My family has been a few places.

In a world of reduced regionalism and increased mobility, our tribe is a pretty decent example.

My parents were born in Western Pennsylvania and both went to college in West Virginia. My first five years of life were spent in the Ohio River Valley in Eastern Ohio, and then I moved to northern Michigan.

My brother and his wife went to college in Michigan and moved to Minnesota, to Wisconsin, back to Michigan, and then to Indiana.

My wife’s brother and his wife went to college in Michigan, then moved to Florida, to Louisiana, back to Florida, to Ohio, to Texas, then back to Michigan.

Pfew … I’m tired.

The point is that we’re products of a lot of places, although our heart lies in the Midwest. Everyone in our family also enjoys traveling, so we’ve canvassed even more places than our large address list.

I’m always fascinated with how people say things just a little bit differently depending on their location. That includes the fascinating variations on accents found in America, and also includes local slang or colloquialisms.

If you are anywhere in the Midwest and bump into someone, what do you hear? It’s not “sorry” or “excuse me.” It’s likely “ope,” frequently used to convey a momentary feeling of remorse or regret.

Do you call it “pop”? It’s “soda” in many other parts of the country.

Do you refer to geographic locations like “Up North” when referring to northern Michigan or “Upper” when referring to Upper Sandusky?

Do you say “catty-cornered” or “kitty-cornered?” Growing up in Michigan, we were Team Kitty, but I’ve found that, here in Ohio, people are Team Catty.

One Google definition of colloquialisms is “a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.”

Another person who has lived in many Midwestern locations is our advertising director and Sandusky/Norwalk general manager, John Kridelbaugh. John recently posed me a question, based upon a discussion he’d had with his wife:

“What do you call the piece of grass between the sidewalk and the street?”

I thought and couldn’t really come up with anything. I finally spurted out “berm,” although I figured that wasn’t right.

He said they both also struggled with it, but one came up with “parkway” and one said “boulevard.” An internet rabbit-hole search found there are at least 50 localized terms for that space, including “tree belt,” “sidewalk strip,” “parking strip,” and my new favorite, “government grass.”

I think the localization of certain terms is part of what makes places unique. In my above example, I spoke to how our family carries with it a little bit of a lot of places. And I know we are not alone. As the world gets smaller and people get more mobile, I hope places continue to carry their local charm — colloquialisms are one way that happens.

You already see dialect and accents changing the more urbanized an area is. Take Columbus, for example. The many influences coming into the area have had a watering-down assimilation effect on dialect. But if you head 30 minutes outside the city toward more rural areas, you will likely hear a familiar Ohio rural accent that borders on a slight twang. For an even bigger example, check out the differences in the cities Atlanta or Nashville compared to the areas that surround them.

On a macro level, most of us are proud Midwesterners. Like many things, there is an X (formerly Twitter) profile devoted to Midwest language. If you haven’t checked out “Midwest vs. Everybody,” I would recommend it. It has nearly 500,000 followers and is right up my alley in terms of humor.

One of my favorite posts on the site dealt with Midwestern colloquialisms. I am struck by how true it is:

Midwesterners be like:

“No, Yeah” = “Yes”

“Yeah, no” = “No”

“Yeah, no, for sure” = “Definitely”

“Yeah, no, yeah” = “I’m sorry, but, unfortunately the answer is ‘yes'”

“No, yeah no” = “Oh, no, you’ve got nothing to worry about”

Isn’t language amazing?!

Alpena native Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier in Findlay, Ohio, the Sandusky (Ohio) Register, The Advertiser-Tribune in Tiffin, Ohio, the Norwalk (Ohio) Reflector, and Review Times in Fostoria, Ohio. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com.