"Ope" is usually followed by "just gonna sneak past ya there." Other Midwest translations: "No, yeah" = yes "Yeah, no" = no "Yeah, no, definitely" = absolutely
I like to think of them as conversational contractions of longer phrases, like "yeah, no" is short for "yes I understand what you are saying, and no, I do not agree with you." The last word spoken is what really matters, the rest is preamble; kinda like "well, we oughtta be getting down the road" meaning it's time for 30 minutes of goodbyes.
I'm from northwest Indiana and I have never heard of pitch-in only potluck. Also, I never heard of a vacuum being called a sweeper. But I am a big user of ope.
I'm from Indiana and all of these are accurate. The "ope" one is weird though because someone pointed it out to me like last year that we all say it and I was like what??? I've never heard this before, you're making that up, etc. Then I paid attention and realized it was true and not only that, but I say it too lmao. It's just so unconscious and ingrained here that I never noticed it.
It almost ruins your life a bit. Lol The first time I heard that, I had the same reaction as you, and then I realized that I say it all day, every day...in many, many contexts. I am from Nebraska, and it is just as common here.
Can’t forget “Dirt Pudding” A dessert made with crushed up Oreos, cream cheese and whipped cream that is made to look like layers of dirt. If you’re feeling fancy, you can even throw in gummy worms to really capture that look.
@Potterhead, Directioner, Fantom, etc. Same here. I’m surprised I’m not any heavier than I currently am. My Mamaw makes me a giant dish of it at least once a year.
I never called that “dirt pudding” just “dirt”. I remember it seemed like a new trendy thing when I was a kid in the ‘80s. Not sure it it was newly invented in the ‘80s or was just new to me. I’ve had it with and without cream cheese. Occasionally I have seen “sand” which is a vanilla version of “dirt”. It used to have vanilla wafers and vanilla pudding in place of Oreos and chocolate pudding, but I suppose you could use the vanilla Oreos now. Love the summer parties with the “sand” with the teddy grams placed under the cocktail umbrellas and the blue jello with the Swedish fish suspended inside. I don’t even like jello but love the look of that.
Oh course you haven't. It's something akin to a gasp. Now you know, you'll hear it all the time. In my case though it comes out as closer to oh than open. But it's not quite oh
@@Boo-pz7li You've probably heard it countless times, but it's more of a noise than a word. I find myself saying it when I almost run into someone or someone startles me.
As a midwesterner, "ope" is such a normalized part of my vocabulary that I didn't realize that it was at all regional or different from what anyone might say in that situation. To me it's not even a word, it's just a sound. So strange to view it from an outside perspective.
It's scientifically impossible for a Midwesterner to stop saying "ope" once it's in their vocabulary. And in Minnesota we call it potluck. I like that u added In variants for each word.
yeah, though it's not really odd for people from other states i've found. me, I say "ope" because it's kinda from my brain taking the words/sounds "oh" and "whoops/oops" and combining them into a new word, "ope".
@@aguy559 I'm from Missouri (born and raised in mid missouri, live in southern missouri now) and I definitely say it, and have heard others say it. Just something that happened one day and went to say oops but was cut off but a second suprise and realized that, once I said it in a reflex, I've been unable to stop saying it now (and I'm 38) 🤣🤣 . It's actually a lot more common than you think, sometimes can be misheard as a somewhat odd sounding "oops" (like it was cut off a little too soon). The other common one here is Whoops, could be more common in southern missouri as that's where I ended up picking it up at.
“Pitch-in” and “sweeper” not used in those ways here in Michigan. Pitch-in, means help out. And pot-luck is our bring a dish meals. “But-yeah” is a common filler phrase here 😂
yeah i think even inside of the midwest we must have some differences because if you said you were going to use your sweeper on your carpet stairs then you would be the biggest fool i’ve ever seen
Fellow Kansas here, been using pitch in since kindergarten, don’t hear it as much now though. Never used sweeper a day in my life. Been to many pot lucks in my childhood, not so much as an adult. Mostly for church functions.
Hoosier here. I think this is pretty specific to like one part of Indiana, and he just happened to live here. I call it a pitch-in. My family and coworkers call it a pitch-in, but none of my friends from more than an hour away call it that.
This one especially is a total mess. In Alberta these are definitely known as potluck, in Ontario I think so as well, and I think they're still potluck once you're in border-region Michigan, but once you're into Indiana, it's liable to change rapidly.
@@BMoney8600 I thought about this and I would do this: I add a 'there' at the end, and start laughing as I say 'you ok there?', then laugh some more. "Ope, you okay there?"
"We also say, 'yahyoubetchdontchaknow." *LIAR!* We only say that to make fun of Canadians, Minnesotans, and people that think we actually talk like that.
I do remember saying "you betch ya" when I was younger. I wouldn't call people a LIAR that actually have experienced it. Times change and may not be that common anymore.
@@kathyg5227 I was mostly joking, (but this is the internet so tone doesn't come through, and is assumed aggressive. That's my bad.) That being said, "You betcha" maybe...? But I've never heard anyone from this part of Wisconsin (the main part I can speak for) say "don't cha know" outside of saying "We don't say 'don't cha know.' That's people from Minnesota."
As a midwesterner, I did not fully realize that "ope" was a distinct thing until I spent some time with people from the coasts. It's barely even a full syllable. Just an involuntary sound we make.
I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only midwestern that didn’t realize that the involuntary sound ‘Ope’ was a thing or a word... just something that pops out of my mouth as a reaction sound
Michigander... Moves to Boston: relentlessly chided every time says “pop”, so tries saying “soda” Moves home: “soda” slips out ... EVERYONE stops and stares at me in disgust (internally considering disowning me) True story.
It is said that all the east-coasters who came to the University of Wisconsin in Madison (in about the 1960s-70s?) said soda instead of pop and it spread from there.
@@daradoe9415 Aaargh! Well, when I was a kid in Minnesota, I think we all said "soda pop." Maybe that's the best way, though it does sound a little childish. (Kind of like "bunny rabbit.") Or I guess we could avoid the problem by sticking to straight vodka.
KB, I totally relate. Moved from Iowa to L.A., first time I asked for a diet pop, I was looked at like I was speaking in tongues. Go back home and say soda, I'm looked at as a snob!
Ope is essentially "oops" but quicker to say... I am from Michigan and we love to talk fast, shorten our words, and most of us say Ope many many times throughout the day and dont even realize it. I'm proud of you for recognizing it and embracing it :D
I realized in Michigan at least we always try to find ways to shorten words... probably because we talk so damn fast here. "Sectretaria-state" anyone? I never realized we talked that fast until I went to order a sandwich in Virginia & the people in the restaurant looked at me like I was on meth or something.... To me it felt like they were speaking in slow motion XD
Yeah. I mean I think I talk normal speed. There's definitely people that talk faster than me, but it seems like if you go anywhere else everyone is talking in slow motion especially down south.
As a born & raised Chicagoan, saying, "ope!" is my way of acknowledging the existence of another person and then apologizing for my own existence >_< I can't stop it!
Odd, I did as well Lolli....and I never used that word or even heard it. I grew up near North Ave. and Thatcher, and does that ring any bell food wise?
I love this! I'm originally from the midwest and have lived in L.A. for over 30 years. It warms my heart when I go home and my family asks me if I want a "pop". It's so cute!
I’m Minnesotan by marriage, so after 30 years, I can officially say it’s pronounced “oooff-duh”. Also “A.C” and “hot dish” and “buns” for dinner rolls. Being raised on the west coast, I’ve always said “soda pop” because why not REALLY describe the drink?
When I hear “sweeper” I think of “carpet sweeper”, which is a nonelectric type of broom with rollers that pick up dirt and dust. I had one for a while. They don’t work very well.
I always thought that was actually where the term originated from - I remember my grandmother telling me once, in fact, that it used to be everyone had a carpet sweeper and when vacuums came around, they sometimes got called electric sweepers by people who bought them.
Right, this is what got me confused. Like there’s also the electric plug in, or ones you charge, then become cordless, which are basically the same, but slightly more powerful, without being obnoxious like a vacuum
This. Dinner is what you had at noon, and a lunch box was called a "dinner bucket" or "dinner pail". Lunch is what you had at the mid-afternoon on the farm...
The other half of the “Ope!” Exchange is often, “I’m just gonna scootch right past ya...” with the look on Laurence’s face (I laughed and laughed). Mostly this occurs in grocery aisles or lines that have encroached upon the main part of an establishment. I miss the Midwest a lot. I’m losing my accent.
From Ohio and I've never heard the term "pitch-in" used that way. We'd call it a potluck. When you had "pitch-in" I assumed it was going to be used as a term for helping with something, but I thought that was a little more universal so I was confused. Another funny thing is that I grew up around 10 miles from the Hoover Company and we'd never think to call a vacuum cleaner (usually shortened to just "vacuum") as a Hoover.
Same. Ohio native all my several decades of life & never have I heard it called a pitch-in, only potluck. You can, of course, pitch in to help with the potluck!
As someone from Florida, you're probably lucky you didn't hear everyone call a soda a Coke instead. Granted, I'm from Central Florida, I'm sure even the rednecks there called it soda.
"In the south I learned that people might refer to any carbonated beverage, be it Sprite or Dr. Pepper, as 'coke' which could be confusing for a host of increasingly severe reasons" This coming from a Brit who probably would refer to any dessert, be it cake or actual pudding, as 'pudding'.
I grew up in a small town in North Texas. I remember going as a child to an old fashioned soda fountain inside a store downtown (which has long since been gone) and telling my mother that I wanted a coke. The waitress heard me and brought it to me, and I looked at her and said "but I wanted a Dr. Pepper." 😂 I think she took it away, perhaps a little annoyed, and brought me the Dr. Pepper. For years we referred to these drinks as "cokes". As an adult living in a large city, I don't use that word generically and instead usually say "soda" or "cold drink". But, I never refer to these drinks as "pop" as the midwesterners do. That's just too weird. 😂
"Pitch-in" is used elsewhere in the Midwest (and maybe other places in the U.S., but I'm not from those places so I don't know) as another way of saying "to contribute something", whether it's money, labor, or materials.
I've lived in Ohio all my life and I've never heard the term pitch- in in regards to bringing a covered dish to a gathering. That, in my experience, has always been referred to as a pot luck or, more commonly, a carry-in. Pitch in has always meant to help out. Also, there is the term "chip in" which means to contribute money for a common cause. Cheers!
"Ope excuse me. Let me just sneak past ya." Is about the most Midwestern sentence that could exist. I feel like I hear it almost every day of my life. Often from my own lips hahaha
Hullo-- native Georgian here. I've been saying this phrase my whole life and never thought about it. I also never knew until today that it's considered Midwestern! I honestly have no idea if it's a thing people around here say or if I picked it up somewhere else because it's so natural that I never noticed.... lol
"Sweeper" and "crick" died with my grand mother's generation. Lived many years in Toledo, Colorado, Los Angeles, DC, NYC, and Greenwich, CT, and I've never heard "pitch-in," anywhere. Never.
I once referred to the marshy area in my parents back-20 as a creek and my sister scolded me. She (both seriously and in a somewhat joking manner) demanded I use the word crick because that's what our dad uses. Allegedly, there is a difference between Crick and Creek, I just haven't looked it up yet. From context, I'm guessing that crick is a very small creek. It's like a creeklet.
We had a debate about creek/crick. Mom uses crick. It never got into my vocabulary. She's boomer, I'm millennial. I remember grandpa always used crick. I thought it was kind of funny. Mom said crick is like a small creek. I would still just say creek....
Same with Frigidaire, a term which some people used to describe any refrigerator. Actually, we called it an "ice box" for a long time in my house growing up, I suspect because my grandmother actually had an ice box. I was there one day when the ice man cameth.
I’m from Minnesota and your definition of “pitch-in” caught me by surprise because while we use the term here, it doesn’t mean that. Here it means to lend a hand to get the job done more quickly. For example, after a big “potluck” if everyone will “pitch-in” with the clean-up you will get the job done faster plus it will probably be more fun. My husband is from Terre Haute so I asked him if he’d ever heard that definition of “pitch-in”. Nope. His definition was the same as mine. Oh, by the way, “uff-da” is pronounced “oof-dah”. Imagine the sound you would make iif someone punched you in the stomach and that’s about right.
My Minnesodian wife uses the phrase "hotdish" to describe a casserole. I had to have her explain it to me. And she taught our kids "duck, duck, gray duck" instead of duck, duck, goose.
mike Struck that’s exactly right. I didn’t even know what a casserole was until I was an adult. It’s always hot dish. I’ve asked friends from surrounding states (Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and North Dakota) and apparently only Minnesotans say duck, duck, grey duck. I don’t know about South Dakotans though.
@@joannemiddaugh122 I‘ll have to ask my niece what they do here in South Dakota but I was raised in Minnesota and didn’t move to South Dakota till I was a teenager, so I know it as grey duck. East and West River might be different.
It is used more commonly in the Indianapolis area and in Southern Indiana. I grew up in Indianapolis, and we used "pitch-in," though it is probably more commonly used by someone with deep Hoosier roots. As people have moved to the city from other parts of the country, they have brought the more common word "potluck." And, yes, I certainly knew "potluck" growing up, but it was a word I would read in a book or see on a second-grade spelling test. Even though I have lived in California for many years now, where everyone says "potluck," the word "pitch-in" comes naturally to me, although I know I will have to explain I mean "potluck."
mike Struck I use hot dish and casserole interchangeably even though I am a native Minnesotan. That’s probably because both my parents came from Iowa where they call it casserole. Also, of course it is Duck, Duck, Gray Duck. Duck, Duck, Goose just sounds silly, LOL! I was on a tour on Mackinac Island this week and wouldn’t you know that when the guide happened to ask the name of that game, everyone including the guide answered wrong except me! Silly people!
Lighting bug: I'm a native Californian and when I saw my first lightning bug in Washington DC in the summer of 1998 at age 33 as evening approached in the shade of a tree I "knew" what they were but I was so mesmerized I started tearing up. I was transfixed and felt like I was 5 years old. I was giddy. Pot luck is much more common across the country. Naw a "[carpet] sweeper" is a non-motorized manual rotary brush with an enclosure and bin to do light cleaning.
I grew up in southeastern Indiana and this "ope" the gentleman refers to is for expressing sudden surprise in the kinds of scenarios he described. I think it's a formal variant of "oops,' which expresses surprise at one's own clumsiness the moment one is clumsy. However, I would find it hard to settle on a spelling for "ope," and I don't pronounce it the way he does. Instead, it begins with a schwa vowel and ends with an unreleased "p," making it a very short interjection. Maybe "uhp!" would do the job, but I'm still not completely convinced.
I grew up in Alaska and the suburbs of Seattle, and have lived on the Oregon coast now for 20 years, so I'm not sure how I ended up using it, but I do. 🤔
Minnesota here and it's puppy chow you might bring as a dessert or a snack to a pot-luck. Pitch in is what we'd do after the pot-luck to clean... we'd all pitch in and clean 😅 🤣 oh and it's always pop here in MN too 😉
I am a born and raised Southern Oklahoma girl. The majority of my life, I thought our accent was Southern, but in the past few years, my sisters and I have started realizing that our vocabulary is a mash-up of Southern/Midwestern, leaning more towards Midwestern!😂 I cracked up listening to you talk about the word "ope".😂😂 I say that word A LOT, but had never really thought about where that comes from. Everyone in my family says "ope" and "pop".😂 The first time I heard somebody refer to pop as "coke" and they weren't wanting Coca-Cola, I thought they were crazy and so confusing.😂 I always call a vacuum cleaner a "vacuum" or "vacuum cleaner", but both sets of my grandparents call them "sweepers". I believe our accent of Southern/Midwestern, comes from both sides of my family being share croppers years ago. They would travel from Texas to Nebraska and from Tennessee to Oklahoma and then eventually settled in Oklahoma.
I’ve lived in Indiana my whole life and I’ve never heard the term “pitch-in” for this. Everyone I know uses potluck. Pitch-in means to help out with something as far as I know.
Whoa whoa whoa. I live in Lafayette and it was carry-in when I got there. Grew up in Ohio and it was always potluck. Pitch-in is a new one on me after 15 years here.
Melissa Bradley The only term I’ve heard in south central Indiana (Bloomington, actually) is “pitch in.” In fact, I was on a Zoom call yesterday with a group of local women who bemoaned the fact that we couldn’t do our annual pitch in because if Covid. I grew up with “potluck” in Chicago , BTW. And I went to a few covered dish suppers (complete with several Jello salads) when I lived in Minnesota.
I am 40 years old, and until this very day I had no idea I was an "OPE"er. But as soon as you explained it, I realized that is exactly what I say when I accidentally bump into someone. I didn't even know I was doing it!
Michigander here, and yes, until recently I had no self awareness that I was saying "ope" usually followed by "Lemme just squeeze right past ya." Amazing.
Same, and also forty. It's harder when you live in Kentucky, though. It's like the entire state is having an identity crisis and can't decide if we're midwestern or southern.
Michigander here. Try some of Michigan's cuisine. Pasties, Superman ice cream, Faygo (lots of flavors to choose from), and the best of all, Vernors. Coneys = communion, and this is a short list. In the Midwest, you ope or you get oped.
I was in my twenties when I realized that "ope" was not something everyone said. Then I realized it was a huge part of my vocabulary. I say it multiple times a day! Also, I'm from northeast Indiana and my family used the term carry-in or potluck.
I've lived in IL all of the nearly 74 years I've been around, and I've never heard the term "ope", though I've used the word "oops" since I could talk. Re. the sweeper, I'd use the full term "carpet sweeper", and use it to refer to a thing with a handle which is pushed, but has no cord, and is used for quick pick-ups.
Thank you Jim! I think people are making up this whole "Ope" thing. I've lived in Kansas City for ten years now and never has anyone uttered Ope. It's not a "Midwest thing" because if KC isn't included in the Midwest, then I don't know what you're talking about 😊
@@brennancleveland8575, that's interesting, in that the only way I've heard that term used is to describe a little tool in baking to whisk eggs, etc. In case it's a regional term, I live in IL.
@@antiquemacabre They were kind of fun to use as a kid! I think that my grandparents got a lot of free sweeping down for a few years until we all got older.
@@antiquemacabre They were kind of fun to use as a kid! I think that my grandparents got a lot of free sweeping down for a few years until we all got older.
I have lived in Southern Indiana my entire life and was in my mid-twenties before I became aware of "ope"; my nephew kept sharing memes making fun of it and I couldn't understand where he was getting it from, then one day at work I turned and walked smack into the center of my big Bosnian manager's chest and the first thing to issue from my mouth was "Ope!" You start questioning your whole life after that; "have I been doing that the whole time?" Yes. Yes you have.
I think "Ope" is intended less as a word, and more as a vocalization, because people say it when they're caught by surprise. After all, it's not a word, but a combination of sounds that convey sudden realization and a mistake having happened.
I've lived in various spots south of Indy and I've heard both. Though with my family we dont even give it a name most times. When a relative tells the family about an event we all just say what we plan to bring automatically.
“Ope lemme just sneak right past ya real quick” is such a classic. I say ope so much but I love it and can’t stop. I have a shirt from the MN state fair that says “in sota we say pop” which I also love but for some reason I say soda more than pop despite living in MN
I'm in New Mexico. It's a toss up if you'll get asked for a "Coke" or "soda." I used to work at a pizza place, and people would ask for Coke, and I'd have to ask "is Pepsi ok?" Some would give me a weird look and say, "yeah," like that's what I they'd said. But I had to ask because others would become horrified and ask for something else. However, you will also hear "soda."
I'm from the north and didn't realize this Coke thing was a thing so the waitress would ask "Would you like a coke?" And I'd be like "Um, no a Sprite please." And then I'd think how it was a little rude to assume my drink for me. 🤦♂️
I went to an Arby's in Washington State and ordered a sandwich and was asked how many Arby sauce packets I would like. My reply was give me "couple three". The lady started laughing because she was from Montana and they say that as well. I was born and raised in Iowa and I always said that. It is lazy talk for asking for "two or three".
I have lived in Chicago my entire life and never heard "pitch-in," unless in the context "we're pooling money to buy some brats and beers, you wanna pitch in?"
Take “oh” and “whoops”, smash ‘em together and ya get “Ope”. After living away from Michigan for 15 years, I’ve successfully switched to soda ( not pop). :)
@@virginiastirnweis5214 No, one cooks with baking soda and pop is what a bubblegum does and one drinks soda. Pop is always said so nasally by people who use that word for soda that it is grating on the ears. 😖 It's like nails on a chalkboard for me.
Its one of those things where your husband using the word frequently will be picked up; or wont. Not knowing where the cards will land is part of the fun isnt it?!
My life has been divided between living in New England and Tennessee, so when you mentioned the Midwestern term "puppy chow," I had to say that is a new one on me!
