11 Ways Iowans Can Tell a Transplant From a Native
Ask for a fork at the Iowa State Fair pork tent, and you’ll stand out as not from around there.
The Pork Chop on a Stick is a bone-in rib chop, and the bone is the handle.
Here are some giveaways that help Iowans tell a transplant from a native.
1. Pronouncing Nevada and Madrid
Iowa Public Radio’s place-name guide says the towns of Nevada and Madrid are pronounced “neh-VAY-duh” and “MAA-drid.”
Nevada doesn’t sound like the state out west, and Madrid doesn’t sound like the city in Spain.
Many natives catch the slip as soon as you say either name the way it’s spelled.
2. Dubuque, Keokuk, and Des Moines
Dubuque, Keokuk, and Des Moines aren’t said the way you’d read them off the page.
Dubuque comes out as “dih-BYOOK.”
Common options for Keokuk include “KEE-uh-Kuck” and “KYOH-kuck.”
Des Moines is “di Moyn,” and the S is silent.
3. Loess Hills
Loess usually rhymes with “fuss,” and Iowa Public Radio’s guide respells the Loess Hills as “Luss Hills.”
If you say it any other way, some locals will notice.
The Iowa Geological Survey says the hills run in a narrow band along the Missouri River valley in western Iowa.
Loess in those hills generally runs more than 60 feet thick, with depths of 150 to 200 feet recorded locally.
4. Hawkeye Wave
The Hawkeye Wave started with Iowa’s 2017 opener against Wyoming.
When the first quarter ends at a home game, the 70,000 fans, along with players, coaches, and staff for both teams, turn toward Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
They wave to the pediatric patients and parents on the top floor, and the children wave back with handmade signs.
Many lifelong Hawkeye fans turn on cue, and you’ll stand out if you keep watching the field.
The football program began its Kid Captain program in 2009 to honor hospital patients.
5. Hawkeyes or Cyclones
Iowa and Iowa State first met on the football field in 1894.
Sports Illustrated reported that the 2011 Cy-Hawk Trophy, a bust of a corn farmer, wasn’t well received.
The next season brought a trophy with Herky the Hawk and Cy the Cardinal in a cornfield.
If you answer “I like both,” some lifelong fans will hear a dodge.
6. Gravel Roads
Gravel makes up about 58 percent of Iowa’s more than 115,000 miles of roads, The Gazette in Cedar Rapids reported.
In Washington County, the county engineer puts gravel upkeep at $5,000 to $6,600 per mile each year.
Many natives take a gravel road home without a second thought.
Scott County, Iowa, puts a sign at all points of access to its Area Service B roads to warn you of the lower level of maintenance.
Scott County’s Minimum-Maintenance Roads
Scott County, Iowa, gives its Area Service B roads only the minimum effort needed to keep them open to traffic.
If you drive one in winter, snow and ice removal may not happen at all.
The county may not maintain a bridge on those roads to carry legal loads, but it posts load limits as appropriate.
7. RAGBRAI
The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) started in 1973.
RAGBRAI describes itself as a relaxed, non-competitive ride across seven days.
Riders dip their rear tires in the Missouri River at the start and their front tires in the Mississippi River at the finish.
A lot of natives will correct you if you call it a race.
Psst! How much do you know about Iowa? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Iowa Trivia IQ
Answer these questions on Iowa place names, food, and fairs. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Which famous painting did the Iowa State Fair’s butter sculptors re-create in 1996?
8. Pork Tenderloin
When a breaded tenderloin lands on your table, the pork is often wider than the bun, and many natives take that as perfectly normal.
Saveur magazine's Jane and Michael Stern wrote in 2012 that some tenderloins around Des Moines flaunt a disk of fried pork as wide as a dinner plate.
At B&B Grocery in Des Moines, local police officers showed the Sterns how to fold the meat over once or even twice inside the bun.
Little Village's Celine Robins wrote in 2022 that tenderloins are served on a bun the pork humorously dwarfs in size.
Many natives already know the fold, while some newcomers might spend the first bite just staring at the overhang.
The Iowa Pork Producers Association has run a statewide search for Iowa's best breaded pork tenderloin, with winners going back to 2003.
9. Loose-Meat Sandwich Names
Iowa's loose-meat sandwiches go by several names, Little Village reported in 2024.
Many locals call them Maid-Rites, while Sioux City calls its version a tavern.
At Canteen Lunch in the Alley in Ottumwa, you order a canteen wrapped in wax paper.
The writer warns against ordering a Maid-Rite there.
Muscatine butcher Fred Angell is credited with inventing the concept in 1926.
10. Pork Chop on a Stick
The Iowa Pork Producers Association has run a pork tent at the Iowa State Fair since 1981.
The association's Pork Chop on a Stick is a 9-to-11-ounce rib chop with the bone left on as a handle.
You eat it with your hands and a napkin, with no utensils.
Over more than 40 years, the association has served more than 2.5 million pork servings at the fair.
Lots of locals wouldn't think of reaching for a fork, so you'll stand out if you ask for utensils.
11. Butter Cow
The Iowa State Fair says J.K. Daniels sculpted its first butter cow in 1911.
The Ohio State Fair says it featured its first butter cow and calf in 1903, eight years earlier.
Sarah Pratt of Cumming became the fair's fifth butter sculptor in 2006, after apprenticing for 15 years under Norma Lyon.
At the fair, you'll find a companion sculpture most years, including Grant Wood's "American Gothic" in 1996, Elvis Presley in 1997, and Superman in 2006.
Some newcomers do a double take at a cow made of butter, while many natives make it a fair stop.
Each cow starts with about 600 pounds of Iowa butter and stays in a 40-degree cooler.
Much of that butter is recycled and can be reused for up to 10 years.
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