How to Speak 'Scansin

Originally created by Sue Delrow & Caryn Cain

Why this page is called "Speak 'Scansin"

The "ah" sound in Wis-cahn-sin, becomes more of a short "a" sound as in cat. When saying the word Wisconsin, one forms the W with one's lips but never fully articulates it. What is heard by the listener is a very soft "Wuh" sound followed by a hard "Scansin." Hence the page name.

• Side by each juxtaposition
  Example: "Go park dem cars side by each."
• 'N so?: a meaningless interrogative following a statement; perhaps a contraction of another grammatical gem, "Ain't that so?"
  Example: "We're goin' to da store, 'n so?"
• Go by, or come by: frequently substituted for "go to" or "come to"
  Example: Go by da store and buy some beer...den come by me.
• Bubbler: commonly known as a water fountain or drinking fountain in the rest of the free world.
  Example: I'll meet you at da bubbler after you go by da store, 'n so?
• Hey: Yes, hey is used about everywhere, as in "Hey, whatcha doin'?" In 'Scansin, it becomes "Whatcha doin', hey?"
  ALT. VERSION: 'der hey...Whatcha doin, 'der hey?
  Usual reply... "Goin' by da store to buy some beer."
• Stop to da Pig: Means you're going to stop "at" the "Piggly Wiggly" grocery store.
  Example: Stop to da pig, buy some beer, den go by me, eh?
• Pop: What the rest of the country refers to as "soda" or "coke".
  Example: When you stop to da pig to get da beer, don't forget da pop, hey.
• C'mere once while you're up yet: Means could you get something for me while you're up, my legs seem to be painted on.
  Example: C'mere once while you're up yet, and go by da fridge and gimme a beer.
• Upside Right: Means to return an object to its correct position.
  Example: Oops, hey, I dropped dis beer on da way, so turn it upside right for a while before you open it.
• Stop 'n go lights: Red, yellow and green luminous devices that control traffic at intersections; known as traffic lights or signal lights in other parts of the U.S. of A.
  Example: Turn right at da stop 'n go lights den stop to da pig.
• Start wit me last This is used to tell a waitress to go on to someone else before taking your order.
• Schmear and sheephead: Two card games, probably of German origin. You can watch these games and have them explained for years, and you still won't know the rules. Actual names being smear and sheepshead. You can also schmear in sheephead.
• Hairs: Many 'Scansinites refer to their hair in the plural.
  Example: Didja get dem hairs cut? Yah, der hey. I got 'em permed, too.
• Ainna: Another meaningless interrogative; it is ALWAYS followed by a question mark, and is ALWAYS at the end of a sentence; probably "isn't it?" by way of "ain't it?"
  Incredibly concise example: "Cold, ainna?"
  Thanks to our Mwaukee Polish Connection for this one!
• Make Out: No, it's NOT what you're thinking! "I am from Chicago, but my husband is a native speaker and I would like to add an expression to your list. He doesn't put a fire out, he makes it out. When the Brewers get three outs, they also make out, meaning their turn at bat is over."
  Thanks to anonymous for this addition!
• Once der hey: "You perhaps have overlooked "once der hey". Pretty common in Sheboygan. As in: I'm goin down to da bar once der hey. Also... Did you know that in Sheboygan the person on the left has the right of way at a 4-way stop? Everywhere else the person on the right goes first. Ya hey, no kiddin!"
  Thanks to anonymous for one of the common ones we missed!

• Borrow me - In Wisconsin, we don't lend things to someone, we borrow them something.
  Example: "Hey, borrow me five bucks then, OK?"
  anonymous
• Cripes sakes! - Derived from 'For Christ's sake', this is a "cleaned up" version.
  Usage: Cripes sakes, Marion! Shut up an watch da guldarn game!
  anonymous
• Guldarn - A "cleaner" version of goddamn (a popular w'Scansin verb/noun/adjective) to be used in mixed company. See above for usage.
  anonymous
• Holy Cry-yiy - ????
  Usage: Holy Cry-yiy, yoo shooda seen da horns on dat buck!
  anonymous
• Gots - Substituted freely for "has".
  Usage: "Look at da horns dat buck gots!"
  anonymous
• Yoo Betcha! - Derived from "You bet!", used the same way, refers to strong agreement and support of another persons statement.
  Usage: "Ya, dat Mike Holmgren, he's a purty good coach, but he still ain't Lombardi then". "Ohh, yaaa...Yoo Betcha!".
  anonymous
• Wobbledy Hog -- See "Stop To Da Pig"
  anonymous
• By gully, I tells ya -- Used to put emphasis either before or after a phrase. Also is used to enhance the credibility or integrity of the phrase it is associated with.
  Usage: "Dat was da biggest gut-pile I ever drug out of a buck, by gully, I tells ya."
  anonymous
• Zink - Where you warsh your hands. Southwestern part of the state and Hustisford area.
  anonymous
• Warsh - You do this to your hands in the zink. Southwestern part of the state and Hustisford area.
  anonymous
• This is - It only works on the telephone, with an upward inflection on "is". "May I please speak to John Smith?" "This is." I waited for the end of the sentence quite a few times before I caught on, hey.
  Don Zeikel
• Uff-da - Used to sum up anything in general, wether it be ordinary or extraordinary, good or bad, IE; They got 12 feet of snow up nort last night! REPLY: UFF-DA.
  anonymous
• Fee-da - Used to sum up anything that is distasteful or smelly IE; What did you think of that lutefisk? REPLY: FEE-DA
  anonymous
• As a crow flies - This expression means straight. Most commonly used with driving distances.
  Example: "As a crow flies its 'bout 15 miles, but youse will drive 'bout 20 miles."
  fanofthepack
• Sure as God made little green apples - My dad uses this one all the time. He uses it when something happens, that you know is going to happen, but don't want to happen.
  Example: "I knew I'd drop that der nut, sure as God made little green apples."
  fanofthepack
• Fair to midlin - This expression means 'ok' or 'alright', as in "How ya doin tday?" "Oh, fair to midlin".
  anonymous.com
• Next Thursday...for example - In WI, that meant if it were Tuesday, you would skip this Thursday and go to the next one-9 days away. In MO where I live now, they are talking about the very next Thursday-2 days away. I've missed a few meetings this way!
  anonymous
• Unthaw - The art of thawing..."Let's un-thaw some steaks for supper." (Does that mean if we un-thaw some water we would get ice?)
• Rubbers - For galoshes or overshoes my mother always said "Rubbers" Put on yer rubbers it's rainin' cats an dogs.
  anonymous
• Da Mill - Gimme a beer I jus got home from da mill. (Factory)
  anonymous
• Howsbyyou - How's-by-you?. Usually the first question on the phone or greeting on the street.
  anonymous
• Geeez! - I can't believe no one else has sent this little gem in to you yet.. but growing up in Green Bay, my father had an occasion now and again to let forth with a word or two when he was apparently frustrated or angry at something my brothers or I had done.. Now, being a good church goin' man he dasn't swear out loud to us.. (or at least where my mother could hear) so he would let go with a mighty Ohhhh Geeez! or after time passed and he was merely peeved rather than genuinely angry the constant Geeez, Geeez, Geeez, as he shook his head in disbelief of our stupidity.
  anonymous
• Pert-neer - Many Wisconsonites use the word "Pert-neer" as a replacement for "almost" or "pretty near" to indicate that an event is nearing completion.
  Example: Question: "Hey, are you done fryin' dem brats yet?"
  Answer: "Pert-neer"
  anonymous
• Tree - One word we do use a lot here is "tree", meaning three.
  Example: "Der's tree of dem guy's comin' up on Friday, and two more comin' on Saturday."
  anonymous
• A couple-three - Used when referring to a "few" of something.
  Example: I can't afford it, I only have a "couple-three" dollars in my wallet.
  anonymous
• Is it? - A general comment made at the end of any informative conversation.
  Example: "Ya, they just discovered water on da moon." Response: "Is it?"
  anonymous
• Yawiseeyas - Translation - "Ya, we'll see yas." (One word meaning goodbye.)
  anonymous
• Twodersmall - Used when asking for something in quantity. Might be isolated to Central Wisconsin and small pockets of South Milwaukee
  Example: "Yah hey, I'll take a Point (beer), ah what da h*ll, gimme twodersmall!"
  anonymous
• Reach me down - As in "Reach me down the ornaments once".
  anonymous
• Cheechet? This is the Wisconsin way of saying "Did you eat yet?" or "Have you eaten yet?" (We like to be sure everyone's been fed well!)
  anonymous
• djejet???? (did you eat yet??)
  noah djew???? (no did you??? )
  twirlytweet!!! (to early to eat)
• Come by my house when you beep me out so my ma can see who I hang by!! - Come into my house when you call for me so my mom can meet my friends.
  anonymous
• Then - Always add the word "then" to all interrogative sentences.
  Example: "When are you gonna go then?" "What are having for dinner then?"
  anonymous
• Fond du Lac - REALLY pronounced Fon du (long u) lack (the spaces are noticable)...BUT many people (especially weather reporters) refer to it with the pronounciation of Fonjewlack (the letters are slurred and no noticable spaces)
  anonymous
• Highway A hundred - In Milwaukee Highway One Hundred is referred to as highway ONE hundred...anywhere outside of Milwaukee it's referred to as "Highway A hundred".
  anonymous
• Believe You Me - Meaning believe what I say. Often times used by old german teachers (mainly because of Wisconsin's German Heritage).
  Example: There are a lot of cows in Wisconsin, believe you me.
  anonymous
• Sketos - Mosquitos
• Go ahead and..." Go ahead and go over dere, once. Go ahead and stop. Go ahead and back up.
• I had a friend from Sheboygan who claimed that in his homeotwn they said, "hey, ainna?", while in Milwaukee it was "ainnahey?" (similar to "ainso".) And how 'bout adding "hey once", as in: "Hey once, let's go down by Prange's".
  anonymous
• Where abouts - used when asking for a directional reference.
  Example: Where abouts are you?
  anonymous
• Itch - ....One thing I have noticed that she says, along with other members of her family, is that she uses the word "itch" instead of "scratch". For example, she says "Stop itching that mosquito bite".
  anonymous
• Chu/cha -- Some Wisconsinites may say "youse" or "yuz," perhaps because, except perhaps for the South, someone everywhere says "youse" or "yuz." If I remember right, most Wisconsinites do say "chu" or "cha" as in "Whatchudoin'? Whatchadoin?" It's possible some say "yu" or "ya" instead.
• At all -- As in "Do ya want anymore coffee at all?" I was truly astonished not to find this already reported. On recent visits to Wisconsin, I've found it nearly ubiquitous--and I've never heard it anywhere else, except in a restaurant in Washington, D.C., recently, from the mouth of a waiter . . . just in from Wisconsin.
  anonymous
• We Wisconsinites pronounce bag, rag, drag etc. with a very long "a" sound so it sounds more like baaag (with the "a" sound of cake).
  anonymous
• Saying "come with", instead of "come with me". Example: "I am going out to the store, do you want to come with?
  anonymous
• Calling sweet rolls "bakery". "Go down by Schmidlers and get some bakery eh".
• Using "dassent" rather than shouldn't. "You dassent drink my beer".
• "Frying out" rather than grilling or barbequeing. "Lets go get some brats and fry 'em out tonight for supper."
• More "Frying out" - Sheboyganites do not barbecue, they "fry-out," and a favorite childhood meal of mine was "bake-dish with wieners," which falls into the same realm as hot dishes and casseroles.
  anonymous
• And-what-not-all or just what-nat! Go down by Pranges and get some beer, chips, pop and what nat.
  anonymous
• How do you spell youse? (Scansin for you in plural). ie: youse guys want to come over for cards. My husband is from Green Bay, I contend this is not really a word.
  anonymous
• Another common thing is the "U.P." Anywhere outside of Northeast Wisconsin people have no idea what this means. I have said that my "friends are goin' to the U.P." up here in Minnesota and people think I am strange.
  anonymous
  For all you non-Wisconsin folks, the U.P. is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
• Th should frequently be pronounced T - "Trow da cow over da fence some hay"
• Anna: contraction for "and a". If you want more on this watch Lawrence Welk "Anna 1, anna 2".
  Examples:
  "Lets go by da bar T'ursday after work and get a shot anna beer der hey".
• And one old one..can't really explain it, but I do understand it - "Down by Schuster's where da street car bends da corner round".
  anonymous
• "Hey, don't ya know", or "Don't ya know, hey".
  anonymous
• Another one I noticed a lot, amongst my uncles and older cousins, is: "Yah, heard dat" ... It might just be a Prescott thing, but this is not at all atypical --
  "Yah, dat Favre dere, he's a darn fine Packer."
  "Yah, heard dat. Hey, go by da fridge and get me a Leinie's."
  "Alright alright. Ya lazy hoser."
  anonymous
• People in Wisconsin don't say it "Oh - Kay"--that "a" is pronounced more like a short "e" and it comes out kinda like "Oh-keh."
  anonymous
• "Were you born in a barn?" That's what a 'scansinite says if you leave the door open on a cold day. I first heard this in 1988, and to this day I'm not sure what it means.
  anonymous
• Up in the hinterlands a very common one is to end a sentence with "though" maybe like you southern folk use "ainna".
  That Brett Favre, he's played pretty good though.
  Sort of a "don't you think" is implied, as opposed to a "however" that people might mean in other parts of the world. I have some friends from Wisconsin that always said "shtreet" and "shtraight", probably a German-Milwaukee influence as well.
  anonymous
• Hey der, ya forgot just one thing. It's a little vulger, but it's super. When somebody sez something unbelieveable, youse gotta reply: Nosh*tdhuh? Which is sayin' "No Sh*t Huh?", but ya see, it's actually one word in Wscansin. Hey, dey really say dat up in da nort woods..no kiddin'.
  

How to pronounce English words in 'Scansin.

• The heavy (no pun intended) Germanic influence took its toll on the pronunciation of the letters "th." These, them, and those frequently sound like dese, dem, and doze.
• Vowels in 'Scansinese - These are tricky. One must learn to pronounce these letters with an Upper Midwest nasal twang not heard in the rest of the country. Only Yoopers and 'Sotans can do it as well as 'Scansinites.

  For instance, the "ah" sound in Wis-cahn-sin, becomes more of a short "a" sound as in cat. When saying the word Wisconsin, one forms the W with one's lips but never fully articulates it. What is heard by the listener is a very soft "Wuh" sound followed by a hard "Scansin." That's why this page is called "Speak 'Scansin."

• The letter "o" - The short "o" sound, as in frog, was discussed above. The long "o" sound as in toad, is difficult to master for the non-native. This sound almost becomes two syllables -- an "oh" sound followed by a soft, short "i." The result is toh'-id. The terminal "oh" sound also becomes two syllables, an "oh" followed by a short "uh." Example: the word "no" comes out "Noah." This is especially confusing to little boys with a particular Old Testament name. See other examples below.
• The letter "u" - The short "u" as in underwear, is pronounced the same as everywhere else, unless you're talking to a Norwegian, but that's a whole 'nother' story. The long "u" sound, especially when it is the terminal sound, as in YOU, almost becomes two syllables -- yoo'-ah.
• The "ow" sound - The "ou" and "ow" combinations are perhaps the most troubling for the non-native to understand. The word "house" comes out rhyming with "dose." The word "vowel" comes out sounding like "voh' el." This is especially confusing in the company of small rodents. (If you don't get it, look up vole.)
• A-low'-wan = Alone
• Ba-tree = Battery
• Yah = Yes
• No'-ah = no
• Mwaukee = our largest city
• Koont = Couldn't
• Woont = Wouldn't
• Dint = Didn't
• Up nort = Up north, or to a vacation cottage, no matter which direction. In some regions, one goes Up Sout and Down Nort.
• Shawano = Shaw-no (Everywhere else = Sha-wa-no)
• Gillett = Jill'-ette (accent on first syllable) (Everywhere else = Jill-ette', like the shaver)
• Melk = Milk (really)
• Doh-wint = Don't (Two syllables and a louder DOH for more emphasis.)

[12-08-2009 Webmaster's note: I now have the author's permission for this page to remain on this site until further notice.]

Ya wanna go by the pig, or no?

One of my favorite stories was from around 1960 when my mother sent my Florida born stepfather to the store for sausage for lunch. She was referring (OF COURSE!) to sliced lunch meat for sandwiches. He returned with loosely ground raw pork ala Jimmy Dean. Her jaw dropped and she said, "Oh, fer chrissake, what am I supposed to do with that?"

Perhaps some who complained about the page are younger or their families are not as deeply rooted. That wonderful page is both funny and heartwarming.

There is also a German sentence structure twist for many of us who have been around for a while. I never realized it until I learned a bit of "book" German some years back.

In school I was always a very well mannered student....but one of my favorite memories is of standing up for my heritage to my junior high Social Studies teacher... this was again in Florida about 1960. He was one of those cold rigid types...no warmth and strictly business. During the class that day he asked me a yes or no question about the subject matter. I correctly responded... with my usual polite affirmative response. He went ballistic...shouting that it was impolite and disrespectful to respond to him with "Yeah" instead of "Yes". Normally being dressed down would have put me in tears of humiliation.... My eyes nearly popped out as I glared back at him (across the entire room) and blasted back, "I didn't say "Yeah!" I'm from Milwaukee and we say, "JA!" it's a perfectly good word and it means "YES!"! I ALWAYS say, "JA". It's GERMAN!". He stood there stunned for a couple of seconds and went back to the lesson plan.

Thank you so much for your wonderful webpage!

Muhwaukee>Florida>Washington state but.... My heart's in Wisconsin
      Submitted with permission by Dianne Larson Ward (dianne710@comcast.net) - [permission received 10-15-2013]

Just wanted to say "Fond du Lac" is not spelled "Fon du Lac". I didn't hear Fondjewlack, but I hear "Fondue LacK." as two words, not three or one. :)

Also, I don't see "crick" for "creek". We are going over by the crick. (the "by" usage for "to"...love that.)

My gramma (German, Scandinavian/Denmark) always said "pert near".. pert near drive me crazy...

Pier. We say pier. Most places say dock. ??

But I don't say "hose" for house. It's more "howse". "owt" for out and not "oat". Maybe that's a regional area of WI?

General American accent is becoming strong in the Midwest so all the younger generation is becoming more "accent-less", or neutral.

Instead of "eh" or "n' so" I say "okay?" Sometimes okay, sometimes o-keh.

Not familiar with der hey, though.

I had no idea I said "dint" for didn't. Doe-went...sometimes.

Thanks for the webpage. :)

2. I think the more cosmopolitan cities may not used or been aware of all of these colloquialisms. Hence the negative comments that were left. I grew up in a small town in central western Wisconsin (Arcadia), and the old German and Polish farmers used quite a few. And we said pop, bubbler, uffda and quite a few other colloquialisms from your list. In fact, I still find myself saying things like unthaw, which invites raised eyebrows from those who aren't fortunate enough to call themselves Wisconsinites.

2."Brights" Known by everyone else as "high beams" for a vehicle.
Example: "So turns out I was drivin the whole way back ta da house with my brights on."

God this is fun.

3."So I sez to him" generally followed directly with "I sez" (for dramatic emphasis to build suspense for whoever you are telling your outrageous story to)
Example: "So I hopped ahtta da truck, and see him on the ladder, so I sez to him, I sez 'Hey whatcha hangin yer Christmas lights now for? It's May fer Criminy sakes.'"

Ok I gotta hit the hay. Thanks for the laughs, They are perfect. I'm a Sconnie native and been fluent for 26 years. You are welcome to use those pearls if you'd like to on your website.

Webmaster's reply:
    It's just fine where it is. I've been maintaining my Web pages for 17 years. Thousands of absolutely wonderful sites have come and gone in that time. There is no guarantee Facebook will be aroung long term before it is usurped by the next best "new" thing on the Web. www.folklib.net will remain in existence as long as I'm alive (I'm 72 now), so it is safer long term where it is. Feel free to mention it on Facebook or anywhere else of your choosing. This domain is paid up through 2020, so this page is not going anywhere.

1. instead of trick or treating, we'd say Halloweening

2. Duck duck ray duck instead of duck duck goose (ray could come from the French Rey or king, so a rey duck could be a king duck to account for its greater size?)

    We call it soda or coke....we HATE the word pop. It drives us insane. A Wisconsinite would NEVER use it. The rest of the U.S. does.

    And you'd never catch us saying "Der, hey"... that's a Canadian thing. Upper Minnesota uses it but noone in Wisconsin does. Only when poking fun at Canadians.

    Please make these corrections on your "Speaking "Skansin" page.

    Thank you
See the note below about corrections.

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