Yooper Night - The Forestry Forum Woodopedia

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Yooper Night		It's easy to understand that many wouldn't know what was happening on "yooper night." A "Yooper" is a locally common name for someone native to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. To start with many around the world, or even in the U.S. don't know that Michigan has a Upper Peninsula. To those who wonder, check out a map of Michigan. The Upper Peninsula is commonly shortened to "UP". A person whose born there is referred to as a "UPer" or in time more commonly as a "Yooper." The folks in the UP are wonderful people, but they have developed a way of talking that is different that in some other parts of the US, or even in Michigan for that matter. This comes from the fact that the UP is rich in copper , iron, and wood, and these materials were heavily mined in the 19th and 20th centuries. Folks from all over the world went there to work in the mines and take advantage of the opportunities for a new life. There were Finns, Italians, Cornish, Germans, Pols, and many others. These folks upon arrival in the UP tended to live in communities of their own nationality. There was naturally some competition among the ethnic groups as to who were the best miners, or best whatever. Over time there have been changes, the mining industry is nearly gone, the woods industry has taken many of the former miners or their descendents. As you might imagine there has been considerable mixing and intermarrage amongst these groups. The UP is extremely rich in outdoor activities and is relatively unpopulated--maybe 400,000 souls, and it is a destination for many hunters, campers, skiiers, snowmobilers, fishermen, nature watchers, etc. Their language is a little clipped, they talk fast, and portions of all these ethnic groups have crept into their vernacular. They're a proud people, those Yoopers, and proud they should be. The custon of adding "eh?" to the end of sentences is common. That's something that many Canadians do as well. "The" is frequently shortened to "da", and "for" comes our "fur", and many other localisms. And it sort of feeds on itself. My kids are both Yoopers, although I am not. I was born in Lower Michigan. The UP has a bit of a slowed pace, while the Lower Peninsula, particularly the southern part of the LP is fast paced and sort of frantic. As you can imagine, there is a little competition between the peninsulas. Da yoopers make fun of "da trolls" (those who live below the Mackinaw Bridge), and the trolls make a little fun of the yoopers. It's all in good taste. Well with that background, Jeff, da Boss, made the forum software automatically insert a ",eh?" where it might not have been originally inserted by the forum posters. It was all in good fun. Some of us, close to the scene got it right away, while some took longer to figure it out, and some didn't figure it out at all, and understandably so. I thought it was great fun. We Michiganders were poking a little fun at ourselves, and many others were happy to help. As you know our beloved Chet is a Yooper, and one of the proudest. And a nicer or more talented guy you'll never find. Hope this helps a little. Don't feel left out. Submitted by Shotgun (Norm) (da Troll)

Additional or regional comments : Also see Yooper for an audio file

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