Yesterday, I sucked it up and decided it was time to cave and buy a new set of tires for my little car. I was debating all winter to purchase some better all-weather tires, but my ever penny-pinching self decided there was still life in them and slipping on snow and ice was better than coughing up a not yet needed $400. Besides, a mechanic had told me I could hold off until July, so why argue with an expert?
With the end of July fast approaching, I realized it was time. I brought my car in and was asked what kind of tires I wanted. My response? ”Well, I’m from out of state. I know I have all-weather tires but they aren’t North Dakota all-weather tires. So, I want North Dakota all-weather tires.”
He knew exactly what I meant. While yes I had all-weather tires, they weren’t able to handle all of the weather in North Dakota. Therefore, they weren’t North Dakota all-weather tires.
Me experiencing "North Dakota cold" for the first time while trying to use my ice scraper... not a North Dakota ice scraper.
North Dakota has become an adjective for me, and I use it to describe many things. For example, if I’m driving down the interstate and there happens to be a slight bump in a field off in the distance, that is a North Dakota hill. When a snack is being served at a work or family function and I’m expecting a few crackers and some fruit but instead get an entire meal, well, that’s a North Dakota snack. I never seemed to get bitten by mosquitoes before living in Fargo, but now I get chewed up every time I set foot outside past 5:00. That’s because they are North Dakota mosquitoes. And to combat these pests, there is insect repellent and then there is North Dakota, 100 deet, backwoods, insect repellent.
There’s a whole slew of words to describe weather and temperature that require adding North Dakota before it. There’s cold, and then there’s North Dakota cold. You may have a winter coat, but is it a North Dakota winter coat? Likewise, you may have a snow shovel or ice scraper, but is it a North Dakota one? Visitors from out of state may think 32 above zero is cold, but here, its North Dakota warm. If family or friends from out of state say its windy there today, I say “Well, its no North Dakota wind.”
By placing “North Dakota” in front, the word takes on an entirely different meaning that you could not fully appreciate or understand unless you spent some time in this very unique state.
