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Illinois is a land of big city swagger and small town stubbornness—where the weather changes in minutes, politics are spicy, and there’s only one correct way to eat a hot dog (and it does not involve ketchup). Whether you’re from the cornfields of Central Illinois or the chaos of the Chicago loop, these phrases are part of the local dialect that outsiders just don’t get.
1. “I’m from Chicago.”
Said by someone who’s actually from a suburb 45 minutes away—but still refuses to admit it.
2. “You goin’ to the Taste?”
If you have to ask “the Taste of what,” you’re clearly not from here.
3. “The Hawk is out.”
Translation: The wind is trying to rip your face off. Welcome to winter in Illinois.
4. “We don’t do ketchup on hot dogs.”
Ever. That’s a crime against Vienna Beef and the state constitution.
5. “I’m just hopin’ Springfield gets it together.”
Said every Illinoisan, every election cycle, forever.
6. “You takin’ the L or Metra?”
One goes in circles. The other gets delayed in a cornfield. Pick your poison.
7. “I’ll meet you by the Bean.”
You mean Cloud Gate, but no one calls it that. Ever.
8. “Da Bears.”
Not a sentence. A state of being. Also an emotional rollercoaster.
9. “Did you bring the Portillo’s?”
If yes, you’re invited to every party forever. Bonus points for cake shake.
10. “We got all four seasons… in a day.”
Prepare for sunburn, tornado sirens, and frostbite—by lunch.
11. “I can’t make it—I’m stuck on the Eisenhower.”
You’re going 7 miles per hour and still somehow late by 45 minutes.
12. “Illinois? That’s ‘Ill-uh-noy’—not ‘Ill-uh-noise.’”
Mispronounce it, and we will absolutely judge you.
If these phrases made total sense, congrats—you’ve probably waited out a blizzard with a deep-dish pizza and have opinions about every toll road. If not, visit a corn maze, survive a winter, and yell at a Cubs game—you’ll be fluent in Illinois in no time. Just keep your ketchup far, far away from that hot dog.
The post 12 Phrases You’ll Only Understand If You Live in Illinois appeared first on When In Your State.