You know the experience. You are somewhere far from home, perhaps wandering through a shopping center or at a social event. Suddenly, someone yells out “O-H!” You know immediately that a fellow Ohioan is in the room. They may be from Galion or Gallipolis, but you know they are from home.
Every state has its quirks, but Ohio has practically developed its own lexicon. From the store to the football stadium, Buckeye State residents have a way of saying things that can leave outsiders scratching their heads in utter dismay.
Of course, Ohio doesn’t have exclusive rights to what we share below. Some of these sayings or words are heard throughout the Midwest, while others are said only in certain parts of the state. Together, they offer a pretty good test of whether someone has spent a few years calling Ohio home.
We’re not sure that Galion or north central Ohio has any, but we’re on the lookout for them. Please feel free to share ideas.
Here are five favorites.
1. “Ope! Just gonna squeeze past ya.”
It’s not quite “oops,” and it’s not “excuse me.” It’s “ope,” that remarkable little syllable Ohioans produce whenever they nearly collide with someone at Kroger, reach around another shopper, or accidentally interrupt a conversation. It’s not taught. One day, you simply start saying it.
2. “You want a pop?”
Elsewhere, it’s soda. In some parts of the South, nearly every carbonated beverage is a Coke. But across much of Ohio, it’s pop. Pepsi, Sprite, or root beer, it doesn’t matter. You’re having a pop. And if someone offers you a soda, there’s a fairly decent chance they’re visiting from somewhere else.
3. “The floor needs swept.”
Why waste perfectly good words?
The car needs washed, the grass needs mowed, and the dishes need done. The phrase “to be” is completely optional from Zanesville to Xenia, and everyone understands perfectly well what’s being requested. Linguists recognize this construction as a feature of regional American English. Ohioans generally just recognize it as talking.
4. “Get the sweeper.”
Speaking of which, ask an Ohioan to get the sweeper, and there’s a good chance they’ll return with a vacuum cleaner. Wouldn’t you? The expression has deep roots in the Midwest, where carpet sweepers were household fixtures long before modern vacuum cleaners arrived. The terminology survived even as technology changed. In some Ohio households, “vacuum” remains something you do, while “sweeper” is what you do it with.
5. “O-H!”
There are two possible responses to hearing someone shout “O-H!” One is confusion. The other, if you’ve spent enough time in Ohio, is an immediate and enthusiastic “I-O!”
The familiar call-and-response cheer is associated with Ohio State football, but it regularly escapes Ohio Stadium. Ohioans have been known to exchange it in airports, on vacations, and in places thousands of miles from Columbus. It’s part greeting, part declaration of allegiance, and part proof that you can take an Ohioan out of Ohio, but you can’t always take Ohio out of the Ohioan.
And That’s Just How We Talk
Ohio’s vocabulary is as varied as its geography. Residents of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and the state’s smaller communities don’t necessarily use the same expressions, and generations have their own linguistic habits.
There’s something reassuring about recognizing a familiar phrase far from home. When someone says “ope” while reaching for a pop, you might just have found a fellow Ohioan.
And that conversation probably needs had.
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