How to Talk Minnesotan by Howard Mohr

by Howard Mohr

How to Talk Minnesotan

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published May 28, 2013

About the author

Howard Mohr was a writer and performer for several years on the radio program A Prairie Home Companion. He has since created two long-running musicals based on How to Talk Minnesotan. Twin Cities Public Television filmed a popular award-winning version of Howard’s book in 1991. He lives with his wife in Cottonwood, Minnesota.

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, you want to learn how to talk Minnesotan, then. Good deal. “How to Talk Minnesotan: Revised for the 21st Century” by Howard Mohr is not too bad a book if you like that sort of thing. I don’t want you to think I didn’t like it.
I compare it to a good hot dish: there’s lots of stuff in there, and it’s pretty easy to digest, for the most part. I like books that make me laugh, but only on the inside. If you see me smirking, that means I’m having a heckuva good time. I don’t think I had the thought, “Oh, for dumb” even once while I was reading, though I suspect if you’re still reading this you may have by now.
If someone held lutefisk under my nose and forced me to pick, I’d say my favorite part of the book was the story about the guy who moved out to a farm place and tried to order some fuel oil. Depending on who he talked to, he had the fuel delivered to the Fletcher place or the Prindel place (the names of the farm’s previous owners). It only took a decade or so before he could order fuel under his own name. I thought that sounded about right.
A guy could read a book like this if he wanted to. But not if it puts you out or anything like that. If you feel like it, go ahead. Whatever.

[Marie Zhuikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first version of this book, published in 1987 and later made into a video, helped me understand my own culture. Before reading it, I never understood that the “long good-bye” was something unique to my state of Minnesota. (The long good-bye is where it takes at least three tries to leave a friend’s home before they will actually let you go.)

Also helpful was the “angle rule,” which describes how many Minnesotans talk to each other without actually looking at each other. Instead, they stand at 90-degree angles, looking off at some mysterious distant point while conversing. I had seen that many times and just thought that’s how everyone did it. I was not conscious that these were Minnesota “things.”

I watched the “How to Talk Minnesotan” video so many times, I had the lines memorized. So when I heard the book had been updated (in 2013), I put it on my list to read.

In reading the recent edition, it didn’t seem like a whole lot had changed. Although it now contains sections on Tweets, Facebook, and smart phones, the same lines from the video are there on the page.

However, in reading this new version, I realized something that nagged me with the first version, which is that this is not a book that encompasses the whole of my dear state. The traits described in it are more common in farm country. I’d say that’s about from Hinkley, Minnesota, and south. With token mentions of smelt and lutefisk, this book has a bit a relevance to northern Minnesota, BUT, there’s not one mention of a sauna etiquette, iron ore mining, Lake Superior, Ole and Lena jokes, or wilderness camping. It lacks northern nuances.

A more accurate title for this book would be “How to talk Mid- to Southern-Minnesotan.” If you live north of Hinkley, reading it will be helpful, but it won’t get you the whole way. If a third version is ever done, the author should come on up here and talk to us northerners for some new material, don’t cha know.

[Sarah Fletcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was given to me as a gift from a former Minnesotan when I informed them of our family decision to move to Minnesota.

It has its funny moments and I understand the satirical nature but I really just had to give up 184 pages in because I just can't take one more second of it! 😂

Still looking forward to our move despite the culture cringe lol

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started reading this book before I took a little trip to Minnesota with my best friend (who also happens to be from Minnesota), and I've got to say....how did I never know about a little lunch? Honestly, the little lunch really rocked my world, and the revelations just kept coming. By the time I got to the state fair, I was pretty well prepared to talk Minnesotan, y'know, if you're into that sort of thing. Whatever.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a joke book. There is realism with the hilarity. One needs to be from the area to catch some of the dry wit. Is dated and the author did bring some up to date in the 25th anniversary version. I enjoyed it. I did read small bits at a time and that was beneficial I believe.

[Mark Hartzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

mmm, lutefisk; hotdish; coffee. Not bad. More like a 3.5 star book, but entertaining anyway.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe more of a 2.5. I expected it to be funnier.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am obsessed with this book. I only wish I'd read it when I first landed here. Things would've made a heckuva lot more sense. But it's okay, coulda been worse.

[Luke Southard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preamble: I think we’re going to retire and move to Minnesota. There are reasons, but I’ve been working late and don’t really want to go into real world stuff.

I DID want to say I didn’t buy this because of the potential, likely move. I didn’t confuse this comedy book with the culture books I’ve been a big fan of reading for other countries.

Okay. Let‘s proceed.

I love the idea of Minnesota.

I think it started with Grumpy Old Men, but then the Minnesota accent creeped into my consciousness, as did the knowledge of cold, dark, snowy winters (which I’m a fan of - especially if I don’t have to go outside in them).

I like lakes. I like food. I like nature. I like cities.

And I bought this book because of all of that.

It’s a little droll, but what do you expect from a Prairie Home Companion writer?

I don’t know. There’s not much to say, really. It was a fine book - I was never bored - but… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Jay Gabler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original is a regional classic. By the time of this edition, though, Mohr's not-so-hot takes on topics like smartphones and social media had more to do with the author's advancing age than with his regional identity. I wrote about How To Talk Minnesotan for the Duluth News Tribune.

[Alexys · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm moving to Minnesota and I thought this would be a fun insight into the culture that I'm moving into. It was just... blah. Nothing special or spectacular. Nothing I read that really suggested that Minnesota or its ways and customs were anything really special that warranted reading about. It wasn't even really funny. A couple smirk-worthy comments but that was about it.

[Janna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very amusing, if long.

I recommend reading it in bits and pieces. Classic ghides like this, and the Art of War, should be read and comtenplated in stages. Very funny to see so much truth buried in exaggerations. If read straight through, it can feel a bit long - winded.

[Lucas Mattila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language and grammar sections = interesting

Anecdotes, lists, news stories, advertisements = garbage filler

[Laura Steinert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm never going to visit, but it was fun to read about this strange culture tucked away in "Prairie Home Companion" territory.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really 3.5 stars. As born Minnesotan who now lives in another state, I found this book amusing and many times hilarious.

[Jeanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this was really funny initially, but after awhile it just seemed corny, not funny

[Miriam Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...

Well folks, I am not going to write a review of How to Talk Minnesotan at all, except to say that the revisions for the 21st century of this classic book will be out on May 28. Not much changes in Minnesota, so the revisions are minimal, except to changes in the prices on the advertisements and a few other additions.

The other day, I heard the checkout woman say, "You bet!" to me as I cashed out at the grocery. When I asked her if she had grown up in Minnesota, her response was "You bet!" I instantly felt comfortable.

I have to go to Minnesota every once in a while to get my fix. When my parents were alive, I was there every month or so. Oh, how I missed it when I wasn't going frequently. Last December, my siblings and I got together for my brother's birthday. Now if you really want to hear someone talk Minnesotan, just talk to my brother. He has it down pat!

Other than calling my brother and talking to him, you can here classic Minnesota language on this video made by the author of How to Talk Minnesotan, Howard Mohr. You can find it here.

Or you can watch the classic movie Fargo where the accents are so thick you can cut them with a knife. My favorite scene in the movie is when two men are talking to each other with their parkas on. You can't see their faces; all you can see is the steam coming out of their mouths. Classic Minnesota! I saw Fargo for the first time at a theater in Kalamazoo. For much of it, I was the only person laughing.

Minnesotans, however, really know how to put their "You bet!" into action. Last week the House in Minnesota passed the marriage equality bill and the Senate is almost sure to pass it this week. The governor, Mark Dayton, has promised to sign it. My niece, Cory Dack, was there and has been at the forefront of the lobbying. Extremely proud of her.

But in keeping with the theme of the book, I have included two hotdish recipes. One is the classic Tuna Noodle Hotdish and the other is a family favorite, Wild Rice Hotdish. In my family, Wild Rice Hotdish was made for special occasions, like Thanksgiving and Christmas. This particular recipe calls for water chestnuts. If that is too exotic for you, you can leave them out. When I was last there, I brought home 12 pounds of wild rice. "Yah, You Bet. Not too bad!"

Tuna Noodle Hotdish
6 oz. egg noodles (wide or extra wide), cooked
1 small can of tuna, drained and flaked with a fork
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen peas, cooked
1/2 cup (or more) grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup fresh bread crumbs cooked in 1 T. butter until slightly crisp
fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl, stir together first six ingredients until well combined.
3. Spread into a small greased casserole dish then sprinkle bread crumbs and parmesan cheese evenly over the top.
4. Bake uncovered in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and serve warm.
yield: four servings

Traditional Wild Rice Hotdish
1 lb. wild rice, cooked
1 lb bacon, crumbled
3 celery ribs, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
6 diced fresh mushrooms
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. water chestnuts
1 10 1/2 oz. can chicken broth.

1. Cook and crumble bacon, set aside.
2. Saute onion and celery and mushrooms in bacon fat until tender.
3. Mix all ingredients together, including water chestnuts.
4. Cover and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour until heated through.
5. Keep chicken broth on hand to moisten, in case of drying while baking.

For a book about my part of Minnesota, read The Long Shining Water by Danielle Sosin

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have definitely been familiar with the jokes presented in this affectionate send up of Minnesota’s cultural quirks growing up, having listened to a Prairie Home Companion with my parents and watched the 1993 television adaptation on PBS or even at school, so I went into Howard Mohr’s updated work here curious how my perceptions would hold up. 

Published originally in 1987, Mohr’s 2013 revision amounts mostly to discussing inflation and adding some mild technology jokes, but all in all, the work remains a mostly inoffensive relic of late 20th century rural Upper Midwestern life. Along with a variety of parodic advertisements for things like Chicken Feather Siding, Polka Pants, and Bob Hunde’s Cow Pie Key Hider, Mohr provides everything a visitor from, say, California, will need to know to not offend the locals with their direct ways and physical contact, or what a local really means when they say something is “interesting.” 

There are definitely some accurate observations here, humorously exaggerated of course, detailing some of the customs of local etiquette, in particular the local penchant for passive aggressiveness. I mean, I say “interesting” all the time, myself, and it usually takes me a couple of times to accept offers of food. Either the Coen brothers read this in preparation for writing the script for Fargo or were simply drawing from the same well of anecdotal experience to paint a picture of a stoic, inordinately humble community of people with no strong opinions on anything as long as you don’t try to give them a hug. 

However, I don’t know how useful (or funny) this would be to a newcomer, really, and seems mostly funny to life long (white) Minnesotans with a strong family background in farming west or south of the Twin Cities. Even while growing up in the Twin Cities suburbs around the time of the publication of How to Talk Minnesotan, I realized that the way of life described here wasn’t exactly the one I was living in, even if I could occasionally see bits of it in some of my relatives who lived further “out state.” We always called the third meal of the day dinner, for instance, and, to be honest, I felt those who said “supper” to be kind of old fashioned and I never heard of anyone calling the noon meal “dinner.” 

I guess, even in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the stereotypes being explored here were from an earlier generation. Cultures are always changing, after all.      

[John Breker · Rating 2 out of 5]

With much laughter and chagrin, I enjoyed the original edition of How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor's Guide. The revised edition, however, piggybacks on the original edition's success and fails to deliver much more. The original entries are preserved in their entirety, but the "updated" sections smack of 1980s nostalgia, missing their mark on the 21st Century. I'd recommend saving a few shillings and buy a used copy of the original edition; the book cover and paper quality are better anyway.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of the Prairie Home companion on NPR, and this is in the same style humor - the author is also a writer for that program.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming, funny read!

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of humor related to MN. Must reading for any transplanted Minnesotans, especially Iowegians. Native Minnesotans won't get it.

[Ardys Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hoot! Shared it with several people.

[Everett Holmgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original was better - I did not feel the modern additions added much in most cases.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of funny stories about hot dishes and sodas don't cha know, you betcha!