Decoding 'Minnesota nice': A culture of kindness gives weight to words like 'weird' (August 9, 2024)
www.npr.org
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been all over the news, as has the term "Minnesota nice." It's a stereotype born from a culture of kindness and politeness and gives words like "weird" extra weight.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
As Governor Tim Walz continues to hit the campaign trail, there is a certain phrase you may be hearing a lot - Minnesota nice. It's a term that's deeply familiar to residents of the state. On one hand, it's kind of a stereotype that's exactly what it sounds like, says Rachel Hutton, a culture reporter for the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis.
RACHEL HUTTON: People in Minnesota are literally nice, meaning they're kind. They're polite. They will help you push your car out of a snowbank if you get stuck in the winter.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
On the other hand, she says, Minnesotans have a habit of understatement and a certain way of, well, avoiding confrontation.
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CHANG: Hutton says, Tim Walz is a master of the understated insult. At a rally earlier this week, Walz said this about Donald Trump and JD Vance.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TIM WALZ: These guys are creepy and, yes, just weird as hell. That's what you see.
HUTTON: Walz is going to use really harsh language that - in Minnesota speak, calling someone weird is - that's sort of going for the jugular. That's, like, a very harsh statement. ...
