This post was inspired by David in DC and DMarks. I thought I’d add a list for Ohio but also merged it with a “You Know You’re from Cleveland if” list too. Here it is:
- Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway
- You wear shorts the first day of the year it isn’t below zero and snowing…just because you can.
- You find yourself singing “Garfield 1-2323, Garfield 1-2323” in the shower.
- You see Christmas lights up in July.
- You actually know how to pronounce Cuyahoga.
- You can’t tell Brook Park, Brooklyn or Old Brooklyn apart.
- You know you don’t really have an accent, the rest of the world does.
- You always hear there are famous people in town, but you’ve never seen one.
- You know who the Jake really is.
- You measure distance in minutes
- Down south to you means Kentucky
- You know several people who have hit a deer
- Your school classes were canceled because of cold
- Your school classes were canceled because of heat
- You’ve ridden the school bus for an hour each way
- You’ve ever had to switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day
- You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year
- All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain.
- You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked
- You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows
- You carry jumper cables in your car
- You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit
- Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow
- You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie
- The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires 6 pages for sports
- You find -20 degrees F “a little chilly”
- You know all 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction
- You know what a real buckeye is, and have a recipe for candy ones
- You know if another Ohioian is from southern, middle or northern Ohio as soon as they open their mouth
- You can spell words like Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas
- You know that Serpent Mound was not made by snakes
Eclectic Spaghetti 
Mnay of these would work for Iowa as well. I love the regional differences.
just a couple things, first, (I live in Cleveland by the way) I have only once in my life seen a tractor, and that was not in Ohio. Also, you spelled Tuscarora wrong. In 1994 (I think, don’t remember exactly) the snow piles were about 6 feet high, and it was negative 100 degrees. You were right about all year round snow. Who the heck is the Jake? never been to a county fair either. I hate beef, pork, beer, and jello. Marshmallows are good. I do not know what to call my accent, but it’s not southern. Would you call it Northern? Buckeyes (the candy) are delicious, you’re missing out. Their kind of like chocolates, except there’s peanut butter in the middle. I have never seen, nor heard of a deer crossing in front of me or a friend’s car in the road. Also, you didn’t mention anything about our grammar, but I am a grammar policeman. So ha. Beat that.
You’re from the city . Hater .
Come to the Country & you know everything .
I am really enjoying these lists! So funny…
Man, I really am from Ohio. Down south to me means Medina county. Christmas lights in July? Hell, the guy across the street from me hasn’t taken his down in twenty years.
how about being accused of pronouncing our wonderful state…O-HI-U
I lived most of my 87 years in Ohio I have been in Las Vegas for the last 29 years I don’t miss the cold!
I have always pronounced it O-HI-A
And — the county is spelled TUSCARAWAS
Very true, I’ve heard it pronounced that way and it’s ridiculous!
My grandma calls green peppers “mangos”. Only in Ohi-“uh”!
We’ve always called them mangos too and then we moved and nobody knew what we were talking about… And we still just live in Ohio lol
Stephanie: Lol. Thanks for visiting my blog! Never thought of calling green peppers “mangos”!
I’m from Ohio and I’ve never heard of Cuyahoga and therefore have no idea how to pronounce it. And who is Jake? Am I just out of the loop or something?
Cuyahoga river, county, falls, valley, pretty much where all of ohios history is centered around. It had a canal and was the center of business a century or so ago helped build ohio to the rubber capital of the world and what not. You are seriously out of the loop if you’ve never head of the at least cuyahoga river and mean it goes right through Cleveland and snakes through the whole state.
Hi Mary! Jake was short for Jacob’s Field when that was the name of the baseball stadium. People just referred to it as “The Jake”.
some of these are very true, and funny.
but a few make me feel like we’re hillbillies :(
WOW!!! I am from Ohio and worse, most of them are true
Hi Kirsten! Thanks for visiting my blog! I found a lot of these things to be true about Ohio.
@ Emilie Taylor: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a Hillbilly . . . really there isn’t. They are some of the most gracious, generous, hospitable, mannerly people you will ever meet. Life is a little slower paced in Kentucky and the rest of the South, family customs and traditions are a little different, and the most obvious difference is their manner of speech, which is a product of their environment. Raise those same children in Ohio and they’ll be saying, “You guys!” In Kentucky it’s, “Y’all”. In Michigan it’s “Youse guys”. In Pittsburgh, it’s “Yins”. In California, it’s “Yo, Dude!” It’s not that only one of these is right and all others are wrong. The point is every area is different and that’s what makes our country so rich with traditions and customs that are wonderfully diverse. I don’t understand when one group tries to make themselves “look better” than another group by putting the other groups down just because they do things differently. If you were about to fall off a cliff, and the only person who could save you was a “hillbilly”, wouldn’t he begin to look quite important in your eyes? If you’re ever unfortunate enough to have your car break down in Kentucky or parts south, you mostly likely won’t have to wait long until a guy in a pickup truck will pull in behind you and offer to change your tire, take you to the gas station to get some gas, take you the the parts store to get the part necessary to repair your car and get you back on your way. He’ll probably even buy a bag of candy at the gas station to give to the little ones in your car. We need to be more tolerant of each other and pull together rather than pull ourselves apart over things that really don’t matter in life. Ask youself, “Is this a life-changing event?” or “Will I remember this in one year . . . five years?” Put things in perspective and then the way a group of people looks, acts, talks, dresses. etc., is no longer important. It is the goodness of the heart and the kindness of the spirit inside those people that really matters. Everyone wants to feel that they’re “better” than someone else, but we are equal in the eyes of God, and he likes all of us just fine, because that’s the way he made us. Who can argue with that?
“Measure distance in minutes.”
.. You mean other states measure it other ways?
That’s sooo weird.