You know you're from Chicago when...

  • The "living room" is called the "front room."
  • You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois, and you become irritated at people who do.
  • You measure distance in minutes (especially "from the city") and you swear everything is pretty much 15 minutes away.
  • You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "DesPlaines" or "Lisle."
  • Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
  • Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
  • You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day.
  • Stores don't have sacks, they have bags.
  • You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition.
    Example: "Where's my coat at?" or "If you go to the mall I wanna go with."
  • Your idea of a great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as big as the bun. "Everything" is on it and a slice of dill pickle is on the side.
  • You carry jumper cables in your car.
  • You drink "pop."
  • You understand that I-290, I-90, I-94 and I-294 are all different roads.
  • You know the names of the interstates: Stevenson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Dan Ryan, and the Edens. But you call the interstates "expressways."
  • You refer to anything south of I-80 as "Southern Illinois."
  • You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake."
  • You refer to Chicago as "The City."
  • "The Super Bowl" refers to one specific game in a series of 35 played in January of 1986.
    GO BEARS!!
  • No matter where you are, when you hear the term "Downtown" you immediately assume they're talking about Downtown Chicago, which really is "The Loop."
  • You have two favorite football teams, The Bears and the Packers (love to hate them).
  • You buy "The Trib."
  • You think 35 degrees is great weather to wash your car!
  • You what goes on a Chicago Style Hot Dog.
  • You know what Chicago Style Pizza REALLY is.
  • You know why they call Chicago "The Windy City," and it's not because of the wind.
  • You understand what "lake effect" is.
  • You know the difference between Amtrak and Metra and know which station they end up at.
  • You have ridden the "El."
  • You can distinguish between the following area codes:  847, 630, 773, 708, 312, 815.
  • You have, at some time in your life, used your furniture to guard your parking spot in winter.
  • You respond to the question "Where are you from?" with a "side."
    Example: "WEST SIDE," "SOUTH SIDE," OR "NORTH SIDE."
  • You know what the phone number is to Empire Carpet (588-2300).