Strolling down Chicago Avenue south of Main Street in Evanston, I paused in front of Hoosier Mama Pie Company, a beloved local spot for coffee and pastries. But as I gazed up at that sign, I had to smile at how the unique St. Louis definition of “hoosier” would undermine–indeed, torpedo–the cleverness of that name. Let me explain:
By way of background, as many of you already know, each city has certain slang terms unique to that town. For example, during the three years Margi and I lived in Boston, we learned that the term “wicked”–which means evil or morally wrong in the rest of the nation–actually means “very” or “awesome” in Beantown. Thus in Boston a very good donut is “wicked good.” And an extremely good donut is “wicked pisser”–or, spelled to reflect the local accent, “wicked pissah.” Another local term I learned was the meaning of “regular” at a Dunkin’ Donuts, the franchise known to Bostonians as “Dunks.” The first time I ordered a coffee there, the woman behind the counter asked if I wanted it “regular.” Believing that “regular” was a synonym for “caffeinated,” I said yes and watched in horror as she dumped a half cup of cream and two tablespoons of sugar into the cup, stirred it, and handed it to me with a smile. “Here you go, sweetie.”
So, too, Chicago natives have their own slang. The most common way to order a Chicago-style hot dog is to confirm that you want it “dragged through the garden,” which means you want 
all of the standard Chicago toppings: yellow mustard, chopped white onions, neon green relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices, sport peppers, and celery salt. And, God forbid, don’t ask for ketchup, especially at this place.
Other Chicago slang terms include “jagoff,” used for corrupt politicians, bad drivers, lousy tippers and anyone else that Chicagoans generally dislike, and “wet,” used when ordering a classic Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich, meaning that you want the server to drizzle a generous amount of gravy (a.k.a. au jus) on top.
But back to “hoosier.”
In my novel The Dead Hand, Rachel Gold pauses to explain three things “that make St. Louis unique.” One is toasted ravioli, a favorite local menu item that you will find nowhere else in the country. Another is an obsession with where you went to high school, which she explains in detail. But the third is the word “hoosier,” a term, she explains, “that the rest of the nation understands as a proud nickname for an Indiana resident but in St. Louis is a derogatory term for a white-trash resident of the South City portion of St. Louis.” Indeed, many of us St. Louis natives, Rachel continues, “were baffled when first learning that the Indiana University sports teams are know as, and actually proud to be known as, the Hoosiers.”
One good example: the head of a St. Louis client of mine returned from a business trip to Indianapolis. When I asked him how it went, he said the business part was fine but he was shocked by what he heard that night as he watched the local news show in his hotel room.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“They were reporting on this pedestrian who was hit by a car as he walked along the side of a highway. And then–are you ready?–the reporter said, ‘The 32-year-old hoosier was rushed the hospital.'” He shook his head in disbelief. “Unbelievable! Called the poor guy a hoosier. I couldn’t believe it.”
I had to explain to him that use of the term “hoosier” on the Indiana local news show merely meant that the man was a resident of Indiana, not that he was some hillbilly moron. And in fairness to him (and others from St. Louis), the local radio station where my client worked had a pair of morning radio shock jocks with a popular ongoing gag starring a goofy character named the Mad Hoosier who was the epitome of an illiterate white trash loser.
And thus my smile as I gazed up at the sign for Hoosier Mama Pie Company. While that name may not lure in many visitors from St. Louis, the place is filled with happy Chicago customers every day!
I think I told you this before but Hoosier probably comes from the French “rougier,” their slang term for rednecks. (I got this idea from Simone at Malmaison restaurant in St Albans). The Indiana folks embraced the moniker, proud of being so. Missourians took it as derogatory. Similarl, gays like to call themselves queer which used to be derogatory. Missouri had it’s hillbillies which tries to put a positive spin on it as can be seen in shows in Branson.
Interesting, Ken! Thanks.
Growing up in Indiana, I always heard that the term “Hoosier” arose when a visitor came to a farmhouse, and wanted to talk to the man of the house, who was out plowing his fields. The woman of the house would yell out, “So-and-so is here.” The farmer, not understanding what his wife had shouted, would yell back, “Who’s here?” which morphed into “Hoosier.”
If there’s anybody still left in St. Louis, they need to watch the Gene Hackman movie “Hoosiers.”