It's "Shi-cah-guh". Or "Shy-town".

Passed onto me by George

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You Know You're From Chicago If...By James Manning

- You - correctly - don't pronounce the "s" at the
end of Illinois.

It's pronounced "Ill-uh-Noy".

- You become irate at people who do.

Oh yes. Very much so. You wanna either correct them, or bash 'em in the head. Very irritating, that. They know better.

- You measure distance in minutes.

This is quite true. Never thought about that.

- You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Des Plaines".

Yeah. Like it looks. Not "Deh plahn", but "Des
Plains". Duh. :)

- Your school classes were canceled because of excessive cold.

Never happened. Not in Evanston. Even at Minus 34 with a windchill of
minus 85.


- Your school classes were canceled because of excessive heat.

Never happened. The heat usually comes after the school term ends.

- You've even had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

True. Have seen it go from 85 to 45 degrees in an hour.

- Stores don't have sacks, they have bags

And? We also call soda "pop" or "soda pop".

.
- You see a car running in the parking lot at the
store with no one in it no matter what time of the
year.

This is true. But specially when its cold.


- You end your sentences with an unnecessary
preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?" or "If
you go to the mall I wanna go with."

I do talk like that still.


- You can locate Illinois on the United States map.

I can find it even on a satellite map: Lower left hand
side of Lake Michigan out west to the Mississippi
river going all the way down south to where the
Mississippi and Ohio Rivers meet. Thats Illinois.


- Your idea of a really great tenderloin is when the
meat is at least twice as big as the bun and
accompanied only by ketchup and a dill pickle slice.

DEFINITELY. Hold the pickle. Add grilled onions.


- You install security lights on your house and
garage and then leave both unlocked.

Umm, in the burbs, yeah.

- When asked how your trip was to any foreign,
exotic place, you say, "It was different."

Hahaha. True. :)


- You carry jumper cables in your car.

YES YES YES. You'd better.

Every car Ive had in Illinois, I replaced BOTH the alternator and batteries at least once.

- You know what the numbers I-80, 55, and 90 mean.

I-80 is the main route going East/West between Cali
and New York, I-55 is the North/South Route, I-90
will take you between Seattle and Boston, being merged
with I-80 between Chicago and Ohio.

- You realize that I-290, I-90, I-94, and I-294 are
all different roads.

Yes. Although it doesnt seem that way coming thru
Chicago and the northern suburbs.

- You know the given names of the interstates, i.e.:
Stevenson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Dan Ryan.

Yup, dont forget the Edens Expressway.

- You refer to anything south of I-80 as "Southern Illinois".

Ehhhh, anything south of Joliet, really.

- You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake".

Yup.

- No matter where you are, when you hear the term
"Downtown" you immediately assume they are talking
about Downtown Chicago.

Mmm, sometimes. Most people say 'Downtown Chicago'.

- You find yourself referring to the central
business district of any city you happen to be in as "The
Loop."

Nah. Who does that? "The Loop"is "downtown Chicago". Nowhere else.

- You have two favorite football teams: The Bears
and anyone who beats the Green Bay Packers.

Damned skippy.
Although, my alternate favorite team were the Raiders, til they moved to LA. And because I was in Jacksonville when they were started, I became a Jaguars fan. (I like saying "Jahg-Wire" like a true Jacksonvillian.)

But all that goes out the window when theyre playing the Bears.

- A brawl over which Chicago baseball team is better
breaks out every year at your neighborhood block party

Fuck yeah. Da Sox and Da Cubbies arent the same
team, dammit.


- Even though you live 3 hours south, you still buy
"The Trib."

True. Even tho I prefer the Sun-Times.

- You know what goes on a Chicago Style Hot Dog.

Tomatoes, pickles, chopped onions and .. ahh, celery
salt. :)

- You know what Chicago Style Pizza is -- and feel
pity for those that don't, and with good reason!

But of course. Nothing compares.

By the way, what Dominos call 'Deep Dish'.. isnt.


- You know why they call Chicago "the Windy City".

Yes, not because of the wind, but because of the
politicians.

- You understand what "lake-effect" means.

Oh yeah, thats weather caused by the lake. Snow and rain that occurs because of the proximity
to the Lake. I once lived at a point (corner of Washington and Dodge in Evanston) where it would be
snowing, go one block away from the lake and it would be raining.

- You know the difference between Amtrak and Metra,
and know which station they end up at.

Yeah, Metra is the commuter train with local
stations, Amtrak is interstate, and neither do the two meet,
except in downtown Chicago.

- You have ridden an "L" (elevated train).

Well, Duh. :) And you say and write it "El" not "L". Sheesh. (The letter L means The Loop.)