8 Phrases Iowans Say Without Realizing Americans Elsewhere Don’t

Order a tavern in northwest Iowa, and you could end up with a sandwich instead of a drink.

Iowans say things like that without a second thought, until a visitor asks what they mean.

Here are the phrases Iowans say without realizing Americans elsewhere don’t.

1. Walking Beans

Walking beans means pulling and chopping weeds out of soybean fields.

Iowa History Journal columnist Arvid Huisman writes that rural and small-town Iowa teenagers in the 1960s called the job “bean walking” or “walking beans.” For many of them, farmers were their first employers.

The phrase isn’t Iowa’s alone. A 2015 report describes farmers walking beans again in central Illinois, hand-hoeing fields to catch weeds that herbicides miss.

Tell someone from another state you walked beans one summer, and many will picture a stroll.

2. Maid-Rite

Most Iowans call a loose-meat sandwich a Maid-Rite, according to a 2024 article in Little Village, even though only around 30 eateries sell the official version.

Muscatine butcher Fred Angell is credited with the concept in 1926.

Cook the meat in a tomato sauce base, and that’s the only time you can call it a sloppy Joe.

3. Tavern

Order a tavern in northwest Iowa, and you may get a sandwich instead of a drink.

Little Village says Sioux City calls its loose-meat sandwich a tavern, as do other northwest Iowa restaurants, concession stands and slow-cooker cooks.

A 2020 N’West Iowa Review column notes that many area soup suppers often offer it.

In Ottumwa, Canteen Lunch in the Alley calls its sandwiches canteens and warns against ordering a Maid-Rite there.

4. Breaded Pork Tenderloin

Saveur says the name is sometimes shortened to BPT, for breaded pork tenderloin, and that in Iowa the tenderloin is a sandwich, not a roast.

It starts as a slice of pork loin that’s trimmed, pounded, battered and fried.

Some versions in and around Des Moines are as wide as a dinner plate, while cutlets in Audubon and Cass counties are thicker. Order one around Des Moines, and you may get a cutlet as wide as a dinner plate. It’s served in a roll with pickle chips, raw onion, ketchup and mustard.

5. Hawkeye

Hawkeye has been a nickname for people from Iowa since at least 1845.

Green’s Dictionary of Slang cites an 1845 St. Louis newspaper noting that Iowa’s residents were called Hawk-eyes. It also lists an 1885 North American Review piece that gives Hawkeyes as Iowa’s slang name. A 1949 entry in American Speech uses the phrase “Hawkeye for an Iowan.”

The Iowa Official Register refers to “the Hawkeye State” in its section on state symbols.

If you call someone from Iowa a Hawkeye, you’re using a word that’s been in print for well over a century.

6. Bushed

In northern Iowa, “I’m bushed” means you’re tired, and an Iowa Public Radio segment once explored why people there say it.

The phrase isn’t Iowa’s alone. Merriam-Webster lists bushed as meaning tired, with no regional label on that sense.

Tell a friend from another state you’re bushed, and they’ll probably know what you mean.

7. RAGBRAI

RAGBRAI is short for The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, a ride that began in 1973 as a casual trip among a few friends.

The usual pronunciation, per Smithsonian Magazine, is "Rag-brye."

A 2017 Northern Public Radio report from bicyclist and WNIJ contributor Dan Libman opens with the question "What does it stand for?"

Say it to someone from another state, and many could ask you to spell it out.

8. Cy-Hawk

Cy-Hawk is the name on the series that tracks head-to-head matchups between Iowa State's Cyclones and Iowa's Hawkeyes.

Each victory earns points toward the overall series championship, according to a 2017 post from Iowa Corn. The Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series is the official trademarked name, with a dash between Cy and Hawk.

The dash matters.

Drop it, and you're no longer using the official trademarked name. The hashtag for the game is #CyHawk.

Place Names

The Loess Hills in western Iowa take their name from a German word meaning "loose," and Iowa PBS gives the pronunciation as "luss." Deposits there run 100 to 200 feet deep.

Town names can trip up visitors too. A 2025 column in the Iowa History Journal says they struggle with Nevada, Madrid and East Peru.

Iowa Public Radio's pronunciation guide gives Nevada, Iowa, as "neh-VAY-duh," while Merriam-Webster lists "nuh-VAD-uh" as the main pronunciation for the western state.

The guide also gives Madrid as "MAA-drid," with the stress on the first syllable, and East Peru comes out as "PEE-roo," per the column.

Some people around Fort Dodge say the town's name as one word, "Fordodge," while elsewhere in Iowa it's two. Many people in that area also call nearby Webster City simply "Webster."