Not In Michigan

My husband Terry is originally from Michigan, but when we met and fell in love, he never hesitated to move here to Wisconsin to be with me. He said it would be much easier for him to live further away from his family than it would be for me. He knew how tight knit my family was versus his own. His family was fairly close, but not near as close as mine.

It was about a month after the move that I started to notice Terry’s vocabulary and how it was so much different than mine. It wasn’t an accent, it was the choice of words and how he said certain things. The first time I remember this lingo is when I had an excruciating headache and he asked me if I’d like for him to get me some Ibuprofane (saying it exactly how I spelt it). I chuckled, and said, “Did you just say Ibuprofane?” “It’s Ibuprofen” Hehehehe. “No it’s not” was his reply. Still laughing, I reassured him that it WAS Ibuprofen and he nonchalantly smiled and said, “Not in Michigan it’s not”.

That was just the beginning of what I now call my husband’s very own personal vocabulary. Living in Wisconsin and in the country we have a pretty large Amish community. The first time my husband saw a horse and buggy going down the highway, he asked me “Are those Amnish people?” Giggling, I said, “You mean Amish?” “Yeah, Amnish” he replied. I repeatedly told him they were called Amish (telling him to leave out the N); yet again his answer was, “Not in Michigan”. It was the old Abbott and Costello routine of “Who’s on First”. Laughing, I asked him how a state which was fairly similar to Wisconsin could have this all new English vocabulary. “I don’t know, but we do”. I knew they didn’t, but he was just too cute to tell otherwise.

I’ve made numerous trips to Michigan with Terry to visit his family and for vacations, and never once had I heard anyone else speak the “Michigan Lingo” as he proclaimed. Terry is also really good about saying, “You want I should do something for you?” Or the expression “You’s guys”. When I first heard him say the “you want I should get you a cup of coffee?” I was confused. Was it a question or an offer? Laughing hysterically, I asked him what in carnation was he talking about. His response was, “You know, you want I should get you some coffee” Still laughing, literally rolling of the edge of my seat, I said to him “If you’re asking me if I want a cup of coffee, yes that would be great”. “What’s so funny, he asked”. “Terry! You want I should get you a cup of coffee? That doesn’t make any sense!” With a sincere look on his face he utters, “In Michigan it does”. I’ve also told him a thousand times, “Terry, you’s guys is NOT proper vocabulary; you sound like you’re in the mafia or something”. “Not in Michigan, everyone says you’s guys”. All I could do is chuckle and let it go.

My husband was deployed to Iraq for 15 months from 2003 to 2004. When Terry came home he would talk to me and our family about what had happened and what it was like for him being gone. Firstly, he started to say that he had photographs of him sitting in Sadaan’s solid gold chair at the Four Head Palace in Baghdad. I would say, “You mean Sadaam?” where his response would be “That’s what I said”. But it never was what he said, it was ALWAYS Sadaan. Also, instead of saying Iraq, Terry would say Irok. Still trying to get him to pronounce the words properly, I would still try and say the words over and over again; hoping they would sink in and he’d get it.
What’s really fun is going to Taco Bell with my husband through the drive thru. Every item and I mean every one is pronounced the way he sees it. For example: a quesadilla is a quasadolla. He never gets any of the pronunciations correct, with the exception of taco. All I can do is burst out laughing, sometimes in tears listening to him order.

One day Terry said to me, “You know honey; you have your own little lingo going on yourself”. “Yeah right, what do I say that’s not ‘politically correct’?” “Well, you’s guys here in Wisconsin say Stop and Go lights” “So” I replied. “Well hun, in Michigan, we just say stop lights”. Hmmmmm. He did have a good point with that one. “Also, when you’s guys invite someone over you say, why don’t you come over here by me?” “Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” “Well, we just say, why don’t you come over or stop by” I thought about it and he was right, it really didn’t make much sense. I guess we both have our own personal lingo going on. My answer now when my husband points out something I say which he thinks is incorrect is “Not in Wisconsin, that’s how we say it”.

Story ID:	2457
Written by:	Stacy Lynn Stiles (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Musings, Essays and Such
Location:	Tomah WI USA
Year:	2007