Surprising regional words of MN (Minneapolis, St. Paul: suburb, offices, metro)

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by demtion35

I hear people say all the time they are from "the cities' or "we live in the cities".
Its true also that most people who dont live down there say "the cities" like up in Hallock or Lancaster, when going to "the cities" is how they say it. People who live in the cities when they come up here they like to get it in the conversation that they are from "the cities".

I think "the cities" thing is interesting. Do you think the people who describe themselves as living in "the cities" are from somewhere else originally (i.e. maybe grew up somewhere else in the state, and moved to the Twin Cities as an adult?) I was born and raised in Minneapolis and am living there now, and I don't recall ever hearing anyone actually from the Twin Cities referring to their location as "the cities," or at least I don't hear that term around here within the metro area. (maybe they do use it when traveling?) My impression has been that it's only those who are from or who live outside of the Twin Cities call it that.

[demtion35]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I think "the cities" thing is interesting. Do you think the people who describe themselves as living in "the cities" are from somewhere else originally (i.e. maybe grew up somewhere else in the state, and moved to the Twin Cities as an adult?) I was born and raised in Minneapolis and am living there now, and I don't recall ever hearing anyone actually from the Twin Cities referring to their location as "the cities," or at least I don't hear that term around here within the metro area. (maybe they do use it when traveling?) My impression has been that it's only those who are from or who live outside of the Twin Cities call it that.

I hear people say they are from or live in St. Paul, but very few mention they live in Bloomington, or Richfield, Edina, or some other city. Rather I think they say when away from the metro they are from or live in the cities. Of course however if they are in the cities right now talking to a friend at the mall for example, they not going to say they live in the cities, but they live in Brooklyn Park, Crystal ext. ext.

When away from the metro area for example I will hear alot of the time they are from the cities, so its most likely used when in other areas away from the metro area. However, not sure of the "distance from the metro" that it would not be used in.

[snofarmer]

Up in the north land we call it the "Cities" or "Minneapolis."
Go'en to the cities.
You rarely hear "the twin cities" used.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I think "the cities" thing is interesting. Do you think the people who describe themselves as living in "the cities" are from somewhere else originally (i.e. maybe grew up somewhere else in the state, and moved to the Twin Cities as an adult?) I was born and raised in Minneapolis and am living there now, and I don't recall ever hearing anyone actually from the Twin Cities referring to their location as "the cities," or at least I don't hear that term around here within the metro area. (maybe they do use it when traveling?) My impression has been that it's only those who are from or who live outside of the Twin Cities call it that.

I call it the Twin Cities unless I'm somewhere outstate where I already know they call it "the cities", and I adjust to fit the local terminology.

[Kamsack]

Originally Posted by snofarmer

Up in the north land we call it the "Cities" or "Minneapolis."
Go'en to the cities.
You rarely hear "the twin cities" used.

I agree...I live across the river from Grand Forks ND and we all say going to the
"cities".

[StilltheSame]

Originally Posted by dravogadro

Oh, I agree. I used to be thrown off because I was waiting for the rest of the sentence.

These are pronounced incorrectly enough to be regional words:
- roof
- root
- bag

Yes! When i hear going with - I still say "with???" I get glares, but I do not care.

[Beenhere4ever]

Is it local to add "then" to all sorts of questions?

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

I call it the Twin Cities unless I'm somewhere outstate where I already know they call it "the cities", and I adjust to fit the local terminology.

Ah, good point. I would still say that I live in Minneapolis (and would feel awkward saying "the cities" as it would not come naturally), but it's a good point that if you're in an area where "the cities" is the norm, you'd be more likely to use it. And I suppose if I was from a suburb I'd probably more likely to say "the cities" or "the Twin Cities."

That reminds me of the other thing that I run into from time to time (not sure if it counts as a regionalism): when you tell someone you're from Minneapolis and they say "what suburb"! One person didn't even realize people even lived in the city of Minneapolis! She thought the city of Minneapolis was only the central downtown office core. I'm sure this happens in other metro areas, too, but ''ve encountered it here a lot more than the other places we've lived. Maybe it's because the core cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis are relatively small compared to the metro area as a whole, people tend to be more familiar with the suburbs as residential areas. (and if I met someone outside of Minneapolis who said they were from Minneapolis I wouldn't myself automatically assume it was the city, as they could just be meaning metro area, just like I assume people from Hermantown say they're from Duluth when in Minneapolis, but still, in either case, one should know that a city has residents in addition to offices!)

And then there's the"outstate". I grew up using "outstate Minnesota" to mean parts of the state not in the Twin Cities metro area. There was a thread on here awhile back where some people considered outstate to be derogative, and preferred "Greater Minnesota," but I don't recall ever really hearing Greater Minnesota until more recent years, and still mostly hear them used interchangeably. (at least here in Minneapolis and in the Twin Cities media).

[Glenfield]

I think "the cities" is short hand for "the Twin Cities" and is only used by folks outstate, or by folks from the cities talking to people from outstate. When folks from the metro area are talking to others in the metro area about a location, it's specific, e.g. Edina, Minneapolis, Eagan, etc.

When talking to people from outside Minnesota or the surrounding area, the term Twin Cities is used, (or often Minneapolis), as names of suburbs are unknown to these people, while the use of " the cities" would lead to the question, "what cities?".

When talking to folks outstate, then the modifier "twin" is dropped as everyone understands which "cities" are being discussed, or it's implied in the coversation.

[demtion35]

Snowmobile
Snowcat
Snowmachine
Sled

Different ways "Shakopee, MN. is pronounced.