What’s a Hoosier? | Britannica

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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div></div> </div> <article class="topic-content content mt-20"><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/194404-050-D8E580AA/Indianapolis-Indiana-skyline-White-River.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/194404-050-D8E580AA/Indianapolis-Indiana-skyline-White-River.jpg?w=600&q=60" alt="Indianapolis skyline and White River during Autumn" data-width="1600" data-height="908" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">© Davel5957—iStock.com/Getty Images</cite></figcaption></figure> <p class="topic-paragraph">People from certain U.S. states go by unusual names—Connecticuter, Michigander, Utahn, to name a few—but Hoosiers from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Indiana-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Indiana</a> are the only ones whose name isn’t based on their state name at all.</p><span class="MOD1"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph"><strong>Nobody really knows why it came into being, what the word originally meant, or where it came from.</strong> Some have claimed that the term is based on a man named Sam Hoosier, a contractor working on the Louisville and Portland Canal. He tended to hire workers from Indiana, who became known as “Hoosier’s men.” Eventually, the term was applied to everyone from Indiana. Another theory states that Indiana rivermen were notable fighters who frequently defeated, or “hushed,” their opponents. This led to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nickname" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">nickname</a> <em>hushers</em>, which later became <em>Hoosiers</em>. Other explanations include a slurring of the greeting “Who’s yer.” In addition, in some areas <em>hoosier</em> was used to describe people who are rustic and unpolished.</p><span class="MOD2"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">Whatever the origin, by the 1820s some residents of Indiana were already embracing the Hoosier label, and in the 1830s its popularity really took off. The fad began, it seems, after a poem entitled “The Hoosier’s Nest” was published in the <em>Indianapolis Journal</em> in 1833. Set in “Blest Indiana,” the poem extols the virtues of life in the state. Rough but tough, poor but fulfilled, simple but hospitable, the Hoosier of the poem was not only ordinary and relatable but also admirable and ideal.</p><span class="MOD3"></span> <span class="AM-END-OF-ARTICLE am-inline"></span></article> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="cm-rightrail d-none d-md-block ad-rail"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col"> <div class="md-loading hidden display-4 font-weight-normal"></div> <div class="text-center my-20 mb-100"> <button class="md-infinite-load-next btn btn-blue" data-value="next-page">Load More</button> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-da-320 hidden-xs"> </div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Story","templateName":"DEMYSTIFIED","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":11,"pageId":13550,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/story-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Story","pageSubtype":"DEMYSTIFIED","articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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What’s a Hoosier? | Britannica