Comments on: 9 Nicknames for Natives

By: kyle

kyle — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:46:00 +0000

how about badgers? anyone from wisconsin knows this is our state symbol, but few realize it refers not to the animal (which is not at all native) but to Cornish lead miners from England that were known for living (like badgers) in the tunnels they worked in.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:50:00 +0000

I say this as a lifelong Sooner fan, but “Sooners” = “Cheaters”. “Boomers” were the folks who played by the rules back in 1889, when the shot rang out at noon.

There’s an Orwell quote that I’m going to mangle: The rich make the rules and if the poor want to rise up from their current state, they have to break those rules.

Boomer Sooner!

By: Gerg

Gerg — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:23:00 +0000

Much like hoosiers are to indianins, buckeyes are to ohioins…i am proud to be a buckeye but you call me a ohioin and i would prolly just stare blankly.

By: dangermouse

dangermouse — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:52:00 +0000

Not native to America, but I come from Auckland, which the largest city in New Zealand – and we are referred to by non-Aucklanders as Jafas – Just Another F***ing Aucklander.

I guess it comes from the idea that because we’re the biggest city by far, we think the rest of the country revolves around us. And we’re everywhere.

Funnily enough, Jafas are also the name of a popular chocolate-coated confectionery product in New Zealand.

By: ryan

ryan — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:34:00 +0000

sorry to burst another bubble of yours but we arent called sooners by the rest of the world we are called okies some from alva oklahoma are called alvanights just becuase of our Oklahoma University having a good football team doesnt mean we are all sooners but i myself im a new mexican born but rasied in oklahoma with all the okies but there are many nicknames for oklahomans such as okie alvanight flatlander and the list goes on

By: Meghan

Meghan — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:33:00 +0000

I’m also surprised “FIB” didn’t make the list. Basically Maine:Masshole/Massachusetts::Wisconsin::Illinois/FIB

I know this is family blog, but the “I” stands for Illinois and you can fill in the blank for f—- and b—–.

By: em

em — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:42:00 +0000

i can’t believe “yoopers” aren’t on here!

By: Zak

Zak — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:33:00 +0000

I grew up in “See Der Rabbits” uh… Cedar Rapids, Iowa and I’ve never once heard anyone refer to a person from C.R. as a Bunny. Maybe local ball teams used rabbits as mascots in the 30’s but Cedar Rapiddians to my knowledge have never been bunnies!

By: Zach

Zach — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:46:00 +0000

John- The story about the word Hoosier coming from pioneer log cabin days may be common knowledge amongst Indiana school children- I learned it too- but that doesn’t make it fact. The origin of the term is indeed a mystery, and that theory is just as likely as any of the other ones.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:28:00 +0000

I’ve lived in St. Louis my entire life and here, a “hoosier” is akin to calling someone trailer trash. I was always curious about why it seemed to only mean that to St. Louisans. I did some research and found out that it had to do with a steel strike in St. Louis in the late 1800s and some people from Indiana were brought in as “scabs.” Therefore, calling someone a “hoosier” was calling them a traitor and eventually it just came to mean anyone thought to be less than desirable.