Where did the Upper Midwest stereotypes come from? (to live, friendly)

[tornado9989]

I live in Minnesota, and whenever I go to a different part of the country, even down to areas like Illinois, people seem to think many false things about the upper Midwest, especially Minnesota. People think that it snows from October to May. People think we have very strong accents (We do have an accent, but it is very over-stereotyped). People think we are all Scandinavian. People think it never gets above 75 degrees. People think everyone is way to friendly. Where did all these stereotypes come from?

This is how it really is in Minnesota:

-Average year has snow from late November to mid-March. Some years has more snow than others, some have less. This year we had snow from the 3rd week in January to the 1st week of February (I'm not kidding).

-Minnesotans have slight accents. It is usually heard when we say o's. I hardly ever hear people say "You Betcha" or "Don'tcha Know". Most times I hear it people are saying it jokingly. I also hear people say "soda" more than "pop", but that's mostly in urban areas.

- Minnesota is not mostly Norwegian. It is only 16 percent Norwegian, and 9 percent from other Scandinavian countries. Minnesota is mostly German, which is about 40 percent of the population.

-Minnesota gets much warmer than most people think. The average high temperature in the summer is in the mid to upper 80's. And it doesn't get to 50 below in the winter. That only happened once or twice, way up near the Canadian border. This year was obviously much warmer than normal, with summertime highs in the mid to upper 90's for a few weeks. Even this March there were high temperatures above 80 degrees for a couple days here in SE Minnesota.

-People think everyone is nice in Minnesota. I have noticed that people here are friendlier, but there are some very rude people too.

[steel03]

Many of them come from the (absolutely fantastic) movie Fargo.
However, people definitely say "pop" in the Upper Midwest (except Milwaukee). That's a regional thing, not a stereotype.
I grew up in the Twin Cities and still go up there all the time for various reasons. I absolutely love it; it's easily my favorite city in the US.
The "Minnesota nice" thing, in my experience, sometimes lends itself to fierce, and I mean devastatingly fierce passive aggression. Again, that's something you find throughout the whole Upper Midwest region, not just in Minnesota. Actually, in Wisconsin, it's a bit more stubbornness than passive aggression. Iowa has a combination of both.
There is a bit of an accent, but obviously it's nothing close to what Fargo would have us believe. It's mostly a combination of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and a slight hardening of some consonants (mostly l and r), a bit like Irish. But it's really not much different from what you'd find in Illinois or Iowa.
This is pretty accurate: S&*t Minnesotans DON'T say (Fast and Funny, Share) - YouTube

[JohnnyMotts]

Originally Posted by tornado9989

I live in Minnesota, and whenever I go to a different part of the country, even down to areas like Illinois, people seem to think many false things about the upper Midwest, especially Minnesota. People think that it snows from October to May. People think we have very strong accents (We do have an accent, but it is very over-stereotyped). People think we are all Scandinavian. People think it never gets above 75 degrees. People think everyone is way to friendly. Where did all these stereotypes come from?

This is how it really is in Minnesota:

-Average year has snow from late November to mid-March. Some years has more snow than others, some have less. This year we had snow from the 3rd week in January to the 1st week of February (I'm not kidding).

-Minnesotans have slight accents. It is usually heard when we say o's. I hardly ever hear people say "You Betcha" or "Don'tcha Know". Most times I hear it people are saying it jokingly. I also hear people say "soda" more than "pop", but that's mostly in urban areas.

- Minnesota is not mostly Norwegian. It is only 16 percent Norwegian, and 9 percent from other Scandinavian countries. Minnesota is mostly German, which is about 40 percent of the population.

-Minnesota gets much warmer than most people think. The average high temperature in the summer is in the mid to upper 80's. And it doesn't get to 50 below in the winter. That only happened once or twice, way up near the Canadian border. This year was obviously much warmer than normal, with summertime highs in the mid to upper 90's for a few weeks. Even this March there were high temperatures above 80 degrees for a couple days here in SE Minnesota.

-People think everyone is nice in Minnesota. I have noticed that people here are friendlier, but there are some very rude people too.

Which is still much much more than virtually every other place in the US.

[Colts]

The mom from Bobby's World.

Sarah Palin.

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by tornado9989

People think we have very strong accents (We do have an accent, but it is very over-stereotyped)..

A lot of folks up there do have some pretty strong accents. Certain accents lend themselves to certain stereotypes. Just the way it is.

Some southern accents make the speaker sound...less than intelligent, even if they're a scholar. The upper midwest accent gives off a kind of goofy, happy go lucky connotation. Even if the person talking is a anything but goofy.

[rogead]

The "Fargo" accent is fairly limited geographically: Northwestern Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota primarily. In my entire life in Minneapolis, I've only known one person with that accent. That was an elderly neighbor who grew up in North Dakota.

When it comes to stereotypes in general, states and cities are a lot like people. Until you get to know them, your opinions are formed through personal biases and media depictions. Once you get to know them, you realize that they aren't really all that different from you.

[sholomar]

Originally Posted by steel03

Many of them come from the (absolutely fantastic) movie Fargo.
However, people definitely say "pop" in the Upper Midwest (except Milwaukee). That's a regional thing, not a stereotype.
I grew up in the Twin Cities and still go up there all the time for various reasons. I absolutely love it; it's easily my favorite city in the US.
The "Minnesota nice" thing, in my experience, sometimes lends itself to fierce, and I mean devastatingly fierce passive aggression. Again, that's something you find throughout the whole Upper Midwest region, not just in Minnesota. Actually, in Wisconsin, it's a bit more stubbornness than passive aggression. Iowa has a combination of both.
There is a bit of an accent, but obviously it's nothing close to what Fargo would have us believe. It's mostly a combination of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and a slight hardening of some consonants (mostly l and r), a bit like Irish. But it's really not much different from what you'd find in Illinois or Iowa.
This is pretty accurate: S&*t Minnesotans DON'T say (Fast and Funny, Share) - YouTube

Growing up in eastern WI we always said 'soda' .. kind of strange how regional it can be... here's a neat map.

http://i690.photobucket.com/albums/v...pvssodamap.gif

The main difference between where I'm at and where I was is population density, it's pretty boring out here but the jobless rate is excellent with a bel cheese plant on the way to add to it. I'm not the type to give up a good job in this economy just to live somewhere warmer or whatever....

[danielj72]

We all call it pop here in Michigan. Not sure why Milwalkee area calls it soda when the rest of the upper midwest calls it pop. I think Michigan has contributed alot to the stereotypes about the upper midwest. Specifically its the UP of Michigan, Yooper accents are legendary, as are the jokes about the weather. There is a comedy/musical act called "Da Yoopers" and yooper tourist gimicks promote the goofy upper midwest culture that is so very strong in the UP. The accents are much more diluted in lower Mi and Wisconsin, but they are still there. (Mi and lower Mi are much more influenced by Germans, less Scandanavian) Like Someone else said, only in certain places where the Scandanavian population is really heavy will you hear a thick accent like on Fargo. Its also strongest in the older folks as well.

[steel03]

Originally Posted by stockwiz

Growing up in eastern WI we always said 'soda' .. kind of strange how regional it can be... here's a neat map.

http://i690.photobucket.com/albums/v...pvssodamap.gif

Right, exactly! I always wonder looking at that map what on earth is going on in the Northwest Angle of Minnesota. It's also always struck me that basically, if California didn't say "soda," there wouldn't be such a big to-do about the whole thing. "Soda" would mostly just be an Eastern phenomenon. I've lived in the Upper Midwest my whole life, and thus have always and always will call it "pop."

Actually, looking at it again, it's sort of interesting that the two non-coastal concentrations of "soda" are centered on Milwaukee and St. Louis, which are both famous for their breweries. Huh.

[Smash XY]

Originally Posted by tornado9989

- Minnesota is not mostly Norwegian. It is only 16 percent Norwegian, and 9 percent from other Scandinavian countries. Minnesota is mostly German, which is about 40 percent of the population.

Minnesota is still 32 % Scandinavians and they have a much greater influence than Germans in the state.