Chicagoese

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The distinctive regional speech style associated with people from Chicago, marked by particular vowel pronunciations and local slang
2. A local dialect of American English spoken in Chicago, known for its characteristic accent and colloquial expressions
3. The informal manner of speaking typical of Chicago residents, with its own pronunciations, vocabulary and idioms

Etymology: "Chicagoese" is a plain formation: the place name Chicago with the suffix "-ese," the same ending used for language and national-style names such as "Japanese," "Portuguese," and "Journalese." Attaching "-ese" to a city name produces a word meaning the speech or dialect of its people, and this one labels the distinctive way Chicago residents talk, from their vowel sounds to local vocabulary. The place name itself comes from a Native American word, likely from the Miami-Illinois or a related Algonquian language, associated with wild onions or garlic, which gives a small irony to a word now used for city speech. The suffix does the rest of the work, following the pattern that turns a region into the name of its tongue.