Ever since I was fairly young, I have always been a bit interested in language and where certain words come from. It's not to the point I am obsessed with it, in fact, most of the time I don't even think about it too much. As I said, it's just one of those things that I find mildly interesting. Interesting enough that once upon a time when I first started taking classes at university I had every intention of being a high school english teacher.
Oddly enough, my lack of skill at public speaking, paired with the fact that it was just a mild interest in language and the fear that I might burn out from teaching led me down a different career path. I still ended up in the education system and after working in this space for close to two decades, I am very glad I ended up changing my major.
That doesn't mean I don't still find language interesting. If you find it interesting too, I highly recommend you follow @dbooster here on HIVE. He occasionally puts out some posts about words or language that are quite informational and engaging.
I remember a while ago I watched the Apple TV+ show Shantaram that is based on some book by some author. One of the things the show touched on was the Indian head wobble. It's one of those things that you might see all the time, but you never quite realize just how deep the meaning is. The way I understand it, depending on the situation, it can mean a variety of different things. That's just kind of cool to me.
I wish we had something that cool where I live, but instead, we just have the word "ope".
"Ope" is a funny word. Pronounced like "Nope" without the n, it's likely something that I have heard all my life, but didn't quite take notice of it until I was much older. Living in Michigan, I've always been familiar with the Canadian and upper peninsula exclamation of Eh! That one is pronounced like you would say the letter "a", and it's often throw in the end of sentences as a inquiry or acceptance of agreement.
Like "let's head to the store eh!?". Something like that. I'm not from that area, so I don't really use it like they do.
Ope on the other hand is a different story.
As I said, it wasn't until I was pretty old that I really started to acknowledge the word ope. I remember a time when I thought to myself, there is absolutely no way I say that word. Then I also vaguely remember the time I caught myself saying it and I realized it's likely something I do multiple times a day and I can't even control it.
If you want more information on this midwest phenomenon, you can read about it here.
Believe it or not, even if you live nowhere near the midwest of the United States, there is likely a good chance you have heard the word ope too. Don't believe me?
Check this out:
Specifically right around the 1 minute 17 second mark. That's right, Eminem includes this pervasive midwest exclamation in his hit "Lose Yourself". It's not surprising to be honest, he is from the midwest after all. I've also heard several english scholars talk about how masterful of a wordsmith Eminem is. Many of them place him in the same category as some of the great poets.
Similar to "Eh!" and the Indian head wobble, the word "ope" can carry a variety of meanings. Most specifically, it's usually used as a exclamation of surprise or motivation.
After sitting and watching the snow fall for a while you might say "ope, I better get to clearing the driveway". More often, it's used when you are out in public and you find yourself apologizing for getting in someone's way in the store or accidentally bumping into them.
"ope, pardon me".
The funny thing is, if you are from here, you don't even realize you are saying it. If I had to take a wild guess, I probably say it dozens of times per day and I don't even realize it. Being from the midwest, but now living in Japan, I wonder if this is still part of @dbooster's vocabulary or if it has slowly been phased out.
Do you have any regional words like "ope" that people outside your area might not know about? I'd love to hear about them. Inside the US alone there are probably a truckload of regional words like "ope". Then on a global and cultural level we are probably talking hundreds of words.
Share some of your favorites with me in the comments. As I said, I love to learn new things about language!
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