So I took The Minnesota Purity Test, and got a score that says I’m 62.1% Minnesotan. Not bad for a non-native…but then, my mother was born here, and a lot of the test is more a measure of Scandinavian-American heritage. There are a lot of people in the Seattle area who would score well on this.
coz says
“You answered “yes” to 6 of 50 questions, with a total value of 7 points out of 58, making you 87.9% minnesota pure; that is, you are 87.9% pure in the Minnesota domain (you have 12.1% Minnesotan in you).”
I got this answer,I don’t know what it means…. Am I pure or not? You people are kooky ;)
I was born in Newcastle, NSW, Australia…but am i secretly Minnesotanianan?
I have been to Mall of America, does that count?
PZ Myers says
No, that means you are relatively pure of Minnesotan taint.
Does everyone go to the Mall of America?
Markus says
I was born and raised in Finland but have never been even close to Minnesota (I live in Indiana now, got family here..)
I’ve never heard of “Ole and Lena” jokes, but based on how americans pronounce them, I guess they could be “Olli” and “Leena” (like Leena Palotie)? Both Finnish names that when pronounced correctly sound like “Ole and Lena” in english.
tomob says
50% … not bad for a non-Scandinavian originally from Chicago. But they didn’t ask this one: Have you ever spent 20 minutes in a sauna, then run naked across the snow to the hole in the ice and jumped in? (Or maybe that question’s on the sanity test instead.)
RickU says
I’m 30% Minnesotan and it’s one of the few states I’ve never visited.
vairitas says
65.5% minnesotan, and i’ve only been there once, and that was just a two hour layover at the airport
vairitas says
oh, i guess that means i’m only 34.5% minnesotan……..
Amos says
Ole and Lena jokes look like they might be somewhat similar to the Eino and Toivo jokes we have here in the UP of Michigan. I wonder if this kind of stuff exists in every little town, or if it just came with northern-European populations.
RickU says
It’s definitely not just northern European. The ones I know are from (I believe) the Louisiana area and involve Boudreau and Tibadeau.
aiabx says
59% Minnesotan, but I am Canadian, so I guess it’s much the same thing.
Fox1 says
Huh, I’m only 56% percent Minnesotan, and I was born here.
Of course, I don’t have a drop of Norse blood in me (barring those pesky Vikings leaving any… genetic deposits behind during plunder in Ireland, and I suppose I can’t rule that out).
MReap says
62.8% actual Minnesotan (37.2% pure) and I’ve lived here only 9 years. Question 22 sent me way, way down memory lane. I have a “yard of beer” with the Hamm’s logo on it.
Ukko says
70.7% Minnesotan in only 5 years! Although we had “the beer refreshing” ad campaign back in Wyoming too, so I got a few points there. And yes, every time that name comes up here on your blog I do hear the theme song in my head…
So, Olli and Leena (yes I use the Finnish spelling) are having breakfast and they hear on the radio that the snow plows are coming and everyone needs to park on the even side of the street. So Olli goes out and moves the car.
The next morning they hear another announcement but this time they are supposed to move the cars to the odd side of the street. So Olli goes out and moves the car so the plows can clear the snow.
Then next day the hear that the plows are coming again but before the announcement finishes the power goes out and they don’t hear which side of the street to park on. Olli says, “Well how about that! Now which side of the street should I put the car on.” To which Leena replies, “Oh, Olli why don’t cha just leave it in the garage?”
Ba dum bum!
So, there is a free couple of points for all the auslanders, you have now heard (read)
and Olli and Leena joke!
Nymphalidae says
I’m 67% Minnesotan. I only went to college in MN, but I grew up in northern WI…which is practically identical to northern MN.
squeaky says
81%! I have the record so far! Yah sure, you betcha.
Which leads me to a Norwegian joke (A Minnesota version of the SUDO joke, which I did not get even when explained to me):
What’s the difference between Uffda and Fida?
“Uffda” is what you say when you accidently drop your gum in the chicken coop.
“Fida” is what you say when you THOUGHT you found it.
Ha du sitt!
j a higginbotham says
8.6% Mn
but I do know some Boudreaux and Thibodeaux stories
Heidi says
Well, I managed to get 32.8% Minnesotan by dint of having a parent from North Dakota and living in the Seattle area.
Paul says
Of course, the three I answered ‘yes’ to were questions that would have been common to everyone who lives in a cold climate, and I’m a Canadian, eh? So really, I’m 0% Minnesotan, but most Minnesotans have some percentage of Canadian in them.
Zeno says
15.5%
I’m not very Minnesotan. Of course, I never do well on these tests (except for the nerd test). I’m not very Californian either.
The man with no state.
QrazyQat says
I grew up in Rochester; and I quit the test about 1/4 of the way through — too boring. No TRUE Minnesotan would take that whole test.
Bob O'H says
Eino and Toivo are also Finnish names. Hmmm…
If you want a real cultural treat, I’ve just found The Finnish Seating Etiquette Test. Apparently I’m a country yokel (maalainen), which is at least better than tamperelainen.
Bob
Rey Fox says
“Have you ever spent 20 minutes in a sauna, then run naked across the snow to the hole in the ice and jumped in? (Or maybe that question’s on the sanity test instead.)”
I did it in an indoor pool at the Holiday Inn once, does that count?
Amos says
Bob. Yeah, there are quite a few Finns here. We’ve mainly got three nationalities: Finn, Cornish (some people say British, but that’s their problem), and Italian. And I got the same result as you with a 50% on the seating test, which I guess isn’t so bad for being a little less than 50% Finn. It’s too bad that they don’t ask if you speak on the train. :)
Rick @ shrimp and grits says
I’m not so sure anout this test.
you are 82.8% pure in the Minnesota domain (you have 17.2% Minnesotan in you).
Can someone born and raised in South Carolina get that much Minnesota on them just from visiting a few times? Wow.
And I haven’t even been to the Mall of America!
Keith Douglas says
“You answered “yes” to 3 of 50 questions, with a total value of 3 points out of 58, making you 94.8% minnesota pure; that is, you are 94.8% pure in the Minnesota domain (you have 5.2% Minnesotan in you).”
In the interest of both curiousity and a scientific control, I took the test. I thought I would be a good one, since I have never even been to Minnesota, except perhaps in the air. (I have flown Montreal< ->Vancouver a fair number of times, so I suppose sometimes one might fly over the state.)
****
I see that others have had the same idea … looks like one should adjust by about 5%, at least …
s9 says
I think the scoring is broken. I’m so San Francisco– yes, in fact, I can give you directions from anywhere in the city to where Brigid O’Shaughnessy shot Miles Archer without having to consult a map– that it’s hard to imagine how I could score higher than PZ Myers on any sort of sensible Minnesota purity scale.
Seanna & Steve says
We came out at only 19% Minnesotan. We are currently in Ishpeming (MI UP), and are headed for Duluth tomorrow. Will they let us in? (Already got our Ontario all-natural pepperettes confiscated at the border :( )
I (Steve) recently watched Fargo, and I’ve been wondering ever since: do all native Minnesotans talk the way the Chief Gunderson character does?
Seanna & Steve says
We came out at only 19% Minnesotan. We are currently in Ishpeming (MI UP), and are headed for Duluth tomorrow. Will they let us in? (Already got our Ontario all-natural pepperettes confiscated at the border :( )
I (Steve) recently watched Fargo, and I’ve been wondering ever since: do all native Minnesotans talk the way the Chief Gunderson character does?
Seanna & Steve says
We came out at only 19% Minnesotan. We are currently in Ishpeming (MI UP), and are headed for Duluth tomorrow. Will they let us in? (Already got our Ontario all-natural pepperettes confiscated at the border :( )
I (Steve) recently watched Fargo, and I’ve been wondering ever since: do all native Minnesotans talk the way the Chief Gunderson character does?
PZ Myers says
You betcha!
Linz says
Hmmm…I got told I was 13.8% Minnesotan and I couldn’t even point it out on a map (v. embarrassed bout that).
Maybe being British skews the results or something….