Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/16/bells-brewery-releases-beer-named-after-very-midwestern-idiom.html
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I resided in western michigan for over a decade and never heard “no, yeah”.
I do constantly hear people make a distinct T sound at the end of ‘across’ though.
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Maybe it depends on what part of the state, I grew up about an hour outside Detroit and I say this all the time (along with “yeah, no”). But about 15 years living in the south and all my Michigan idioms are mixed with a lot of y’alls and such.
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I’ve never used “no, yeah,” but have used “yeah, no,” “doorwall,” and “party store,” where we buy our “pop.”
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That’s terrific! In New Zealand we say “Yeah, nah” when we want to turn down a drink, or generally express polite disagreement.
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I grew up in Vermont and I think a couple-few of these leaked eastward or down from Canoodia.
“Yeah, no” (or “Yeah, NOPE!” to be more assertive).
“Just gonna sneak by ya” - ALL the time to slither past people.
“ope, 'scuse me” - I say, “Oop, 'scuze me” (and generally apologize for anything) waaay too much.
Down here in the south I’m apparently pushy because I get scowls for trying to squeeze by, and if I say “sorry” most people assume I must have done something wrong.
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Curious, “Yeah, no” is equivalent (for me) to: “Uh… no”. But “No, yeah” just strikes (this west-coaster) as “Uhh… what?”
A quick cultural aside from “jeet” referenced in the post. Taking an immersive Russian language course, we complained (in Russian): “We can’t figure out what they’re saying! They run all their words together”. In response to this the instructor wrote on the board: “jeetyet?” (Did you eat yet?) And that shut us up.
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No, yeah, I identify completely – in fact, I could have written what you wrote almost word-for-word without a single lie (the biggest difference being that I only lived in the south for 11 years and change).
I think my biggest loss in all of that, linguistically speaking, is that I don’t think I’ve referred to a sugary carbonated beverage as “pop” in decades (I left the south 13 years ago), and it now sounds strange to me when my family does it. Though when I say “coke” I still mean Coca Cola.
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Since we’re talking about odd Midwesternisms, my father always says “ish!” when he refers to something disgusting or unappealing. It wasn’t until I was an adult when I realized that people outside of Minnesota do not say this.
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as a Michigander by birth, I don’t remember “no yeah” specifically but from the usage examples I think I’ve heard it. doorwall is completely new. “yeah, no” is something I see on the internet and hear people saying here in Atlanta, so I think that one has national traction now. party store is a better phrase than convenience store imo but I don’t say it because nobody here would know that idiom.
jeet is something I didn’t hear until I lived near southern Appalachia and in fact is a running joke between my friend from Bristol on the TN-WV border (who said it) and her northerner college roommate, who’d never heard it before. when my friend answers the phone “hello?” and hears “JEET?!” then she knows it’s that friend taking the piss out of her.
“pop” for soft drinks is probably the biggest one that I used to say. nobody down here uses it. I don’t blame them, though; “soda pop,” it’s origin, sounds pretty archaic. they say pop in Ontario and probably other places, too; it’s regional not MI specific.
to add: Bell’s two hearted is great beer, and I never even had it until a few years ago here in Atlanta.
oh yeah, a “coney island” or a “coney dog” is a specific MI way of serving a hot dog (frankfurter) that afaik has nothing to do with the actual Coney Island, New York. not even sure what it is but they’re really popular at least in the Detroit area.
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I am from Kalamazoo, lived near the brewery (there are a few breweries, but there is only one “the brewery”), and I’ve never used or even heard someone say doorwall; jeet; or no, yeah. But, yes, it is pop because you bake with soda. And party store is correct, however, after my relocation, the term is now either bodega or deli depending on the primary language being spoken. Admittedly, it gets confusing when they they speak Cantonese, Hindi, Pushtu, Mandarin, or Punjab - multiculturalism is awesome.
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Yeah, no, you need to embrace your linguistic heritage there. Nothing to be ashamed of. Pert’near everyone on mom’s side of my family talks like that.
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Yeah, pop is common across the northern US. I had arguments with friends in college over it.
“J’eet jet” is very much a thing with Yinzers here in Pittsburgh.
Coney dogs do have a Coney Island connection:
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Is there really such a difference between ‘yeah, no’ and ‘no, yeah’?
Also,
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I’ve heard this, but is it unique to the Troll Michigander or do Yoopers say it too?
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Michigander and I’ve rarely, if ever, heard “No, yeah”. But if all you have is “sliding glass door out to the patio” instead of doorwall, then doorwall wins. If there’s another word (or compound word) instead of long phrase, perhaps we can go with that.
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Before I even read the comments here, I wanted to read a cultural anthropologist’s paper about these idioms (no offense to the author’s authority (heh) to speak on the subject). Now, doubly so.
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Grew up in Michigan as well and I use / have used all of these EXCEPT doorwall. We always just called them sliding doors. I wonder how I missed this one?
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why hate any of it? embrace/cherish your roots.
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absolutely. Is a difference and it’s super obvious by the tone and delivery.
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