By Linze Rice|Updated on March 26, 2024(Originally published March 27, 2023)
×
Linze Rice
Author
Ope! From the rural cornfields of DeKalb County, Linze is an Illinois native and true Midwestern gal who can make a mean bonfire and whip up a perfect marshmallow salad. Since 2014, her bylines and photography have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, and Block Club Chicago/DNAinfo Chicago, Only in Your State, and more. She has interviewed Dolly Parton, written about beloved diners along historic Route 66, visited the last Rainforest Cafe in the Illinois, and reviewed luxurious English manor-inspired hotels. Whether it's writing about a local gem or world-renowned establishment, Linze brings a heartwarming and historical perspective to each story, using facts, wit, and personal experience to impress upon readers the importance of culture, food, travel, and all things local. Her favorite destinations in Illinois include Starved Rock State Park, Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, the charming small town of Sycamore, and historic Rosehill Cemetery. When she's not writing or photographing, Linze enjoys gardening, spending time with her husband and pets, cooking, baking, and grilling, and relaxing with trashy TV.
When it comes to living in Illinois, there are fact-facts, crazy-but-true facts, and then there are strongly held opinions that we live and die by. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell where the line is drawn. Perception is nine-tenths of reality, right? So if you really want to get in good with a resident of the Prairie State, make sure to memorize these hills to die on for Illinoisians.
One of the quickest ways to out yourself as a non-Illinoisian is to say "soda" instead of "pop." In particular, it's pop with a flat "a" — so it's more like "pahp." Soda is for our Midwestern cohorts in Wisconsin and Minnesota. We have no clue what they drink in Michigan, and frankly, we don't want to know.
If you're walking past an Illinois resident and they need to get around you, you'll probably hear this exact phrase: "Ope, just gonna scootch past ya real quick." This translates to, "Pardon me, I need to walk past you and I don't want to inconvenience you." Ope is also used as a non-dire, semi-calm exclamation that acknowledges something just happened, but that you're not going to freak out about it. For example, as your friend drops a piece of paper, you might say, "Ope, let me get that for you." The ope acts as a "whoops!"
Advertisement
3. We're not afraid of a little cold. Fifty degrees is hot in the winter
No one's tougher in the cold than an Illinoisian. Yeah, that's right! Not only do we shovel ourselves and each other out, but you'll catch us in shorts and a T-shirt walking the snow-blower when it's 40 degrees. When temps can reach into the -20s, 40-50 feels like summer. We never said it was smart, we just said it's something we've always done growing up in illinois.
If there is one thing that truly unites us it's our fervent hate for constant road construction. There are always new multi-year projects announced that just seem to further jumble the already worst traffic in the nation. Then, the roads that aren't under construction are likely in need of newly painted lines and pothole filling. Of course, we still have to pay the tolls.
The vast majority of this state is farmland — usually corn or soybeans, but with a couple of other crops as well. But Illinoisians know that corn is the symbol we identify with most. The other side of the coin is having Chicago, the third-largest city in the country, in our state. While we have a few other larger areas like Rockford and Peoria, the two major settings for most of us are either corn or Chicago. And honestly, we need both.
Whether you're more of a corn person or more of a Chicago person, we can all agree that we are not Indiana people, and we like it that way. There is an undeniable rivalry that exists between the two boxy "I"-states. It's true that the cost of living in Indiana is cheaper, but, then you'd have to be living in Indiana.
And our small towns are pretty special too. Take the charming river town of Galena for example:
Do you agree with these hills to die about life in Illinois? What else would you add to the list of quirky things we believe are true about living in Illinois? Tell us in the comments! And while we’re on the subject, here are seven more quirky things you can find only in Illinois (hello, white squirrels!).
