Do Michiganders Have Accents? 7 Words That Prove We Do

"Of course Michiganders don't have an accent..." said every Michigander everywhere.

Sure, Southerners have their different drawls and you can't go to the west coast without hearing a severe vocal fry somewhere. But, what makes Michiganders and their accents so unique?

Turns out, it's not how we say things, but what we're saying that shows our true Michigander heritage.

What Makes the Michigan Accent Unique?

Here are some things you might notice about how Michiganders say things:

• Northern City Vowel Shift - where the movement of one vowel sound affects the rest of the word. Example: the word 'caught' sounding like 'cot'
• Glottal Stop - dropping or softening the "t" sound, particularly in the middle of words. Example: 'button'
• Sounding Nasal - making "eh" type sounds for the letter "a"
• Dropping the "ing" - sometimes we just decide to drop off the end of the word because we don't feel like saying it. Example: "You comin' over?"
• Speaking quickly - Michiganders speak so quickly that we often shove words together. Example: Come here to "c'mere"

Want to know how much of a Michigan accent you have? Check out the words below, say them out loud, and listen to how you say them.

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Kitten

Kitten should have a hard "t" sound in the middle. But, if you find yourself saying "ki'in" with a breathy stop of air in the middle, you might have a Michigan accent.

Detroit

The only time you'll hear us saying "Dee-troit" is when we're screaming, "Dee-troit Basketball!" at Pistons games. Otherwise, we're saying "Duh-troi", because of course we also drop the "t" off the end of that word in favor of a Glottal Stop.

Did You Eat? to Jeet

I know "Jeet" might sound like some kind of bug repellant, but it's not. "Jeet" is actually Michiganders speaking so quickly that we shortened the question, "Did You Eat?" to "Didjuh Eat?" to "Jeet?"

Crayon

If you find yourself pronouncing cray-on as "cran", you've probably got a Michigan accent.

Mirror

Mirror—a two syllable word? I think not... Michiganders say, "meer".

Grocery

We don't go to the gro-cer-y store, we go to the "grow-shree" store.

Terror

We're so scared we shorten "ter-ror" to "tear".

How'd you fair? If you really want to make your Michigan accent the best it can be, take a look at more words and phrases only Michiganders say, below.