,” which many out-of-country residents use to explain when something is both diagonal and opposite to what they are describing.

If any Hoosiers out there live in or around Brown County, you’re probably familiar with the loose slang, “browncownee,” which serves as a not-so-shorthand way of explaining which county you’re heading to.

For those interested in hearing more about how these words and phrases are used, or want to learn more about McConnell’s experiences as a Hoosier and a foreigner, be sure to head over to the Indianapolis Moms’ website at www.IndianapolisMoms.com. Ope, no, yeah, it sure is a doozy!