In English please?

[wsk]

I cud poun' out da loc'l Yooper di'lect of da U.P., which may not be as differ'nt as Scots, but ya prob'ly never 'eard it, so's harder to 'ear it in yer 'ead, eh?

Speakin' a which, what do youse guys t'ink of a Kromer an' choppers wit da kilt, eh?

Right. Got the first part of that but failed in the second part. What is / are Krommer and choppers? And do the people of the UP often - as it appears to be here - mix singular and plural indiscriminantly?

[Nick]

A Kromer is a type of hat with ear flaps, great in the winter. Choppers are mittens where the top of the mitten flips back to expose the fingers (turning it into fingerless gloves) to do things that require more dexterity. Alternatively, choppers can just be very heavy winter mittens.

As for singular and plural, yes, they are often interchanged, but as with any dialect if you speak it you know what the person means. In the more Finnish areas the English articles are completly dropped ("you talking" instead of "you are talking", "Bruce crossing" instead of "Bruce is crossing"). I grew up with more of an Italian influence, which is softer, but it still sounds similar.

I don't speak with a heavy Yooper accent anymore (playing different characters on stage changed how I talk), but it's still there a bit. My Lady grew up in Colorado and she can definitly hear it.