Word of the Day

: July 22, 2014

Yooper

noun YOO-per

What It Means

: a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - used as a nickname

Yooper in Context

The land of the Yoopers-the Upper Peninsula, or U.P.-is connected to Michigan's Lower Peninsula by means of the Mackinac Bridge.

"Every Yooper I've ever met was an uncommonly unique character-a real salt-of-the-earth townie, skilled at mechanics, deer hunting, and/or ice fishing." - Kelly O, The Stranger, January 29, 2014 - February 4, 2014

Did You Know?

The word "Yooper" comes from the common nickname of Michigan's Upper Peninsula-the "U.P."-and the etymology requires the same follow-up question that a challenging joke does: "Get it?" If you're not there yet, try saying them both out loud: Yooper, U.P. Yoopers have been saying both out loud now for about 40 years, but it's only in recent years that those beyond the U.P. and its geographical neighbors have begun to encounter "Yooper" in use. Yoopers refer to people who live in the Lower Peninsula as "trolls" (they live "under" the Mackinac Bridge, after all), but that nickname is still at this point too regional for entry in our dictionaries.