How to Talk Minnesotan

{{short description|2013 book by Howard Mohr}}{{more citations needed|date=February 2013}}{{Infobox book

| name = How to Talk Minnesotan: Revised for the 21st Century

| image = How to Talk Minnesotan.jpg

| image_size =

| border =

| alt =

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| author = Howard Mohr

| language = English - Dialects - Minnesota

| publisher = Penguin Books

| pub_date = 2013

| published = New York, NY

| pages = 264

| isbn = 9780143122692

| isbn_note = 3rd ed

| dewey = 427.97760207

}}

How to Talk Minnesotan is a book by Howard Mohr (March 20, 1939 – September 4, 2022){{Cite web |title=Howard Mohr, 83 |url=https://www.timesrepublican.com/obituaries/2022/10/howard-mohr-83/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=Times Republican |language=en-US}}, a former writer for A Prairie Home Companion. Published in 1987, the book provides examples of stereotypical Minnesotan speech and mannerisms. There was a musical version by Mohr and Drew Jansen (produced at Plymouth Playhouse by Troupe America, Inc.). The book was also adapted as a television special, which was produced by KTCA and first broadcast January 1, 1993.{{Cite journal |last=Mohr |first=Howard |date=September 1996 |title=How to Talk Minnesotan |journal=Cosmopolitan |volume=221 |issue=3 |pages=132}}{{Cite journal |last=Hutton |first=Rachel |date=November 2015 |title=How to Spend Minnesotan |journal=Minnesota Monthly |volume=49 |issue=11 |pages=6}}{{Cite web |last=Service |first=Jay Gabler {{!}} Forum News |date=2022-09-07 |title=Howard Mohr, author of 'How to Talk Minnesotan,' has died at 83 |url=https://www.twincities.com/2022/09/06/howard-mohr-author-of-how-to-talk-minnesotan-has-died-at-83/ |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=Twin Cities |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2010-01-28 |title=Now that his beloved comedy is being revived, Mohr is definitely the merrier |url=https://www.twincities.com/2010/01/28/now-that-his-beloved-comedy-is-being-revived-mohr-is-definitely-the-merrier/ |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=Twin Cities |language=en-US}}

Some of the things the book covers:

• Useful phrases such as "You bet", "That's different", and "Whatever"
• Not accepting food until the third time it's offered
• The art of waving
• Hotdishes
• Loons
• Talking about cars and starting cars in the winter
• The Minnesotan "long goodbye"

Much of the material for the book was originally performed as sketches on A Prairie Home Companion. The book also includes fictional ads for improbable businesses such as "Raw Bits Cereal", "Polka Pants", and "Walleye Phone Company".