RE: geographic confusion about the term 'Midwest': It was interesting when I lived in Boston for a while, hearing some New England locals refer to people from Pennsylvania as being "from the Midwest." I remained silent, though it cost years of my life not to break out laughing.

Well, you never hear anyone say they're from East Virginia, either.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

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Originally posted by Shaql:
The lower mid-west would pretty much be Oklahoma Arkansas, Kansas, and Iowa, wouldn't it?

Arkansas is firmly in the South. It's not only in the South, but is often considered part of the Deep South even.

Oklahoma is usually, but not always, included in the South.

Kansas and Missouri might be the closest to the "Lower Midwest". Plus Oklahoma if you're one that doesn't consider it to be part of the South. And I'd even say the southernmost 10ish percent of Missouri (roughly Springfield and south) would fit pretty neatly into the South due to its shared Ozark roots/history.

Iowa is definitely too far north to qualify as "lower". It's usually considered part of specifically the Upper Midwest.

I can confirm that. I was driving through Mountain Home Arkansas a few years back and I guess I was going to slow because a young woman honked her horn and shouted " damn Yankee" at me as she passed me,lol.

Actually, it’s not often that you hear of lower anything.

Of course there was Lower Slobbovia in Al Capp’s ”Li’l Abner” cartoon strip.

I think being from the Midwest is something people say to the geographically challenged folks in other parts of the country. Someone asks you where are you from and their eyes glass over when you respond Bemidji. So they ask where that is, you say Minnesota, and they give you a blank stare. So then you say, it's in the Midwest and then you see the lightbulb go off. Eventually, you just say your from the Midwest, because nobody else will understand or care if you are from Cheboygan, MI or Sheboygan, WI. I'm sure the people in Minneapolis and St. Paul will be thrilled to learn that the Mississippi River is now the defacto dividing line between the East and the West. I hear tell they can get rowdy in Edina. The folks in Bemidji are probably befuddled by that as well, since 66% of them are north of the Mississippi River and 33% are south of the Mississippi River.

In answer to the topic question, no I've never heard someone say they were from the Lower Midwest. My guess is those folks happy where they are and don't feel the need to tell everyone and their brother where they are from.

I’ve been in Florida for 15 years since graduating college. My wife is from Florida. She tells people I’m from the Midwest because it’s easier than trying to explain that actual people do come from Kansas. All too often, when she or I says I’m from Kansas, the response is “I’ve never met anyone from Kansas”. If i threw “lower Midwest” into the mix, that would be too confusing

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Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Actually, it’s not often that you hear of lower anything.

Sure you do. There are all kinds of "Lower" geographical region designations. For example:

Lower Peninsula (Michigan)
Lower Mainland (Canada)
Lower Canada
Lower East Side (New York City)
Lower Manhattan (New York City)
Lower Tampa Bay (Florida)
Lower Silesia (Poland)
Lower Ormond (Ireland)
Lower Saxony (Germany)
Lower Normandy (France)
Lower Aragon (Spain)
Lower North (Australia)
Lower South East (Australia)
Lower Mesopotamia (Iraq)
Lower Galilee (Israel)
Lower Egypt
Lower Austria
Lower Belgium
Lower Indus River Basin (Pakistan)
Lower Mississippi River Valley (the area adjoining the river between where it merges with the Ohio River in very southern Illinois until the Delta at the sea in Louisiana)

In geography, the designation "lower" sometimes means more southern. But more often it means being located downriver, or closer to the sea, or at a lower elevation, which can be in any direction.

You're probably just looking in the wrong place. Hell look how far away they put the middle east. Lower mid west could be anywhere!

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Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Actually, it’s not often that you hear of lower anything.

Of course there was Lower Slobbovia in Al Capp’s ”Li’l Abner” cartoon strip.

Was there an Upper Slobbovia?

In Iowa we just refer to all of it (and us) as "flyover country." I never heard that term while living in Missouri, but maybe Missouri thought it was more important in the country to use such a term when Iowa realizes and embraces that it isn't. Once you get down to Springfield and Joplin, Missouri though, you might as well be in Savannah, Georgia. Grits, sweet tea, and no snow in all years other than 2021.

I just tell them I'm from the Cross Timbers area.

Of course I get the dumb look in response, so I just tell them to google The Cross Timbers Area of the USA. It's actually a rather interesting subject.
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Originally posted by bobtheelf:
Well, you never hear anyone say they're from East Virginia, either.

Really? Well, close anyway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...ginia_Medical_School

I have never heard anyone from Iowa say anything but just plain MidWest when describing the location of our state. You will hear North East Iowa, South West Iowa and Central Iowa with North, Central or South attached to all three when discussing location within the state. So basically there are six regions within the state but all are just MidWest.

Mid West? = Nebraska!!!

I've got in`laws there, retired military who lived literally ALL over the world.

The argument was something to the effect that "Nebraska is strictly WEST of the Mississippi" and EAST of the Continental Divide. Therefore, barely even touching states along the River which ARE touching the 'eastern US' while also not bounded by the Pacific Ocean, nor bordered by states that are that far west, it's pretty much illogical to pretend it's anything other than MID-West.

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Originally posted by bettysnephew:
I have never heard anyone from Iowa say anything but just plain MidWest when describing the location of our state. You will hear North East Iowa, South West Iowa and Central Iowa with North, Central or South attached to all three when discussing location within the state. So basically there are six regions within the state but all are just MidWest.

You forgot East Coast of Iowa (Mississippi River) and West Coast of Iowa (Missouri River)

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Once you get down to Springfield and Joplin, Missouri though, you might as well be in Savannah, Georgia. Grits, sweet tea, and no snow in all years other than 2021.

Say What?

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Originally posted by TMats:
Might make allowances for another state or two in the Central Time Zone, although Great Lakes is better.

I'm from Indiana, and I agree with this. There needs to be a Great Lakes region. There are just too many differences between this area and the true "midwest" like KS, NE, SD, etc.

That said, it's a difficult proposition to define a region. For example, Indiana and Ohio are very far removed culturally, linguistically, and geographically from northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. Even within the states, there is significant variance. In IN and OH, as you get closer to the Ohio River there is a noticeable change in topography, climate, and dialect. The NW corner of Indiana, up by Chicago, is its own little world. The rest of the northern part of the state is pretty homogenous with the rural parts of northern Ohio, Illinois, and southern Michigan. Honestly, I feel more at home travelling through rural Iowa, Kansas, or Nebraska than I do in some parts of my own state.

I never use the term "lower midwest," but I would have thought of Missouri and Kansas if asked.

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Originally posted by Bassamatic:

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Once you get down to Springfield and Joplin, Missouri though, you might as well be in Savannah, Georgia. Grits, sweet tea, and no snow in all years other than 2021.

Say What?

I don't know, I always got that vibe about southern Missouri when living in Washington, MO. Springfield and Joplin are quite a bit different than the I-70 corridor which is quite a bit different than Kirksville.

Different culturally, yes. Joplin/Springfield are certainly more "Southern" than the rest of Missouri, whereas Central/Northern Missouri are decidedly more "Midwestern".

But Southern Missouri still gets snow.

Not Alaska/Minnesota/Colorado/Maine levels, mind you... But more than "no snow except for the once-in-a-lifetime freak arctic blast" like Central/Southern TX, or Savannah GA.

I live about a hour south of Joplin and about 3 hours southwest of Springfield, and we get a decent amount of snow too. Several inches, several times per winter on average. Sometimes a foot or two. Ice storms too. (That's what's normal, whereas we've actually had an abnormally small amount of snow from 2014ish until now...)

It's helped by the fact that Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri are in the Ozark Mountains, which while they're not hugely tall, still contribute to greater snowfall than the flatter surrounding areas.