Do Illinois Residents Have Their Own Language?

People who visit Illinois may have difficulty holding a conversation with residents because some phrases they hear are only used in our state.

Phrases Only Used By The Residents Of Illinois

It's interesting now that I think back on it. My father was born in Finland, so his first language was Finnish. Then, he moved the the Dominican Republic where is learned Spanish. When he was 12, his family moved to Chicago so English was his third language.

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Surprisingly, he didn't have an accent. He was smart and well-spoken but when he was in a social situation with friends he turned into a full-on Illinois/Chicago guy. It was like he was straight out of a Saturday Night Live skit.

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My mother has spent the majority of her life in Illinois. She was born in the city and then moved to the suburbs as a kid. She doesn't have a Chicago accent but does use many of the strange phrases only used in Illinois. The funny thing, my dad used to make fun of her because of it and he did it too.

I do find it fascinating that the residents of Illinois seem to have their own language at times by using terminology that is only heard in our state. I found a list of these Chicago terms and had to share some of the ones I heard a lot as a kid.

• "I'm going to the warshroom." To this day, my mom always adds "r" to the word wash no matter how it's used.

• "Order me a pop." In my house growing up it wasn't soda, a soft drink, or a brand name like Coke. It was always called "pop." I've had people ask me what is pop.

• "Don't forget your gym shoes." That is what my parents called sneakers.

• "Wannago." I'm totally guilty of this thanks to my mom. People from Illinois frequently use word contractions. The only problem is they aren't officially from the English language. They're pretty much made up by putting words together that normally aren't.

Only In Our State