Patriot News MN

I hate Fargo. The movie, not the city. Yes, I know it won a ton of awards and was nominated for more. I know it’s considered one of the best films of the ‘90’s. But as a born and bred Minnesotan Fargo offends me. They made fun of the way they think we speak! I didn’t enjoy watching the actual movie. I was too busy being insulted. “We don’t talk like that,” I said angrily to my husband when the movie had ended. “They’re making us sound like idiots.”

“It’s just a movie,” he replied. I couldn’t believe he didn’t get it.

Me being me, I had to complain to anyone who would listen.

“I’ve lived in Minnesota all my life and I’ve never heard anyone talk like that,” I complained to my sister-in-law, who was visiting from Illinois.

“You all talk like that,” she laughed. I begged to differ.

A co-worker originally from Iowa told me when I said words like ‘about’ I sounded like I was saying ‘aboat.’ I denied it.

It’s not like I had never heard misconceptions about my home state before. Once during a family summer vacation in Missouri I met a man from Georgia. He asked what the weather was like in Minnesota this time of year. I replied that it was in the 80’s when we’d left. He was dumbfounded. He thought we had snow year round.

Yet for some reason I couldn’t let go of my ire at Fargo.

The summer after I graduated high school I worked in Colorado for a couple months. My coworkers would come to work in the morning with a list of words they’d ask me to say. I’d comply and they’d laugh. I didn’t get it. I couldn’t hear any difference between the way we spoke.

I’ve traveled to a number of other states, and everywhere I’ve gone people have asked me, “You’re from Minnesota, right?” I’m always amazed. How can they tell?

A group of my students, all Minnesotans, informed me yes, Minnesotans do have an accent and my accent was stronger than most. I felt betrayed.

I remembered that I did, in fact, know someone with the alleged Minnesota accent, a great uncle of mine. He’s the only person I’ve known who actually sounded like the people in the movie Fargo did. He may actually have had an even stronger accent.

I thought about the way my dad talks. It’s not strong, but there’s definitely an accent there. I guess it was possible that I may have picked up just a tiny bit of it growing up.

One day my youngest daughter jumped onto my lap and I caught myself saying ‘Uff da.’ I couldn’t believe those words had just left my mouth.

Another day I told my daughter, who was waiting for her turn on the laptop, “Yah, I’m aboat done with that there then.”

Wait. What. Did I. Just. Say.

Oh, for Pete’s sake, I did have a Minnesotan accent and apparently it’s a pretty darn good one. I started hearing it in everything I said.

I asked someone, “Cold enough for ya?”

“Oh for cute . . . “

“. . . don’tcha know. “

“Say, John, I tell ya what . . . “

“Yeah but . . . “

There was no more denying it. I had the accent.

I still kinda hate Fargo, and didya know there’s a TV series now, so the mocking continues. I’m not complaining about it.

It’s time to admit the truth. I speak Minnesotan and heck yeah I’m proud of it. As my dad would say, “That’s it then.”