ISO Iowans

[Constance]

A few more questions...

Do you call the suspenders on your overalls galluses?
What do you call baby pigs?


Can you think of any dishes your mother made that had nicknames?
(ex: around here, stewed tomatoes with bread used to be called "Poor-do" because poor people could make do with a meal of it.

 

[jennyema]

I was born in Minneapolis and lived there before moving to Iowa (with a brief stop in Fargo in between!).

In Minneapolis and Fargo they said "you betcha" but In Cedar Rapids they definitely did not.

I spent many happy hours at Minnehaha "crick" in Mpls. but in CR it was a "creek."

To my ears, the Minnesota/ND/Wisconsin accent is somewhat different than Iowans'. In Mpls there are longer vowels "oooooh my" and a lilt at the end of a sentence that makes every statement sound like a question? Perfect for Jeopardy.

 

[Angie]

I was born in Minneapolis and lived there before moving to Iowa (with a brief stop in Fargo in between!).

In Minneapolis and Fargo they said "you betcha" but In Cedar Rapids they definitely did not.

I spent many happy hours at Minnehaha "crick" in Mpls. but in CR it was a "creek."

To my ears, the Minnesota/ND/Wisconsin accent is somewhat different than Iowans'. In Mpls there are longer vowels "oooooh my" and a lilt at the end of a sentence that makes every statement sound like a question? Perfect for Jeopardy.

HEY! I'm in Cedar Rapids! (Marion..) I say You Betcha, but I don't know how many others do...

There is a HUGE difference in the accent between us and WI/MN. I have relatives in WI and we alway make fun of them driving their cah, where we drive a car. And in Minnesoooda...nuff said?

 

[JoAnn L.]

I am a born and raised Iowan and I wash my dishes in the zink instead of the sink.

 

[Angie]

A few more questions...

Do you call the suspenders on your overalls galluses?
What do you call baby pigs?


Can you think of any dishes your mother made that had nicknames?
(ex: around here, stewed tomatoes with bread used to be called "Poor-do" because poor people could make do with a meal of it.

Baby pigs? I think they are just baby pigs.

What the heck are galluses???

I'm gonna post some questions on my family website. My mom's 7 bro's/sis's check it daily and will be happy to add info!

 

[Angie]

Oh, and I carry a purse.

 

[jennyema]

HEY! I'm in Cedar Rapids! (Marion..) I say You Betcha, but I don't know how many others do...

There is a HUGE difference in the accent between us and WI/MN. I have relatives in WI and we alway make fun of them driving their cah, where we drive a car. And in Minnesoooda...nuff said?

Right next door!

They drive "cahs" out here! "Toyoters," in fact.

I honestly cannot recall ever in my life saying "you betcha."

Have never heard of "galluses."

In Minnesota they call casseroles "hot dishes," but don't know if Iowans do that.

When I lived there, it was popular to serve bread (ala Wonder bread) at every meal.

They also eat Maidrite sammies.

 

[Constance]

I guess you have to have worn bib overalls to know about galluses. Galluses are the straps that you throw over your shoulder and hook to the bib. If you get the strap twisted, they ask you if you're expecting lightening. Don't ask me why.

 

[JoAnn L.]

From Iowa.

I always call a head scarf a babushka and boots were always galoshes (not sure of the spelling). My mom always said handbag instead of purse. In her day they didn't have shoulder bags.

 

[jennyema]

I guess you have to have worn bib overalls to know about galluses. Galluses are the straps that you throw over your shoulder and hook to the bib. If you get the strap twisted, they ask you if you're expecting lightening. Don't ask me why.

For some reason I wore overalls quite regularly in high school. My mother was horrified (as I am now) , but it was the 1970's ....

 

[Angie]

Jeeze..what a bunch. This is what I've gotten for replies so far from my family's website!!!!!!!


From Aunt Marge:
1920's???? Just HOW OLD do you think we are?????

From Uncle Randy:
We had to walk to school and it was uphill both ways , and you spit yur skoal out the winder when the teacher wasnt looking.
We grow corn for ethenol and beans for methane..

And from DAD:
I think baby pigs were what we called the grade school girls from Clarksville, and soda ? who the **** ever heard of soda ?It's pop here in God's country. As far as purses vs. handbags I've been hit by a lot of purses but never a handbag. Also, we don't grow any colquealisms here in Iowa just corn and beans.
Love ya,
DAD



I tried. I guess I need to make a phone call to Gramma instead!

 

[Constance]

Your family sounds great!

Actually, it was the 30's, not the 20's, but I imagine Gramma is the one to talk to about old sayings or other things she remembered or heard from her family.

Thanks for the smiles!

 

[Uncle Bob]

Dave, have you ever been out in a cornfield on a still, hot, humid summer night to hear the corn grow? You can actually hear it pop and rustle as it grows.

I've heard this many times (in Missssippi) I tell people about it and they laugh. 'Tis true however!!

 

[Barbara L]

I found a website once that had a webcam recording corn in some field in Iowa. It said at the site that you could see the corn growing! I didn't watch long enough to know if it was true or not. I had already planned to watch some paint dry.

Barbara

 

[Angie]

Your family sounds great!

Actually, it was the 30's, not the 20's, but I imagine Gramma is the one to talk to about old sayings or other things she remembered or heard from her family.

Thanks for the smiles!

Grampa RIP was born in 1910 and Granma was born in 1919. I'll get some good stories from her...she was a child of 12 and had 8 of her own..all on the farm! Grampa was one of 9 and was a farmer his whole life.

 

[Dave Hutchins]

Yes I have heard the corn grow> I was raised on a acerage and we raised corn and it is true in July nights when it is unbeliveable hot you can here the corn grow.and the smell of growing corn is sublime Dave

 

[suziquzie]

Dave, I can hear it too, I have a cornfield for a next door neighbor.
However nothing sounds colder in the fall when its dried out right before harvest, and that frigid north wind starts ripping through it in November.
I'd like to hear it grow again soon!

 

[Constance]

So, has no one else heard of galluses? Not even you, Bob?

 

[Uncle Bob]

So, has no one else heard of galluses? Not even you, Bob?

Yes Miss Connie, I have heard the term, but only as a reference to "suspenders" or "braces." I personally have never heard the term applied to bib over-alls. When I think about it, I do'nt know what you call the "straps" on over-alls. I've just always called them straps. I do have several pair, mostly camouflage. However; I do have a very pretty brown pair I wear when I take my best girl out on the town!

 

[Constance]

I wore Osh Kosh bib overalls to work in when I had the greenhouse business. After 22 years, I became very proficient at throwing that first gallus over my shoulder when I pulled them up.