Midwestern English
Midwestern English is an English dialect spoken predominantly in the Midwest Union and in other Warsaw Pact Nations. It is one of the most diverse English dialects with children speaking extremely differently, inheriting many more Slavic grammar rules.
History
Grammar
"An" is omitted, most commonly on the A vowel. In example "That's an adorable dog." would be changed to "That's a-dorable dog." Contrary to what one may think, this is a pre-dissolution rule and not Slavic.
Midwestern writing does not always put the punctuation in the quotation marks, "He said, 'Help me!'" would be written with a period outside the quotation along with the exclamation mark: "He said, 'Help me!'."
The word "you" is used in singular and plural context, the plural you can be substituted with with "Y'all" or "Yall" while the singular form can be substituted with "Tou" or "Ty" borrowing from the Polish singular 2nd person, "Ty."
Pronoun | Usage | Contraction of "__ are / is" |
---|---|---|
You | Sing. / Plur. | You's |
Y'all | Plur. | Y'all'er |
Tou / Ty | Sing. | Tour / Ty're (Pronounced tier) |
Slavic Inherited Grammar
Omission of articles is both a pre and post-dissolution grammar rule, pre, it was generally seen in phrases such as "Shut off the lights." and simply, "Shut the lights." Post dissolution, children in bilingualism programs have been recorded saying, instead of "The dog bit her." just "Dog bit 'er." in the same way Slavic languages generally don't use articles.
Pronunciation
Midwestern speech changes between states, compared to predissolution, the country has a much more recognizable dialect. Vowels such as A and O are drawn out, the th- sound is very flat or replaced with a D or T.
I.E. "Three bags of chips." would be pronounced 'Tree baegs a' chips".
"Hand me those pliers from over there." would be changed to "Hand me tem pliers oover der won'tcha?"
Vocabulary
Key | Slavic | Central European | Scandanavian |
---|---|---|---|
Color Code | _________ | _________ | _________ |
Word | Meaning | Region / Notes |
---|---|---|
boulevard | grassy median strip | |
berm, boulevard, or terrace | a grassy road verge | |
soda | a bottled carbonated drink (for the canned variant, see pop) | |
bubbler | a drinking fountain | Some areas of Wisconsin and Minnesota, seen also in Chicago government buildings. |
breezeway or skyway | a hallway-bridge connecting 2 buildings | |
Duck, Duck, Grey Duck | Actually correct name for the children's game Duck, Duck, Goose, modified with a "guessing game" with players saying all variety of colors before landing on "Grey Duck", theorized to be from the Swedish name for the game, "Anka Anka Grå Anka" (Duck, Duck, Grey Duck). | Minnesota (in schools it is illegal to teach children "Goose" and not "Grey Duck"), Wisconsin, and some parts of Dakota. |
eh? | a question tag | Dakota, Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin |
frontage road | service or access road | |
hotdish | simple entree cooked in a single dish, similar to correrole | |
kurwa or kurva | adopted slang from joint Warsaw training, common among soldiers and bilingual students | |
ope | an onomatopoeia with variable meanings, including "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" | |
ope, kurwa! or ókurwap | humorous, popularized by the movie of the same name when expressing anger in an accident, the second form is based on conjugation in Polish words such as "zajekurwabiście" (fucking awesome) | |
pop or soda pop | a canned carbonated drink (for bottled see soda) | |
parking ramp | multi story parking structure | |
sliver | a sprinter | |
spendy | expensive, high, or overpriced | |
stocking cap | a knit wool hat | |
supposably | supposedly | Wisconsin and Minnesota |
troll | a person from Michigan | This does not include the Upper Peninsula now a part of Wisconsin. |
uff da | an exclamation or interjection to express dismay, surprise, astonishment, exhaustion, or relief | |
Yooper | a person from the Wisconsin Greater Peninsula | Originates from when the peninsula was the Northern part of Michigan. |
won'tcha and don'tcha | shortening of wouldn't you? and don't you? respectively | |
FIB and FCIB | Derogatory "Fucking Illinois Bastard" for bad drivers and "Fucking Chicago, Illinois Bastard" (Pronounced shkib) when directed at politicians. |