From cornhole to garage fridges, ‘Midwestern Conversation’ runs the (polite) gamut

If you’re in the Midwest and someone asks if you’re any good at cornhole, chances are they’re out for blood.

“They’re like, ‘I want to know if I can be my full, honest, competitive, wacko self with you, or if I have to be sort of nice and supportive, like I'm playing with my niece,” explains Taylor Kay Phillips, a Midwesterner, comedian and author of the new book A Guide to Midwestern Conversation.

In this book, Phillips breaks down the true meaning of key Midwestern phrases from “Jeez Louise” to “Oh, for crying out loud.”

And she gives credit to defining elements of Midwest culture, from cornhole to the garage fridge.

“Those things are very personally important to me,” she said. “I am a Midwesterner, so I wrote so much of this book out of love and affection. But I've also lived in New York for a while. And so part of this book, I have written out of spite.”

Phillips joined Today from the Ohio Newsroom to talk more about her book.

This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

On her inspiration and favorite Midwestern expression: she’s a character

“What started the whole thing was I was in a cafe in Kansas City, where I'm from originally, and I heard someone say, [‘She’s a character’]. And it dawned on me for the first time that not everybody understands exactly what that means. But in the Midwest, we are saying a very specific thing, which is if you say, ‘She's a character,’ you mean this woman is bonkers. She's out of her mind. You don't know what to expect. Expect the unexpected. Go into it with an open mind and heart, and also call me after so we can debrief. So that is one of my personal favorites. Also, because I have a sneaking suspicion that it is said about me.”

On Midwestern variation

“The Midwest is treated culturally by coasties – as I call them – as this monolith. And we all know within it that [it’s different]. I'm from Missouri, but my father's from the bootheel of Missouri, which is kind of the South. And then you get all the way up north into the Dakotas or into Minnesota, and there's that way of actually speaking, not just the way you put words together, but the way your voice sounds that is different. It also depends on the environment. There is some more rugged and outdoor terrain that lends itself toward a little bit more rural speak. You know, I'm from Kansas City. We’re not going fishing every weekend. But up in Minnesota and Wisconsin, folks are. So it does vary for sure, and figuring out what we could say unifies all 12 of our states was a challenge, but a fun one.”

On a Midwestern staple: the garage fridge

“I am a Midwesterner, so I wrote so much of this book out of love and affection. But I've also lived in New York for a while and so part of this book, I have written out of spite. And I did not have a garage fridge nor a finished basement as a child. And my parents purchased a fridge for our garage — the height of luxury, as we all know — after I had already left for college. And it is a cardinal sin. We're still working through it as a family.

But the importance of those things was so ingrained in me and the way that I felt about where I grew up that they had to have their own thing. When I pitched the book, I was like, ‘And there will be an ode to the garage fridge. It will be a poem.’ The garage fridge is up there with Grecian urns, and with whichever lady Shakespeare was in love with at the time. It is the peak of Midwestern romanticism, and it was really an honor to get to include it in my book.”

On Ohio’s claim to fame

“One of the things that I loved most about writing the book is that each state has its own special spread. When I was a kid going to look at books about the whole country or the world, I would go and so hungrily look for Missouri. And so often, they would skip it and they would say, ‘Oh yeah, here's this thing in Nebraska. We count [it as] the whole Midwest.’

So in doing these state profiles, I had very recently been to Ohio and was introduced to the Buckeye, the treat. So I knew about the Buckeye, the football team, but the Buckeye, the dessert, is a key and wonderful contribution to humanity. And then, I heavily featured the ice cream wars because my best friend is a Graeter's girl. But there’s also a Jeni's contingent. So I know that there is a lot of interstate conflict about this, and I wanted to be sensitive to that and leave space for all Ohio ice cream fans.”

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