Why are we Hoosiers? What a strange word. And so many stories.
Hoosier started out as Hooshers. The joke was people in Indiana would receive a knock at the door and yell "hoos here?"
It was also said that after a bar fight an ear was found on the floor and someone yelled "Who's ear?"
The first known mention of the word Hoosier was in 1827 in a letter. I don't know who wrote it or who it was sent to but this is the quote - "There is a yankee trick for you - done up by a Hoosier"
Some think Hoosier means "hearty, courageous group". I kind of like that one!
The following seems to make the most sense in where the name came from
Jacob Piatt Dunn(an Indiana Historian) claimed that "hoo" comes from the Saxon language and means a cliff, ridge or hill. He believed the "sier" comes from shire which means hill country, mountain region.
It is said that people in Southern Indiana were first called Hoosiers and that it spread to the rest of the state. What it boils down to is Hoosier could be another name for Hillbilly or redneck. I am a hillbilly at heart so that works for me!
Jacob Piatt Dunn Jr also traced the word "hoozer" to the Cumberland dialect of England. This makes sense because Immigrants from Cumberland England settled in the Southern Mountains (Cumberland Mountains, Cumberland Gap etc). Their descendants then settled Southern Indiana bringing the word that became "Hoosier" with them.
It looks like we may never know for certain why or how it started but it is here to stay.
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