Indiana stereotypes? (Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville: house, Mennonites, tornado)

[deleckidesign]

Originally Posted by domergurl

It drove me nuts when we lived in Fishers and now here in Columbus how people call their grandparents Ma-maw and Pa-paw. What's that about? Also when they put the emphasis on the first syllables of "insurance" and "umbrella". I'd also never heard the term "fair to middlin'" before college and had no clue what it meant. Also, I remember hearing some old timers saying "you-uns" and "we-uns".

Haha! I was born in Indiana and lived there until I was 12 (when we moved to Michigan). Always called my mom's parents Ma-maw and Pa-paw...not sure why though? I guess it's an Indiana thing? But on my dad's side, I always called his parents grandpa and grandma! Weird.

When I moved to Michigan, people thought I had an accent. Now I just have an accent when I say words like "fire"..."tire"...and "wire"...tends to have that twangy IIIIIRE sound!

[j33]

Where you from southern Indiana originally? I went to college down there (and noticed that there is quite a southern twang sported by many of the good folks down there).

[deleckidesign]

Originally Posted by j33

Where you from southern Indiana originally? I went to college down there (and noticed that there is quite a southern twang sported by many of the good folks down there).

Nope, I was from Anderson, north of Indy. Then lived in a tiny, tiny town called Shirley for a few years.

[Miami305Kid]

Stereotypes are hickish, nothing good, inferior to Chicago/Illionois, boring

[j33]

Originally Posted by deleckidesign

Nope, I was from Anderson, north of Indy. Then lived in a tiny, tiny town called Shirley for a few years.

Shirley? That is a great name for a town.

[deleckidesign]

Originally Posted by j33

Shirley? That is a great name for a town.

And boy was it tiny! Population a few years ago was around 800. The high school I went to had about 90 people per class...and I'm sure it served as the high school for neighboring small towns as well!

I miss the small-town life...

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by Miami305Kid

Stereotypes are hickish, nothing good, inferior to Chicago/Illionois, boring

WTF

[beth1104]

Lived in Indiana 45 years, but not in one of the small towns where you typically hear the 'twang'... worked with some people from smaller towns that commuted to Indpls and their accents and bad grammar drove me crazy. I recently moved to S.C. and am hearing a lot of "Y'all" and "All Y'all". Now I miss my small town Indiana hickish friends

[Colts]

Stereotypes?

[sigh]Let's see here: Conservative, plain, racist, no accents, corn, obsessed with racing and basketball. That's pretty much it.

Growing up in Michigan, I never really gave the stereotypes of Indiana or anywhere else much thought until I actually came here.

The state can be quite plain, almost generic in parts. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though. Social conservatism seems to be rampant here, although the larger cities tend to be more moderate.

I can attest to the racism, it seems to be almost a subtle, inherent type of racism in this state. Whereas even the hardcore racist Southern states have moved on and become more tolerant of others, it seems as if many people here are still very much closed minded, particularly against blacks.

The no-accents thing is kind of an anomaly. You have the northern, nasally accent here in Fort Wayne and parts northward; then there's the central Indiana non-accent, and then south of Columbus, IN you have a distinctly Midwestern but yet slightly Southern type of dialect.

I never understood the whole corn thing. Indiana's economy lies primarily in industry/manufacturing, and soybeans are this state's largest crop.

Same with racing and basketball. I don't think I've met anyone truly obsessed with either of the two when I went to school in Indy.

[muslima]

Originally Posted by Interpol76

Extremely conservative, dumb hicks, full of white trash, very antisocial, un-neighborly, introverted people who tend to marry early in age. I've lived out of state (Cali, Montana and Texas) and have never heard anybody say anything nice about Indiana except: "isnt that where Michael Jackson is from?".

i hate to say it but being a born and bred hoosier who luckily has traveled out of state enough to keep me sane, i would have to agree with interpol76 with the exception of a few areas that have larger universities near by.