12 Phrases That Will Make You Swear Chicagoans Have Their Own Language
By Elizabeth Crozier|Published August 25, 2017
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Elizabeth Crozier
Author
An Illinois transplant who grew up and went to school in Indiana for 22 years, Elizabeth holds a BFA in creative writing and has enjoyed traveling across the country and parts of Europe. She has visited half of the states, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and regularly travels home to the Hoosier State to see friends and family. With more than five years of writing experience, Elizabeth’s articles have been featured on several websites, and her poetry and short stories have been published in multiple literary journals.
Every city develops its own colloquial terms, but those heard around Chicago can be puzzling at times. This list of phrases will help you translate the language of this marvelous city so you can keep up with the conversation.
Whether you’ve lived here all your life or moved in recently, there’s likely at least a term or two here you’ve never heard before. Keep reading to see if you can define all 12 terms and phrases.
You may know them better as sneakers, tennis shoes, or kicks, but in Chicago, we mostly wear these clunky things in the gym and nowhere else. It's one of these phrases we don't even realize is different.
Chicago is a "me first" kind of place, and when snow makes it difficult to find parking, the locals get creative. It's a long-standing tradition in the city to hold or call "dibs" on a street spot with a chair.
Other parts of the state call it soda, but in Chicago, we'll give you a quizzical look for calling it anything other than pop. It's just a matter of tradition.
Jewel Osco is the local grocery store chain of choice for most people in the Chicago area, because they are just about everywhere, and the prices are generally inexpensive. Like other superstore nicknames, "Jewels" is just a way of shortening the name.
Again, we Chicagoans like to shorten things, even if that means crushing words together. What we're actually saying here is "front room," but when said fast, it comes out a whole new language.
We're also in the habit of simplifying the names of our many attractions. In addition to referring to ourselves as "the city," we also give quick nicknames to our train line, art in the park, and Lake Michigan.
The way our accent sounds, especially when spoken quickly, can even make "sandwich" sound like a foreign phrase. If you're looking for meat between two slices of bread, then a "sammich" is what you should order.
10. The Kennedy, The Eisenhower, and The Stevenson
No, we're not going to do laundry. This term is used all throughout Illinois as a polite way to say you're going to the bathroom. It's a washroom because you wash your hands.
This term has several origins, but it is often used to describe a hard working immigrant (typically Polish in this area) who has helped build the city. While it may have something to do with a famous sportsmen's last name, it was also used during an old SNL skit that made fun of the Chicago accent.
