Minnesota nice
noun · first attested 1980s
The phrase names a politeness that outsiders often read as a closed door.
A style of courtesy, mildness, and avoidance of confrontation associated with the culture of Minnesota.
46.0000°N -94.0000°W · Q1527
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1980s
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Minnesota
- In English
Minnesota nice
The expression turns up in Minnesota newspapers in the 1980s, alongside a wave of books and broadcasts about the state's Scandinavian and Lutheran habits. Historians who have examined it tie the trait to nineteenth century immigration from Norway and Sweden rather than to any single coiner. Minnesotans produced the rhyming counterpart Minnesota ice for the same behavior seen from the outside.