And college campuses. Tired, overworked full-time students apparently don't have a lot of time for laundry and have to make do with whatever they can throw together.
@@MK-dr7dx I was going to say, I remember students, especially girls, in Milwaukee in 1999-2003 going to class in red flannel pajama pants all the time. It's good to know it's still a thing today.
Ope is an all purpose expression of mild social distress. Like, “I’m fully aware that this is not life threatening or even particularly memorable for either of us, but I’ve suddenly become uncomfortably aware of myself, and I feel the need to acknowledge the slight alarm that I feel and/or have caused.”
I love that you say "I became more mid-western" because if we have learned anything from your channel, it is that America is HUGE and has many ways to be.
I agree. I wish we could all be acknowledged by our states. Alaska has nothing in common with Hawaii, just like New England crime rates have nothing in common with Texas (sorry). Colorado landscape is the complete opposite of Florida and the west coast personality is not the same as the northeast. I could go on.
"All of my loved ones and Uncle Toby..." It's these little moments that make these videos so enjoyable. And, of course, the content itself, which is filled with little moments like those.
So funny. When you were discussing no Midwesterner wearing the red flannel pants in public, I said “well, maybe in Walmart” just before you did. Ope! 🤣🤣🤣
Are pants a thing in the more northern Midwest states? Seems like in Iowa we all just wear camouflage cargo shorts year round... Granted when it gets chilly out I'll toss on one of my button up long sleeve flannel shirts. Camo shorts and a flannel shirt, we call that an Iowa tuxedo
@@_Frank_the_Tank Funny you should mention that. I taught college for almost 30 years and college boys ALWAYS wore cargo shorts, no matter the weather. It was the girls who would wear flannel pajama pants. 🤣👍🏻
I'm a life-long Floridian but I did live in Kansas for 5 years. I know FOR SURE I've said "ope" or some hybrid of that and "oop" at least since then, and now I am distraught, as I know I will never know the answer to this question: Is this something I always said before, or is this a part of the Midwest that managed to sneak undetected into my psyche??
@thelightshineth I've always lived in the Midwest, but my Southern friend's ya'll slowly infected my vocabulary...I have no clue when exactly it was. But I say ya'll far more often than I care to admit. XD
@@moonflight1867 lol, i mean it's kinda fun. i grew up in south FL which isn't "south" at all, but living in north FL for the past 15 years have definitely picked up the "y'all" probably among other things I'm unaware of 😁
@thelightshineth I admit saying 'ya'll' is actually pretty fun- don't tell that to my friend, though. Or I'll never hear the end of it (like so many of our inside jokes...).
Honestly as someone who grew up most of my childhood in Michigan I never knew that ope was a regional thing. It took until I saw some RU-vid video (well into my adulthood) talking about Midwestern mannerisms before I learned that "ope", "thingamajig", "yeah no"/"no yeah", and "lemme squeeze on by"were all Midwestern phrases.
The “yeah no” thing is definitely not regional. We say it on the east coast. I also hear it’s an Australian thing as well. Thingamajig/whatchamacallit/whoozats/etc are also not regional. We say it here as well. It sounds like the guy who you were listening to was just Californian.
I saw ope on youtube and thought oh that's those Wisconsin people, corny. Suddenly hit me one day that I say ope several times a day every day. So much I was never aware.
I read years ago that whether or not you lose your accent depends on whether you arrived before some specific age (I want to say it was around 8 years old). It had something to do with a pruning the brain goes through around that time. I really should try to find the article and save it this time...
My hubby still has his New England way of talking even though we live more than 7 hours drive away. Some have even noticed after talking for a bit with him and then remarking. Something like, “hey, you’re from Boston, aren’t you?”
Im from the states and had a boyfriend that was from Manchester. We would go out into the world and people would think that we were both from Australia. Never quite understood that as I have Avery generic accent as I’ve lived all over the Midwest and south. I catch on to accents easily but not to any British ones.
@@franciet99 My friend and I, from Yorkshire, the other side of the Pennines from Manchester, toured the US for 3 months in 1990s. We were often mistaken for Irish, due to being heard speaking in dialect, not just having an accent. This left some proud Irish-Americans embarrassed, especially that we were from England. We consoled them by saying my friend having the forenames James Stewart was down to celtic ancestry.
As someone who lived and grew up in Indiana, i have recently discovered your channel and it very much amuses me seeing how you look at our life. I never knew watching someone go to Lowes could be entertaining. Keep up the good work
Flannel pajama pants are the style at my daughter's middle school. It goes across genders, social lines, activity groups, they all love to wear flannel pajama pants to school.
I work in a middle school (in Kansas), and the same is true here: boys and girls and NB wear flannel pajama pants every day to school. All races wear flannel pajama pants to school. Speakers of different native language wear flannel pajama pants to school...
I'm enjoying the growing richness of your narrative style. It's reminiscent of Mark Twain and that's a very, very good thing. The flow and delivery feel as though you are liberating yourself. Your journey of self discovery is a joy to behold.
#1 is so true! When my husband worked in London he shaved every day and wore a three piece suit. Within a year of moving to the US he shaves every couple of weeks and wears jeans and race t-shirt to work. Same type of job.
I always wanted Brian Blessed to play the Spirit of Christmas Present, should they do a remake of "A Christmas Carol." (Imagine that voice in that part).
When I lived in LA, I was in a class discussing stereotypes. The question was ‘what does a lesbian look like?’ The lesbians in the class said comfortable shoes, practical comfortable clothing. Having grown up in Michigan, I thought well, if that’s the case, every woman in the Midwest is a lesbian.
@@vanhattfield8292 Schrodinger's sexuality. Until I get unambiguous confirmation of a person's sexuality, they are simultaneously pansexual and asexual and everything in between.
Wearing flannel is another stereotype that doesn't work in a specific place, in this case the South. Most women wear flannel, and the few lesbians I knew while living there were more likely to wear button-down dress shirts.
I giggled at this video. I am southern bred American and now I have lived (20 years) in the Upper Great Plains which is claimed by Charlie and Miles and found myself have been indoctrinated by almost every aspect of the "OPE" lifestyle.
The ope is so useful, just such a good politeness shorthand 😂 entirely inoffensive, the sound u make even has a higher slightly surprised uptick in register to denote your complete harmlessness 😮
Being a Cubs fan is a lifelong commitment, one that teaches loyalty in the face of disappointment and dismal failure. I grew up on the North Side, four blocks from Cubs Park.
Big "oopsie"-sayin' Californian here. Though I did grow up on the East Coast... (Meaning I say it a lot, not that I'm big. I'm extremely medium.) (Wait--is that even possible?)
"Ope" is an exclamation of an accidental mishap and not really an apology. However people realize what has occurred was not on purpose so no harm no foul which could be seen as an apology, but not really.
Midwesterners are the best! I’ve lived and traveled the US and world. It’s been affirmed for decades. Yay all things midwestern Laurence and midwestern wife.
I took my flannel shirt on my last visit to the UK in late March (I wanted to be warm) having no idea flannel isn't a thing. I got a few lumberjack comments and it was referred to when set out to dry by my host as a "tartan".
The beard! My Scottish husband never had a beard until he met his now American wife. And we don't reside in the Midwest. 😂 Also never paid attention to Ope until you mentioned it and I realized that both of my uncles say Ope a lot! They reside in Cleveland OH.
4th generation Minnesotan. My son-in-law told me that we say "ope". I didn't believe him. Not 5 minutes later, I said it. Dang it. We DO use it. Unconsciously and all the time. It's a cross between oh and oops. BTW: Somewhere in Minneapolis there is a Mary Tyler Moore statue where she's tossing her hat (from the TV show). Yep, 4th generation Minnesotan, and I've never seen it in person myself. Couldn't tell you where it is.
The thing you're talking about is NATIONWIDE. I live in DC and first heard it hear about five years ago. Growing up in the Midwest for the first 30 years of my life, I never heard it, even once. It's a "starved for attention" thing -- we'll take any bad stereotype, as long as people are talking about us. Even if it's totally bullshit.
I'm a midwestern, born and raised as such. I've been around the world but came back to my midwestern roots. You, Laurence, are most welcome here in the heartland of the USA. Keep your British accent, it is your trademark! Go Cubs!
As a Texan, I see up north as too cold to be inhabitable. As a northerner, my husband sees Texas as too hot to be habitable. Guess it's where you're raised. Love your channel
I know how you feel. I'm from the west coast and now I live in the south. It might as well be an entirely different country. Food is different. People are different. Language is different. Laws are different! Sometimes I say y'all...and then my eyes get really big like "did I really just say that?!" The other day I was about to start doing something and I said "I'm fixin' to". WTF? How did I learn an entirely new language without my consent?
I’ve found that can happen by reading books. A few years ago I was reading the Outlander books (a lot of Scottish dialect). I was reading at lunch at work when a coworker came in. I looked up and answered her in Scottish phrasing. While I was trying to figure out what in the world just happened, she said that I needed to stop reading “those books”!
So after I moved to Oklahoma and heard my 1st tornado siren. I naturally grabbed my rain jacket, brolley and bag to leave work and go home. My coworkers laughed and said one doesn’t drive in a tornado warning but hunkers down. After that I was nicknamed Terri Poppins because of being so British and all 🤣🤣🤣. 18 years later and I am all like, “Hey y’all want to go eat at Kaysa Waneeta’s?” (Casa Juanita’s) I miss being British 🧐
In Oklahoma, we have a recurring show on television called the “ tornado show”. All the local channels send people out to chase the tornadoes and then they broadcast it live. So you can sit on your front porch watching the storm come in and you might spot a tornado, while at the same time, flipping channels, watching the same storm on the television. I even have a radar app that gives me a very accurate reading on the weather. It’s called RadarScope. I don’t know what I’d do without it. I have now seen eight or nine actual tornadoes, including an F5. They are very scary.
I love it here in Oklahoma and yes, the weather definitely keeps you on your toes around here. Grew up in Houston and the biggest concern there was flash flooding or hurricanes. At least you had time to prepare for hurricanes.
Larry, don't worry about becoming a Midwesterner. Feli from Germany has become one too. She even went as far as to lose her German accent. She speaks American English as good as a native.
I'm pretty sure there's a huge overlap between channel viewers, because once I started watching Lost in the Pond, the algorithm immediately started recommending Feli.
"ope!" That's funny. I grew up in south Texas, lived in Northern Minnesota and southern MN, and northern and central Indiana. I've been in Indiana for 30 years total. I swear, I only just heard the word "Ope" for the first time maybe a year ago. My co-worker says it all the time. In fact, I recently asked her why she says it. It's odd that I haven't heard it before. Maybe it never grabbed my attention before.
Beards are also a sign of masculinity. Very few women can grow beards. As Shakespeare wrote, "He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him."
I had never heard that before. Very interesting!! My husband has been growing a beard for probably 10 years. He does it to cover his double chin. Plus he's getting pretty bald, so he definitely wears hats everywhere. He wanted to wear his hat to our oldest daughter's wedding. 😅😅
Im 37 and from california, but ive lived in oregon for 10 years and i feel that these words are always options to use, and not out of the ordinary to hear. Ive found myself saying ope before, but not realizing where ive picked it up from. Never have i heard someone genuinely confused on what ive said, or why i said it. Love your content and youre making the pond a little smaller with your videos. ❤
Thank you for solving my 40 year old mystery about the opening line from the song "Tempted" by Squeeze. "I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste, a flannel for my face. "
Speaking of Midwest, I just watched your accents video, and being from Wisconsin, I tried picking out the accent in my own voice, and I swear it's something that you develop with age, i think im a little young for it, or i havent been up north often enough. If you really want to hear Wisconsin accents, there's a Wisconsin comedian named Charlie Berens, he is like, the definition of midwest, specifically, well, Wisconsin. There's a woman who really has quite an accent, Alex Wehrley, who upon just looking her up is his ex-wife featured in a couple videos, i didn't know that. But yeah, they are Wisconsin wrapped up into people. funny stuff
I was born in Chicago, but moved to South Florida when I was seven. Needless to say, I consider myself a Floridian. But I will always have a soft spot for my home town.
I say the ope thing too and I lived in Kentucky until I was 30 and then in Tennessee. To me it means I’ve made a mistake somehow, so dropping a piece of cheese in the kitchen is appropriate usage. If I’m doing the back and forth thing in the hallway with someone coming the opposite way, I might start with ope, but eventually I’ll ask, “Do you want to dance?”❤️🤗🐝
Lawrence, your sense of humor is absolutely wonderful but you hit out of the park more times in that 10 minutes than you have in ages. I can't even pick a favorite line.
As someone who grew up in NE Indiana when “ope” came up I thought what is that I’ve never said that and then you gave the example and I thought “Ope! Yes I have!” 😂😂
Come to think of it, i believe I’ve heard my Grandfather say that a few times. I thought it was some German thing. My Grandparents did live in Indiana for a few years before moving back to NY. Could it be both a German and midwestern thing?
Hailing from the Philadelphia region, I was recently at my cousin's place in [UNDISCLOSED MIDWESTERN TOWN], and nearly bumped into someone and I said, "Whoops, my bad, I'm sorry!" and the guy responded "Ope!" and moved on. I didn't know if he was insulting me, making a movie reference, or telling me to screw off. Thank you for explaining that!
One of the greatest attractions of Winnie for Americans is that his mother, an American, gave him a deep understanding of and love for the United States.
Here's a memo that got lost that I'd love to know about. My great, great grandfather was from England. Story is (supported by historical records) he came over to fight on the side of the north in the civil war. I've also heard of someone from Canada doing the same thing. I never knew that people from other countries came here just to fight for the USA in that war. Seems like that is definitely a lost memo.
The Amish in Ohio do too. My mom always had one for camping to hang towels and wet socks and I have one like that and one I think of as asian. It folds down like an umbrella and has a hook. If you put it hook up the arms go horizontal and it has 2 clips on each. Great for wool socks/underwear and to make elastic last longer in bras and underwear.
As a St. Louis-raised American (Go CARDS!) currently obsessed with England, I think this is my favorite of your videos so far. America's not so bad if you know where to look. BTW, I was surprised and pleased to see a statue of Abraham Lincoln outside Westminster in London. 😁
@@MrBrashRooster I think the idea that you get a lot of people asking you questions and someone vandalizing your car shows you a lot of about the vandal. They have no idea why they are vandalizing that car other than you are percieved as different. So you take kindly to the task of being an impromptu ambassador?
If you like cheese come down to Springfield Il and have a horseshoe. It is basically an open face cheeseburger with toast, your choice of a few different meats but mostly hamburgers and fries all in a pile covered with cheese sauce. There are a ton of different cheese sauce recipes but Darcy’s Pint has the best sauce I think anyway. Next time you are down here have one if you haven’t already.
Ope is a very versatile word. It can be used apologetically, when a mistake is made, in bewilderment, in surprise, and even when happy. It's probably only second to the F word in its adaptability, which is also a very popular word in the Midwest.
I'm back in the Midwest in a couple of days. Midwestern people are generally friendly, and family oriented, but each state has a different feel. So, I suggest that you see other Midwestern states, if you haven't already done such. Many adventures out there!
@@maramakesjournals2319I lived in Cudahy as a child. That’s the only way I survived the winter 😜 Lived for a very short time in Canada as an adult. I looked back on my childhood and realized I couldn’t feel the cold. And I’m someone that went barefoot in the snow in WI. Now I’m in the southern part of the US and don’t miss the snow one iota. 😜
@@maramakesjournals2319 Seconding Wisconsin! You guys are by far the friendliest of the Great Lakes states. Ohio isn’t far behind (from personal experience).
I know I've said this before but I'm originally from Cincinnati, Ohio and now live near Sioux Falls, SD and I had to get used to not having a Kroger, a Skyline or GoldStar and a White Castle restaurant. I have my mom send me Cinti. Chili spice packs, so there's that. I also noticed the Midwestern ish, Minnesotan-ish accents here. A few people have noticed that I'm not from around here.
As someone who was raised just one county north of Cincinnati and still lives there, I'll bet you make sure to get your Cincinnati Chili "fix" every time you come back for a visit! If I lived as far away as you, I'd be driving home with a suitcase full of canned Skyline. 😂
As my cousin’s wife drove to Ohio from California for the first time she told me she knew she was almost here when she saw her first Kroger sign. My cousin talked about it so much through the years that they stopped and she said he got misty eyed 😂
@@lorimiller623 There is another Kroger affiliate called Baker's but it's in Omaha,NE, too far for me to drive, lol. I keep asking them when they're gonna put on out here.
For midwestern roadside kitsch, you need to go to Collinsville, Illinois to see the World's Largest Catsup Bottle. Also to Chester, Illinois to see the Popeye character trail, with statues of Popeye, Olive Oyl, Swee' Pea and Eugene the Jeep, J. Wellington Wimpy, Bluto, the Sea Hag, Alice the Goon, and more from the cartoons and Thimble Theater comic strip.
And somewhere along those paths (given or take a state) you can go dine in a quaint restaurant where they will throw the rolls at you…. That was ages ago, no clue if it’s still around and I can’t at the moment remember the name…but they would proudly proclaim their thrown roll heritage across billboards for miles and miles away
My ancestors came from Europe, lived in Chicago in the 1920s- most are still there but my branch moved to Miami Fl in the 1950s, & now they span the country from New England to California. What you are referring to is “The Melting Pot”. It’s when you really became American and leave your roots behind. Let’s face it most of America came from some other country. Nice video ❤
Oooh Laurence, you should do a collaboration video with Adventures and Naps. She is a Canadian girl who moved to England about 7 years ago and has a channel about the differences.
@Mary Hildreth. I reckon Feli from Germany might also be a good collaboration, to try to gain subscribers on each other's channels. She is from Munich and lives in Cincinnati. MoreJPS channel has been reacting to her videos prior to going to Germany and I started watching and commenting on the original videos when RU-vid started recommending them. It helps that I learned German in school.
Lawrence, you are without a doubt one of the funniest gentlemen on RU-vid. I have always been a huge fan of the British sense of humour. (That spelling was just for you. LOL) Y'all should come live down in the South. Winters are short, summers warm, but we all have AC. So, consider yourselves invited to the South. :)
Interesting that there would be a statue of Dick Tracy in Naperville. Chester Gould who originated the character actually lived in Woodstock, IL and I believe there is a Dick Tracy Museum there.
I live in Canada and the neighbour lady was a British war bride and she almost lost her accent as her children were going to school but if she was talking fast or laughing when she was talking there it was even 40 years later
I realized I became an American when I needed more ice in my water than my DH and when flying to Europe I felt like there is no A/C in airports. Yep, I am naturalized alright but still with my accent.
I live in the wettest place in the USA, and I always have a metal drink cup full of ice for my water. My friend in BC always comments I do this even in the winter.
@@TheCanadiangirl4 yes it's so funny I found myself saying "ope" yesterday when I dropped something. It was about an hour after I watched the video. It made me realize I probably say it a lot lol
@@Mick_Ts_Chick 🙋🏻♀️ hey there, western NC here. I finally just put up my flannels, shirts, jackets, boxers & lounge pants. I think Saturday we are to hit 86* 😎 ✌🏻
if you really want to explore different accents, try baltimore. it’s the only city in the US that pronounces their words similar to people in England. there’s actually lingual studies about how they kept their english accents.
Another great Laurence installment. Only thing possibly “missing” were glimpses of critters. I’m an absolute Kafka fan, and I can’t quite remember the doggo’s name, being primarily a catman. And I absolutely relate to being a shameless cheese-oholic. Since both of us are border residents of the Cheese State, we can safely place blame there-you to the north, and me to the east.
Lived in So California for almost 60 years… Then 30 minutes from Lake Tahoe, on the Nevada side, for 13 years…. Now on a mountaintop in Wyoming… Love(d) each of those places!! ❤️🇺🇸❤️
Illinois is my home state. Lived in Austin Texas and a neighboring city for about 10 years. Moved back to my hometown about 13 years ago. Still happier here. And I have visited a few other states. I would love to explore the rest of the country and our beautiful planet.
Once you've passed puberty, your accent is set for life :) before that a child will always change their accent to the country regardless of the parent tongue
Yes! I learned this in a linguistics class in college. Accents are locked in by the time of puberty. I think it has to do with us being hard-wired to mate with someone who is different from us genetically, to diversify the population. We are attracted to foreign accents (find them charming or alluring), because the accent indicates the person is not from "around here", and therefore is not a close relative.
My boyfriend left East London when he was seven, and many years later there is no trace of Cockney in his speech, which makes me a little sad. And when he does an impression of his mother, it sounds more like the Monty Python crew when they are pretending to be women!
As a Canadian, those flannel pants remind me so much of the lumber jacket pattern, which originated from our north in the lumber camps. Now, it is seen in everything from pillows to hats, jackets and wall paper !!!
