" 'Idiom,' sir!"

The way Minnesotans talk has been and continues to be adequately documented and made fun of by people who don't live here--and terrifically documented and made fun of by people who do. (Just a couple of days ago my description of what a Duck is was totally lost on Al because she was laughing at how I said "boat" a couple of times--almost two syllables: "bo-uht," with the end slurred just a little so you can claim that you're really only saying one syllable like you know you should. Minnesotans can make o-sounds--like the one in the name of their state--sound pretty weird.)

But still I can think of at least one delightful thing that has occasionally been brought to my attention: "now" and "then" only seem like opposites--they actually mean the same thing! At least when used in the right context...at the end of sentences.

It all started this time when Jenn and I finally finally left the wedding-dress store (I hate that place! I hate weddings, I hate dresses, I don't wanna get married now!). The lady who'd been helping us all evening said "Bye then" as we walked out and Jenn commented on it. "It's always 'then,'" she said. "Bye then. Seeya then. How are you doing then."

"Or 'now,'" I said. "'Now' and 'then' mean the same thing, remember? Bye now. Seeya now. How are you doing now."

To say that polar opposites are interchangable, and that both are used at the ends of meaningless sentences of hello and good-bye, must mean I live in an interesting state.

Or at least an interesting state of mind.