Definition: "Hoosier" has been a nickname for people from Indiana since the 1820s... despite the fact that no one is 100% certain what it means.
There are several possible definitions and origins of the term. The version favored by Indiana politician Evan Bayh and other influential citizens tells of a contractor named Samuel Hoosier who expressed a preference for hiring Indiana men when building one of the Ohio River canals. "Hoosier's Men" was eventually shortened to "Hoosiers," and came to represent all Indianans.
The problem with this theory: no one has been able to find any record of Mr. Hoosier's existence.
Other possibilities:
- Poet James Whitcomb Riley, with a nod towards the rough character of Indiana's early settlers, suggested that the origin of the word stems from a question posed after a particularly vigorous bar fight. The story goes... in the aftermath of the melee, one of the combatants nudged a piece of unattached flesh with the boot of his toe and asked, "Whose ear?" The question was shortened over time to a single word, "Hoosier."
- Another possibility: "Hoosier" could be derived from "hoozer," an old English word meaning "high hills.
