The first person to say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change” was Mark Twain. He was talking about the weather in Connecticut.
“Ope”. I grew up in Pennsylvania and Colorado, and never encountered the word until moving to central Illinois. Now I find that I can express nearly any emotion, and communicate very complex ideas, with just that one magical word.
I came to America from Sweden 35 years ago. My parents came through Camp America, an organization that brings people from other cultures to work at American summer camps. They brought me and my sister with them and we ended up staying. I was 15 years old. But the funny thing I was reminded of here was that we were able to pick out the Brit’s by the amount of calamine lotion they were wearing. 😁 This was back when the only kind available was the pink kind. They got absolutely demolished by the mosquitoes.
I’m from Wisconsin, I spent a semester in England in 2008 and the most notable difference for me was how green everything was even though it was fall, the way tax doesn’t get added on to the tab at checkout, elevators/the way the levels are numbered annnd living in a building older than my country. The trip was a bit disappointing in that I was with an American group and we didn’t really get to interact with the country, we just toured factories and castles. So I didn’t have exposure to the actual culture and language much.
@@Phiyedough we weren’t even at a British university or anything, it was just a group from our American college with our American professor. The only British people we got to really talk to were tour guides, waiters and waitresses and cashiers.
@@RaquelSantos-hj1mq Thats probably true. I’ve been to Seattle once, it was alright. I went to a wedding in the woods and it was quite green there! But mostly I was in the city and I don’t care for being in the city 😅 there was defiantly frequent rain sprinkles there which reminded me of England.
I was just talking about this today. My house is 8 miles from the nearest gas station, 10 miles from the nearest grocery store, 30 from my kids school, and 45 from where I work. The only busses in northern Indiana are school busses that stop at every house (so about 2-3 times per mile) and are impossible to pass.
Growing up in Pa. next to a river I can tell you a lot of stories about gnat's. We always had the really small ones. They would dive-bomb your eyes, fly up your nose or fly straight into your ear. Try catching a baseball as one go's into your eye, another crawls up your nose as another one is buzzing in your ear. Yep, the ball smacked me right in the face.
I remember going to a track and field camp back in high school. One of the camp counselors was from California where they don't have gnats. He decided to play a pickup game of basketball, and just so happened to dribble right into a swarm of gnats, and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen watching him freak out. He probably thought he was going to die because he couldn't figure out how to get away from them.
In PA there's also annual spraying to help control them. And yes, I remember in school playing softball during PE and standing in the field with my gloved hand in the air to keep them away from my head as the gnats generally go for the highest/tallest thing. When walking, you can often see the swarms of gnats ahead and simply walk around them.
I'm grew up in Ohio and it's the same. You almost need a mask to go through the huge swarms sometimes lol just pull your shirt up your hat down duck and run 🤣🤣. Also there are most DEFINITELY biting gnats. At least where I'm from and they live mostly in the grass near damp areas but seeing as I live on a property with a flowing creek there always seems to be biting gnats or midges in my grass 😑. So now I'm curious if that's something other parts of the Midwest don't particularly experience are the biting ones?
A huge swarm of insects all hatching out at the same time is a survival tactic. They overwhelm predators. Predators can gorge themselves and there will still be enough survivors to perpetuate the species.
Whenever an awkward "corridor dance" happens to me, I usually pick a side of the passage and grin at the other person saying, "Shall we dance?" This usually lightens the awkwardness and I get a smile in return.
Thunderstorms in Northern, Minnesota. It was raining so hard I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of the car, so I had to pull over. Lightning striking all around me, bolt after bolt after bolt. What to do? Curl up in the middle of the front seat. (The car is a very good Faraday cage.) Sit back and watch the show, nothing else possible. After about 10 minutes, it all passed, and I could continue driving. Very memorable experience, and that was about 1958.
Born and live in the Enchanted Mitten (Michigan). When I went to London, I was absolutely SHOCKED by how easy public transportation was. If I wanted to go east, cross the street and pick the right bus - one of them goes where you want. If you want to go anywhere west, the stop on your side will have a bus to take you there. D.C. has a fine Metro/circulator system, but nothing like London.
I'm also in the mitten state and if I see a bus, it is either a school bus or a charter bus going to the casino. Public transportation is almost non-existent.
I've only been to Brussels, but been several times. Fantastic city! Hope the rest of the country is just as good. Would be a great place to live for a while.
As a former Brit and now Midwesterner, we also moved to Belgium for a couple of years and it is absolutely the armpit of Europe. The only good things were the beer, mussels, and the fact you can drive out of it in about an hour. That said, the Vlaams isn’t bad but Wallonia is horrid. Britain, Germany, and even Lithuania were better.
If you've lived in Belgium, maybe you can explain this one to me. My sister, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is currently dating a man from Belgium. He's black, and every time he sees another black person, he, in his unmistakably foreign accent, asks them where they're from -- as in, what country they're from. Is he just really odd, or does this make some kind of cultural sense in terms of Belgium?
Be careful. If you ever find yourself in Alaska, there are horrible biting gnat-sized flies called blackflies. They are very small, and quite horrible. In Florida, they have "No See Ums" which are also known as biting gnats. Yes, they're tiny to the point of invisibility, and yes, they will bite the ever loving crap out of you. Enjoy your benign gnats whilst you may.
@@rckoala8838 I would too, because I am sensitive to bug bites. We have them here, but since I am near open water the breezes usually keep them off us. I have been to other beaches North of Boston where they are fierce. When I was in Scotland on the Isle of Skye, I noticed at a pub that they were selling to all of the tourists who had come to go fishing.... guess what?? Skin so soft by Avon. Apparently it's a claim as International!
Only real strange storm I ever saw was when I lived in Hoffman Estates (suburb of Chicago) and it was a nice sunny day, around 70+ F. Looking out my window I see what I can only describe as a tornado rolling on its side towards me. As it swirled past, the temperature plummeted to below freezing and it started snowing.
When I was in Junior High (long, long ago), I moved from Houston, Texas to a tiny farm town in western Kansas with a population of about 120. The Houstonian kids insisted that Kansans don't drive cars and, instead, ride goats everywhere. Not horses. Not donkeys. Goats. Why? No clue, but they all seemed convinced Kansas only ride goats for transportation. I have now lived in Kansas for most of the last 3 decades, and I don't think I've ever even SEEN a goat here... but I've seen lots of cars. XD
When I was a toddler we moved from Oregon to Missouri. Some of my older siblings stayed behind with our aunt and uncle to finish the school year and when they arrived they were so surprised to find that we had a normal house. Our aunt told them all the houses in Missouri were like the hillbilly shack in the opening credits of Beverly Hillbillies. Also, one of the first nights after they arrived my brother Danny came inside all freaked out. "Dad, you better come outside. I don't know what's going on but there's a whole crowd of men down on the road with little bitty flashlights!" It was lightning bugs! 🤣
Quagthistle, which part of Kansas are you in? I lived a little off 50 about 30 minutes from the Kansas-Colorado border and am familiar with a lagr amount of the area.
You'll know your a true Midwesterner when it doesn't even phase you when you swallow a gnat or are bothered by someone grabbing at invisible things in the air (we always think we can catch 'em).
The south had 150 distinct dialects. There are now 5. Interestingly, "ya'll" didn't show up until the 1890's. Southerners like Mark Twain or Andrew Jackson - or, for that matter, Jefferson Davis - never said it.
A sunshower is when it rains while the sun is still out, sometimes when there isn't even a cloud in the sky. It's not an interruption of sunny weather by a brief rain.
Depending how old your mother-in-law is ... the reason she may refer to a vacuum as a SWEEPER is there was/is a contraption called a ...CARPET SWEEPER is a mechanical device for the cleaning of carpets. They were popular before the introduction of the vacuum cleaner It's a non-motorized hand held push sweeper with rollers, you push back and forth to picks up dirt, deposits it in side containers on the inside, that you empty into trash In restaurants with carpets, they will call it a "HOKY"
@@thecraigster8888 Might be yeah ... I clearly remember my grandmother having one when I was a kid in the early 70s, when what was on the carpet didn't require a vacuum
My absolute earliest memory is of riding on the sweeper as my grandmother pushed it around to clean her floors. I distinctly remember the "wood grain" image painted on the sheet metal cleaner. I brought up the memory when Grandma passed on, some 45 years later, and my mother couldn't believe that remembered it, because I was just 18 months old when my grandmother moved from the apartment directly beneath us.
As an Ohioan, I understand all of it! We have a saying, "that if you don't like the weather, just wait 4 minutes and it'll change." 😆. My town has a bus... But it's actually a large taxi bus you have to call for.
We had one of these in the town I grew up in in Southern California. It was called Dial - A - Ride although often referred to as DollarRide because it cost a dollar per person per ride back then. That town is now more of a city and has actual busses.
You definitely live in a bigger city!! No bus, taxi, Uber or anything in my little town in eastern Washington. There are no traffic lights in the entire county...a few blinking yellow where two highways meet, but that's it. I think the largest town in the county has 1,500 people, so you know it is really rural.
I'm a Wisconsinite and we have the same saying. Pretty sure the entire Midwest says that. It's what we have in common besides ope and possibly complaining about the weather.
I tried to use umbrellas many times in my life, but inevitably they get shredded by the 60 mph+ winds we get here. Plus an umbrella doesn't keep you dry when the rain is horizontal.
The only thing about the rain I don't like is it puts me to sleep. Wonderful at night, but less so at noon when I'm trying to NOT sleep. It didn't used to, but once I hit 30 or so, it's like a switch flipped and now a rainy or just overcast day saps the energy right out of me.
My mother is from rural MO. I remember my first day of my first visit. 100 F and 100% humidity. You could see the water droplets in the air. And lake swimming . . . the water was *warm*! that, was a novel concept. I once mentioned chiggers to my mother . . . . that triggered a memory for her, as she shuddered . . .
Chiggers are super triggery! We don't have them in Colorado, but every time I see someone sitting on grass, it takes all my willpower not to run over and drag them to safety. Chiggers will eff you up.
Culture shock is a thing. When my father retired it was the first time I attended a non Dept. of Defense school. It was bad. I'd been to the Far East, Europe, Philippines. Everywhere. My classmates hadn't moved their entire lives. Things straightened out when I joined the Army and went back to Europe.
I never understood the term "Army brat" because from my perspective it was the civilian kids who were the brats. All the kids in the DoD schools were welcoming and friendly to new kids--we all moved all the time so we knew what it was like. I didn't end up enlisting myself, but I did marry a Soldier (and also went back to Europe).
I grew up inone.oart of the States and live in another. While it's not as strong as culture shock while in other countries, I still feel it, even after 23 yrs
@@elissahunt I wear Army Brat like a medal. I wear Veteran status with pride. But, yes, going into public schools after dad retired was massive culture shock. I was so glad to get back to Germany, it wasn't funny. I enjoyed my time in the military. I saw a lot and am now settled in Montana and while not as happy as I used to be since my husband passed. There are very few places I'd rather live. Yes, DoD schools were far better schools than the public school I wound up in, in the middle of Baltimore city. It was like night and day.
That's how the vast majority of Americans without money live. They almost never have the chance to leave their hometown, let alone the state or nation, and that's even if they were given the desire to do so.
@@jwb52z9 Do you imagine that military folks have money? I understand that traveling to another country can be expensive, but it can also be done pretty cheaply. And traveling around the US isn't that hard. Motivation, not money, is the major limiting factor.
Culture shock is definitely a thing... be it moving to or moving away from the Midwest. I grew up in Wisconsin and moved to Connecticut when I was almost 13. It nearly broke me. I was mocked for my language... I felt like no one was nice at all, ever... and that doesn't even touch on the fact that I went from a very white town to a very diverse city and had to learn so many more cultural norms for engaging with individuals and groups. Ultimately though, I'm grateful because now my accent is very ambiguous, almost like a received American accent if we're making a British comparison and I can fairly seamlessly transition to most locals between the upper Midwest and the midatlantic and northward on the east coast considering I now live in PA.
I spent my early childhood in Philadelphia with my NY parents but moved to Minnesota, where I spent my formative years. Then it was on to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, and now Connecticut. Linguistically, life has been challenging. In Pittsburgh the words collar, color, and caller sound identical. In Boston carkey, khaki, and cocky are indistinguishable. No one can tell my origins, including myself. But if I spend 10 minutes in the Minneapolis airport I sound as if I never left.
May I suggest you visit southern Florida between June-September for the true definition of A. downpour B. Suns-shower C. gnats we have our own special type referred to as no-seeum's (a truly vicious type of flying beastie that's mainly just wings & teeth).
Agreed on the downpour. I lived in Florida for 5 years and now live in Virginia. They do not know how to drive in what I call a Florida Grade Downpour here, but then again, I bet they don't have RainX on their windshields and RainX windshield washer fluid. It drastically improves visibility and increases my comfortable driving speed to about 10-15 mph under posted speed limit instead of everyone else driving 20-30 under. I also picked up the hydroplane recovery skill.
I used to chat online with a dude from England a lot, and he thought it was strange that we never open our windows or doors without a screen. I explained to him it was to keep the bugs out, and he didn't seem too concerned about bugs finding their way in his house. If you left your window open and light on over night around here, you would wake up to so many bugs flying around your house it would be ridiculous. I'm guessing the bug population in England ain't got nothin on us.
Every time I see a show or movie located in Europe and they open their windows with no screens, I *always* think, “How do they keep the bugs out??”. It kind of stresses me out for a second. I wish we could do that here. There are just too many flies and wasps around me to not have screens.
No we don't have that problem here in England , we do get mozzies that bite but that's normally when sat outside of an evening and doesn't effect everyone.
Meh. I live in Pennsylvania, and we've got tons of bugs everywhere. We just let our house spiders take care of any insect that manages to make its way in our house. Except stink bugs. Spiders won't touch them. I always have to pick them up and toss them outside. (Stink bugs, that is, not spiders.)
I live in the Midwest, north central Ohio to be exact…about an hour south of Lake Erie. Love the people and vibe of the Midwest. I used to travel all over the country when I was working ( retired now) and each region has its charm, but home is definitely the Midwest. Since it got up to 80 here today the June bugs came out…they are a really annoying. They come out at night and are attracted to light.
Born here in Michigan, and lived here all my life. One thing you could comment on is the big city, small town dynamic. I was born in Detroit (actually one of it's suburbs) then moved to a smaller city on the other side of the state for forty five years. My wife, a resident, once introduced me to her coworkers, telling them that I was from Detroit. I had lived here more than half my life at the time. Not only had I lived here longer than any place else, I had lived here longer than EVERY place else. And I was still from Detroit.
I have been through the Midwest many times. On my way from here to there and vice versa. I have been to/in Ohio many times, as it is right next door. In fact, I live about 20 miles from the Pennsylvania/Ohio border.
As a kid, I told my mom that the gnats we're biting me and she didn't believe me. When I came in the house for dinner I had blood running down my face and then she believed me. I ended up with a scab that covered my forehead and sideburns area in one piece. Nasty little creatures.
I'm originally from New England, and now live in FL, and the sun showers are still messing me up. The sun is bright enough to show one's shadow, and yet it's pouring down rain. It's definitely a Caribbean thing
@@davidcosta2244 I am in Missouri, and we frequently get sunshowers here, too. I have also seen it snowing and sunny out. This is not uncommon around here.
I grew up in Griffith, Indiana, in Northwest Indiana, not far from Chicago. Then I moved to North Carolina about 40 years ago. Part of the reason for the gnats and mosquitoes in that area is that much of the land was formerly swampland.
Just like we think it is weird for southerners to call all fizzy drinks coke, it's weird for you to call all vacuum cleaners hoovers since that is a specific brand of vacuum cleaner here in the USofA.
@MargeFoyle...As is, how many other tissue, locking pliers, or copy machine companies can you think of that have trademarked a popular, everyday item? As opposed to Coke, Mt Dew, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, 7Up , etc etc etc
Lake flies in Wisconsin near water (I live by water). Mosquitolike but do NOT bite. They swarm by the billions and get in the house, all over the cars, outside walls of house and garage. and fly in your face and I swear try to fly up your nose. There are three or four major hatches during the warm months; like mayflies they don't live long in adult form. They can be so abundant on Lake Winnebago that they show up on radar as if they were a rainstorm.
Gnats yeah otherwise known as blackflies. I don't envy the folks that in the Adirondacks. One year many years ago blackflies were all over our windshield. We ran out of windshield wiper fluid trying to get them off our windshield 🤣🤣🤣🤣. It was worse than a snow storm! 😆
I laughed when it got to the baggy clothes part. It’s like 73 degrees here in Michigan today and I’m wearing shorts, a band t shirt and then a baggy oversized flannel looking straight out of the 90s
Here in Texas, the term “snowbird “ refers to people from northern states who migrate to the southern states in the winter and then return back home for the summer.
As for insects, the trick with gnats that all Midwestern children learn, is to raise one hand above your head, and they will flock to the hand and not your face. Also, beware of dive-bombing June bugs. And I still hear the term "sweeper" used in Kansas, but there it's not the vacuum cleaner but a non-powered floor cleaner with rollers and a long handle. Not the best description, so Google it for a picture.
This is what my Grandma called a sweeper as well. She was from North Central WV. In Ohio, a sweeper is what most adults who are elderly now call a vacuum cleaner.
A Hoky is a non power sweeper thats the brand name since no one knows what to call it. s It's not a paper thing but heavy plastic with a stick. You can empty it but few ppl know how to take apart/put back together. Cheaper than Swiffers imo.
We adopted from Bulgaria, about half the people we met that spoke (pretty good) English (probably because of British tourism, all the English menus had the Union Jack on them) and heard we were from America said, “Oh, I’ve been to Wisconsin.” What is it about Wisconsin that attracts Bulgarians? I have no idea, I’m from here (NY) and I’ve never been there.
if i recall correctly, sunshowers are when the sun is still shining when it rains, not sudden storms. we've always referred to what you're describing as just a summer thunderstorm. i grew up in the midatlantic in a family of midwesterners. i didn't know "sweeper" was regional until very, very recently.
Hey Laurence, I read recently that Chicago is expected to get a larger than normal influx of gnats this year. My fashion culture shock when I went to Britain and Italy is that EVERYBODY wears some sort of scarf, no matter what the weather. Why?
I live in northern MN, skeeters, 7 months of winter, and 80 mph winds during thunderstorms have given me hardened skin. Head net, layer up, basement shelter, etc. And a good whiskey can make a helluva lot of difference.
I lived in Edmonton, Alberta for several years. I was told by natives that Edmonton had the worst bus/train system in the country. I told them they should compare it to the system of a comparably sized city in the States, like KC where I had come from. Edmonton may have a bad system in Canadian terms, but it's so much better than American systems it's not even funny!
I'm British and have been to Edmonton. I thought the public transport(ation) was pretty good. Probably fairly comparable with a British provincial city and the larger roads mean that the buses can keep moving better.
KC has some of the worst public transit infrastructure in the entire country. The majority of the city lacks any realistic alternatives to driving a car. It’s getting better, but it seems like you went between the two worst cities in both countries 😂
Man, I sure love when a small cloud of gnats just randomly appears. I find a bunch of small clouds of them all over the small field behind my school sometimes. -_- Midwest rain is great for aesthetic background sleep noise. Cheese 🤤 Saying "Ope" is part of my daily life.
In my household, the vacuum is a bulky, hevy cleaning tool with a bag and attachments. We lso have an electric sweeper that uses a small cannister and replacable filters. It's small and light. No attachments, but you can detach the main body from the head and handle, and use it like a Dustbuster.
Visited the Midwest from the West Coast and random rain is crazy to me. Felt the same in FL. I am used to a prediction on the news I can count on and generally, at least an hour of rain.
A thunderstorm can develop to 30,000 feet in minutes from a clear sky on a hot summer day. Strong updrafts carry moist air up to condense into a down pour.
I am born and raised in Ohio, specifically northeast. We live about 500 ft from Lake Erie. Every year we get muffleheads and mayflies from the lake. As you come walk out of the house, keep your mouth closed because as you walk by the house they fly off, then return to the side of the house with in seconds. Then at night you hear a low buzz above your head as they all go up in the sky to mate, all of them. The muffleheads and mayflies don't last long.
If the gnats and mosquitos are getting you down, Laurence, move to the Southwest. No flying bugs to speak of there, but the scorpions may prove bothersome.
What? You haven't experienced blackflies yet!? You want to know about swelling... Right now, across the Lake here in MI, we're having the usual tiny blackfly infestation (we call those gnats) that leave welts, then, in a couple of weeks (or the next warm-up, whichever comes first) the larger version comes out - now we're talking about whole areas of the body swelling!
I'm from Louisiana, live in Texas where I met my wife who is from Indiana, her dad grew up in Anderson that you mentioned. I have made it my life's mission to poke fun everytime she calls the vacuum cleaner a " vacuum sweeper" She has lived in Texas most of her life yet that Midwest still comes out occasionally.
Here in Oklahoma, at least in OKC, we tend to use some Midwestern terms and some Southern ones. Funnily enough, many people here call soft drinks "soda pop", kind of a combination of Western and Midwestern slang.
Lived in Lake County Illinois for 12 years, there was a bus that went to the local city college and that was it. Seemed useless. I lived a block away from a Metra station so I could at least get to Union Station downtown to catch Amtrak and get out of the state.
The Hoover thing is one of the examples of trademark genericization, much like kleenex is for tissues. The term sweeper came from one of the ways they were marketed, for making the sweeping easier as a mechanical broom...
The bus system in Fort Wayne tends to be erratic, too. They’re only run on certain routes around town, mostly to hospitals and main shopping centers, and after 10 p.m. or so, they stop running altogether. If you work third shift, and need a ride to work, good luck. The baggy clothes are definitely a given here, though, especially during Spring and Fall.
I've lived in 7 states and visited many others. Though I had a Southern father (TN), I had a Northern mother (PA/OH). I've lived in both northern and southern states. I don't remember noticing big differences when I was a kid, but we moved to Mississippi from Nebraska when I was a teenager. It was a huge culture shock, because it was the first time I'd lived in a good sized Southern city. Nebraska is (according to some) Midwestern - though others will say it's Western. There is a lot of regional confusion in Nebraska. The bumper sticker slogan would have us believe that it's "Where the West Begins" but that's claimed by other places, too. As I watch your videos, I find it interesting that what you describe as "American" is mostly isolated to IN/IL - which is completely understandable, that's where you live. However, what you may not realize is that these videos also point out differences between the North and South, as well as West (adjacent). I now live on the east coast of Florida. As the crow flies, about a mile from the ocean. We're a mixing pot here - folks from all over the country have come to roost. I think you'd have a great time staying here for a while, exploring and discovering even more new and interesting differences. If you ever get a chance, head down to Florida and spend a month or two - become a snowbird and join us for the winter. Don't come in the summer - mosquitoes are terrible AND here - gnats bite.
Fishflies are WAY worse than Gnats-come to Michigan and visit somewhere along the water in summer at night or early morning. They blanket the doors and sidewalks leading into where I work during the summer.
Having lived in Spain and the island of Guam (as well as all over the USA)culture shock is definitely real! I’ve enjoyed it though, after some unusual experiences. Spain is my favorite place on earth and now that I understand their queuing system( ask who is la ultima de la linea, they may not even be in the building, watch that person and once they are served it’s your turn to go up to the counter) I would love to go back for a visit!
Move to the Desert Southwest! It’s so dry that there aren’t flying bugs. No screens on my windows at all. Arizona, Southern Nevada, south-eastern California.
when i was a kid, we used to hold one hand up when the gnats were out because we thought they were drawn to the tallest thing in the vicinity. idk if it actually made a difference, though. nasty things, gnats.
Indiana and Michigan (where i live) we get A LOT of lake effect rain/snow from Lake Michigan. Cause for those random little storms that come out of know where and last for a few minutes lol
I've always lived in the Midwest. Born in Indianapolis and my parents moved to Wisconsin in 1981 when I was one and a half. For almost all of my lifetime, I've lived in a suburb in the metro area of Milwaukee and I can't imagine living anywhere else. When I was a kid, I visited a lot of other states with my parents while traveling but I would never want to move there. I'm one of the few who likes the cold and happily wears a t-shirt all year even during the Winter. I'm just glad I live in a part of the Midwest that says soda.
@@hectorsmommy1717 I moved ten miles from Northern IL to SE Wisconsin and went from everyone saying pop to everyone saying soda. lol. My daughter, who was 10 when we moved, now says soda because that's what she hears away from home.
@@MPMcDonald I grew up near the Dells saying pop. In college in Oshkosh it was a mixed bag (probably because of students from all over) and moving to Milwaukee for my first job it was soda all the time.
Ah gnats... Haven't dealt with those personally in a while, but then, I rarely leave the house during their main time of year. Deer and horse flies on the other hand... There are gnats that bite, but they're not usually found in America. *squees* He talked about "ope!"
Hey Laurence, i live at the edge of town next to a cornfield so i get my share of bugs. A fly strip will take care of those annoying gnats. Admit it, you love the freedoms of America such as dressing like a slob and never knowing what the weather will bring - hopefully not tornadoes. That alone deserves a "USA! USA! USA!" ☺
In the south, it often rains when the sun is shining....we say that's "when the devil's whipping his wife". Have no idea why - just something I've heard people say during sunshowers. 🤣 I went through culture shock when I moved to Germany in the 80's...imagine going from a place where many stores are open 24 hours to stores that are open from 8am to 6pm and closed on Sundays. When I moved back to the states years later I went through a bit of culture shock again.
I experienced a little culture shock in a store in Budapest when a lady got angry at me and I had no idea what I did wrong. Turned out it wasn't what I did wrong, it was what I failed to do -- I neglected to take a shopping cart as I entered the store. As soon as I took the shopping cart, the lady was perfectly happy again, because it was her job to provide every customer with a shopping cart.
Wisconsin is also known for beer and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Have you been to Cincinnati? They have a version of chili there that includes spaghetti, cheese, beans, and chopped onions. Oddly, the chili is made with cinnamon, which means Laurence would probably hate it.
I find it interesting that the Cincinnati style chili with cinnamon was made popular by Greek immigrants. Adding cinnamon to meat is a common thing in the eastern Mediterranean. You can get Cincinnati style chili with many toppings, or select just one or two according to your preference.
1) It's not explicit government policy, but in the U.S. it is presumed that only poor people do not own a car, and poor people are never at the top of a list of government spending priorities. Only our largest cities have anywhere near a sufficient amount of public transportation. The lack of it is most onerous in rural areas, where commuting distances are greatest and wages the lowest. People find themselves in situations where they cannot afford to change jobs because they either do not own a car or cannot afford the expense of commuting to a far more distant one. 2) At 7:15, when you were describing two people walking towards each other in a narrow hallway, I was expecting you to talk about which side of the hallway they are walking along. In the U.S. most people instinctively walk on the right side, the same as we drive. In the UK, do people walk on the left?
Where I live, it is specifically poor *handicapped* people who are considered to need transportation. Able bodied poor are assumed to walk or ride bicycles (to be fair my hometown is small enough that you can walk most places and easily bicycle across town, unless the weather is uncooperative). Thus, we don’t actually have buses with fixed routes (other than school buses of course). This in the place where interurban rail got its start, and where a lot of streetcars came from (San Francisco still operates some streetcars made here on their heritage streetcar line). I can’t believe we exchanged streetcars made right here in Ohio for automobiles from (*gasp*) Michigan!
@@jasonlescalleet5611 automobiles are far more convenient. You don't have to wait for a bus, nor do you have to follow a specific route. Cincinnati used to have extensive urban rail systems. These systems were slowly eroded by buses and later cars, which weren't limited to certain routes and rights of way.
@@robertschwartz4810 We usually do that where I live on the East Coast, too. But the sidewalks are so narrow downtown-- they will only take 2 people side by side. And I got so tired of tourists not paying attention to where they were going, or trying to walk side-by-side and going on and off the curb onto a brick street (which is uneven). I had rolled my ankle one too many times. Now, I stay left, pretending to look in the shop windows as I barrel down the street. I move only for baby carriages !nd people in wheelchairs or walking with a cane
So fun fact- everyone always seems to think it's 'Ope', whereas it's more like 'Ohp' - a mix of a surprised 'Oh!' and 'Oops' coming out at the same time. (I live in Iowa)
Pop is a Michigan word. Detroit invented Boston Coolers. The name does sound and confusing, because of the first part of the name, but they're not from Boston. What this is is vanilla ice cream and Vernors ginger ale. We also have Almond Boneless Chicken, which gives fried chicken a run for it's money. And we also have coney island hot dogs.
False. Pop is said in Ohio AND Michigan mainly..and parts of llinois Michigan. I'm an Ohioan with fam in Michigan. Mainly we all say it,along with Chicago
Ooh, Laurence, I just heard that you and Shaun are meeting up soon! Have been following both of your channels for a while now and love both. Can't wait!
My daughter went to Illinois State University for a year as an exchange student. I visited a couple of times and managed to negotiate the cultural differences quite well. It was interesting that the night club bouncers would not accept my daughter’s driving licence as i.d, because although she was over 21, being born on the 9th April, her date of birth was typed as 9-4-97 and they would say, you cannot come in because you don’t turn 21 until the 4th of September! Many wouldn’t believe her that it was a genuine driving licence and that we write the date differently in England 😂 One thing I was surprised at however was that it isn’t a cliche and some people got excited when they realised we were English! My daughter found it all so tiresome and she and her fellow exchange students often adopted American accents, just so people would leave them alone 😂 except when trying use their driving licence to get into a club, that is 🥳
Once when I was stationed in Louisiana, the rain came down so hard I couldn't see the front of my car. I'm not sure on distance. Probably a foot or two. Out of the three years I was there, that was the hardest I ever saw it rain.
As much as it rains in Scotland, I rarely carry an umbrella. Today I found out I can borrow from the umbrella stand at work and it was lowkey the best moment of my week.
Gnats most definitely do bite and they hurt like hell not to mention they will swell you up 10 times worse than a mosquito! I will take a mosquito over in that any day especially a bull gnat
Lmfao at how I said “Ope!” And threw my hands in the air like I’d just won something when I guessed it was a sweeper before you told us 🙌🏼😂 -Illinois side of St. Louis
I grew up in Southern Indiana, we lived on a ridgeline and would sit on the back porch with binoculars and watch the rainstorms and once a tornado roll into Bloomington.
I have a cat who absolutely HATES gnats. He'll sit in the grass and snap at them. We laugh every year at him. I don't like them. because they go up your nose and get caught in your eyes. I don't know the purpose of them, other than to feed bats.
I grew up in teh Midwest and the mosquitoes are the worst there! When we moved to Virginia, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of mosquitoes. But Virginia has a special kind of gnat - the kind that likes to just hang out right in front of your face with their friends. So annoying!
Gnats in Minnesota definitely bite. They're worse than mosquitos, because mosquitos pierce you with a little pointy thing, but gnats actually bite little chunks out of your head. I've noticed a bunch of comments conflating gnats and no-see-ums, but, at least here, gnats and no-see-ums are two different bugs, both unpleasant. College football's all-time coaching wins leader, John Gagliardi from St. John's (located in Collegeville, MN near St. Cloud), would cancel practice if he thought the gnats were too bad.
The bus system in the USA is WORTHLESS! No matter where you live. Unless you live in a big metroplex (every 10 minutes) you'll wait 1 hour for the next bus
I find it funny you think it’s odd for the south to refer to fizzy drinks as Cokes regardless of brand, but in the UK all vacuums, regardless of brand, are referred to as Hoovers.
I live in Iowa. Born and raised in Wisconsin, and lived in Minnesota for a time. Having travelled to Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, the amount of people who assumed I was Canadian was hilarious. It's like there is a regional separation between those states and those of the Upper Midwest. At least in more rural areas. Life is hard being a discount Canadian, Uffda.
Born and raised in Michigan. All that you say is true. Of those winter required three layers? Cotton next to the skin,, or anything soft,, THEN a layer of wool. Merino wool, lambs wool, bison wool, cashmere,,,, good old granny scratchy wool.. Wool for the second layer. Then wear your fleece,, or trench coat of a good tight weave wind shirt,,, but YES,, all loose,, all comfy. Chicago does have one special consideration,, If it is an east wind and the temps are less than -10F,, or especially -20F and you need to walk to the Field Museum. Don't. Call a cab.
Living on the Minnesota/Canada border, I’m familiar with many of these things - and I have a theory on the origins of “pop” for fizzy drinks. It’s simply what happens to a unopened can if left in your car in the winter. Or the summer.
I left the PNW (Washington state specifically) to go to college in Iowa & then Missouri. I vowed to never return after getting fed up with either freezing or sweltering weather that doesn’t allow you to enjoy the out doors & waaaaay too many bugs that serve no purpose! I mean…June bugs?!?!? Good lord! They fly in swarms into your screen door, fall on their backs & die🤷🏼♀️Useless beetles! I’ve lived in the south, Midwest & west coast (from LA to Seattle) & I’ll stick with Wa! We have seasons & so many sites & activities! You must come up this way! 😊
Im in Spokane and can agree. As for not too hot nor freezing if it weren't so expensive I'd recommend Hawai'i. I hate heat but was rather comfortable there when I visited Honolulu in mid June of '09.
It seems to be a thing of the past but I remember when a slice of apple pie with a slice of American 'cheese' melted/drooped on it was common in diner type restaurants.
Back in the fifties there was a product called Electric Sweeper. It was a lightweight and cheaper option than a vacuum, which were expensive luxuries then. That is where your MIL got "Sweeper" from.
The first person to say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change” was Mark Twain. He was talking about the weather in Connecticut.
True in Ohio too.
Same for here in Pembrokeshire in Wales! All weather every day is one of the sayings!
@@davidlockwood9192 yes I've heard that phrase being used for Wales, Scotland and upland areas of England.
I remember Dr Mel the weather man on WTNH channel 8 saying that on a regular basis 😂😂. He was right about the weather in CT.
And true in Tennessee as well.
“Ope”. I grew up in Pennsylvania and Colorado, and never encountered the word until moving to central Illinois. Now I find that I can express nearly any emotion, and communicate very complex ideas, with just that one magical word.
I use it daily 😂 wassup from Kansas
I came to America from Sweden 35 years ago. My parents came through Camp America, an organization that brings people from other cultures to work at American summer camps. They brought me and my sister with them and we ended up staying. I was 15 years old. But the funny thing I was reminded of here was that we were able to pick out the Brit’s by the amount of calamine lotion they were wearing. 😁 This was back when the only kind available was the pink kind. They got absolutely demolished by the mosquitoes.
lmao, that really was funny to read.
Reminds me The Parent Trap with Lindsey Lohan
Does tea drinking make you taste yummy?
I’m from Wisconsin, I spent a semester in England in 2008 and the most notable difference for me was how green everything was even though it was fall, the way tax doesn’t get added on to the tab at checkout, elevators/the way the levels are numbered annnd living in a building older than my country.
The trip was a bit disappointing in that I was with an American group and we didn’t really get to interact with the country, we just toured factories and castles. So I didn’t have exposure to the actual culture and language much.
A semester in England? When I was in England we called them terms!
@@Phiyedough we weren’t even at a British university or anything, it was just a group from our American college with our American professor. The only British people we got to really talk to were tour guides, waiters and waitresses and cashiers.
I noticed that Seattle was beautiful and green when I visited. I've heard that it's the closest climate to England.
@@RaquelSantos-hj1mq Thats probably true. I’ve been to Seattle once, it was alright. I went to a wedding in the woods and it was quite green there! But mostly I was in the city and I don’t care for being in the city 😅 there was defiantly frequent rain sprinkles there which reminded me of England.
@@Phiyedough I work at a college in the U.S., and we use the terms, uh, "term" and "semester" interchangeably.
I was just talking about this today. My house is 8 miles from the nearest gas station, 10 miles from the nearest grocery store, 30 from my kids school, and 45 from where I work. The only busses in northern Indiana are school busses that stop at every house (so about 2-3 times per mile) and are impossible to pass.
30 miles from the school? If that's not a private school, there's definitely a problem.
@@justawhisperintheuniverse8257 nope, public school. Happens when your house is in a cornfield.
And if you paid fair rates for the services you enjoy, you would be bankrupt.
@@jacobyspurnger8488 I grew up in the midwest and never knew of anything like that. God rest your car's soul.
@@jacobyspurnger8488 the one school covers the county type of setup then? I grew up in one in SE Ohio
Growing up in Pa. next to a river I can tell you a lot of stories about gnat's. We always had the really small ones. They would dive-bomb your eyes, fly up your nose or fly straight into your ear. Try catching a baseball as one go's into your eye, another crawls up your nose as another one is buzzing in your ear. Yep, the ball smacked me right in the face.
I remember going to a track and field camp back in high school. One of the camp counselors was from California where they don't have gnats. He decided to play a pickup game of basketball, and just so happened to dribble right into a swarm of gnats, and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen watching him freak out. He probably thought he was going to die because he couldn't figure out how to get away from them.
PA cross country kids just expect to run through swarms of gnats sometimes. That was fun. They are just there though, which is nice, no biting.
In PA there's also annual spraying to help control them. And yes, I remember in school playing softball during PE and standing in the field with my gloved hand in the air to keep them away from my head as the gnats generally go for the highest/tallest thing. When walking, you can often see the swarms of gnats ahead and simply walk around them.
I'm grew up in Ohio and it's the same. You almost need a mask to go through the huge swarms sometimes lol just pull your shirt up your hat down duck and run 🤣🤣. Also there are most DEFINITELY biting gnats. At least where I'm from and they live mostly in the grass near damp areas but seeing as I live on a property with a flowing creek there always seems to be biting gnats or midges in my grass 😑. So now I'm curious if that's something other parts of the Midwest don't particularly experience are the biting ones?
A huge swarm of insects all hatching out at the same time is a survival tactic. They overwhelm predators. Predators can gorge themselves and there will still be enough survivors to perpetuate the species.
Whenever an awkward "corridor dance" happens to me, I usually pick a side of the passage and grin at the other person saying, "Shall we dance?" This usually lightens the awkwardness and I get a smile in return.
Thunderstorms in Northern, Minnesota. It was raining so hard I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of the car, so I had to pull over. Lightning striking all around me, bolt after bolt after bolt. What to do? Curl up in the middle of the front seat. (The car is a very good Faraday cage.) Sit back and watch the show, nothing else possible. After about 10 minutes, it all passed, and I could continue driving. Very memorable experience, and that was about 1958.
Born and live in the Enchanted Mitten (Michigan). When I went to London, I was absolutely SHOCKED by how easy public transportation was. If I wanted to go east, cross the street and pick the right bus - one of them goes where you want. If you want to go anywhere west, the stop on your side will have a bus to take you there. D.C. has a fine Metro/circulator system, but nothing like London.
I'm also in the mitten state and if I see a bus, it is either a school bus or a charter bus going to the casino. Public transportation is almost non-existent.
Thanks again I appreciate I hi
The twin cities in Minnesota also has an excellent transit system. I can get just about anywhere by bus or train.
As a native Texan we moved to Belgium for several years.... the culture shock is REAL! (but Belgium is truly wonderful)
Oh, and the FOOD!...
And the chocolate. Q patient of my mom's in 2001, gave us a box of Belgian chocolates, they were good.
I've only been to Brussels, but been several times. Fantastic city! Hope the rest of the country is just as good. Would be a great place to live for a while.
As a former Brit and now Midwesterner, we also moved to Belgium for a couple of years and it is absolutely the armpit of Europe. The only good things were the beer, mussels, and the fact you can drive out of it in about an hour. That said, the Vlaams isn’t bad but Wallonia is horrid. Britain, Germany, and even Lithuania were better.
If you've lived in Belgium, maybe you can explain this one to me. My sister, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is currently dating a man from Belgium. He's black, and every time he sees another black person, he, in his unmistakably foreign accent, asks them where they're from -- as in, what country they're from.
Is he just really odd, or does this make some kind of cultural sense in terms of Belgium?
Be careful. If you ever find yourself in Alaska, there are horrible biting gnat-sized flies called blackflies. They are very small, and quite horrible.
In Florida, they have "No See Ums" which are also known as biting gnats. Yes, they're tiny to the point of invisibility, and yes, they will bite the ever loving crap out of you.
Enjoy your benign gnats whilst you may.
The black flies exist on the coast of the northeast and the northeast and the Great Lakes as well
@@LindaC616 Encountered these in Ontario and Quebec. Bites the size of eggplants. I looked like you did, Lawrence, you poor thing.
@@rckoala8838 I would too, because I am sensitive to bug bites. We have them here, but since I am near open water the breezes usually keep them off us. I have been to other beaches North of Boston where they are fierce.
When I was in Scotland on the Isle of Skye, I noticed at a pub that they were selling to all of the tourists who had come to go fishing.... guess what??
Skin so soft by Avon. Apparently it's a claim as International!
Oh yeah! Black flies are terrible in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!
Just make sure you have bug spray with you.
Only real strange storm I ever saw was when I lived in Hoffman Estates (suburb of Chicago) and it was a nice sunny day, around 70+ F. Looking out my window I see what I can only describe as a tornado rolling on its side towards me. As it swirled past, the temperature plummeted to below freezing and it started snowing.
Wow, that sound incredible, I would've been scared af 😮
Holy fuck?😮😮😮
When I was in Junior High (long, long ago), I moved from Houston, Texas to a tiny farm town in western Kansas with a population of about 120. The Houstonian kids insisted that Kansans don't drive cars and, instead, ride goats everywhere. Not horses. Not donkeys. Goats. Why? No clue, but they all seemed convinced Kansas only ride goats for transportation. I have now lived in Kansas for most of the last 3 decades, and I don't think I've ever even SEEN a goat here... but I've seen lots of cars. XD
When I was a toddler we moved from Oregon to Missouri. Some of my older siblings stayed behind with our aunt and uncle to finish the school year and when they arrived they were so surprised to find that we had a normal house. Our aunt told them all the houses in Missouri were like the hillbilly shack in the opening credits of Beverly Hillbillies.
Also, one of the first nights after they arrived my brother Danny came inside all freaked out. "Dad, you better come outside. I don't know what's going on but there's a whole crowd of men down on the road with little bitty flashlights!" It was lightning bugs! 🤣
I've seen plenty of goats on farms and such here in Kansas, that's funny that anyone would think people would ride them lol.
Quagthistle, which part of Kansas are you in? I lived a little off 50 about 30 minutes from the Kansas-Colorado border and am familiar with a lagr amount of the area.
You'll know your a true Midwesterner when it doesn't even phase you when you swallow a gnat or are bothered by someone grabbing at invisible things in the air (we always think we can catch 'em).
You know you're a true Midwesterner when you have a Glock collection.
I don’t live there, but as a southerner, I find regional dialects very interesting!
The south had 150 distinct dialects. There are now 5. Interestingly, "ya'll" didn't show up until the 1890's. Southerners like Mark Twain or Andrew Jackson - or, for that matter, Jefferson Davis - never said it.
A sunshower is when it rains while the sun is still out, sometimes when there isn't even a cloud in the sky. It's not an interruption of sunny weather by a brief rain.
Depending how old your mother-in-law is ... the reason she may refer to a vacuum as a SWEEPER is there was/is a contraption called a
...CARPET SWEEPER is a mechanical device for the cleaning of carpets. They were popular before the introduction of the vacuum cleaner
It's a non-motorized hand held push sweeper with rollers, you push back and forth to picks up dirt, deposits it in side containers on the inside, that you empty into trash
In restaurants with carpets, they will call it a "HOKY"
Hoki is the Japanese word for broom, which I think was used as a brand name
@@thecraigster8888
Might be yeah ... I clearly remember my grandmother having one when I was a kid in the early 70s, when what was on the carpet didn't require a vacuum
@@nomdeplume7537 I'm English and my mother owned a carpet sweeper some time in the 60s and 70s
In the Midwest today, it’s usually referred to as a vacuum cleaner.
My absolute earliest memory is of riding on the sweeper as my grandmother pushed it around to clean her floors. I distinctly remember the "wood grain" image painted on the sheet metal cleaner. I brought up the memory when Grandma passed on, some 45 years later, and my mother couldn't believe that remembered it, because I was just 18 months old when my grandmother moved from the apartment directly beneath us.
As an Ohioan, I understand all of it! We have a saying, "that if you don't like the weather, just wait 4 minutes and it'll change." 😆. My town has a bus... But it's actually a large taxi bus you have to call for.
We had one of these in the town I grew up in in Southern California. It was called Dial - A - Ride although often referred to as DollarRide because it cost a dollar per person per ride back then. That town is now more of a city and has actual busses.
Same, and the "bus" was a minivan with handicap ramp thing in the back
You definitely live in a bigger city!! No bus, taxi, Uber or anything in my little town in eastern Washington. There are no traffic lights in the entire county...a few blinking yellow where two highways meet, but that's it. I think the largest town in the county has 1,500 people, so you know it is really rural.
I've heard that with different times in literally every state I've lived lol.
I'm a Wisconsinite and we have the same saying. Pretty sure the entire Midwest
says that. It's what we have in common besides ope and possibly complaining about the weather.
I tried to use umbrellas many times in my life, but inevitably they get shredded by the 60 mph+ winds we get here. Plus an umbrella doesn't keep you dry when the rain is horizontal.
The only thing about the rain I don't like is it puts me to sleep.
Wonderful at night, but less so at noon when I'm trying to NOT sleep.
It didn't used to, but once I hit 30 or so, it's like a switch flipped and now a rainy or just overcast day saps the energy right out of me.
My mother is from rural MO. I remember my first day of my first visit. 100 F and 100% humidity. You could see the water droplets in the air.
And lake swimming . . . the water was *warm*! that, was a novel concept.
I once mentioned chiggers to my mother . . . . that triggered a memory for her, as she shuddered . . .
Chiggers are super triggery! We don't have them in Colorado, but every time I see someone sitting on grass, it takes all my willpower not to run over and drag them to safety. Chiggers will eff you up.
Culture shock is a thing. When my father retired it was the first time I attended a non Dept. of Defense school. It was bad. I'd been to the Far East, Europe, Philippines. Everywhere. My classmates hadn't moved their entire lives. Things straightened out when I joined the Army and went back to Europe.
I never understood the term "Army brat" because from my perspective it was the civilian kids who were the brats. All the kids in the DoD schools were welcoming and friendly to new kids--we all moved all the time so we knew what it was like. I didn't end up enlisting myself, but I did marry a Soldier (and also went back to Europe).
I grew up inone.oart of the States and live in another. While it's not as strong as culture shock while in other countries, I still feel it, even after 23 yrs
@@elissahunt I wear Army Brat like a medal. I wear Veteran status with pride. But, yes, going into public schools after dad retired was massive culture shock. I was so glad to get back to Germany, it wasn't funny. I enjoyed my time in the military. I saw a lot and am now settled in Montana and while not as happy as I used to be since my husband passed. There are very few places I'd rather live. Yes, DoD schools were far better schools than the public school I wound up in, in the middle of Baltimore city. It was like night and day.
That's how the vast majority of Americans without money live. They almost never have the chance to leave their hometown, let alone the state or nation, and that's even if they were given the desire to do so.
@@jwb52z9 Do you imagine that military folks have money? I understand that traveling to another country can be expensive, but it can also be done pretty cheaply. And traveling around the US isn't that hard. Motivation, not money, is the major limiting factor.
Culture shock is definitely a thing... be it moving to or moving away from the Midwest. I grew up in Wisconsin and moved to Connecticut when I was almost 13. It nearly broke me. I was mocked for my language... I felt like no one was nice at all, ever... and that doesn't even touch on the fact that I went from a very white town to a very diverse city and had to learn so many more cultural norms for engaging with individuals and groups. Ultimately though, I'm grateful because now my accent is very ambiguous, almost like a received American accent if we're making a British comparison and I can fairly seamlessly transition to most locals between the upper Midwest and the midatlantic and northward on the east coast considering I now live in PA.
I spent my early childhood in Philadelphia with my NY parents but moved to Minnesota, where I spent my formative years. Then it was on to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, and now Connecticut. Linguistically, life has been challenging. In Pittsburgh the words collar, color, and caller sound identical. In Boston carkey, khaki, and cocky are indistinguishable. No one can tell my origins, including myself. But if I spend 10 minutes in the Minneapolis airport I sound as if I never left.
I used to love the midwest thunderstorms, where the clouds are so think and black, it looks like midnight at high noon.
I still love them!
"MOVE" is what my Mom would yell at me when I purposely walked very slowly down the hall, blocking her path. Sweet memories.
May I suggest you visit southern Florida between June-September for the true definition of A. downpour B. Suns-shower C. gnats we have our own special type referred to as no-seeum's (a truly vicious type of flying beastie that's mainly just wings & teeth).
I live in S. Florida and I 2nd this.
Noseeums? They need to mind thier own business.. :-P
B. What? Who says that?
Agreed on the downpour. I lived in Florida for 5 years and now live in Virginia. They do not know how to drive in what I call a Florida Grade Downpour here, but then again, I bet they don't have RainX on their windshields and RainX windshield washer fluid. It drastically improves visibility and increases my comfortable driving speed to about 10-15 mph under posted speed limit instead of everyone else driving 20-30 under. I also picked up the hydroplane recovery skill.
For as little as they are, they bite HARD!
I used to chat online with a dude from England a lot, and he thought it was strange that we never open our windows or doors without a screen. I explained to him it was to keep the bugs out, and he didn't seem too concerned about bugs finding their way in his house. If you left your window open and light on over night around here, you would wake up to so many bugs flying around your house it would be ridiculous. I'm guessing the bug population in England ain't got nothin on us.
Every time I see a show or movie located in Europe and they open their windows with no screens, I *always* think, “How do they keep the bugs out??”. It kind of stresses me out for a second. I wish we could do that here. There are just too many flies and wasps around me to not have screens.
No we don't have that problem here in England , we do get mozzies that bite but that's normally when sat outside of an evening and doesn't effect everyone.
@@janethays3408 okay, so I'm not the only one who gets anxious when they throw open a window with no screens. I just can't imagine doing that.
@@RutabegaNG IKR?! It must be amazing to do that, though.
Meh. I live in Pennsylvania, and we've got tons of bugs everywhere. We just let our house spiders take care of any insect that manages to make its way in our house. Except stink bugs. Spiders won't touch them. I always have to pick them up and toss them outside. (Stink bugs, that is, not spiders.)
If doing that zig-zag to get out of someone's way, I usually ask, "Can I have this dance?" That sometimes get a smile.
I live in the Midwest, north central Ohio to be exact…about an hour south of Lake Erie. Love the people and vibe of the Midwest. I used to travel all over the country when I was working ( retired now) and each region has its charm, but home is definitely the Midwest. Since it got up to 80 here today the June bugs came out…they are a really annoying. They come out at night and are attracted to light.
Born here in Michigan, and lived here all my life.
One thing you could comment on is the big city, small town dynamic.
I was born in Detroit (actually one of it's suburbs) then moved to a smaller city on the other side of the state for forty five years. My wife, a resident, once introduced me to her coworkers, telling them that I was from Detroit. I had lived here more than half my life at the time. Not only had I lived here longer than any place else, I had lived here longer than EVERY place else. And I was still from Detroit.
I have been through the Midwest many times. On my way from here to there and vice versa. I have been to/in Ohio many times, as it is right next door. In fact, I live about 20 miles from the Pennsylvania/Ohio border.
I've lived in Eastern Iowa my whole life. I love the way you describe the midwest. It's so true. Thanks for the laughs.
As a kid, I told my mom that the gnats we're biting me and she didn't believe me. When I came in the house for dinner I had blood running down my face and then she believed me. I ended up with a scab that covered my forehead and sideburns area in one piece. Nasty little creatures.
I'm originally from New England, and now live in FL, and the sun showers are still messing me up. The sun is bright enough to show one's shadow, and yet it's pouring down rain. It's definitely a Caribbean thing
@@davidcosta2244 I am in Missouri, and we frequently get sunshowers here, too. I have also seen it snowing and sunny out. This is not uncommon around here.
I grew up in Griffith, Indiana, in Northwest Indiana, not far from Chicago. Then I moved to North Carolina about 40 years ago. Part of the reason for the gnats and mosquitoes in that area is that much of the land was formerly swampland.
Just like we think it is weird for southerners to call all fizzy drinks coke, it's weird for you to call all vacuum cleaners hoovers since that is a specific brand of vacuum cleaner here in the USofA.
Yes, but... Kleenex. Crescent wrench. Xerox. Etc.
@MargeFoyle...Tissue, locking pliers, copy....
@MargeFoyle...As is, how many other tissue, locking pliers, or copy machine companies can you think of that have trademarked a popular, everyday item?
As opposed to Coke, Mt Dew, Pepsi, Dr Pepper, 7Up , etc etc etc
🤣 you should see the mayfly invasion in Michigan! It's freaky but thankfully short-lived & not widespread.
Truth! I know the MI state bird is the mosquito, but it should probably be the mayfly
Mayfly Festival in Dundee, Michigan should be coming up soon
Lake flies in Wisconsin near water (I live by water). Mosquitolike but do NOT bite. They swarm by the billions and get in the house, all over the cars, outside walls of house and garage. and fly in your face and I swear try to fly up your nose. There are three or four major hatches during the warm months; like mayflies they don't live long in adult form. They can be so abundant on Lake Winnebago that they show up on radar as if they were a rainstorm.
I got caught in a mayfly invasion in Sandusky Ohio once. It was apocalyptic.
Gnats yeah otherwise known as blackflies. I don't envy the folks that in the Adirondacks. One year many years ago blackflies were all over our windshield. We ran out of windshield wiper fluid trying to get them off our windshield 🤣🤣🤣🤣. It was worse than a snow storm! 😆
I laughed when it got to the baggy clothes part. It’s like 73 degrees here in Michigan today and I’m wearing shorts, a band t shirt and then a baggy oversized flannel looking straight out of the 90s
I am wearing shorts and the swamp cooler is on....in Joshua Tree!
Here in Texas, the term “snowbird “ refers to people from northern states who migrate to the southern states in the winter and then return back home for the summer.
It's fun to have a country so big you can chase the seasons around!
As for insects, the trick with gnats that all Midwestern children learn, is to raise one hand above your head, and they will flock to the hand and not your face. Also, beware of dive-bombing June bugs. And I still hear the term "sweeper" used in Kansas, but there it's not the vacuum cleaner but a non-powered floor cleaner with rollers and a long handle. Not the best description, so Google it for a picture.
Doesn’t Swifter make floor sweepers?
This is what my Grandma called a sweeper as well. She was from North Central WV. In Ohio, a sweeper is what most adults who are elderly now call a vacuum cleaner.
@@corinnepmorrison1854 The brand is Swiffer, and yes they do. But, there are ones like @madmommy is describing which are used on carpet.
Those sweepers were what vacuum cleaners were advertised as replacements for...along with brooms.
A Hoky is a non power sweeper thats the brand name since no one knows what to call it. s It's not a paper thing but heavy plastic with a stick. You can empty it but few ppl know how to take apart/put back together. Cheaper than Swiffers imo.
Oh, you said "bus," I thought you were waiting for your boss.
😂
We adopted from Bulgaria, about half the people we met that spoke (pretty good) English (probably because of British tourism, all the English menus had the Union Jack on them) and heard we were from America said, “Oh, I’ve been to Wisconsin.” What is it about Wisconsin that attracts Bulgarians? I have no idea, I’m from here (NY) and I’ve never been there.
Good fresh cheese. Bulgarians live on cheese.
if i recall correctly, sunshowers are when the sun is still shining when it rains, not sudden storms. we've always referred to what you're describing as just a summer thunderstorm.
i grew up in the midatlantic in a family of midwesterners. i didn't know "sweeper" was regional until very, very recently.
Hey Laurence, I read recently that Chicago is expected to get a larger than normal influx of gnats this year. My fashion culture shock when I went to Britain and Italy is that EVERYBODY wears some sort of scarf, no matter what the weather. Why?
Apparently, in Italy, 'Cold Neck' is a well recognised complaint. Whereas in Britain it's just cold.
I live in northern MN, skeeters, 7 months of winter, and 80 mph winds during thunderstorms have given me hardened skin. Head net, layer up, basement shelter, etc. And a good whiskey can make a helluva lot of difference.
I lived in Edmonton, Alberta for several years. I was told by natives that Edmonton had the worst bus/train system in the country. I told them they should compare it to the system of a comparably sized city in the States, like KC where I had come from. Edmonton may have a bad system in Canadian terms, but it's so much better than American systems it's not even funny!
I'm British and have been to Edmonton. I thought the public transport(ation) was pretty good. Probably fairly comparable with a British provincial city and the larger roads mean that the buses can keep moving better.
KC has some of the worst public transit infrastructure in the entire country. The majority of the city lacks any realistic alternatives to driving a car. It’s getting better, but it seems like you went between the two worst cities in both countries 😂
Man, I sure love when a small cloud of gnats just randomly appears. I find a bunch of small clouds of them all over the small field behind my school sometimes. -_-
Midwest rain is great for aesthetic background sleep noise.
Cheese 🤤
Saying "Ope" is part of my daily life.
I love a Midwestern deluge!
In my household, the vacuum is a bulky, hevy cleaning tool with a bag and attachments. We lso have an electric sweeper that uses a small cannister and replacable filters. It's small and light. No attachments, but you can detach the main body from the head and handle, and use it like a Dustbuster.
Visited the Midwest from the West Coast and random rain is crazy to me. Felt the same in FL. I am used to a prediction on the news I can count on and generally, at least an hour of rain.
A thunderstorm can develop to 30,000 feet in minutes from a clear sky on a hot summer day. Strong updrafts carry moist air up to condense into a down pour.
I am born and raised in Ohio, specifically northeast. We live about 500 ft from Lake Erie. Every year we get muffleheads and mayflies from the lake. As you come walk out of the house, keep your mouth closed because as you walk by the house they fly off, then return to the side of the house with in seconds. Then at night you hear a low buzz above your head as they all go up in the sky to mate, all of them. The muffleheads and mayflies don't last long.
If the gnats and mosquitos are getting you down, Laurence, move to the Southwest. No flying bugs to speak of there, but the scorpions may prove bothersome.
Tarantula Hawk: Allow me to introduce myself...
The mosquitos in the forests of Linclon county NM are terrible.
Liked trip down memory lane. Midwest was a fabulous place to growup....I miss it badly. Keep up the informative vids. Love, 2 Cavies in Sarasota
What? You haven't experienced blackflies yet!? You want to know about swelling... Right now, across the Lake here in MI, we're having the usual tiny blackfly infestation (we call those gnats) that leave welts, then, in a couple of weeks (or the next warm-up, whichever comes first) the larger version comes out - now we're talking about whole areas of the body swelling!
I'm from Louisiana, live in Texas where I met my wife who is from Indiana, her dad grew up in Anderson that you mentioned. I have made it my life's mission to poke fun everytime she calls the vacuum cleaner a " vacuum sweeper"
She has lived in Texas most of her life yet that Midwest still comes out occasionally.
Here in Oklahoma, at least in OKC, we tend to use some Midwestern terms and some Southern ones. Funnily enough, many people here call soft drinks "soda pop", kind of a combination of Western and Midwestern slang.
Lived in Lake County Illinois for 12 years, there was a bus that went to the local city college and that was it. Seemed useless. I lived a block away from a Metra station so I could at least get to Union Station downtown to catch Amtrak and get out of the state.
The Hoover thing is one of the examples of trademark genericization, much like kleenex is for tissues. The term sweeper came from one of the ways they were marketed, for making the sweeping easier as a mechanical broom...
I always thought a sweeper was the mechanical broom (I hated them) vs. a vacuum cleaner.
The bus system in Fort Wayne tends to be erratic, too. They’re only run on certain routes around town, mostly to hospitals and main shopping centers, and after 10 p.m. or so, they stop running altogether. If you work third shift, and need a ride to work, good luck.
The baggy clothes are definitely a given here, though, especially during Spring and Fall.
I've lived in 7 states and visited many others. Though I had a Southern father (TN), I had a Northern mother (PA/OH). I've lived in both northern and southern states. I don't remember noticing big differences when I was a kid, but we moved to Mississippi from Nebraska when I was a teenager. It was a huge culture shock, because it was the first time I'd lived in a good sized Southern city. Nebraska is (according to some) Midwestern - though others will say it's Western. There is a lot of regional confusion in Nebraska. The bumper sticker slogan would have us believe that it's "Where the West Begins" but that's claimed by other places, too. As I watch your videos, I find it interesting that what you describe as "American" is mostly isolated to IN/IL - which is completely understandable, that's where you live. However, what you may not realize is that these videos also point out differences between the North and South, as well as West (adjacent). I now live on the east coast of Florida. As the crow flies, about a mile from the ocean. We're a mixing pot here - folks from all over the country have come to roost. I think you'd have a great time staying here for a while, exploring and discovering even more new and interesting differences. If you ever get a chance, head down to Florida and spend a month or two - become a snowbird and join us for the winter. Don't come in the summer - mosquitoes are terrible AND here - gnats bite.
Fishflies are WAY worse than Gnats-come to Michigan and visit somewhere along the water in summer at night or early morning. They blanket the doors and sidewalks leading into where I work during the summer.
Having lived in Spain and the island of Guam (as well as all over the USA)culture shock is definitely real! I’ve enjoyed it though, after some unusual experiences. Spain is my favorite place on earth and now that I understand their queuing system( ask who is la ultima de la linea, they may not even be in the building, watch that person and once they are served it’s your turn to go up to the counter) I would love to go back for a visit!
Move to the Desert Southwest! It’s so dry that there aren’t flying bugs.
No screens on my windows at all. Arizona, Southern Nevada, south-eastern California.
I'm sure it's been mentioned already but southern sun showers are when it rains while the sun is shining. It's so cool. :)
when i was a kid, we used to hold one hand up when the gnats were out because we thought they were drawn to the tallest thing in the vicinity. idk if it actually made a difference, though. nasty things, gnats.
Indiana and Michigan (where i live) we get A LOT of lake effect rain/snow from Lake Michigan. Cause for those random little storms that come out of know where and last for a few minutes lol
Given the...body morphology of many Americans (guilty), it may be for the best that we don't wear as form-fitting of clothes. 😂
Too true.
I've always lived in the Midwest. Born in Indianapolis and my parents moved to Wisconsin
in 1981 when I was one and a half. For almost all of my lifetime, I've lived in a suburb in the
metro area of Milwaukee and I can't imagine living anywhere else. When I was a kid, I visited
a lot of other states with my parents while traveling but I would never want to move there. I'm
one of the few who likes the cold and happily wears a t-shirt all year even during the Winter.
I'm just glad I live in a part of the Midwest that says soda.
Head a little west (like the Dells area) and you will be hearing pop more. SE Wisconsin is the only part of the state that says soda.
@@hectorsmommy1717 I moved ten miles from Northern IL to SE Wisconsin and went from everyone saying pop to everyone saying soda. lol. My daughter, who was 10 when we moved, now says soda because that's what she hears away from home.
@@MPMcDonald I grew up near the Dells saying pop. In college in Oshkosh it was a mixed bag (probably because of students from all over) and moving to Milwaukee for my first job it was soda all the time.
Ah gnats... Haven't dealt with those personally in a while, but then, I rarely leave the house during their main time of year. Deer and horse flies on the other hand... There are gnats that bite, but they're not usually found in America.
*squees*
He talked about "ope!"
Horse flies are all over the south in great numbers. I’ve seen them all my life.🐝🤗❤️
I grew up there, which was the best, IMO. Got to play in snow, but it's warm enough in summer to swim. Then I grew up and moved 2,000 miles away.
Hey Laurence, i live at the edge of town next to a cornfield so i get my share of bugs. A fly strip will take care of those annoying gnats.
Admit it, you love the freedoms of America such as dressing like a slob and never knowing what the weather will bring - hopefully not tornadoes. That alone deserves a "USA! USA! USA!" ☺
According to Arizonan ex circa early 90s, a padiddle is a car with only one working headlight. When spotted = one kiss for luck. Loved padiddles.
In the south, it often rains when the sun is shining....we say that's "when the devil's whipping his wife". Have no idea why - just something I've heard people say during sunshowers. 🤣
I went through culture shock when I moved to Germany in the 80's...imagine going from a place where many stores are open 24 hours to stores that are open from 8am to 6pm and closed on Sundays. When I moved back to the states years later I went through a bit of culture shock again.
I experienced a little culture shock in a store in Budapest when a lady got angry at me and I had no idea what I did wrong. Turned out it wasn't what I did wrong, it was what I failed to do -- I neglected to take a shopping cart as I entered the store. As soon as I took the shopping cart, the lady was perfectly happy again, because it was her job to provide every customer with a shopping cart.
@@arlenesheldon4296 Bless her heart! 😁
Wisconsin is also known for beer and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Have you been to Cincinnati? They have a version of chili there that includes spaghetti, cheese, beans, and chopped onions. Oddly, the chili is made with cinnamon, which means Laurence would probably hate it.
I find it interesting that the Cincinnati style chili with cinnamon was made popular by Greek immigrants. Adding cinnamon to meat is a common thing in the eastern Mediterranean. You can get Cincinnati style chili with many toppings, or select just one or two according to your preference.
1) It's not explicit government policy, but in the U.S. it is presumed that only poor people do not own a car, and poor people are never at the top of a list of government spending priorities. Only our largest cities have anywhere near a sufficient amount of public transportation. The lack of it is most onerous in rural areas, where commuting distances are greatest and wages the lowest. People find themselves in situations where they cannot afford to change jobs because they either do not own a car or cannot afford the expense of commuting to a far more distant one.
2) At 7:15, when you were describing two people walking towards each other in a narrow hallway, I was expecting you to talk about which side of the hallway they are walking along. In the U.S. most people instinctively walk on the right side, the same as we drive. In the UK, do people walk on the left?
No I'm part of the poors. We own what richer folks throw out.
Where I live, it is specifically poor *handicapped* people who are considered to need transportation. Able bodied poor are assumed to walk or ride bicycles (to be fair my hometown is small enough that you can walk most places and easily bicycle across town, unless the weather is uncooperative). Thus, we don’t actually have buses with fixed routes (other than school buses of course). This in the place where interurban rail got its start, and where a lot of streetcars came from (San Francisco still operates some streetcars made here on their heritage streetcar line). I can’t believe we exchanged streetcars made right here in Ohio for automobiles from (*gasp*) Michigan!
Keep Right!
@@jasonlescalleet5611 automobiles are far more convenient. You don't have to wait for a bus, nor do you have to follow a specific route.
Cincinnati used to have extensive urban rail systems. These systems were slowly eroded by buses and later cars, which weren't limited to certain routes and rights of way.
@@robertschwartz4810 We usually do that where I live on the East Coast, too. But the sidewalks are so narrow downtown-- they will only take 2 people side by side. And I got so tired of tourists not paying attention to where they were going, or trying to walk side-by-side and going on and off the curb onto a brick street (which is uneven). I had rolled my ankle one too many times. Now, I stay left, pretending to look in the shop windows as I barrel down the street. I move only for baby carriages !nd people in wheelchairs or walking with a cane
So fun fact- everyone always seems to think it's 'Ope', whereas it's more like 'Ohp' - a mix of a surprised 'Oh!' and 'Oops' coming out at the same time. (I live in Iowa)
Lawrence is absolutely hilarious, time after time!
Pop is a Michigan word.
Detroit invented Boston Coolers. The name does sound and confusing, because of the first part of the name, but they're not from Boston. What this is is vanilla ice cream and Vernors ginger ale.
We also have Almond Boneless Chicken, which gives fried chicken a run for it's money. And we also have coney island hot dogs.
False. Pop is said in Ohio AND Michigan mainly..and parts of llinois Michigan. I'm an Ohioan with fam in Michigan. Mainly we all say it,along with Chicago
Here in Washington everyone says pop, or the occasional soda pop/soft drink
Pop is also used in Ohio, Western PA and NY, and WV.
Ooh, Laurence, I just heard that you and Shaun are meeting up soon! Have been following both of your channels for a while now and love both. Can't wait!
My daughter went to Illinois State University for a year as an exchange student. I visited a couple of times and managed to negotiate the cultural differences quite well. It was interesting that the night club bouncers would not accept my daughter’s driving licence as i.d, because although she was over 21, being born on the 9th April, her date of birth was typed as 9-4-97 and they would say, you cannot come in because you don’t turn 21 until the 4th of September! Many wouldn’t believe her that it was a genuine driving licence and that we write the date differently in England 😂 One thing I was surprised at however was that it isn’t a cliche and some people got excited when they realised we were English! My daughter found it all so tiresome and she and her fellow exchange students often adopted American accents, just so people would leave them alone 😂 except when trying use their driving licence to get into a club, that is 🥳
I KNOW! It's just soooo tiresome when people are interested in you! Just carry a sign, like 'I find all of you SO banal'
Bless your heart
I’ve been in a downdraft that we couldn’t see a foot past our windows. I’ve seen it where in 5 minutes that the street was flooded from curb to curb
Once when I was stationed in Louisiana, the rain came down so hard I couldn't see the front of my car. I'm not sure on distance. Probably a foot or two. Out of the three years I was there, that was the hardest I ever saw it rain.
As much as it rains in Scotland, I rarely carry an umbrella. Today I found out I can borrow from the umbrella stand at work and it was lowkey the best moment of my week.
Gnats most definitely do bite and they hurt like hell not to mention they will swell you up 10 times worse than a mosquito! I will take a mosquito over in that any day especially a bull gnat
Lmfao at how I said “Ope!” And threw my hands in the air like I’d just won something when I guessed it was a sweeper before you told us 🙌🏼😂
-Illinois side of St. Louis
I grew up in Southern Indiana, we lived on a ridgeline and would sit on the back porch with binoculars and watch the rainstorms and once a tornado roll into Bloomington.
I have a cat who absolutely HATES gnats. He'll sit in the grass and snap at them. We laugh every year at him. I don't like them. because they go up your nose and get caught in your eyes. I don't know the purpose of them, other than to feed bats.
I grew up in teh Midwest and the mosquitoes are the worst there! When we moved to Virginia, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of mosquitoes. But Virginia has a special kind of gnat - the kind that likes to just hang out right in front of your face with their friends. So annoying!
'Ope' is not a word. It's just a weird expression people use with no real meaning beyond mutual embarrassment.
Gnats in Minnesota definitely bite. They're worse than mosquitos, because mosquitos pierce you with a little pointy thing, but gnats actually bite little chunks out of your head. I've noticed a bunch of comments conflating gnats and no-see-ums, but, at least here, gnats and no-see-ums are two different bugs, both unpleasant. College football's all-time coaching wins leader, John Gagliardi from St. John's (located in Collegeville, MN near St. Cloud), would cancel practice if he thought the gnats were too bad.
I did a freelance gig in Orlando many years ago over 4th of July. You could set your watch by the afternoon thunderstorm.
The bus system in the USA is WORTHLESS! No matter where you live. Unless you live in a big metroplex (every 10 minutes) you'll wait 1 hour for the next bus
I find it funny you think it’s odd for the south to refer to fizzy drinks as Cokes regardless of brand, but in the UK all vacuums, regardless of brand, are referred to as Hoovers.
I live in Iowa. Born and raised in Wisconsin, and lived in Minnesota for a time. Having travelled to Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, the amount of people who assumed I was Canadian was hilarious. It's like there is a regional separation between those states and those of the Upper Midwest. At least in more rural areas. Life is hard being a discount Canadian, Uffda.
i can feel the other end of that... went up to WI (from OH) and holy hell it sounded more canadian than canada
Oh Ya.
Born and raised in Michigan. All that you say is true. Of those winter required three layers? Cotton next to the skin,, or anything soft,, THEN a layer of wool. Merino wool, lambs wool, bison wool, cashmere,,,, good old granny scratchy wool.. Wool for the second layer. Then wear your fleece,, or trench coat of a good tight weave wind shirt,,, but YES,, all loose,, all comfy. Chicago does have one special consideration,, If it is an east wind and the temps are less than -10F,, or especially -20F and you need to walk to the Field Museum. Don't. Call a cab.
A sun shower sounds like a monsoon storm. I’ve been rained on when there were no clouds anywhere near me. AZ is ummmm unique. 🌵
Question! When you go back to the UK, do you have any reverse culture shock?
Sweeper is so specific to certain parts of the Midwest. In MN, everyone (that so know) just calls it a vacuum.
Living on the Minnesota/Canada border, I’m familiar with many of these things - and I have a theory on the origins of “pop” for fizzy drinks.
It’s simply what happens to a unopened can if left in your car in the winter. Or the summer.
😅😅😅
I think "pop" simply comes from soda-pop.
It's a Faygo thing. They coined it to separate themselves from all the other "sodas" on the market at the time.
@@SomeNameGoesHere Ah--Faygo Red Pop. I used to love that stuff--strawberry soda, er. . . pop.
I left the PNW (Washington state specifically) to go to college in Iowa & then Missouri. I vowed to never return after getting fed up with either freezing or sweltering weather that doesn’t allow you to enjoy the out doors & waaaaay too many bugs that serve no purpose! I mean…June bugs?!?!? Good lord! They fly in swarms into your screen door, fall on their backs & die🤷🏼♀️Useless beetles! I’ve lived in the south, Midwest & west coast (from LA to Seattle) & I’ll stick with Wa! We have seasons & so many sites & activities! You must come up this way! 😊
Im in Spokane and can agree.
As for not too hot nor freezing if it weren't so expensive I'd recommend Hawai'i. I hate heat but was rather comfortable there when I visited Honolulu in mid June of '09.
Totally not useless. Toads and chickens eat them like they're candy!
It seems to be a thing of the past but I remember when a slice of apple pie with a slice of American 'cheese' melted/drooped on it was common in diner type restaurants.
Up here in Wisconsin we finally got a daytime temp over 72 Fahrenheit (21 Celsius) today which also came with a nice thunderstorm!!
Back in the fifties there was a product called Electric Sweeper. It was a lightweight and cheaper option than a vacuum, which were expensive luxuries then. That is where your MIL got "Sweeper" from.