How to recognize a Hoosier

You Know You're From Indiana When...

Geography

• You measure distance in minutes.
• You have no problem spelling or pronouncing Terre Haute.
• You know that South Bend is north, North Vernon is south, and you can say French Lick without giggling.
• There’s actually a college near you named Ball State.

Sports

• On game night, the high school baskeball gym is the most populous “city” in the county.
• The local paper covers national and international headlines on 1 page but requires 6 for sports.
• You can see at least 2 basketball hoops from your yard.
• You understood the details of the CART vs. IRL debate, and took sides.

Education

• You rode the school bus for an hour each way.
• People at your high school chewed tobacco.
• “Getting caught by a train” is a legitimate excuse for being late to school.
• The biggest decision of your youth was "Purdue or IU?”

Transportation

• The second biggest decision was “Ford or Chevy?”
• You think ethanol makes your truck "run a lot better."
• Kids and dogs ride in the passenger seats of cars and the backs of pickups.
• You “take back roads to get there.” Why sit in traffic?
• You think nothing of it in spring and fall to be stuck behind a farm implement driving on the roads.
• You carry jumper cables in your car.
• Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
• To get to school you had to drive on a gravel road, a road with several right-angle turns in it or if you were really lucky, over a covered bridge.
• You know several people who have hit a deer.

Social

• You've seen all the biggest bands-- ten years after they were popular.
• All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain.
• When asked how your trip was to any foreign, exotic place, you say, "It was different."
• You consider being called a "Pork Queen" an honor.
• You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.
• You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
• You know what "cow tipping" is.
• You’ve heard of Euchre, you know how to play Euchre, and you are the master of Euchre.

Weather

• Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
• Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
• You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
• You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July.

Vocabulary

• Stores don't have bags, they have sacks.
• You drink "pop."
• You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: “Where’s my coat at?”‘ or “If you go to the mall, I wanna go with.”
• You say things like “catty-wumpus” and “kitty-corner.”
• Your teens refer to the bus as the 'cheese wagon', and refuse to ride it.

Miscellaneous

• De-tassling was your first job. Bailing hay was your second.
• You know that bailin’ wire was the predecessor to duct tape.
• You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
• You know that a “tenderloin” is not an expensive cut of beef, but a big, salty, breaded piece of pork served on a bun with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayonnaise.