YOUR STATE’S OFFICIAL WORD

Slate.com asked itself, “If every state had an official word, what would it be?” Here is Slate’s list of what should be every state’s official word.
Alaska: sourdough: a longtime resident of Alaska
Arizona: snowbird (noun): a visitor who flocks to Arizona to escape the cold winter elsewhere
Arkansas: tump (verb): to tip over or dump out
California: hella (adverb): very or extremely; many, much, a lot of
Colorado: fourteener (noun): a mountain more than 14,000 feet above sea level
Connecticut: glawackus (noun): a mysterious and ferocious animal/monster of local legend
Delaware: baggin’ up (expression): to laugh loudly or for an extended period
Florida: toad-strangler (noun): a heavy or especially severe rain storm
Georgia: dingnation (noun): damnation, hell
Hawaii: aloha (noun): greeting/farewell
Idaho: whistle pig (noun): a prairie dog
Illinois: grabowski (noun): a hard-working, tough, blue-collar individual
Indiana: Hoosier (noun): Someone from or living in the state of Indiana, or a country bumpkin
Iowa: kybo (noun): port-a-potty
Kansas: shucky darn (expression): an exclamation that loosely equates to “wow!”
Kentucky: chughole (noun): a pothole
Louisana: banquette (noun): sidewalk
Maine: ayuh (expression): yes
Maryland: hon (noun): short for honey
Massachusetts: wicked (adverb): very, awesome, great, etc.
Michigan: yooper (noun): a person from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Minnesota: uff da (expression): a brief statement of surprise or disgust
Mississippi: nabs (noun): peanut butter crackers
Missouri: Missouri (noun): a state name that has four different pronunciations
Montana: graupel (noun): snow-like precipitation that resembles tiny ice balls
Nebraska: runza (noun): a pastry consisting mainly of ground beef and cabbage
Nevada: pogonip (noun): a dense, icy fog
New Hampshire: poky (adjective): scary or eerie
New Jersey: jug handle (noun): an intersection that forces you to turn right in order to turn left
New Mexico: christmas (noun): green and red chili mix
New York: mad (adverb): very, exceptionally; (adjective): many or several
North Carolina: Cackalacky (noun): another name for North Carolina
North Dakota: hotdish (noun): a casserole
Ohio: carry-in (noun): a potluck dinner
Oklahoma: quakenado (noun): an earthquake that occurs at the same time as a tornado
Oregon: jojos (noun): potato wedges
Pennsylvania: yinz (noun): you all, you guys, as in, “All yinz people from Philly get over here.”
Rhode Island: cabinet (noun): milkshake
South Carolina: surcee (noun): an unexpected gift
South Dakota: chislic (noun): cubed meat
Tennessee: whirlygust (noun): a strong wind
Texas: hoss (noun): partner, friend
Utah: oh my heck (expression): a variant on “oh my God”
Vermont: creemee (noun): soft serve
Virginia: might could (verb): can, as in, “You might could do that.”
Washington: jumble sale (noun): a yard/tag sale
Washington, D.C.: bama (noun): a loser or chump
West Virginia: mess (used as a measurement): a pile of
Wisconsin: TYME machine (noun): an automated teller machine
Wyoming: dout (verb): to put out a fire
* Remember when Slate used to be cool?
* Now use them all in a sentence.
* “I’ve got your scary unexpected gift of a pile of cubed meat right here for you all,” or “I’ve got your poky surcee mess of chislic right here for yinz.”
* What a tremendous list. These aren’t stupid at all.
* Oklahoma: quakenado? Are they TRYING to scare tourists away?
* I don’t remember that in the song. “O-o-o-o-o-o klahoma, where the quakes and tornados strike in pairs …”
* I can’t argue with “aloha” for Hawaii but, sorry, the rest are just dumb.
* Okay, Hoosiers … Indiana … I’ll give you that one too.
* But “bama” for Washington, D.C.? How do you get another state’s nickname as your official word? And how come Alabama doesn’t have a word?
* Washington, D.C.’s official word should be “bribe.”
* PHONE TOPIC: Do you agree with your state’s official word? If not, what word would you suggest?