"Welp" is a folksy way to start a sentence like "Well,..." with an air of resignation. The internet/social media/peak Twitter (like ten years ago) have desperately wanted to make it out to be some great midwestern thing, but it's kind of not. I've lived in Michigan for 25-ish years (Ann Arbor and Detroit suburbs) and have never heard it here.

"Ope" is a way of saying "oops, I'm sorry" that's supposedly common to the upper Midwest. I've heard it here in southeastern Michigan from exactly one person -- a former coworker from Michigan's Upper Pennisula who used to bust out his UP talk from time to time. Well, plus the Eminem.

Anonymous wrote:NP. I think the referenced expressions may be a generational thing, not a geographic location thing.

https://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/life/2020/05/04/ope-sorry-deeper-look-into-midwests-favorite-expression/3003713001/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Mich the NYers complain about the bagel's quite loudly so it feels like there are more NYers there than there really are.

Haha. Well they have a valid grievance. You are pretty much limited to Einstein or Big Apple bagels in Michigan.

you mean in Ann Arbor. Bagels in the Detroit area are far superior to those in that small city. I might also add that the rye bread sucks in New York

No one is driving an hour into Detroit for bagels.

NP. I think the referenced expressions may be a generational thing, not a geographic location thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're going to hear way more of ope and welp in either Madison or Ann Arbor than in Evanston.

I don't even know what these mean after 25 years of living in Michigan as a non-native.

Welp is well? Feels like something from an Archie comic.

What's ope?

Non-native for sure.

Michigan native here. Never heard those expressions. Madison has more in common with Chicago than Ann Arbor. Just goes to show you that the Midwest is not a consistent area when it comes to language and expressions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're going to hear way more of ope and welp in either Madison or Ann Arbor than in Evanston.

I don't even know what these mean after 25 years of living in Michigan as a non-native.

Welp is well? Feels like something from an Archie comic.

What's ope?

Non-native for sure.

I lived in the Detroit suburbs for over 50 years and have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Mich the NYers complain about the bagel's quite loudly so it feels like there are more NYers there than there really are.

Haha. Well they have a valid grievance. You are pretty much limited to Einstein or Big Apple bagels in Michigan.

you mean in Ann Arbor. Bagels in the Detroit area are far superior to those in that small city. I might also add that the rye bread sucks in New York

Anonymous wrote:At Mich the NYers complain about the bagel's quite loudly so it feels like there are more NYers there than there really are.

Haha. Well they have a valid grievance. You are pretty much limited to Einstein or Big Apple bagels in Michigan.

Anonymous wrote:What are the hallmarks of midwestern feel? Domestic beer and welp and ope?

Midwestern nice. Not sugary and obvious like southern nice and you won't know it's not genuine unless you are a native. Can be frustrating for NYers.

What are the hallmarks of midwestern feel? Domestic beer and welp and ope?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're going to hear way more of ope and welp in either Madison or Ann Arbor than in Evanston.

I don't even know what these mean after 25 years of living in Michigan as a non-native.

Welp is well? Feels like something from an Archie comic.

What's ope?

Non-native for sure.

PP. Ok, I looked it up and got a cite from an Eminem lyric. "Ope there goes gravity..." He is clearly from Michigan.

But still I always thought that line sounded weird. And I don't hear people saying this around me. It sounds kind of like D'oh. I rarely run across that either.

Different circles I guess...

https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/vuy3sv/ope_sorry_is_about_as_uniquely_midwestern_as/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're going to hear way more of ope and welp in either Madison or Ann Arbor than in Evanston.

I don't even know what these mean after 25 years of living in Michigan as a non-native.

Welp is well? Feels like something from an Archie comic.

What's ope?

Non-native for sure.

Anonymous wrote:You're going to hear way more of ope and welp in either Madison or Ann Arbor than in Evanston.

I don't even know what these mean after 25 years of living in Michigan as a non-native.

Welp is well? Feels like something from an Archie comic.

What's ope?

You're going to hear way more of ope and welp in either Madison or Ann Arbor than in Evanston.

Northwestern feels more East Coast than Michigan, but Michigan feels more East Coast than most of the other flagship Us in the Midwest. Indiana also feels pretty East Coast, but less so than Michigan. Wisconsin I would say is probably similar to Indiana in terms of "east coast" feel.

Other flagship Us/traditional Big 10 schools - Minnesota, Illinois, U of Iowa, Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan State - have never really attracted coastal students in the way that IU, Michigan, and Wisconsin have. (Northwestern too, obviously, but that's private so kind of a different thing.)

Penn State is a bit of a wild card because it draws heavily from the Philadelphia area (which is objectively east coast both with geography and culture) and lots of kids from other mid-atlantic states, but also plenty from the western part of the state which feels more Midwestern (but ultimately is not considered part of the Midwest) or even Appalachian, and the central part of the state which is like a weird mix of Appalachian, Eastern, and Midwestern. So just because of the state of Pennsylvania's varied geography and cultural influences it doesn't feel *totally* east coast in the way that say, UMD or Rutgers do, but I would say overall it's more east coast in feel than Midwestern.