1. “Michigander Slang Words”
The Michigan Accent
“Michigander Slang Words”

2. Michigan Slang/Colloquialisms:
“The Mitten”
The State of Michigan
“The U.P.”
The Upper Peninsula
“Up North”
Where you go if you're traveling within Michigan

3. In Michigan we…. ...go tuh the store, not "to" it.
...usta' have jobs in Detroit, not "used to"
...go huntin' in the wuds, not the "woods"
...get our tires slashed for driving a Tie-ota, not a Toyota.
...say er' not "or."
...feel like we're ki-nuh like Minnesotans, not "kind of."

4. Michiganders like to save time...
We talk really fast here, so in order to do so, we do something similar to what the French call a liaison and elision. This is basically a way to mash up words in order to make pronunciation easier and faster.

5. "Well, how am I supposed to say it?"
This comes out sounding like, "Well, how my spose'ta' sayit'?"

6. Ja-eat?
Did you eat?

7. Yuh guys
you guys

8. Look at it! check this out!
Lookit!
Look at it! check this out!

9. Secretariah State
Secretary of state

10. Where? We end many sentences in prepositions such as “at”
Where at?
Where?
We end many sentences in prepositions such as “at”

11. Grranrapids
Grand Rapids

12. AK-cidih
accident

13. aeh Narbor
Ann Arbor

14. Ashfault
Asphalt

15. bolth
both

16. Char-LOTT
Charlotte

17. Ciddy
city

18. cloze
clothes

19. CAHL-yum
column

20. COMF-terbul
comfortable

21. Cahngriss
congress

22. C’Meer
Come Here

23. Cranz
crayons

24. crick
creek

25. Deeah or Dayaahd
Dad

26. DiTROI
Detroit

27. drownded
drowned

28. Eeeevs Traaaf
eavestrough

29. FI-yerr
Fire

30. FREVer
Forever

31. Frigerraider
Refrigerator

32. GoverMit
Government

33. grage
garage

34. GROSHries
groceries

35. Haahkee
hockey

36. Hunnerd
Hundred

37. I-munna
I’m going to..

38. KI-nuh
kind of

39. LayKEERie
Lake Erie

40. Lie-berry
Library

41. liVONEya
Livonia

42. maahm
mom

43. Melk
milk

44. Mier or meer
mirror

45. muskeeda
mosquito

46. NUKE-yuller
nuclear

47. Pah-neeack
Pontiac

48. pahp
pop

49. pellow
pillow

50. reeelatur
realtor

51. ruff
roof

52. seckit
second

53. tempachur
temperature

54. thenks
thanks

55. vanella
vanilla

56. weeken
weekend

57. winzerr
Windsor, (Canada)

58. yuh
you

59. The Michigan Accent: The letter "A" The long "e" sound The letter "t"
as in "car" is a kind of light ee-yeah or ēă sound.
Crayons are "crans"
Dad is dēăd
The long "e" sound
like the "i" in "mirror" is a bit longer and really nasally.
Also, we don't waste our time with the "or" in "mirror", so it's just "meer."
The letter "t"
If the letter "t" occurs in the middle of a word, it has a "d" sound.
City is pronounced "ciddy"

60. The Michigan Accent: Glottal Stop "Ah"
This is when your voice kind of stops in the middle of a word and then starts again.
In Michigan, we like to do glottal stops at the end of our words, which is kind of like a last bit of forced breath.
When we say Detroit, we don't say the "t" sound at the end. We say “Detroi” and then a bit of forced breath.
"kitten" or "button", there is a glottal stop without the t sound actually being pronounced
kitten = kih'ihn, button = buh'ton
"Ah"
is drawn out, as in “faahh-ther” for father and “maahm” for mom.
After school, you go to "haahckey" practice.
Chicago is "Chic-aah-go" not "Chi-caw-go"