Are you a Michigander or a Michiganian?
Andrew Norton
The newest poll here at the All Things Michigan blog deals with how we Michigan natives refer to ourselves. Michigander started out as a disparaging remark about then Michigan governor, Lewis Cass, by future president Abraham Lincoln. Basically, Lincoln compared Cass to a foolish goose by combining Michigan and gander [goose]. Here's a snippet of that Lincoln speech:
But in my hurry I was very near closing on the subject of military tails before I was done with it. There is one entire article of the sort I have not discussed yet; I mean the military tail you Democrats are now engaged in dovetailing onto the great Michigander [i.e. Lewis Cass].
So, what do you refer to yourself as? I prefer Michigander as it doesn't sound as highfalutin' as Michiganian.
[poll id="38"]